The New Pasture Revisited
I still haven't managed to do much with fiber. The new job is still wearing my down physically, and it's hard to get back on track with everything else when I'm stiff, sore, and exhausted. Still, I don't think I'm as tired today as I was last Wednesday, so I feel like I am making progress. At some point, I'll get the organizational part down so I have time for fiber and blogging.
We've had some problems with the new pasture. About a week after we put Drake and Sindre in the new pasture, we noticed Sindre showing signs of abdominal discomfort. We gave him the camelid equivalent of Pepto-Bismol for a couple days, but he didn't get much better. He was never off his feed, just uncomfortable -- in fact he seemed to eat more when he hurt. We figured maybe he was simply over-eating, so we put him back in the old, overgrazed, pastures. Sure enough, his symptoms went away. He seems to have been suffering from a gluttony stomachache.
So, now we have one pasture with wonderful lush grass growing very fast, and three pastures so eaten down they really don't have any grass at all. Something is wrong with this picture.
The best way to adapt an alpaca to a new and rich pasture is to put the animal on the pasture for only a couple hours per day and gradually increase the time spent on the richer pasture. It's a very simple procedure if you have all the proper gates and corridors connecting all your pastures.
Unfortunately, in our case, the old pasture and the new pasture are not connected.
To put Drake and Sindre in the new pasture for two hours, the procedure is something like this. 1) Herd the two big boys into the catch pen. 2) Put a halter on Sindre. 3) Try to put a halter on Drake. 4) Try to put a halter on Drake. 5) Finally manage to put the halter on Drake. 6) Attach a lead to both halters. 7) Open the catch pen gate and start to lead the alpacas out of the catch pen. 8) Notice that Drake not only isn't moving, he's threatening to spit at Sindre if Sindre moves. 9) Give Drake's lead a good hard tug. 10) Notice that Drake is now following, but Sindre isn't moving because he's scared Drake will spit at him. 11) Notice that Drake stopped because Sindre stopped. 12) Lead the two big boys back into the catch pen and close the gate. 13) Unhook the leads. 14) Go through the catch pen and close the little gate between the shed and the pasture. 15) Herd Drake from the catch pen into the shed. 16) Hook the lead back to Sindre's halter and lead him to the catch pen in the new pasture. 17) Begin to lead Sindre to the new pasture. 18) Realize the dog is out. 19) Put Sindre back in the catch pen and remove the lead from his halter. 20) Walk all the way up to the house and put the dog in her pen. 21) Return to the catch pen and Sindre. 22) Hook the lead back to Sindre's halter again. 23) Lead Sindre uneventfully to the catch pen in the new pasture. 24) Remove Sindre's lead and release him into the new pasture. 25) Return to the catch pen at the old pasture. 26) Herd Drake into the catch pen. 27) Try to attach the lead to Drake's halter. 28) Try to attach the lead to Drake's halter. 29) Attach the lead to Drake's halter. 30) Eventually lead Drake to the new pasture. Remove the halter and turn him into the pasture. 31) Wait two hours. 32) Reverse the process to return the boys to the original.
Yeah. Right. Put them in the new pasture a couple hours per day.
We've had some problems with the new pasture. About a week after we put Drake and Sindre in the new pasture, we noticed Sindre showing signs of abdominal discomfort. We gave him the camelid equivalent of Pepto-Bismol for a couple days, but he didn't get much better. He was never off his feed, just uncomfortable -- in fact he seemed to eat more when he hurt. We figured maybe he was simply over-eating, so we put him back in the old, overgrazed, pastures. Sure enough, his symptoms went away. He seems to have been suffering from a gluttony stomachache.
So, now we have one pasture with wonderful lush grass growing very fast, and three pastures so eaten down they really don't have any grass at all. Something is wrong with this picture.
The best way to adapt an alpaca to a new and rich pasture is to put the animal on the pasture for only a couple hours per day and gradually increase the time spent on the richer pasture. It's a very simple procedure if you have all the proper gates and corridors connecting all your pastures.
Unfortunately, in our case, the old pasture and the new pasture are not connected.
To put Drake and Sindre in the new pasture for two hours, the procedure is something like this. 1) Herd the two big boys into the catch pen. 2) Put a halter on Sindre. 3) Try to put a halter on Drake. 4) Try to put a halter on Drake. 5) Finally manage to put the halter on Drake. 6) Attach a lead to both halters. 7) Open the catch pen gate and start to lead the alpacas out of the catch pen. 8) Notice that Drake not only isn't moving, he's threatening to spit at Sindre if Sindre moves. 9) Give Drake's lead a good hard tug. 10) Notice that Drake is now following, but Sindre isn't moving because he's scared Drake will spit at him. 11) Notice that Drake stopped because Sindre stopped. 12) Lead the two big boys back into the catch pen and close the gate. 13) Unhook the leads. 14) Go through the catch pen and close the little gate between the shed and the pasture. 15) Herd Drake from the catch pen into the shed. 16) Hook the lead back to Sindre's halter and lead him to the catch pen in the new pasture. 17) Begin to lead Sindre to the new pasture. 18) Realize the dog is out. 19) Put Sindre back in the catch pen and remove the lead from his halter. 20) Walk all the way up to the house and put the dog in her pen. 21) Return to the catch pen and Sindre. 22) Hook the lead back to Sindre's halter again. 23) Lead Sindre uneventfully to the catch pen in the new pasture. 24) Remove Sindre's lead and release him into the new pasture. 25) Return to the catch pen at the old pasture. 26) Herd Drake into the catch pen. 27) Try to attach the lead to Drake's halter. 28) Try to attach the lead to Drake's halter. 29) Attach the lead to Drake's halter. 30) Eventually lead Drake to the new pasture. Remove the halter and turn him into the pasture. 31) Wait two hours. 32) Reverse the process to return the boys to the original.
Yeah. Right. Put them in the new pasture a couple hours per day.
posted by Upper Alpacas | 7:55 PM
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