Let the Training Begin

We aren't new to new animals around here. When we first brought Bertie and Bella home, as well as Thor, we had to spend a lot of time out in their yard talking to them, sitting with them and getting them used to us. Now, of course, we walk in to the yard and they come running for attention, but it takes a lot of work to get to that point.

Alpacas in general are more skittish. They take a little longer to come around and trust humans. Ours come for food and hay, but we still have to walk very cautiously and stay quiet when we are in the barn while they are eating. They will eat grain out of the boys' hands though, which is a start. 

So this weekend we started our halter training. We have 2 older boys who have been halter trained previously and 4 younger ones who have been on a halter but aren't completely used to it yet. The goal is to be able to walk into the pasture and walk up to the animal without any resistance, or at the very least be able to corral them into a small space and still have them calm enough to approach.

We only have simple rope halters at the moment, which aren't ideal but will work for training while we order the appropriate type. The halter needs to be high up on the alpacas face, close to the eyes. Having it too far down on the nose is dangerous for the animal as it can compromise the nasal passageway. These rope halters are good on the nose, but pull from under the chin which can make the alpaca uncomfortable. 

We don't have a good corral set up in our pasture, so we use the barn as place to herd them in order to handle them. Atreyu is the biggest and oldest alpaca we own. He is trained well on the halter and lead so he is a good one to take out with the young ones. He isn't quite used to us, so he was unsure of me placing the halter on his head, but calmly allowed Cale to lead him in the yard.

When training a younger alpaca is a good idea to take him out with another who is already trained. They will follow behind and see how the other acts.  Lakin's little black boy, Midnight, has only been led a handful of times but after he got over his initial upset he waked very calmly- enough for Lakin to walk him alone .

Midnight went for a walk with Two Socks. He was rescued by the farm we bought him from and was in pretty bad shape when they brought him home. In the 2 times we visited their farm, he always came up to the boys, which is one of the reasons Rylan chose him. He is by far the most trusting of us, and will eat grain, hay and grass from our hands. He is halter trained but because of his previous treatment, I think he has some issues and he let us know he was unhappy:

We are new alpaca owners and I have never seen an animal fall like this before. He just collapsed. Fell over and refused to get up. He had an obstinate look in his eyes, like our goats sometimes get when they don't get their way. But after some research tonight, apparently this is a common thing for alpacas to do. It's called cushing. And it can happen for a variety of reasons. But I assume in this case it might be the rope halter that he doesn't like combined with his history of mistreatment. So until we get a new one we will only use this halter on Two Socks to hold him near us and get him used to us approaching and touching him. We'll try walking him again once we have the correct halter type.

Blaze is Cale's little brown boy. He was a little less agreeable to being led, but he calmed down quickly and Cale led him on a short walk. We plan on spending time each day working on getting closer to our new animals and earning their trust. Our 2 Suri boys are by far the most skittish and will take the most time to train. One is fairly young and relatively easy to handle if you can get close to him. The other is a bit older- and bucked so much the day we got him that he bloodied his face when he was being unloaded from the trailer. The breeder said he has always been less than trusting of people and has always put up more of a fight than the others. Hopefully with time he will come around to us.

And speaking of the 2 Suri- they are still unnamed. Any ideas?

linked to the Homestead Barn Hop
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Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

Days Go By

I have been thinking about school a lot these days. I actually sat down to write a pro and con list of whether or not to send the boys to school next year. And the thing is....all of my pros are superficial. They are things that could be solved with a little bit of work on my part- getting us out there and around other people more instead of being a homebody all the time. And my con list contains real issues. The real issues that started us on this homeschool journey in the first place. 

Rylan making his first cheese cake

Usually when I hit this spot it is because I am burned out. And while I won't say that I am not- it was different this time. It was more of a wondering of would it benefit us all to take a different path.  But I can't ignore all of the reasons on my con list that tell me that sending them off to public school would be a bad idea. 

Annika. Pouting.

I know myself enough to know that part of my problem is that my confidence is shaken.  I tend to be a self doubter- but years ago I was pretty confident in my ability to educate my kids in a fun, engaging way.  I was full of ideas and could write out an entire unit in a couple nights and put it into action. Now I am not so certain.

Lakin and June

And back even further I was pretty confident in my skills as a mother. I was fun. I could care less about a mess born from creativity. Our systems and schedules all worked. Now I am not so certain.

Snake in the creek

So what is different now?

Picking buttercups

Somewhere along the way I've gotten blocked. Creativity seems less and farther in between. I allow the negative voices in my head override the positive. Anxiety and depression creep back in and wait in the background. And life in general gives roadblocks and detours. Sometimes paths are changed when you least expect it and you don't notice until you are already well on your way.

Cale making pizza for dinner

So now what? Where do I go from here?

Climbing on the table to get a closer look

I  go back to my nature. To plan. To write lists of what I want to change, what I want to do, what I want to teach. I attempt to give up the notion that I have to do everything, right now, by myself.  I ask for help.

From my front porch looking out

And realize that it is okay to use a curriculum written by someone else. And it is okay to alter that curriculum as I see fit. And it is okay to use one written by me.

Kids and Kids

It is okay that we haven't done any actual science work in months, because our lives are so full of "science". It's okay that I have given up on this year- as far as planning units- and anything I come up with in the next couple  months will be used next year.

Annika and Bella

I strive to see the joy and happiness in my life and not let my negative tendencies override them.  To let go of the worry over the future and the present and enjoy my children and my family.

Are you talking to me?

And to simply live. And love. And have fun. 

Fun

One Step at a Time

 You know things around here have seemed to snowball on us. We've been working on one project after another, trying to finish before our deadlines. 

 

My To Do List is a mile long, some what prioritized for what has to be done NOW. This week was a lot. We needed to get the pasture fence complete. Really it should have been done before- but as I have realized, everything I think will be quick to do, takes hours.

We finally got all of our demolished barn taken apart and moved so that the fence could go through where it was piled. I won't say we are done with that, but it is out of the way for now at least. 

The gate was hung, the wires strung, the charger plugged up, and now we have a 4 strand electric fence up and running, and so far it is containing every one nicely.

Johnny and June are growing nicely. Playing all day, out with all the other goats. We lock them up at night with their mama still. One more week and I can start milking her for our use. I've got my pail, my strainer and my jars ready and waiting. Cheese and Yogurt are on the top of the boys' lists of what they want to do with our fresh milk.

This week's deadline came around on Friday afternoon:

We had to move the goats down to their new, finished pasture in time for the arrival of 6 new boys- Alpacas. 

The 2 below are Two-Socks and Midnight.

They are somewhat fearful creatures, but come around when it is feeding time and will eat out of the kids' hands and not run away. We have 4 Huacaya and 2 Suri. 

The light brown one below is Blaze. The other 2, the two Suri, are still yet to be named.

And the big white guy in the back is Atreyu. He's sort of the leader of the pack. 

And now we can relax a bit. We have a couple more things to do with the animals- build a milking stand, build a stall in the shelter for Johnny and June, and put up our portable shelter we brought with us from our old house. All of that has to get done by next Saturday. And then we can switch focus to the garden and get ready to plant my nearly 300 seedlings in the ground.

(Linked to The Homestead Barn Hop)