Critters VS the Weather

This weather, a nasty cold snap, has reeked havoc on my animals. The older ones (JR and my old black gelding) and myself, are struggling with joint problems.

The baby ducklings are dropping dead from the cold, even under a heat light and covered with a tarp. I put the mother duck in with them, but she's not interested in babies, she just wants her eggs.

Dumbass duck.

The older ducklings, the ones with enough body mass to stay warm, are doing fine. But it's the tiny ones that suffer. I hate late year hatchings, they are heartbreaks looking for a place to happen.

The baby goose is only two weeks old, but it has gained a tremendous amount of weight in that short time. The little bugger is solid.

The last chick is having no trouble adapting to the cold. It isn't growing as fast as it would in the summer, no surprise there. However, it is still with Phatso, and she is just as protective now as when it was newly hatched.

The alpacas are wild creatures. I shouldn't let that stop me from training them. I might not be a good horse trainer, but there has to be a way to get through to these critters. We shall see.

I'm not sure why it's considered to be so bad to have llama's and alpacas trained. Maybe people who deal with them aren't horse people, so they don't know what's possible?

I doubt that.

Most likely they aren't as genetically programmed for domestication? Sheep aren't, so it's not unheard of.

Or it could be that being a fiber animal, nobody ever bothered to give it a shot. Not sure. I guess I'm going to find out. LOL There's nothing like being a stubborn Scots/Hungarian/Irish woman to make taming the untamable a challenge.

Sometimes, I wish I had more sense.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: It has only taken a week to go from a struggle every morning to put a lead rope on the alpacas, to a gentle pat before clicking the snap.

I'm very, very happy with the progress!