Danny Making Friends

Because Danny is alone we are trying to make sure that he has play time with other animals. Our herd of Llamas and Alpacas is at about 48 right now, well 49 with Danny, and they are separated into three different fields. The females and babies are in one field with a few of our riding horses, the geldings share a field with our flock of sheep and the studs are sharing a field with some of our steers. So we don't really have any llamas or alpacas that are immediately on hand that we could let him associate with.

I know that it probably sounds a little anal - making sure an animal has play time with other animals - but we know from experience that a happy, socialized animal grows up to be a happy, well-adjusted adult. And there is so much that animals learn from being with their mothers and with other animals. So we are trying to ensure that Danny has some similar experiences to draw on.

Like starting to eat hay. Since I don't intend to eat hay to show him how it's done, we make sure he spends time with some of the ewes and their babies. Baby sheep can start to nibble on hay in the first week of life, I've seen them do it when they are 2 days old! Of course, they still drink milk as their primary meal, but they learn what to eat and how to eat from watching mom. Since we have a number of ewes and their babies in the arena right now - easier to make sure the new babies are okay - I figured it would be great for him to spend time with them to learn how to do things.

The baby sheep didn't care - they bounded over and wanted to run and play. I'll try and get some photos to show because it is adorable. But the moms weren't sure what he was all about and they didn't want him around at first. They are gradually warming up to each other. That's okay - it's winter and we have plenty of time.

The other animal that Danny is getting to know is our Dalmation, Spring Fever. Spring is a spayed registered female Dalmation. I love having a Dalmation as a ranch dog because it is so unexpected! Anyway, Danny and Spring spend time together around the ranch. Spring completely tries to mother Danny and watches him to make sure he's not getting into things. Spring could be sitting down and Danny will bound over to her, kicking up his heels, and Spring doesn't bat an eyelash. Just sits there watching him.

In the picture Spring is cleaning Danny off after a bottle. Maybe Spring just likes the taste of the milk! You can see the Danny is already growing taller than Spring. It'll be interesting to see how tall he ends up being.