Llamas and alpacas do not get along.

What a ruckus! We passed the Fall Equinox and someone turned on the wind. Welcome to Fall. And, the animals are being crazy. Llamas jumping fences...

We had our three gelded male llamas separated from the two females, who are in with the goats. We added the male alpaca to the females and the goats. All was good...until Taylor jumped the fence into the male llama yard. She spent the night there just fine, while we tried to figure out what to do, or how we were going to get her back in with the goats without letting them all out. The goats are a little crazy too. They try to shove their way past when you open the gate.

So, we were milking the goats this morning when a real ruckus broke out in the llama barn. Alfonso had jumped the fence, apparently to defend the honor of Taylor, the female llama, and was now fighting the black llama Vader. Luckily, all of them have their fighting teeth removed, but still, the llama probably outweighs the alpaca by a hundred pounds, or more.

Vader and Alfonso

We rushed to break them up, but as I was yelling, clapping and creating my own ruckus, while debating running for a hose to spray them, Richard managed to frighten them enough to get them apart. None of them want to be touched by human hands, and they avoid us to no end (unless they are haltered and tied). He caught Alfonso and tied him up. Thankfully he still had his halter on, which I have been meaning to take off.

We finished milking the goats. Alfonso got loose on the outside of the yard, where he was tied, and he kept running back and forth, humming, mad, because Vader had jumped the fence and was now in the goat yard with Patty, the other female. Richard tied Alfonso to the car.

Meanwhile we let all the goats into the llama barn, got the other two male llamas back out to pasture, and herded the female llama, Taylor, back into the goat yard. Richard fortified the short chain link fence they have been jumping, added two lines of electric tape on top, just a visual, but it should deter them because of the height.

I chased llamas for a while, trying to get Vader corralled. No luck. I enticed him into the chicken yard with a bowl of grain, and we got him back out to the pasture with the other llama boys.

The goats were herded back into their yard and we put Alfonso back in with the girls. Everyone was back to normal, with  the males all talking snotty to each other over the fences.

What a morning. And this afternoon, the wind still blows...

Herd of goats

Good Morning!

A llama and the sunrise.

This morning when I looked out the front door, there was a llama standing about ten feet away. And this was no where near the llama pasture! We had an escapee on our hands. It wasn't the first time our little girl Patty has gotten out, but the first time here at this farm, where we have tried to be so diligent about the fencing. No one wants to chase runaway llamas!

What is it about llamas and hills? Patty found the hills of dirt in our yard and proudly climbed to the top, strutting and posturing for the rest of the llama herd, which thankfully, were all still in their pen.

It didn't take much to get the wandering young llama back in with the rest of the clan. She seemed uncomfortable outside of her space, and I think we were all surprised to see her where she didn't belong.

Richard checked the fences, but there was nothing amiss. I remember when Patty girl was a little llama-ling (a half-grown cria), she climbed between the wires of the electric fence. I think she just wanted to snoop on the other side. The grass is always greener....

So, in with the goats the two llama girls went. Now all the females can share a space for a while, and the llamas will protect the goats since the billy is partitioned off.

Did I mention the rain? It has been raining off and on for two days now, and Richard just finished rain shelters for the goats. Now the llama girls are back in the rain, without a barn again, until we finish the goat section of the big barn. Or are they?

Sharing the space.

While Taylor decided to bunk with the goats, our juvenile delinquent sat out in the rain, perhaps pondering a new escape that might get her back into the barn.

Patty, hanging out at the gate.

I don't recommend just using electric fence for llamas. It has just not worked well for us. Maybe we need more strands of wire, closer together. Maybe the llamas have so much fur, they never feel the shock of the wire. I prefer field fence all the way around, but since we are renting, we are hesitant to put more up, as we intend to take it down when we move from here. Plus, it's expensive!

I am so thankful the rest of the llamas stayed where they belonged, and thankful Patty didn't find one of the many holes in the existing perimeter fence that is falling down around the farm. Lucky day indeed!

Goats

Keepin' the faith....

Milking the goats....

pot o' milk

Richard is making cheese again today. The new goat's production is up after just a couple of days.






I think Fairy Dust is happy to have some female company.

Jewell

The llamas, however, are not thrilled to have been kicked out of their barn.

Llamas, missing their barn

Richard is reworking some fencing so we can use the corral panels to make a pen for the billy goat. The billy continues to head butt the pallets on the llama barn. He tore apart the little pallet goat barn Richard made for him and Fairy. So now, he will live behind the corral panels, with some kind of boards thrown on top so he can get out of the rain. Maybe we can find him a new home before the winter comes. I hope so. Or we may have to build him an Earthbag goat shelter and see how that holds up to his abuse.

Molet and Fairy Dust

I try to remember that Molet is just a goat, albeit a big, horned billy, and he is just acting like a protective billy when he head butts the gate after the girls go to the milking stand. It's his job to take care of them and I guess to harass them too. That's what animals do in a natural setting. Too bad the girls are not so keen on his affections. And so, it is for their sake, that we have decided to re-home the overly amorous billy and to separate him in the mean time. Anyone looking for a Nubian billy goat?