Life with the llamas itself is about what you'd expect of a medium-sized ranch.
Every morning, I feed my cabin boys Curzon Dax, Frisco, Dusty, Quigley, and Alejandro Jr., or A.J. I then usually join Cathy or Karen, the other 2 workers here, in either weighing the llamas (all the llamas get weighed once a week), feeding the llamas (certain groups get extra hay or grain, depending on the group), or moving llamas around. After that, it all depends upon the will of our boss, Al. Wonderful, brilliant man he is, he always has 20 ideas running through his head, and so we need to keep on our toes as to whats coming next. It may be digging a trench for a new telephone line, helping to chop hay/alfalfa, or the ever necessary shoveling of poop from the pastures and night paddocks. Other steady duties including shearing/trimming up some of the guys with heavier coats, practicing picking up feeds for toenail trimming, getting the young'ns use to wearing saddles again and taking them on short walks, or giving de-wormer medication.
We're in the middle of cria (baby) season. Thus far, we have 6 healthy crias (4 girls, 2 boys). Two of them were delivered following the correction of uterine torsions at Colorado State University Vet School. While normally it's not unusual for maidens (first time mothers) to go a little later than their due date (350 days), we still have about 6(?) mothers who are more than 5 days overdue, which is unusual. As a result, we are constantly taking breaks to take a walk/visually examine all the mamas who are still very preggers. 6 down, 16 more to come! Very exciting times. Llamas generally require very little help with delivery, other than occasional gentle pulling to help expedite the process. They usually deliver standing up, and we always try to be on hand to catch the cria before it hits the ground (!). We then lead mother and baby inside, where we dip the umbilical cord in iodine, use a hairdryer to dry off/warm up the baby, and will guide the baby to the teats if necessary. Crias are born precocial, and are usually up and walking within an hour. By the next day, they are walking with confidence, suckling like a fiend, and running around the pasture. I've been present for most of them, and usually get to do the fun stuff.
I've been a little over a month, and am still working pretty hard on learning all the names of the llamas, and which group they're in, and getting to know them personally. Llamas have pretty strong personalities, and especially on a ranch with as much interaction as this one, they are used to humans and aren't scared, which is nice for a change haha. There are about 180 llamas here on the ranch, broken up into groups of various sizes and designations (Cabin Boys, the Old Girls, Yearling Boys, Fat Boys, Middle Calfshed, Hayshed Girls, etc. etc.) As if there needed to be a further challenge, some of these groups have alternative names (ex. Fencehousee Boys=Old Boys=The Packers) or dishonest names (ex. The Yearling Boys are actually 2 years old now) AND some of these groups are co-ed (the Old Girls have 2 geldings with them). Despite what many of you may think (They're just llamas, how can you tell them apart?) there are differences. Aside from the obvious, such as coat colors, specific markings or the like, you quickly learn to look for more subtle differences, such as neck length, conformation, back length, space between legs, etc. Unfortunately, this is a process that takes quite some time, and it frustrates me to no end to not be as good as the people who have been here for 5 years. It's just the way I am. Not working with everyone every day, and sometimes only seeing a group 1ce a week (like all 40 of the Hayshed Girls) makes this an impressive task.
The weather has been less than ideal, and we are still getting flurries in May. We also have gotten several "blustery days" (aka- 30 mph gusts, 10-15 mph sustained), and have only just hit the high 50's in the past couple days. As a result, we haven't gotten to start conditioning any of the llamas. Just like a human athlete, our boys need to work out and practice carrying stuff before we have them hiking 10 miles carrying camping gear and equipment. When the weather finally allows (shouldn't be long now) we will load them up into a trailer and take them out into the surrounding "deserts," or public land that is flat and covered with sagebrush and not much else around. We will probably start heading out soon, as spring seems to finally be taking over, though snow will still not be totally unexpected. I can't wait to head up into those mountains :-)
Other than that... life on the ranch is pretty mellow. Llamas are generally low maintenance animals, and they pretty much take care of themselves. They have loads of pasture to graze on and have automatic water feeders, so they're generally all-around provided for. I'm having a great time working with them, and have already learned a ton about husbandry and general care (if only I had known when we first got Stooks! *shakes fist*) While sometimes the scooping of poop for hours can be tedious and non-educational, it still is an important facet of maintaining and looking after an animal facility. Therefore, I take every day as it comes, and know that I will have plenty of opportunities to work with and learn about these awesome critters.
That about wraps us my big one month+ updates. I hope all is well with you, and as always am open to letters, emails, comments, or questions. I'll try to put up some new pictures every couple days as they appear, especially with the babies starting to pop out. Take care, and goodnight. You all are missed.
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