Beautiful Girls

Skittles was a complete mystery.  I’ve been trying to work with her.  She gets bratty when I grab her halter, and she kind of tries to avoid me, but she’s not been bad.

Skittles before (by the way, she doesn’t trust my camera so her ears go back as soon as she sees it)

I just had no idea how that would translate into standing tied and letting someone shear her. At least she’s the kind of llama without a lot of fleece on her legs, so that makes it easier.  We decided to start with her in case we had to give her a break.

Skittles tolerated being tied well.

She actually stood really well.  She wasn’t too sure about her legs or right by her face/halter, but overall, she did amazing!

getting sheared

I’m thrilled with her body condition.

Look at all of that fleece!

I cannot believe how different she looks!

Maybeline was, well, Maybeline.  That means a brat.  She decided to lay down and refuse to move.

“You can’t make me.”

The shearer did as much as she could while Maybeline just tried to ignore the whole situation.

Eventually, we had to get her up, and I kind of reached under and started rubbing her belly, which actually made her stand up.  She got finished up and didn’t even look too bad considering the strange method.

Back to munching hay by the fleece she lost.

At least they are both ready for summer weather.

Maybeline and Skittles

My two beautiful girls!

Shearing Day Preparations

Well, Sunday was shearing day.  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.  I know Maybeline can be perfect or a brat. One of my biggest concerns with Maybeline was actually catching her because she’s spent so much time in pasture with the goats or just staying out there at night because the weather has been good for that.

Maybeline on pasture

I might have gone out Saturday evening and called to her.  Luckily, the goats came up to the barnyard and she followed.  Then she went right through the barn to check on Skittles.

Maybeline and Skittles

Okay, she was snacking on the hay she could get from what had blown against Skittles’s fence.

Snax!

While she was doing that, I quickly got the rest of the goats into the barnyard and shut the gate to pasture.  I decided to let them out in the morning after I got Maybeline penned into one section of the barn.

Popcorn, Zinnia, Penelope by the gate, Astra, and Daisy and Zora to the right

To facilitate that, I put a panel across the opening between the first and second sections of the barn.  But you can see there is a fairly big gap.  I don’t think Maybeline could go through there, but I’m not entirely certain.

Heidi in the doorway–see the big gap below the white board on the right hand side.

It also confused some kids.  I had moms and kids separated, but the goats can easily go through that big gap.

Mocha trying to figure things out.

They also have a space they can go through by the cattle tank.  Again, I’m not a hundred percent sure that Maybeline couldn’t squeeze through there.

Sidney where they come through; Cupid and Astra

Of course, Skittles is still in the Morton building and that pen.

Skittles (Maybeline behind) and Bubbles licking the salt/mineral block

I wasn’t feeling like trying the two girls together when I wanted to work with them both in the morning, so separate pens it would be.  I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever actually get Skittles integrated into the general herd.

Skittles

Anyhow. I glanced out the window later in the evening to see Maybeline in the Love Shack pen!  I shut the gate, added some hay, and filled the water bucket. Although, I did leave my other panels/gates in place as a backup.

Maybeline enjoying hay; Zora trying to reach a bite.

She should be good in there as long as the food doesn’t run out.  And the shearing appointment was set for fairly early in the morning.

Tomorrow, I’ll share the results of shearing day!

Llama Drama

Well, Skittles is an interesting mystery.  She likes people. She’s a bit more aloof than when she first got here, but she will still come up to me at the fence, and I can pet her most times.

Skittles

I think she and Maybeline will get along when they are together.

Maybeline checking her out

Maybeline even decided to lay down next to the pen where Skittles is at.  That is a huge trust thing.

bad cell phone picture of Maybeline sleeping

You might have noticed I did not mention her when I talked about moving animals around.  She is still in the Morton building.  I tried introducing a goat.  The first time, Ava came in, and Skittles totally ignored her.  The next day, I brought Casey in.  After a while, she decided to try to stomp him.  Luckily it was in slow motion, and he’s perfectly fine.

Casey looking out the gate from the north paddock

But that means, it’s going to probably be a long slow integration.

She gets to be near the goats in the north paddock and likes to watch the goats when they are up from pasture.

And I really need to get her sheared.  You can see she has a halter on.  That is the first step in getting her sheared.

Her fleece has not been sheared in quite some time (if ever).

Touching her is easy.  Getting the halter on was a bit terrifying for her.  Luckily, I had a friend to help me, and we eventually got the halter on her.  There was some screaming and a little bit of spitting (that was Skittles, not us), but nobody got hurt. And she’s obviously been halter broke and leads fairly well–she’s just a bit out of practice. I don’t know why it was so terrifying for her to have the halter put on.

She is such a pretty girl

We did decide to leave it on.  It just seemed necessary in this instance.  We had to make an adjustment to the halter the next morning, but she was much calmer when we removed it and readjusted it.  That’s the plan–make sure the halter is not scary.

Still lots of times the ears go back; she is still nervous about the whole situation.

She seems to really be eating a lot. And she really likes to stare at my green yard, so I’m trying to be nice and cut buckets of grass for her.

She knows what’s in the bucket.

checking it out

She really likes that.

She does not eat like a lady

I’ll keep working with her and trying to gain her trust and make sure things are not too scary for her.  I can tell she still has some low level anxiety going on most of the time, but I’ve got to get her sheared.

But she does appreciate it!

Once I do that, I’ll have a better idea of what her true body condition is. That’s really hard to tell through all that fleece. I do have someone coming to shear this weekend, so wish us luck!