Christmas Day Ducklings and Boxing Day Feast

Alan and his dog Jerry came to visit for Christmas, unfortunately Jerry (French Bulldog) was not keen on sharing space with Kiki and/or the cats!!

Dan and Freya came for lunch on Boxing Day, so we had a Christmas Feast, Take 2!!!  Scallops cooked on the bbq, 2 types of prawns (tiger and crystal), Moreton Bay Bugs, potato salad and all washed down with some nice cold Veuve :)  Delicious!!

Shake-me-up-Judy's ducklings hatched on Christmas Day.  I  took her and the ducklings that were out to a new safe mumma pen and put the other eggs in the incubator.  Next day I handed her the 4 that hatched overnight which she readily accepted into the brood.  These are Ancona (Bantam) x Call ducklings for the pied program :)

Kiki, the Willy WagTails and more Ducklings!!

There is a nest of Willy WagTails just near the corner of the house, the 3 babies are so big now, they barely fit in the nest.  And the parent birds REALLY hate Kiki being anywhere near the nest!!

Have lots of lovely Ancona X Call ducklings happening, Mums are Saffie and My Pretty.  Saffie is raising 3, but not doing a fab job - she's failed in the past at mothering!!  Mild weather is her best friend at the moment.  I am raising 9!!  The black/white one has to be Pretty's so keen to keep that one :)

The little damaged duckling in the front of this pic is one Saffie let get away while the others were hatching, it took me 12+ hours to find it, and by then the polish had pecked it!!  It died about 8 hours after this pic was taken :(

Blue Mallard with bib and white primaries - so far - wait to see how it grows out!!

Cria Playtime, Kiki and Shearing

The crias in the home paddock have a seemingly endless capacity for play :)  Victor and T Rex.

Victor is such a cutie!

Shearing day has been and gone, an intensely physical and very tiring day for us and the animals, but they are happier today to be without their fleeces - 37.6 degrees here this afternoon.  The belly, leg and chest fleece is discarded… big clean up for me!!  And I have to get used to 'the look' of them all over again… its 'who are you??' every morning!!  LOL!!

I have filled a wheelie bin and 5 feed sacks and still this pen is not tidy!!

Bracken says shearing worried him, not a jot, and he's ready for action - always looking for girls!!

Its lovely to be able to see Alba's big dark eyes, but with so much fleece on his lower legs he looks a bit like a Clydey!!  He was the only alpaca our shearer remarked on - huge fleece!!

Little Casper looks littler still without his fleece - still a darling boy, but maybe he should eat more!!

Fresian, looking round and full :)  Roll on March 14!!

Joeley, in the pink :)…. girl please!

This is Medallion, last year she had a phantom pregnancy… 

And this is MidSummer, Medallion's half sister, they were mated on the same day, to the same male.. pretty sure MidSummer is going to produce a cria - not confident that Medallion is, think she is doing a second successive phantom (since she is spitting off) …not a good way to impress me!!

Myriah's daughter Missy Moo…. shearing showed us that she as a brown spot - mid saddle - if I were a white breeder this would be a bad thing.. but I'm a colour breeder, so this little spot (in combo with dark nose and dark eye liner) makes me very happy :)

New boy,  Morse, now we're able to see how very very spotty he is :)  He's had his first mating for us, and hopefully Michelle will produce another cria next year as a result :)

Namoi, also looking like she's going to give us a cria in March - v happy about that :)

The lovely, and very friendly Nanook :)

Getting in a little r & r after a big brekky, Noisette enjoys a snooze in the sunshine :)

And this is Pearl, also expecting a cria in March, and looking good :)  I am pleased that she is staying in good condition through this pregnancy - loves pellets - that helps!  Fleece stats to the wind, I'll take a little extra meat on her bones at this point!

Pearl's daughter, Phoebe, one of my very favouritest girls, recently mated to Alba :)

Sweet Pea, very much enjoying the role of auntie in the home paddock - photobombed by Bentley!!

Trinket, also looking nicely rotund.  Had to be slightly sedated for shearing!

Vevina, also has a belly full of bubba!  Flat out sleeping….

Until she realised I was there with my camera!!

Always at the front of the treat queue… from the left, Cushla, Myriah and Black Narcissus.

Cria updates, Christmas and Kiki!

After a brekky of muesli, its mostly time for everyone at the mothers club meeting to have a rest in the shade.  Sweet Pea is a ring-in, but she is very much enjoying the role of 'auntie'.

Bentley is growing up very nicely, getting bigger before our very eyes!!  He's doing well in his afternoon training sessions too, and has had a halter on twice now… doesn't like it so much, but its a start!  He's an absolute stunner!!

Taking a dust bath

 The alpaca crias are also doing well, Tiana with T Rex

Vynka with Victor Hugo

Michelle with Bentley - Bentley is into 'tasting' everything, the fence, the food bowls… pretty much everything!!

Skinny enjoying the morning sunshine - its making fab patterns, from the Chrissy decs, on the wall!

Kiki is not keen on a small water bowl from which she can lap some water when she's thirsty… her favourite is a bowl that's big enough to stand in and bite some water!!  And then to finish off, wet footprints all through the house if she can get away with it!!

Not a Rat, and Another Trip to Nowra

Pretty sure this is not a common or garden rat, also pretty sure its not long for this world, not a well 'not a rat'.  Not sure why it climbed the ramp and presented itself at the back door…. perhaps to draw attention to the fact that the 'under house' baiting program is not reaching its target audience :(

Another trip to Nowra on Sunday, quilts to deliver and another nice stay with Shayne and Brad in Cambewarra, always enjoy myself on these trips :)

Lily and Minto - the wonder dogs - were as happy and as welcoming as ever, they do a sterling job of keeping the chooks and ducks safe day and night!

Some of Shayne's Calls for this season, I brought home a lovely little trio, blue silver drake, apricot silver duck and an apricot dusky duck - now settling in, in the main pen :)

Does not show up in this photo, but this duckling is most amazing pale blue violet and yellow in colour, think it might be a 'true' silver :)

Tarquinn is his delightful self, and as enthusiastic as ever about human contact.  He's been shorn recently and I think they've had a bit of fun with that!!  LOL!!