Kangaroo capers!

Elstar

We've separated the weanlings again to finish weaning, after one of them was caught having a sneaky suckle the other day, and her mum seemed happy, but she's supposed to be pregnant so we don't want her being over-stretched - weaning got interrupted after 3 weeks, early in February when the weather became so appalling that we had to get them all sheltered. The suckling was a surprise, as they had been together for over a month with no sign of either bothering their mum.

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In the picture above, they are looking longingly down towards their mums. We have continued halter training, with steady progress, and today Oscar, who is six and-a-half, started preparing as a junior handler, and he and Elstar got on very well together!

Look! I'm a kangaroo! (Golden Delicious - supposed to be pregnant!)

We've started making show entries for this year, and today following an inspection, we thought we may add another to the team.

16th March

We spent saturday at The National Show in Telford, staying overnight on friday - catching up with fellow breeders/friends, as the new season of shows kicks off. As a visitor, it seemed to be an excellent venue, with the hotels, parking and hall in close proximity, a short walk between each. A possible downside being that the exhibitor displays are outside the hall, so cannot quite follow the procedures in the showring. I'm looking forward to seeing the ring results from sunday to fill in what we missed. It's frustrating not to be able to speak for long to many people, as the process of preparing animals for the ring and so on, takes place, but at least better than not being there!

Today was a day to catch up with paddock cleaning, fencing issues, halter-training, some injections and attention to a mite-affected alpaca - a satisfying day, after the winter months - I see that rain is forecast for thursday, and I do believe that a little 'moisture' after the last couple of weeks dry weather will be a good thing, to stop our clayey ground drying too hard, and encourage the new growth of grass.