Lily Is Here!

Well Lily arrived safe and sound this afternoon. We picked her up and brought her home without issue. She does not like to walk on a lead, but we will work on that.

She is settling in well. Kiwi is indifferent to her, all he cares about is food! Ebony is more put off by Lily right now and has been spitting at her a bit. But Ebony and Kiwi are used to living as a group of 2, so its an adjustment.

They are all doing pretty well when out in the big field - lots of space. Its when they are in close quarters that they quarrel a bit. They look really nice together.


Off for a little run!

They are loving the tender grass that is starting to grow! Lily has never seen horses before and was/is a little worried about them, but the llamas are not in with the horses now, so she can get used to them without having to be around them.

The lady that I bought Lily from is very nice - I 9otld her about breeding Ebony and how I did not think she was pregnant and she said she would bring her stud llama over in may and let him breed both Ebony and Lily so they can both have babies next year!! That will work great - then the girls will not be stressed by trailering and hopefully they will both get pregnant and havinf lovely babies. Or maybe Ebony is pregnant....I guess only time will tell.

Lily observing her new surroundings. She is such a pretty girl. The llamas are all scheduled to be shearing in a couple of weeks - that should be interesting!

Spring!

Well Kiwi and Ebony have been anxious to get out to the back pastures. They are tired of being cooped up for the winter and wanted some space to run around. The ground is still too soft to let the horses out be we have allowed the llamas to go out the back and have some fun.

This is Lilly. She is our newest addition and we will be picking her up on Sunday. She is a gorgeous white llama with very soft fibre. She will look very nice with Kiwi and Ebony, as they are both very dark and Lilly is very light.

Here is Kiwi taking a walk out in the back pastures...you can see the grass is starting to come up and the trees are looking green. I love spring...not all the mud (thanks horses!) but the new life, both animal and plant, the new colours and the warmer weather.

I am not certian, but I do not think Ebony is pregnant anymore. I think she probably absorbed the pregnancy a long time ago. She is not big looking, has no milk and is past her due date. I think we should have been seeing something by now. Will still keep our fingers crossed that there is a little one hiding in there somewhere.

Look Who's Home!

Ebony is home!!! She arrived Sunday from the Stud farm. She is pregnant and now all we have to do is wait unti l next April for her little baby to be born....that won't be hard at all....NOT. I am excited that she is pregnant and happy to have her back home.

Kiwi and I were taking a walk around the house and yard a few days ago before ebony got back. He seemed to really enjoy getting out and seeing things and of course he loves posing for the camera!!

Tia got a little frisky and decided to chase Kiwi.

This is one smart llama!!! He wanted the grass on the other side of the fence...lol we all know that story!....and so he simply laid down and stuck his head under! I had to laugh when I walked upon this scene!

Back together again! Here is a picture I took just an hour ago, its been one day since Ebony came home and she seemed a little nervous....because remember we moved while she was gone so she has never been to this farm before....so I let them out onto some nice pasture, it is the summer pasture and we are still waiting for some fencing before we let the horses out but I thought I would let Kiwi and Ebony out for a little while so have some nice grass. Welcome home Ebony! We missed you!

Ebony & Ebon

Meet Ebon! He is Ebony's boyfriend! They just met so Ebony is trying to check out her new digs for the next 2 weeks.

He is a stud, so he wants to breed, but she wants none of that right now! We took Ebony out to the stud farm today after she had been sheared. It seemed like a good time to do it...then she does not have to move all around, when we pick her up she will be going straight to the new farm.

Kiwi is a little sad I think. He is not used to living without his little sis. Thankfully he is not totally alone, he is with the horses and he knows them well as he has lived with them for a year now. But I think he will be very happy when Ebony comes back.

Yes that is Ebnoy jumping over some logs. They are not very high, she is going into the adjoining pasture area. She certianly can jump though, when I took her off the trailer she jumped right at me and almost landed on me! Thanfully I moved out of the way fast!

Ebony is in a private field with Ebon, but she is checking out the other females over the fence and making friends. In about a year, next April, Ebony will have a little baby of her own! Baby llamas are only about 15 lbs at birth!! SO CUTE! Ebony will be home in 2 weeks, and until then I don't know who will miss her more...Kiwi or Me??

A Busy Day!

We had quite the busy day today at the farm!!

We are beginning to pack up some of the stuff at the farm because we move on Wednesday. We drove the horse trailer into the field so that we could load one of the round bale feeders and the horses we quite intrigued! They all wanted to know what the trailer was doing in the field, lol.

Kiwi and Ebony were also sheared today. That is Ebony being sheared. She does not like it one bit! She was the fussy one this time. She jumped around a lot. But we got it done and they will appreciate it in the summer!

Kiwi was pretty good. His undercoat is a dark grey colour and he always looks sooooo different after he has been sheared!

As you can see, llamas are actually quite a bit smaller when they have no hair!!! Their hair sure does make them look big, when in reality they are fairly small. Well another year of shearing done and so now I say on with the warm weather!!

Kiwister and Eboneezer

Well the gang was very happy today as they got fresh hay! YAY! They love their hay. They even got along with one another and shared. Aww.

Ebony loves to race around in the snow. Thats the best part! Kiwi and Ebony have been doing really well. They get along fine with the horses and they are thriving on living outside in the fields for the winter rather than in the barn. They love the space to roam around. Kiwi was very ill just after christmas with pneumonia, but we caught it early enough that he has made a full recovery. I just dewormed Kiwi and Ebony yesterday and since their deworming medication requires a needle they are not too happy with me right now....

They are getting along great with Pepsi and she has accepted them too. They love to hang out with the "new" herd members when they arrive. Such curious creatures.

Ebony loves to search for any scraps of grass or other plant goodies that might be buried under the snow.....she is going to have to wait a few more months before she is able to get much of anything out there!

Kiwi and Ebony staying warm and out of the snow and wind in their personal llama lounge.

Llama Games

Kiwi and ebony are very very frisky right now...they love the cooler weather and are having lots of fun wrestling with each other. Before it was always Kiwi picking on Ebony and she would run away but now that she is 3.5 years old she is really getting into the game and at times chases Kiwi!
Kiwi is trying to bite Ebony's legs as she runs by. They both really seem to love these games, they play them a lot, they are both willing participants and the like to chase things or be chased, because they often play a chasing game with Ace too.
Ah the neck grab.

Ebony is really getting into this round of games.

Yep, never make a llama angry! "Take that big brother!"

The Llama Lounge

Kiwi and Ebony are spending the winter out with the horses in the horse field as I have said before. Well we had to build them a shelter becauase the horse one is just not big enough for everyone to fit comfortably...HAHAHAHAHA isn't the little llama shelter so cute next to the giant horse one!?!?! The boards across the horse shelter is to keep the llamas out so they learn to use their own shelter. The horses are not in the field yet.

We added boards across the front, even more since this pic was taken, so that it is too low for the horses to get in. We thought it might be hard to teach the llamas to duck, but they figured it out in no time...."Give us food, we will duck"

Kiwi has no problem using his shelter. Llamas are very clean animals and they pick a spot in the field to use as a communal toilet and never foul up their living space....they shelter will be so claen in the spring...unlike the horse one!

Ebony survey's her surroundings. The llamas are fairly new to this field, they were in it for a few weeks in April but have spent the past 6 months down below.
"Hey where you going? WE WANT MORE CANDY!"

My Fuzzy Guys - Kiwi & Ebony

Name: Kiwi
Nicknames: Kiwister, Keester
Age: 6 years
Breed: Llama
Job: Predator Control

Kiwi is a cool dude. He is very curious, very silly and absolutely adores treats of any kind! He has taken it upon himself to be the herd guardian, a job he takes very seriously. He patrols the perimeter regularily and has chased deer, rabbits, and birds away from the horses. He makes me laugh with his antics. He loves to bug his little sister Ebony and wrestle with her....she does not enjoy it so much.

Name: Ebony
Nickname: Eboneezer
Age: 3 years
Breed: Llama
Job: Head of the Herd

Ebony is quite the girl. She was so very timid when I bought her...it took her 8 months to trust me enough to eat food out of my hands. Now she almost knocks me over if I have treats within 10 feet of her! She has become the ABSOLUTE boss of the entire horse and llama herd, even above the undisputed horse boss Phoenix. Ebony knows how to spit and is not afraid to chase any animal if they do not heed her warnings. The horses keep a healthy distance and if she makes a gurlge in her throat everyone is gone fast! Ebony will be bred next year when she is 4 years old for a 2010 baby.

Kiwi doing one of his regular perimeter fence inspections. Showing little sis how its done!

Kiwi and Ebony love to tower above everyone, photographer included. They are full brother and sister and originate from Paris Ontario.

Snow is life of a llama. Kiwi and Ebony quite enjoy the snow, they stay very warm in their wooley fleece coat. For the past 2 winters they have lived with the sheep in the barn, however this year they are going to spend the winter living with the horses up top in the horse winter pasture. There is a big run in shed built last summer for the horses, and we are at work building another run in shed for the llamas. They all get along, but because the winter field is on the top of a hill with no trees we need to make sure everyone has ample space to get out of the cold and the wind. There will be 2 large heated water tubs and 2 large round bale feeders, stuffed full of yummy hay 24/7. And lets not forget the handfuls of grain these two will recieve on a regular basis. I think the llamas and the horses will all be quite content with their winter living conditions, I know the llamas will enjoy the freedom of living outdoors and doing as they please when they please.

NEVER Provoke A Llama...

Ebony is the most timid llama ever...or she used to be. Then she realized that she can spit. Now who has the power??
Cricket really made Ebony mad.....
So Ebony chased her all the while spitting and frothing at Cricket.
Poor Buck was the next victim. He just edged a little too close....and WHAMO! Spit on by Ebony.
Phoenix is warned.......
And hit with llama spit. Yuck!

The horses have all learned to respect Ebony and give her space.....LOTS of space.