The sheep and llamas arrived late yesterday morning. It was a lovely day, bright and sunny and not too cold. I was out in the barn organizing water and hay when they arrived. He had made good time and arrived earlier than I expected. The seller of the sheep had sent me an email just after nine o'clock to say they had left there and were on the way to fetch the llamas.
The day before, hubby had helped me set up the Big Barn so we could lock everyone in the barn at night. I figured there is no sense taking any chances on losses due to coyotes. With a coyote kill right behind the barn - likely a rabbit - and tracks across the property on numerous ocassions, their presence was resoundingly confirmed. The Big Barn was built for hay storage and has a dirt and gravel floor. The hay was piled four high in less than one third of the space. So, we anchored some fencing to protect the hay from those who want to eat it. There is no water in the Big Barn but I figured we could run the hose up the hill and that it should drain back down the hill between waterings. This proved unsuccessful after the first try so I have been carrying water but the quantity has not been unmanageable. The seller left three heated water buckets which are wonderful.
The llamas were lying down comfortably in the back of the trailer and the trucker had to nudge them to get up and out. He said the mother hadn't wanted to get up the step into the trailer. He had forgotten his ramp elsewhere and hadn't yet retrieved it. They gently stepped off the trailer and went exploring.
They are a mother and daughter. The seller answered my ad on kijiji. Three years ago the seller had purchased the mother and twelve months later, unexpectedly, daughter arrived. He had names for them but they do not respond to their names. So, after some deliberation we decided to call the mother Sheba and the daughter Henrietta.
Henrietta has a kind of me-first attitude, which is desirable in a guardian llama. Consider an overly assertive Greeter at Walmart.
Sheba is shy and stand-offish and tends to stay with the sheep. A bucket of grain however gets Sheba's immediate attention!
My original intention was to purchase ten pregnant sheep due to lamb in April. This would be a gentle way to awaken my memory on sheep care. Across the next few years I'll grow my flock to twenty-five to thirty ewes. At any rate, on kijiji there was an ad listing thirteen commercial ewes and a ram. I emailed to say I had been looking for about ten ewes but am not ready to house a ram. He suggested I take the ten, then, but I said I'd take all thirteen and he agreed to find a home for the ram.
The trucker had sold about nine of the sheep to the seller about two years ago, and these were now four years of age. The four additional ewes were born last year from the older ewes. The older nine are Dorset, Rideau Arcott and Canadian Arcott. The younger ones were sired by a Suffolk, therefore three have a dark face. The ram they have been bred to is an Arcott mix and was a fine looking specimen.
Before yesterday the ewes had never seen a llama. So, they are a little apprehensive around these long legged and tall woollies.
In addition, Beau dog is adjusting to these creatures out there. They aren't going away. He keeps barking and we keep telling him not to do so. And then I go in the field and tell him to 'stay out' and he doesn't get that. We're all adjusting.
So, on their first night, I made the decision to lock the ewes inside and put the llamas outside. The llamas had been inside most of the day and the ewes were too timid to stay near them in that confined space. A little bribery was involved. I haven't yet purchased grain but my morning gruel was handy so oatmeal it was.
We could see the llamas from the house, laying down under the light we had left on. I was greeted by a snow covered landscape this morning. Everyone had had a good night and morning hay munching was on, with looks of yearning for more of that oatmeal!
Keep it coming Kell
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