The faces of country living come in many different shapes, sizes, colors and ages. Of course, every spring, we all fall in love with all of the newborn babies. And, at our farm, we also make special accomodations for our aging animals. We make sure that they have comfortable, quieter areas to live out the rest of their lives. They've added so much to our lives in their dedication to working and training hard for us. They've produced beautiful babies for us, provided us with many hours of fun and funny situations. They've earned this place of honor and respect. One example of this is one of my female llamas, Abbie. I purchased Abbie when she was pregnant. She was not very tame and would not allow me to come very close to her. But, everyday I would stand at the gate and talk to her about how beautiful she was and how beautiful her baby was going to be. I would put a container of food on the ground near me and then call her and stand very still. I wouldn't reach out and touch her even when she would finally come over and eat the food. Day after day I would move the food closer to me and eventually put my hand in the food, so that she would have to eat out of my hand. One day I was finally able to rub her as she ate. Fast forward to birth of new baby Annabelle. Annabelle was born during the day while I was at work. Abbie was waiting at the gate with her new baby for me to see when I got home from work one day. Annabelle was a spunky new baby and really did not want anything to do with me, only her mom (which is really what you want when a baby is born, so that she will be accepted and bond with her herd). Abby trusts me so much that she allows me to trim her by hand, with scissors each spring when llamas need to be sheared to keep them from overheating from the summer heat and humidity. No chute, no halter, she just stands there and patiently allows me to trim her. One really hot day, I was trimming Abbie and as yet had not even touched Annabelle. When I was finished with Abbie, she pushed her baby Annabelle over to me and must have told her that she needed to stay still and let me trim her. Because, she did. I couldn't believe it. I had been concerned about her overheating and was thinking that I was going to have to halter her to trim her. I felt that I had earned Abbie's trust so much so, that she trusted me with her most precious gift, her child. All of my llamas are very tame and they give me such joy everyday! I love to be in the barn with them. Especially when there are new babies. The mama llamas hum to their crias (babies) - it's lovely. They are the most intelligent, gentlest animals that I have ever raised, and, I've raised about every kind of animal there is. Honest gentle acts of kindness go a long way with all living things..........
The faces of country living come in many different shapes, sizes, colors and ages. Of course, every spring, we all fall in love with all of the newborn babies. And, at our farm, we also make special accomodations for our aging animals. We make sure that they have comfortable, quieter areas to live out the rest of their lives. They've added so much to our lives in their dedication to working and training hard for us. They've produced beautiful babies for us, provided us with many hours of fun and funny situations. They've earned this place of honor and respect. One example of this is one of my female llamas, Abbie. I purchased Abbie when she was pregnant. She was not very tame and would not allow me to come very close to her. But, everyday I would stand at the gate and talk to her about how beautiful she was and how beautiful her baby was going to be. I would put a container of food on the ground near me and then call her and stand very still. I wouldn't reach out and touch her even when she would finally come over and eat the food. Day after day I would move the food closer to me and eventually put my hand in the food, so that she would have to eat out of my hand. One day I was finally able to rub her as she ate. Fast forward to birth of new baby Annabelle. Annabelle was born during the day while I was at work. Abbie was waiting at the gate with her new baby for me to see when I got home from work one day. Annabelle was a spunky new baby and really did not want anything to do with me, only her mom (which is really what you want when a baby is born, so that she will be accepted and bond with her herd). Abby trusts me so much that she allows me to trim her by hand, with scissors each spring when llamas need to be sheared to keep them from overheating from the summer heat and humidity. No chute, no halter, she just stands there and patiently allows me to trim her. One really hot day, I was trimming Abbie and as yet had not even touched Annabelle. When I was finished with Abbie, she pushed her baby Annabelle over to me and must have told her that she needed to stay still and let me trim her. Because, she did. I couldn't believe it. I had been concerned about her overheating and was thinking that I was going to have to halter her to trim her. I felt that I had earned Abbie's trust so much so, that she trusted me with her most precious gift, her child. All of my llamas are very tame and they give me such joy everyday! I love to be in the barn with them. Especially when there are new babies. The mama llamas hum to their crias (babies) - it's lovely. They are the most intelligent, gentlest animals that I have ever raised, and, I've raised about every kind of animal there is. Honest gentle acts of kindness go a long way with all living things..........
