Hidden Value in an Alpaca
We did toenails on two of our alpacas yesterday. What a difference in the process.
To trim the toenails on the first alpaca, we herded the alpaca into the catch pen, put a halter on, put a lead on the halter, and lead the alpaca to our chute. Once we arrived at the chute, we led the alpaca into the chute, closed the neck bars, and tied the alpaca into the chute. Some farms routinely use a chute for all alpaca chores. We like to avoid using the chute.
Once the alpaca was in the chute, I attempted to lift a rear leg to trim the nails. This prompted the alpaca to spit out a huge gout of nasty green rumen juice which Pam failed to dodge. Then the alpaca cushed (lay down) and tucked all four feet underneath. When I attempted to reach underneath to extract a foot, the alpaca would lean toward that foot burying it deeper underneath. If I tried a different foot at that point, the alpaca would stand up. Eventually, I was able to trim all four feet.
The process took two humans, a chute, and a fair amount of effort. After the process, we still had to lead the now unhappy and somewhat uncooperative alpaca back to the pasture and wash Pam's clothes.
Contrast this with how we clipped Georgia's back toenails yesterday. (We did her front feet last week so only the back ones needed trimming.) Sometime mid-afternoon, Georgia decided to stretch out on her side in the pasture to nap in the sun. Pam went to the shed, got the clippers, walked over to Georgia, knelt by Georgia's back feet, and clipped Georgia's nails. When Georgia looked up to see what was going on, Pam simply spoke quietly to her and Georgia put her head back down. When she was finished clipping, Georgia rolled into a cushed position and nibbled on Pam's cheek.
It was that easy. I wasn't in the pasture. Nobody held Georgia. Nobody was spat upon. No halter was necessary. In fact, Georgia's nap was only slightly disturbed.
An alpaca's value cannot be judged just by fleece or in the show ring. This is the same Georgia who reliably gets pregnant on the first breeding, always has enough milk for her cria, doesn't start manure piles in the shed, and generally does a thousand other little things that make our lives much easier.
Georgia has nice fleece, but it's the little things that give her so much hidden value to us.
To trim the toenails on the first alpaca, we herded the alpaca into the catch pen, put a halter on, put a lead on the halter, and lead the alpaca to our chute. Once we arrived at the chute, we led the alpaca into the chute, closed the neck bars, and tied the alpaca into the chute. Some farms routinely use a chute for all alpaca chores. We like to avoid using the chute.
Once the alpaca was in the chute, I attempted to lift a rear leg to trim the nails. This prompted the alpaca to spit out a huge gout of nasty green rumen juice which Pam failed to dodge. Then the alpaca cushed (lay down) and tucked all four feet underneath. When I attempted to reach underneath to extract a foot, the alpaca would lean toward that foot burying it deeper underneath. If I tried a different foot at that point, the alpaca would stand up. Eventually, I was able to trim all four feet.
The process took two humans, a chute, and a fair amount of effort. After the process, we still had to lead the now unhappy and somewhat uncooperative alpaca back to the pasture and wash Pam's clothes.
Contrast this with how we clipped Georgia's back toenails yesterday. (We did her front feet last week so only the back ones needed trimming.) Sometime mid-afternoon, Georgia decided to stretch out on her side in the pasture to nap in the sun. Pam went to the shed, got the clippers, walked over to Georgia, knelt by Georgia's back feet, and clipped Georgia's nails. When Georgia looked up to see what was going on, Pam simply spoke quietly to her and Georgia put her head back down. When she was finished clipping, Georgia rolled into a cushed position and nibbled on Pam's cheek.
It was that easy. I wasn't in the pasture. Nobody held Georgia. Nobody was spat upon. No halter was necessary. In fact, Georgia's nap was only slightly disturbed.
An alpaca's value cannot be judged just by fleece or in the show ring. This is the same Georgia who reliably gets pregnant on the first breeding, always has enough milk for her cria, doesn't start manure piles in the shed, and generally does a thousand other little things that make our lives much easier.
Georgia has nice fleece, but it's the little things that give her so much hidden value to us.
posted by Upper Alpacas | 8:46 PM
5 Comments:
Good gods, that almost reads like what it's like for me to trim my afghan hound's nails (the first part of your post)! At least one makes your like easier =)
We used to have that problem with our dog, too. Then we learned from the vet's office -- they give her treats after every shot. We were amazed how she behaved for them after about the third visit, so we started giving her a quarter of a dog biscuit after each paw was trimmed. After a year of trimming in this manner, she rolls onto her back when we get out the clippers. I don't know that we'll ever stop her from wiggling too much, but at least she's trying to be cooperative.
I've heard people say that Afghan Hound fur is wonderful to spin. Have you tried any fiber from your dog?
*soft smile* she's a good girl.thank you for sharing. it's fun and heartwarming to read about your alpacas.
My afghan hound is a rescued boy. There's a lot of emotional issues of prior physical abuse that he's still not over, even after his becoming part of my family 8 years ago. (He really needs to be sedated to get his nails trimmed as it's just too stressful on him and by the end of 10 minutes, I'm really stressed about him.)
As for his hair, yes, I've spun some on my first drop spindles, but they were too heavy for his fur. Now that I've a drop spindle for laceweight spinning, I'm going to try it again (and make blend it with silk). His fur actually reminds me of the depigmented yak I spin.
I just helped a girlfriend with her herd of alpacas. She would calmly lead them to the shearing table and once they were stretched out and being sheared, she would do their nails while they were also getting their shots. Inside 15 minutes they were done and back to eating. We found that a little lavender oil under their nostrils keeps them really calm. I enjoyed reading your blog.
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