Foggy on Christmas morning - 2016

We're expecting snow tomorrow.

The wind is bitter and it finds it's way inside my hood and trickles down my neck.

I bought a bale of straw to cover the strawberries, that just took a couple sections. The rest went into Chicken World to get them out of the mud. (Chickens get frost bite.) I left the open bale, thinking they would scatter it. But as of evening stables, the bale is intact, sitting in the middle of the pen.

The horses were waiting at the door for me as usual. No silly antics tonight, they were serious about getting inside. The geese, Jamie and Cerise were in the alpaca stall with the baby chickens. The alpacas came in on their own, so the geese decided to come out. The baby chickens have their own corner, so they stay in with the alpacas at night.

The horses and the alpacas ate an entire round bale in under a week. I guess there's not much grass, alive or dead, in the pastures. So we'll need to get another round bale before Saturday. Most afternoons, I'll step outside to find all three horses laying down, sleeping in the sun, sometimes the alpacas will be there, two sleeping and one standing watch for the entire mixed herd.
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The New Guys Arrived

The new alpacas arrived today. It started out a little scary...the rain made it impossible to get the trailer out of it's parking space. Lisa Saettel did her best. The people from SELR were kind enough to bring them the rest of the way.

I wasn't sure what was going to happen. We put them in the pen to dry off and get settled. Poor things didn't know what to think about the chickens.

I called Grumpy, but he refused to have anything to do with me. I helped Lisa with her kids while she visited her Mom at HMH. Came home to let the horses back in the barn. The New Guys seemed very content in the pen.

I called Grumpy, to my surprise he came in the barn three or four times before I got the door closed. He was really, really interested in the New Guys. I managed to corner him, halter him and got him over to the pen. I didn't know if he would go in or not. But he charged in, ears forward.

There was some kicking, no spitting, no biting and a few bleats. But for the most part, Grumpy had his ears forward.

It looked like he was smiling.

I'm really glad. He wasn't happy as an Only Alpaca.

Jordan's Croft As An Ecosystem

Grumpy stands watch over the poultry flock. Good boy!

Say what?

Well, it is an ecosystem abet a small one, but this tiny parcel of land (5 acres) is a living thing.

This is how it works:

The horses are the primaries. They graze the grass and weeds, leaving manure behind. Their bedding is spread to fertilize the grass. The manure spreader does it's thing, spreading grass seed, lime and wood ashes to feed the grass.

The chickens eat some grass, but mostly they kick the manure piles apart looking for bugs. Their favorite food appears to be fly grubs. The ducks eat a lot of grass, and every bug they can catch.

The geese are grazers who act as an alarm system and as walking fertilizer spreaders.

The alpacas are browsers who will nibble the weeds and now it looks like they will protect the poultry from minor predators. (I think of my dogs as minor predators.) I HOPE they will protect against foxes!

We get to eat the chicken eggs. I usually sell baby ducks and some mature pairs as well as the drakes that go to my Chinese friends. This year I'm hoping to sell duck eggs to the people at Heartland Whole Life Buying Club.

If all goes right I will have several baby geese to sell this summer as well. Last year only 2 out of 5 goslings survived. This year I've already got an incubator full of goose eggs. Any that hatch will be sold off to feed the rest of the flock.

It looks like Grumpy will provide a fleece for me to turn into yarn. I'll either sell the yarn or what I make from it.

This isn't big bucks by any stretch of the imagination. However, there's just enough money coming in to feed the poultry.

That's good enough for me.

Grumpy Has a Job!

Meet Grump the Alpaca and Evil Ian the Buff Orphington rooster. Grumpy lost his life-long companion, and I was afraid he would pine away. Oddly enough, Grumpy has taken a shine to the poultry in general and the lovely, but nasty Evil Ian.

The top picture shows Grumpy on guard. My Jack Russel, Trouble has come out to play. You can see Trouble in the second picture. That's Grumpy stamping his foot, warning Trouble to keep his distance, or else.

This is the 'or else' I was talking about. Grumpy targeted the little chicken-chasing dog for a bad stomping. Luckily for Trouble, I was there to protect him. He zipped around me, barking like a big bad dog, but hiding under my feet. 

"Don't worry, little buddy. I'll protect you!"

Trouble was still at my feet in this picture, and Evil Ian was coming in for the kill himself. Once Evil Ian was my favorite. He would sit on my arm and eat from my hand. But by the time this picture was taken, Ian had earned the 'Evil' by attacking me, the dogs, and anyone he could target.

It is great fun to watch the animals interact. That is, as long as Evil Ian didn't attack me. However, there was just one more species that needed to make itself known...

This is Tanamara, the young mare, who is in line to be Queen and doesn't let any of the other animals forget it. The alpacas were the newcomers, so they were the lowest critter on the totem pole. 

The young mare didn't want that fuzzball alpaca to get too close to HER human (that's me). And the old gelding came around to back her up.

Sorry Grumpy, you aren't the Alpha of this herd. This is Mare territory.

Stay tuned! You never know what I'm going to see and what I can get photos of. The animals here have their own world, and a strict pecking order.

Critter Update - Horses vs Alpacas

Update on the alpacas - my first attempt to integrate them with the horses was stunning. Mind you, they weren't harmed! In fact, they didn't appear to be excessively frightened, it was the horses who got emotional.

The old black gelding followed me in to the pen, sniffed around a bit, no big deal. He stuck by me and got lots of 'good boy' scratches. The young mare watched him, snorting, but morecurious than anything. The alpacas wandered out of the pen, towards the big round bale.

The old mare went nuts. I've never seen her move in such a controlled, furious fashion. She was so collected I could hear her knees crack as she flexed them all the way to her chin. She was floating (in mud) towards them giving a rolling snort that sounded more like a growling tiger than a horse.

I shooed her away. She gave me the 'stink eye.' I followed the alpacas around, to intervene if things got out of hand. I got in front of her a few times and shouted NO!

After several minutes of snorting, blowing, hoof stamping and assorted tantrums, I thought it was over. The alpacas went to the high ground to look around. The horses swept between me and the alpacas at a trot. The alpacas cantered away, ahead of the horses by about 3 horse lengths.

This is where I got my mind blown - the old mare let the alpacas run in front of her, switched to their left side, kept behind them and PUT THEM BACK IN TO THE ROUND PEN. Then swept around the pen, back to the bale of hay, in another of these knee snapping displays.

It was a perfect example of a horse with a lot of 'cow sense' in one respect. However, I watched the whole thing. She came up than hill with a PLAN. She put that plan into action - and put the alpacas 'back where they belong!'

The other two horses were with her, but at a respectful distance behind her.

I have always known that horses 'display' their strength and power with slow-motion, graceful movements that include high-stepping gaits, arched necks, flying mane, upright tails and lots of snorting.

The old mare seems too kicked back and lazy for such displays, except when she and I play a bit of 'tag' on warm spring days.

I got the feeling she was outraged at the intrusion and wanted the alpacas to know who was in charge and to literally 'put them in their place.' Until now, she's acted as if she was terrified of the alpacas. I know better, now.

I love that old mare! She's such a character! I base all my fictional horses on her.

Now, on the alpaca side - it was Tonka (Grumpy) who set her off. He barged over to 'her' bale of hay, and actually pinned his ears at her, first. He was very arrogant, not at all tentative as he approached her. Which he did, several times.

Once he was so close that she swatted him with her tail.

There wasn't any trouble getting the alpacas into the barn that night, they didn't act fearful. I opened the door and they took their sweet time going in. I checked them as well as I could for any sign of contact between them. There was dirt on Tonka's shoulder when she hit him with her tail. (It trails on the ground, so it gets muddy.)

Tonight I put the horses in first, before I let the alpacas free. They didn't hesitate walking passed the old mare, but - in an ironic twist - it was her who snorted at TONKA as he checked her out.

I feel as if I have been given an education in equine behavior. I'm not sure if I want to repeat this experience for several months. LOL

What's that? Critters' Stand Off!

The horses are eating the new bale of hay. There was a lot of snorting and circling before I could coax them close enough to see what I had.

Today, the old gelding walked up to the fence near Tonka, sniffing curiously.

Tonka walked away. I'm glad he didn't spit. Poor old horse is so sweet natured, it would have shocked him.

The mares were split, the young mare is by the bale, hiding behind it, in fact. The old mare is eating a small pile of hay I used to bait her closer.

Catching the alpacas still requires a catch pen. However, I was able to get them to eat grain from the bucket. So there is hope that I'll be able to walk up to them and put a lead rope on them. Once I can do that in the pen, I can turn them loose in the pasture.

I'm not holding my breath, mind you.

Another Day - Another Step Forward

The alpacas were easier to catch tonight. 

Sabre seemed to figure it out first. He darted into the catch pen, reared like a bad pony, struggled just a bit as I put the lead rope on his halter. He gives in so quickly there's no trauma.

Tonka charged into the catch pen, screamed like he was dying, then lay down so I could put the lead rope on him. I think he gets the fact that I lead them in at night, but he hates to be touched. I gave him a some pats to make sure he knew I was pleased with him. 

The horses watched with dismay as we took the alpacas back into the barn. The old gelding followed hubby to the barn, but the young mare shoved past him. Hubby got those two sorted out. The old mare peeked in the barn, acting like something was going to jump on her. I cooed to her until she walked into her stall alone. 

The alpacas are stalled next to Chicken World. Tonka watches the chickens as if they were his favorite TV program. Sabre stands at the gate, watching the action out there. They've already charged a couple of roosters who come to the round pen to peck at the crumbs.

The alpaca pages I've read talk about how smart these critters are. So far, I haven't seen it. I see some curiosity, and a great deal of 'no-freaking-way' behavior. However, even after four days, there are signs that they are going to settle in. 

Now, if the horses would only get over the alpacas, I could start integrating the herds.

Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it.

A word about the ducklings: I set up the smaller kiddie pool as a brooder and moved the ducklings into the tack room. I turned on the heater, but the heat lamp appears to be enough to keep the room about 50 degrees. They perked up immediately. 

I also caught the smallest of the loose ducks and put them into the new brooder. They jumped into the feeder and ate until they could barely waddle.

I'm glad I was able to catch the poor things.

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!

The New Kids on the Farm

The little white guys peeking over the back of a bigger llama are Sabre and Tonka a pair of alpaca geldings coming soon to Jordan's Croft.

Aren't they cute?

These little guys are going to supply me with fiber for the spinning wheel.

I've got a bad case of spinning fever!

To keep me occupied, the foster parents of the boys have given me some fiber to tide me over.

Some addictions are good addictions.

However, I'm not sure what the horses are going to think about sharing space with these smaller animals.