Our Foreign Visitor and the First-born

We had our first cria of the season. He was born yesterday afternoon while I was at work. When I came home at about 9:30 I noticed a group of llamas standing at the top of the hill, all looking northward. They were clustered like they do when there is something far off to be wary of. I went closer and found that the farmer to the north had spraying equipment (big scary hydraulic machines towed behind tractors) and the llamas were concerned because they had a new member of the tribe to protect:


Here he is this morning, being kissed by his mom Star. It was very windy, you can see their fur blowing and the little llama's ears too, since they are very floppy when they're new.

Here are the chicks -- they are now 2 weeks old. They are fledging, and they have little wing feathers, primary feathers that will soon fall out and be replaced by adult feathers. They can fly a little at this stage, mostly to fly up and play queen of the castle on top of the food silos. They also can escape over the wooden box, so I have to be careful to keep the coop door closed so they don't accidentally wander out into the yard. There are many falcons, eagles and hawks flying overhead, just waiting for an opportunity for a chicken snack.

Here's a closeup so you can see how far along she's progressed. See how she's developing a ridge over her beak that will eventually become a comb. She will be a red hen, and you can see some of her feathers are coming in red, though the feathers on her wings are white. They are voracious eaters --in 2 weeks 50 little chicks have eaten 35 lbs of food, plus whatever greensI have given them.

Our foreign visitor the Chukar has remained. He found his way into the chicken pen, and seems to stay there at night. He has become friendly with the hens and rooster, and shares their food and water.

I saw him looking up and snapped a few pictures -- when I looked into the sky I saw an eagle or a hawk, very high up. The little partridge must have long distance eyesight like his predators. His eyes are bright red, and his beak is long and curved. It's a privilege to be able to view him from such close range. I always move slowly and deliberately around my animals, and that helps to keep them tame and calm, and it seems to work with the wild ones too.