Aztec, tonight
It's almost shearing time. Our friend Joani is going to come down from Northern Missouri with her nephew to help us. Joanie is the reason we have llamas, she has had them for many years, and is experienced at shearing. It will be Tony's third time, and Inca's second, but she was not good last year, and we expect more of the same this year. Keith is going to construct a catch this weekend so that we can run them in and get bodies sheared, feet trimmed, and medicine down all in one fell swoop.
Here is where I interject and warn any of you thinking of getting llamas to buy BROKE llamas... halter broke.... and used to being led. It will make things much easier for you in the future. I did not know this before I bought. A big llama can be very dangerous, their thighs and legs are built for defense. The pulverized black snake could easily be a dog or a human. We are very careful around them, and while we like them a lot, I don't go amongst them without keeping my eyes moving sideways and frontways, and backways if I could! The day I brought the lemonhead home, I thought Tony was coming over the fence to get him!
Anyway, almost shearing time, and I'll take pictures of the whole process for everyone to see. It will be much nicer for Inca to have her heavy fleece off this summer, and be cooler in the heat.
Do I detect a hint of,"What did I buy here?" No?..Just kidding!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that, once the lambing is over, it`ll be almost time for shearing them again too!!! Where does it end?
Wow~ I didn't know that, Mary Ann! I know what you mean about halter breaking... our sheep are not aggressive like your llamas but they have a heavy "flight" instinct that makes them almost impossible to catch if they think something is up.
ReplyDeleteOur Tups are quite aggressive! Boy can they give you a whack!!
ReplyDeleteDo you do something with the fur?
ReplyDeletelemonhead? did I miss something?