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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Poop and More

First, a warm Texas HOWDY to LeAnne Kilman our newest follower. Welcome to WagginTailsRV.

We are busy learning our new morning routine. Dennis and Mattie are our mentors. They have been here for 6 months so their routine is pretty slick. They also know the llamas by name and are keenly aware of their personalities.

There are three barns at the farm, one for the ladies, one for the guys and one reserved for birthing. Currently there are two llamas who are expecting so we will be able to experience a new adventure with baby llamas. The routine begins around 8:00AM. For us that is earlier than what we did last month. The cool of the morning makes 8:00AM workable. We gather at the ladies barn to start the day. Dennis and I get the chuck wagon out and then get the food ready for Sophie and Sugar Bear. Sophie is fed first. Sugar Bear is next. She gets a daily dose of meds that helps her arthritis.
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Mattie and Carol feed the ladies and clean their stall area. While they are doing this, Dennis and I head to the isolation pasture next to the house where the two llamas in waiting graze and a momma llama is being separated from her baby. They feed on the back porch.

Once they are fed, Dennis and I head to the boys barn. First we scoop poop in the barn then prepare the taste morsels of llama chow. Each llama has to be harnessed and secured to their feeding area so the food hogs don't go after someone else's food. While they are harnessed and feeding, we freshen the hay, change the water and bring in the chuck wagon. By this time, the boys are done and are released to roam again.
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Dennis and I then take the chuck wagon on a poop run. Poop is easy to spot because dung beetle mark the poop areas. Keep in mind that the pastures are not flat. In fact they are pretty steep since this is the kind of terrain the llamas like. This means there is more walking than riding. The poop is collected in the back of the chuck wagon.

After Dennis and I finish the guys pasture, we then clean the ladies-in-waiting pasture, the ladies pasture, and then check the back pasture to see if it needs tending. Fortunate for us scooping llama poop is is not difficult. The hard part is walking up and down the pastures. I am sure in a week or two, my legs will be in better shape. The walking will most likely cause me to lose some weight and inches.

Today we also walked the ladies a bit. This gets them accustomed to being led on a harness. We also walked them into and out of their trailer. Again, to make them comfortable with this process. There are two young llamas ready for first shearing.

This morning after feeding, Pam (the owner) did the honors of shearing one of the young llamas. Mattie helped while Carol watched. Dennis and I deliver the scooped poop to a farmer down the road a bit. We drove the chuck wagon down there and dumped it in the designated spot.

We were done with all of this by 10:00AM. The rest of the day would be ours. Breakfast was the next order of business. About an hour later, we were done with breakfast so the next thing on our agenda today was get some rest. What a great way to enjoy the day.

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After nap time, I worked on making a riser for our sewer connection. That was all the work that got done today.

We are just about out of reach for any over the air broadcast so we are researching satellite dish systems for our RV. So if any of our readers have recommendations on getting a portable dish that will pick up HD signals, I welcome your feedback.

I leave you with a couple of cool photos. One is Sophie guarding one of her charges and the other is a proud young llama checking outs the pasture.

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These are certainly beautiful creatures.

Thanks for stopping by.

4 comments:

  1. The dog and the llamas are so beautiful. What an interesting job. Hope you enjoy it. Will you only have to work short times every day or will that change once the other couple leaves?

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  2. Donna,
    2 hours in the AM 5 days per week is required plus about 1 1/2 hours to evenings during the week. Other ours are optional and are paid depending on the work done. We get two days off each week.

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  3. We use the Winegard "Carryout" antenna to receive Dish network HD. It can receive either Dish network or Direct TV but no HD signal from Direct. Easy to set up and no "fiddling" with a portable dish to find a signal. All I need is a clear view of the southern sky to pick up a clear picture.

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  4. We also have the Wineyard Carryout but we have DirecTV. Very easy to set up. Especially for me since Leonard does it.

    Interesting job you have there!

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