Danny Has Another New Roommate

It's been interesting on the ranch, as always. Calving has started and some of our mares are starting to have babies. Unfortunately, one mare had difficulties and was unable to care for her colt on her own. So, Danny has another roommate. The picture is Danny and his new roommate, which we call Bucky. Sandy is still in there, just too short to be in the picture. Bucky is a Thoroughbred colt and is actually quite tall for his age.

Danny is showing signs of jealousy when we stop to play with Bucky. Danny HAS to be involved and will push his way in to also be petted and played with. So this is probably a good thing in his development as we are able to provide some guidance to Danny on what is appropriate behaviour in a herd. Probably very similar to what his mother would have done.

But the two of them together look very cute playing. Bucky is still unsteady on his feet and I think that Danny takes advantage of that by literally circling around him sometimes. But it is good for both of them to have someone else to be with. Because of how big they are getting they are spending more and more time out of their pen during the day. They are allowed to wander around the arena area and they are starting to explore the grounds. Although they generally like to follow people around. Bucky will whicker and Danny will grunt their greetings whenever they hear a favourite voice. It does mean that we have put off putting Danny with one of the Llama/Alpaca herds for awhile so that Bucky will have someone. We'll see how it goes!

Turning Into Our Little Man

It's been a big few weeks for Danny as he has gone from really being a baby into being a little man. Learning how to live with Sandy was a real turning point for him. Sandy weaned herself off the bottle first. And then around the third week of April, Danny started drinking less and less from a bottle and finally one day he took a gulp, swished it around, and let it dribble out to the ground. We tried again the next day to feed him his bottle but he wanted nothing to do with it. So now he is on hay and grain and water full time. They grow up so soon!

He is also trying to be more dominant. When he is walking around the yard he wants to be first and now Sandy is following him around. They are inseparable and Sandy keeps a close eye on him - keeping him out of travel and showing him how to traverse around the yard.

Finally, pics of Danny playing!

It's been a long time coming, but Danny and Sandy were finally playing around when I had my camera with me.

In both these pictures Danny is doing his best to push Sandy around. The one to the left where Danny look kind of weird shaped is because he is snaking his neck over Sandy - kind of like a big C. This is a typical Llama move when they are playing (or fighting or . . . ) in that they swing their heads from side to side and kind of weave them around.

The picture below is Danny trying to push Sandy around. She had already had her turn trying to head butt him and now he is doing his best to push her over. When she head butts him it's into his side because of the size difference. When he pushes her he does it with his chest because his neck and head are taller. He does a little scissor kick leap as well when they are playing that is just adorable.

We finally had a spot of nice weather and the birds are migrating. The Killdeer, Mountain Bluebird and a few additional varieties of woodpeckers are back. As well, our family of Sandhill Cranes arrived just before the weekend! They will be here until September as they nest and live in our back fields. Oh, and the Pelicans are working their way north - they left the Okanagan last week and should be here sometime in the next week or two. We are on their migratory route which makes for great birding - along with the Trumpeter Swans. Our lakes are slow in melting this year because it continues to be cold, so any open water is full of American Coots, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon, even some Long-billed Curlew. As you can tell I am part of the local birding group - I just love migratory season. Although I don't do much more than keep track of what's on the ranch I do go and see what's arriving at other ranches and lakes.

Danny and Sandy Playtime

One of the many interesting things about watching Danny and Sandy play together is the difference in playing styles. Sheep and Llamas have very different ideas of what playtime is. When we watch the different herds playing out in the fields we can really get an idea of what each breed does for fun. And watching Danny and Sandy play is like watching two species trying to communicate.

Sandy, being a sheep, has a much more aggressive play style. Danny will put his head down and she will think he wants to play at head butting, which is a great sheep play - similar to rough-housing. So Sandy will butt him in the head, and then he looks very affronted as Llamas don't do that. Sandy will try to butt him in the side, in the neck - pretty much anywhere to get him going.

Sheep also are climbers and frequently when we go see the sheep the babies are sleeping or laying on top of their mothers. The moms will be laying down and the babies will just literally walk all over them. The funny thing is that we have seen the baby sheep do it with Rosey as well, the adult llama that is in the maternity ward right now. Anyway, Sandy tries to do it with Danny as well. So he will be laying or sitting down and she will try and climb on top of him, or she will stand beside him and lay across his back with her front feet.

It's very funny watching to see all the antics that Sandy gets up to with Danny. Danny being a llama prefers to keep his playtime to doing twisty things with his neck and Sandy's neck isn't long enough. And he prefers running and jumping. In the herd you will frequently see the babies running together and leaping and kicking up their heels - not a lot of physical contact.

So Danny and Sandy are learning to play together - or at least to put up with each other when the other wants to play.

Name Chosen for Roommate

At long last we have chosen a name for Danny's roommate. She is a half Dorset and half Dorpor ewe lamb. And the winning name is . . . Sandy!

Yes, we've gone the route of movie names. As Danny was named after Danny Zuco, the character played by John Travolta in the move Grease (we felt they had similar eyelashes), we have named the ewe lamb after his love interest in the move - Sandy.

So now it is Danny and Sandy!

Spring is in the air!

Of course, it was snowing yesterday (just flurries) but today is a beautiful day. I had a great time in Chilliwack. Met some really nice people. The weather was horrible, but we were dry inside. As promised I took down a lot of our own ranch products and I was pretty happy with the variety that we had available.
When I got back I had a great time visiting with all the animals. Baby sheep are doing great, we have started calving, so we had half a dozen calves while I was gone, even one of the rabbits had babies. I had a great time playing with Danny. He really is becoming such an individual. We are going to move him and his roommate into a larger stall beside Rosie. After we had finished playing (unfortunately I can't play and take photos at the same time!) and I put him back in his stall - he was soooo hungry! He just started chowing down! Anyway, I snapped a couple shots of him with his head completely buried in his hay and then when he came up for air he had hay sticking all over him - completely adorable!

Going Away for a Few Days

Just to let everyone know that I will be away for a few days. I am going to Chilliwack to participate in the Chilliwack Outdoor Decor and Garden Show, on from March 28-30 at the Chilliwack Heritage Park. The Park is located at Exit #116, Highway 1 - just look for the big red barns at 44140 Luckakuck Way.

I hope to have a great time and I am taking down lots of our Llama, Alpaca and Sheep products to sell, so I hope it's a buying audience.

Hope to see you there!