The alpaca girls and donkey Taco Belle have been with me three weeks. They have been sharing a barn with the retired cows, but they are separated from the cows by gates and walls, and they have had a little quarter acre paddock all to themselves to graze. Unlike goats, the alpaca girls prefer to graze choice grasses and ignore the broad leaf weeds, so their little pasture is getting sparse.
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| Tabitha, who spits at me and Hollywick |
The pasture next to the barn has the barn at the south end and the chicken house at the north end. It's about an acre and a half. It is the last pasture the three retired cows visit each evening on their rotation through their seven acres of pasture and woods. I decided to let the alpacas have the pasture for the morning while I was home and could keep an eye on them. I can shut a gate on the north end of the pasture and the cows can't get in to harm the little guys. I was, however, concerned that a coyote might spot them and try to kill one. Even though Taco Belle is supposed to protect them from predators, I wasn't sure that the little donkey would be up to the task, so I stayed close by working in the yard.
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| Taco Belle, Pixel and on the far right, Eclair |
All the alpacas and the donkey were thrilled with the pasture. They began immediately to graze around the barn area. I decided to let the chickens out onto the pasture as well, since the donkey was on duty. While the animals grazed, I worked in the yard where I could see them. All of a sudden I saw Taco Belle run across the pasture toward the chicken house, stop dead in the middle of the field and then wheel and run back to the alpacas herding them into the cow's side of the barn as she went.
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| Poor Hollywick never takes a good picture! |
The chickens were not saying a word and I looked carefully to see what had spooked Taco Belle. I saw no coyote or raccoon or any other predator type animal -- except my big 20 pound yellow neutered male cat, Tigger. Tigger was sunning himself on top of a manure pile just west of the chicken house. Taco Belle obviously thought Tigger was a threat.
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| Ginger, the adult alpaca, enjoying lush grasses. |
Once Taco Belle had all the alpaca girls in the cow's loafing part of the barn, she suddenly realized there was only one way in an out of the barn from the pasture side and they were trapped. Immediately she herded all the girls out and through the gate and into their side of the barn where they have a backdoor and a front door. I was trilled to wittness Taco Belle in action. She is very serious about her guard duties and I feel much better about the safety of the little herd. Tigger didn't stay on the manure pile much longer and pretty soon he was playing tag in the front yard with Pippi and Little Joe. Cautiously Taco Belle allowed the alpacas back on the pasture.
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Taco Belle on the job
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I continued working in the yard only I'd moved to the other side of the house and did not have a view of the pasture. All of a sudden I heard the chickens sound the alarm. I rounded the side of the house expecting to see a coyote coming through the woods with a chicken in its mouth from all the screaming that was going on, but all I saw around the chicken house were the alpacas and Taco Belle. The chickens were all in their house screaming bloody murder. I decided there must be a raccoon in the house and headed that way on the run. Inside the chicken house, the hens were all running around from room to room cackling and hollering but no raccoon or any other predator was evident. I had to conclude they were afraid of the alpacas who probably look like big, long necked dogs to them. Just about then, something spooked Taco Belle and she herded everyone back to the barn. The chickens immediately stopped their hollering. Never a dull moment!
