Alone But Together

It's another first for us here at Hilltop Farm but this is not enjoyable. The 'babies' (Cria) have to be weaned off their mothers. For those of you who are unsure what weaning means - it is to accustom (the young of a mammal) to take nourishment other than by suckling. The only way to do this properly seems to be separating the young ones from their mothers so that they are unable to suckle from them. The hardest part of this is hearing them calling to each other. The mothers haven't been without their young in over six months and the babies have always been drinking their mother's milk.

Why don't they just leave them where they are? I hear you ask yourself. That's a question I would have been asking several months ago before I knew the reason behind it. Both mothers are pregnant and due to give birth in June 2017 and they will require a six month period where they can focus on nourishing the baby growing inside them.

We have seven paddocks fenced on a three and a half acre field behind our house, so keeping them apart physically is not a problem. Or so I thought. We separated the adults from their Cria around midday yesterday 27th December and already Bronson (our male Cria) has jumped a three foot fence in the hope of making it up to be with his mother. He would have had another two fences to get over if we hadn't spotted him.

The good news however is that the Cria are running to us each time we go into their paddock. I'm not sure if its just for company or because they think we are going to re-unite them with their mothers. We are having great fun though playing with them. And they also seem to take some enjoyment from it.

I will keep you updated on how it goes.

Regarding the previous Blog, I have sold a hat and four balls of wool and another person is interested in acquiring a number of balls of wool. Someone I know is crocheting an 'Evening Shawl' and another is crocheting a hat for me. When these items are ready I will post photos here on the Blog.

Until then.

Alan.