Mmmm, hay!

When we bring hay out to the winter pens, it is so exciting. Mary, our younger llama, leaps into the air like a lamb, all four feet off the ground. Here comes the hay! Here comes the hay!

The two ram lambs from last year, brothers, Bill and George, smash heads ceremoniously. Here comes the hay! Smash! Here comes the hay! Smash!

The teenage girls, all Sue’s daughters, are almost always the last pen fed because they are the farthest away. The two youngest, Naomi and Selina, run in circles, scream and shout, and leap into the air. The hay! The hay!

Minx climbs the fence. She doesn’t know if she wants a pet more or the hay. She’s our most social girl, and it’s killing her to be so far away. She can’t see what’s going on, and hates it.

We try to rotate who gets fed first, but sometimes we forget. We put hay and grain in buckets up high for the llamas, and I have to shoo Mary away from Misty’s bucket, or they will start spitting at each other. Man that stuff smells nasty. They’ve never aimed it at us (and they better not try), but wow does feeding time make them fight. Mary is the younger one, and used to getting babied. Misty still lets her do whatever she wants most times, but not when it is hay time. Step away from my bucket!

The Shetland sheep pen (we call them the Shelties) thrive on air. They get fed so much less than the rest of the pens, and always seem to have lots left over. Even though this is Pedro’s breeding group, Leon is clearly in charge. He gets really demanding in the morning, with his deep voice. Where is my damn hay?

Feeding time is so much fun. I call out to everyone with their name as I recognize their voices in the Baaaa chorus. I wonder how many sheep it will be before I stop naming them and recognizing voices. I want to grow slowly, so that I have time to know all these little personalities on our farm.

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