We have added two more stock animals to the Daramalan property, Zeno and Zing the alpacas. Both are wethers and born in April and March 2004 respectively so they don't qualify as adolescents (Tuis) but are adult males (Machos) and their life expectancy is 15 - 20 years. Zeno is medium fawn and Zing is light brown. Really they are very similar in colour so not sure what the alpaca colour charts (whites, silvers, browns, greys and blacks) mean. They are already about one metre at the shoulder and weigh 50 plus kilos. Hope they are as easy to handle at shearing time!
They seem to be settling in well and because they have pads not hooves they will do very little damage to the pastures and should thrive on the grass, clover and forage crop mix. Alpacas are one of 4 South American 'camel' species and they are hardy, intelligent and gregarious animals with strong herd instincts. They have an innate dislike of dogs and foxes and hence their inclusion at Daramalan.
Males and females are very protective of young animals, will bond with the grazing sheep flocks and have great eyesight over kilometres of distance. If threatened they will sound a piercing alarm cry and if required attack a predator with their front hooves. They are an essential and environmentally friendly part of our flock management practices at lambing time. We are confident that Zing and Zeno will improve our lambing percentage to make the 2010 drop a fantastic season. Just to be safe this year though we have reluctantly laid 33 fox baits on the southern and eastern boundaries.
Adios!
Adios!
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