Summer Breeding 2

Well this weekend we had some more successful spit offs by Cadence and Kiana (finally) Hopefully the trend continues. Only Wyonna still responded so we tried again on sunday. This was expected as last week when breeding Wyonna the process was interupted because we moved Perilli past Icelander which caused to my stress between the two. Note to self...always keep males out of visual range to each other during breeding. Fingers crossed this is successful as we would like to avoid September crias in the future.

How to bath a cat

I am more of a dog person. I don't know a lot about cats. I have however increased my feline knowledge in preparation for taking one of the barn cats, Tab to the vet for a booster shot.

You don't always see a barn cat on the morning you have an appointment for the vet. The evening before the appointed day, I saw Tab in the barn and thought ah ha!

The first thing I have learned is that unlike a dog, you cannot put a cat in a crate for the night. Well actually you can, but you end up with a really messy cat.

The following morning I found Tab was in need of a bath before going for a car ride. The following method worked for me.

1. Wake spouse from his deep sleep to tell him you need help right away.

2. Fill the kitchen sink about half full of quite warm, but not hot water. Assemble shampoo and dry towels.

3. Wrap the cat in an old tea towel.

4. Stand towel wrapped cat in the sink, and have your helper pour warm water over the cat to soak it.

5. Slowly soap the cat, removing the towel as you go. Keep a firm hold on the cat, and don't let her reach out and grab onto anything. This takes four hands to do.

6. While holding the cat, have your helper pour warm, clear water over the cat until it is well rinsed.

7. Let the water out of the sink, while the cat is still standing in it.

8. Wrap the cat in a clean dry towel and dry her as best you can. Keep her warm until she is dry.

Cats take a surprisingly long time to dry.

Hurricane Bill

On Sunday, Nova Scotia was hit by Hurricane Bill. This category one storm passed along the atlantic coast about 75km offshore. Our farm being on the Bay of Fundy side of the province was not subject to as much of the storm as other areas were. We did suffer minor wind damage in that an apple tree was pushed over and some of the roofing panels on the barn have been loosened enough that the next storm will be more than they can handle.

All the alpacas are doing well. We actually bred two of the girls in the morning just as the heavy rains were starting. Future alpaca name could be Bill or Billie if a successful take.

Quiet Week

Been a quiet week at Rocaro Alpacas. We dropped our last WWoofers at the airport on Aug 9 in preparation for relatives to arrive this weekend. I ended up working lots of overtime on my day job which kept the farm activities to a minimum. Harvesting is becoming an almost daily activity for vegatables and blackberries now with green and yellow beans ready, and all the salad products in full production mode. Also got a dozen peaches from our new peach tree.

This week we are also babysitting a border collie (Ziggy) for a friend. With the new dog around Perilli makes a warning call of descending highpitched notes when ever he approaches. Ziggy also has discover manure piles and a skunk so has been getting lots of baths.

Fourth Cria of the Year

Wyonna had her Cria on Friday. A lovely fawn male with a birth weight of 17.2 pounds. Mom and baby are both healthly and doing well. We have decided to name him Andele.

Teenagers finally controlled

I think we have finally stopped the young guys from getting into the females pasture. The final cog was getting the proper gate installed. A little help from the farmer down the road got the job complete. For two days now the boys have not been able to find away through the fencing. Fingers crossed