Update on Lena

Well Lena did all the right things after Django was introduced to her for the third time in early August. Poor old Django went into her field with high hopes fuelled by his two previous experiences with her, but she was having nothing of it this time and refused his advances in no uncertain way. She's now spending lots of time sitting in her shelter and eating good quality hay with a feeding supplemment every now and then. We're not absolutely certain she's pregnant but we're sufficiently confident to be thinking of changing our annual holiday (only one week away a year for us!) to make sure we're around should the happy occasion materialise. Here she is hiding behind Satchmo, her half-brother. We'll keep you posted!

Godfrey & Jean in the sun!

It seems like a distant memory now but we actually had some nice weather quite late in the year, as you can see from Godfrey & Jean's trek in October. We meant to update the blog sooner but we've been so busy with Beastly Science, the llamas and everything else we do that we never got round to it. Now we're working off the Christmas excesses (including hosting the village and musicians' party) we thought it about time we did. This was yet another great trek, with Django enjoying being led by Jean, who was very kindly letting him munch away on the superior-quality Chatsworth grass more often than he usually does! Jelly Roll, as usual, was very happy to bring up the rear. If ever there was a hippy reincarnated as a llama, then it's definitely Jelly Roll. Thanks too, Godfrey, for the offer of help on the book - it's all done and due out in May!

The young ones!

Another great day out in Chatsworth last week, with Mark, Rebecca, Harry and Grace. We usually take extra leads along when there are children on the trek so they can help lead a llama, but Harry and Grace showed great style as they forged ahead with Django and Jelly Roll. Here they are, demonstrating the perfect way to hold the lead and leaving the llamas in no doubt who's the boss!

Django performs!

This was the moment we'd been waiting patiently for, when we introduced Django, our stud male, to Lena, our potential mum. They'd not been in the same field since before winter and had both been unsure what to do before then, so we didn't know what to expect. They both behaved impeccably though, a textbook mating, with Lena playing hard to get for a few minutes before giving in to Django's charms. Llamas mate with the female sitting down, as you can see here, and the gestation period is just under a year, hence waiting until now to get them together. If we'd done it earlier there was a chance the baby would have been born in winter but, carefully managed, our first baby (cria) will be born in milder weather. Keep reading the blog for updates!

Grooming time

The llamas are looking really good now, after their shearing experience last year. It's important for us to keep them well-groomed, otherwise the fibre can get matted and full of hay and other debris. They do generally enjoy being brushed as we do it very calmly and it's another chance for them to be around humans, which they equally enjoy. Here's Bix, smiling for the camera as he's being brushed!

Beastly Science!

We've just launched our latest venture, taking our fabulous collection of smaller animals to schools, parties and other events. There's a serious science side to it but an equally big fun side too, as you can see by checking out our Beastly website. It's been designed by the talented Tim, the man behind our brilliant llama site. We think the new site is equally stylish - what do you think?

Spring has sprung

There's a lovely feel to the weather at the moment and snow seems a distant memory! Our llamas have already been out and about at Chatsworth and the signs are that we're going to be busy as folk begin to explore different things to do in this beautiful part of the world.
Here's a picture taken as we were preparing for another outing - perhaps we have divine backing!

Happy New Year!

A Happy New Year to all our customers, past, present and future! Gift vouchers proved a real hit this year and we're looking forward to meeting those of you who received the present with a difference. The llamas did really well during the extreme weather of late but are really pleased to be back grazing, although they do love Pete's fabulous hay! We'll be out and about again very soon so keep your eye out for the llamamobile and trailer and don't forget - gift vouchers are for life, not just for Christmas!
Special thanks to Tim, our fabulous designer (see the links page), for reasons that will become obvious! Keep watching the blog...