Friday, May 9, 2008

What a day or Two

The last two days have been so hectic.
Rob and ELyse is still completing this landscaping job. It has been huge, we had two days notice, about 8 days ago, and since then it has rained and rained.
The machine we use cn get bogged very easy on the clay around the building site.
Yesterday we were then told the house was having an open day this Saturday, and the concreters were coming in yesterday and today, which meant we had to have the machine out of the way for the concreters.
THat comes in handy because yesterday the owner decided also that he wants turf and not grass seeds, yesterday, and wants that completed by tonight.
Lucky we were able to purchase enough turf.
In between time, i am running the farm by myself, and the quarantine, which is full on.
WIth over 100 babies born this year, i am constantly making sure each baby is with it's right mother, and that all babies are feeding properly.
Yesterday afternoon, i noticed one baby, running around like a greyhound and playing with the other babies, but did not notice her once with her mum.
Then i noticed although she was running around all over the place, she seemed to be slightly carrying the right back leg, and at times, completely lifting it off the ground whilst she was running.
I decided to observe until i had some help to catch her, as i did not want her to run in a fence or anything, so when ROb and ELyse came home, We all carefully caught her, it was now dark, as it is dark at the moment by 1/4 to 6pm.
I knew this one was approx 2 weeks old, because she had not yet been tagged, and although i still could not see the dam, I needed to know what sex the cria was, and then i knew which dam belongs to her, but it was too dark to go into the paddock and catch the dam.
I ran our Vet, Tim, he is fabulous, and although it was knock off time, he said i could being her down.
ELyse checked it, and carefully felt her joints and bone, and compared it to the good leg, and she said i can not find a reason why she is holding the leg up.
SHe is usually pretty spot on, so i knew it was a job for the vet, we quickly hopped into the car and drove down there, it just seemed to take longer than usual to get to the vets.
Tim met us at the door.
He checked it exactly the same as ELyse did, and he said word for word what ELyse said, so he said to be on the safe side we better X-ray it.
I do not muck around with little crias, i know they can get infections in utero, and it can take a couple of weeks for symptoms to appear.
Luckily there was no real serious problems, but she did have a Greenstick spiral fracture, but the actual membrane of the bone had not broken, and so the fracture was not displaced, Lucky because she is so actuve like a cat on a hot tin roof, she would have definately broken or shattered her leg if left by the morning.
So we had to make up a splint out of Fibreglass bandaging, and splint the leg up.

Quarantine this morning, all alpacas are doing just fine, they are enjoying the lucerne placed out for them all, and just getting on fabulous.
ELyse and ROb back to the job, and when i called in this afternoon, the owner came around, and you could not believe the job they have done out the front, the turf came up beautiful, but the back, well that is another story, although all the garden beds are in place, and looks lovely and the owner loved the plants, but the preparations they had done for the lawn out the back, was mucked up by the concreters, and Rob was told, he could not pass his machine in for 2 weeks, ROb had to say this to the owne, and He kind of understood, Rob said there was nothing he could do, otherwise he would break the concrete.
All went well.
I checked out some of the alpacas this morning, going into winter some of the babies are big enough to come off, but i do not want to wean them just on winter, so have have given most of the mums that needed it, some extra Vit D, WOrm and protexin.
Babies are coming on beautiful.
Last night Elyse gave me my Mothers Day Present, a night at a luxury apartment in the crown towers, in Melbourne, how wonderful, we just have to get there, we have a lady coming up for a bale of hay, around 5pm, another bringin up a weanling that cut herself.
I have not even packed yet and it is now 4.37pm.
I still have to do the quarantine, tonight, feed and clean, and check all babies and mums to make sure they are all ok, as well as the late pregnants, although i checked an hour ago, that does not mean there is not one going to be born.
Although it is getting late, one was born last week at 5pm.
99% of the time they deliver during the day, but although rare, the odd one can be born late evening or furing the night.
So i had beeter be gone, speak to you tomorrow.
Raelene

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Extra Vitamin D? so do you give a straight vitamin D3 shot rather than the ADE?

Had an issue with one of my girls and Elizabeth paul had suggested vitamin d.

vet toldme to get protexin..so u use that in winter?

THanks if u get time to answer
Michelle

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