Science

Being such a cold winter this year – it makes me really appreciate the few sunny warmer days we’ve had. I especially appreciate the days when I don’t have to chop ice. Not having a barn or fancy facilities with electricity and running water, I have to carry water out to the Boys twice a day – once before I go to work and once again when I get home. It’s not really that horrible of a job, but when you get used to chopping ice every day, things just seem *so* much easier on those days when I don’t have to… that being said, summer is much better when I can just run a hose over and top off the trough 

Depending on the time of day and how cold it is out, I’ll bring out anywhere from four to nine jugs of warm water out. On the really cold days, I just dump everything out of the buckets and give them all warm water instead of just warming up the cold water that was already left in the bucket. I don’t think the Boys really care one way or the other, but it makes me feel better.

 

I had a bit of an experiment running this winter dealing with their water – I was trying to find a way to keep the water from freezing as fast. In one of the forums I frequent, someone had mentioned that they used tires lined with hay to help insulate the buckets for their animals. As it happened, I had two old tires handy, so I thought I’d give it a try. Olliver and Merllin got the insulated bucket, while the rest of the guys didn’t. I was really amazed at the difference in the amount of ice that accumulated in each of the buckets… granted, the uninsulated bucket was up off the ground, which I am sure helped freeze the water a bit quicker, but there was still a really big difference between the two. When the uninsulated bucket had ½ - ¾” of ice on top, the insulated bucket only had 1/8-1/4” – which is quite a difference. Also, the uninsulated bucket would freeze along the bottom and sides while the insulated bucket never froze anywhere except on the top – and we’ve had multiple week-long stretches of temperatures that were in the single digits… I am definitely going to dig up a couple more tires for the Big Boys’ water for next winter.

 

  

 

I love the soft-sided buckets I use – especially for the uninsulated water. When the ice was getting thick along the sides and bottom, it was really easy to break the ice by tapping on the outside. Being rather rubbery, I didn’t have to worry about the bucket cracking in the cold along with the ice.

Who would guess that you could mix llamas and science?

Toes

It’s been a cold winter, but we’ve had it warm up for a day or two here and there.  I’m still surprised to see the Boys sleeping outside when it is so cold out.  Allbus and Olliver are both very good about having their coats being put on and taken off.

 

 

I took advantage of the relatively decent weather we had this past weekend to get everyone’s toenails trimmed. It’s still a little scary because I haven’t done it enough yet where it’s old-hat. They are all great when doing the front legs – it’s the back legs where everyone gets touchy. Mostly l worry about Allbus kicking, which he did - but it was kind of half-hearted, so it wasn’t too scary. Olliver and Merllin were pretty good – Olliver danced around more than Merllin, but I was able to get the job done with them within a reasonable amount of time with minimal drama.

Dalai is funny when it comes to his back feet – when I start touching them, he crosses his legs… kind of like how a little kid does when they have to use the bathroom    But even with crossed legs, I was able to get him done pretty quick.

Indiana was being a brat when I was trying to do his back feet. He’s big and fat and he knows it…  And he knows how to throw his weight around if he wants to. I ended up putting him in my homemade chute. Once he couldn’t throw his weight around, everything went pretty smooth. I used the chute to touch up Merllin’s back feet too – I didn’t think to use the chute when I was trying to get him done.  I think that was the first time I had him in there – he didn’t seem to mind it at all.

I did end up slicing my thumb open – I thought I was being smart by leaving the clippers open in my pocket so that they would be easy to grab once I got a foot in position… unfortunately when I went to grab them, I sliced myself really good – I really didn’t think that they blades were *that* sharp! I saved myself some stitches by using some crazy glue to hold the cut pinched closed and to stop the bleeding – it worked like a charm I need to devise some kind of holster for the clippers so that I can keep them out of the way, but handy when I need to grab them quick…

I feel so much better knowing that they are all trimmed up. I don’t think the Boys appreciate me telling them that they all have pretty feet now