That's what Joel said to me as we walked down to the barn early this morning. "Welcome to the alpaca rodeo." And then he shot me a sideways grin. Yes, that's how we began our mornings yesterday and today. It has been 21 days since we gave all the alpaca their series of shots and now we hope the parasites are dying off. But just to make certain we're getting them all, we had to repeat the whole no-feed-for-12-hours-before/and-4-hours-after-shots routine.
Let me tell you, these guys were not happy to be penned up in their stalls......with no access to the luscious grass growing in the pasture just out of their reach. And no access to the yummy hay sitting in the hay bins deeper inside the barn. We sure hope these shots work as we don't want to lose any more alpaca. But I must warn you, we still have one male and one female that are terribly thin and are probably not going to make it. I guess it all comes down to Survival of the Fittest. Or something like that.
So I started my day by drawing up 14 syringes with the parasite medication. It was easier doing it in the house before going down to the barn....and to be perfectly honest, I was kinda procrastinating on getting started. Hey, some of these animals weigh in just under 200 lbs. I love them, but I also have a healthy respect for them.......they are most definitely much quicker than I am and can be more than a little skittish when approached in a confined area.
Um, yeah. But before any shot could be given, we needed to place first things first. Yes, those shovels needed to be put into service before any chasing of the alpacas began. Think about this......it's much easier to pooper scoop first, thus eliminating some of the, shall we say, slippery element whilst cornering the animals. Get my drift? giggle....I knew you would.
When we walked into the girls side of the barn, they were all lined up and just staring at us. We cracked up. Doesn't that make you laugh, too? I think they knew what was coming. And they do kinda look like the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall to me. Anyway, we got down to business. Joel did a great job capturing them, one by one, and I administered the shots and recorded the info on a pad with a check mark next to each animals name. One group down, another to go.
Yup, here are the boys. They kept staring at their hay feeder just outside of their reach. Poor guys! We repeated the same routine as with the girls. Pooper scoop first, then one by one Joel caught them all and I gave the shots. We both admit to getting a bit of an adrenalin rush and having somewhat weak knees when doing this. But I can't tell you the sense of accomplishment we both felt once we were done. We both looked at each other and said, "We did it!".
Mission accomplished. Each syringe is empty and now we wait to see if the medication works. I sure hope so.
Four hours later we trooped back down to the barn to let the animals out of their enclosures and they all happily ran into their pastures. We refilled their pellets and hay and they spent the rest of the day happily munching and grazing as if nothing at all had happened to them.
As we were leaving the barn, Tigger kept snuggling up to my pants leg and insisted on getting some attention. He does not like it when the alpaca get all the loving, so, I had to stop and play with him for a bit. What a funny cat!
On my way back up to the house, I noticed more and more violets popping up in the grass. Now I know it must be Spring because the violets have started blooming all over the farm. Time to make violet jelly again!
So that was how we started our week after Easter. I hope to spend the rest of the week preparing the potager garden for planting. I almost have all of it cleaned up from the ravages of winter. Next job, weed the strawberry patch. Are you sure you don't want to come and lend a hand?
Signed,
Rodeo Queen and her King
