Shooting the Llama

With antibiotics, that is.  He has conjunctivitis and as much as I was pretending it would be okay for the last 2 days, it was just getting worse.  So we had to corner him so I could give him a shot of oxytetracycline (really, 2 shots, since he had to have 10 ccs and you can't inject 10 ccs in one spot, so you have to give it in two separate injections), and he had to have some terramycin ointment in his eye.

Actually, it went fine, believe it or not.  Well, as fine as wrangling a llama could go.  Nobody was spat upon.

In other news, we are very sad to report that while Tango's three babies are lovely and sweet, we have noticed that two of them were born with a cleft palate.  It does not interfere with their eating, so for now we will just leave them be, but we need to get to the bottom of it. It could be that their bloodlines are too inbred (not really likely, since the parents do share common bloodlines, but they are not too recent), or that the doe ate something poisonous.  I would rather it be the latter, believe it or not.  On the one had, that means that if she ate a poisonous plant, it's likely that ALL the does ate the same thing and may have the same consequences. However, it is a fixable problem.  Though fixing our pastures is no small (or inexpensive) task.

You know, if it's not one thing, it's another.  For now we will just enjoy these sweet, lovely little babies.  We have another doe due tomorrow, and another Wednesday.

Life goes on.

A visit from the wiseman

A very wise man visited yesterday, and left us with three gifts.  We named them Goldie, Frankie & Myrrh!

The vet is a very wise man-- wiser than I am when it comes to pulling out malpresented babies! He was one short in his ultrasound assessment, though, as Tango was supposed to only have twins.  We are thankful for the extra little blessing of Myrrh!

THREE DOES, how lucky can we get?  I say that wise man can come to my farm anytime.  As long as he brings me healthy babies.  And girl babies.

Hallelujah and Amen.

(pictures to come)

Merry Christmas!

We are hoping Santa will bring us some goat babies for Christmas!  Tango is close, and due tomorrow.

I heard this story today, and it's the perfect story to share on Christmas.  I hope that it warms your heart as much as it does mine.  Thinking of all the animals around here, it really hits close to home.  M was also helped very much by a horse named Sonny, and we will forever be indebted to what Sonny did for her.  Enjoy!  A Christmas Story.

I hope your Christmas is as blessed as ours is.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful, hopeful day that you spend with close family and friends. Do something that brings you joy!

Here's a photo from our recent sleigh ride with MK and J, and some other friends. It was the perfect start to our Christmas holiday, as we finished our ride, had some good conversation and good food, and then picked out our Christmas tree. Yes, it was late (later than most folks, but we want to keep our Christmas spirit fresh and not draw out the holiday ad nauseam) but our Charlie Brown tree is perfect.

Spread around some good karma in the next couple of days!

Speedos and Snowmen

Yesterday we went to the feed store and then into our little town. We were dressed in our barn clothes, and kind of smelly. Our little town store did not have what we were looking for, so B suggested that we go into the metro area, to the Beautiful People Section, to their Best Buy.

Me: We can’t go there looking like this! I stink, and I have no makeup on!

B: I don’t give a shit. I’ll go dressed in my freaking Speedo.

Me: Please, Lord, no. They would look at us funny then. Especially since it’s snowing.

I am still scarred by the thought of him walking into the beautiful people store in a Speedo. I’m sure he would look fabulous in a Speedo, but he would be more noticeable than in his stinky barn clothes.

For what it’s worth, we went home and changed, then went to the Beautiful People Section of town. And probably still looked out of place.