Coinkidinkally, I have been washing yak tail fiber this morning in preparation of sending it off with a shipment of assorted fibers to Pixar.
Speaking of which, do you have any unique animal fibers from your workplace that you might want to include? Pixar wants to add to their fiber library--no pelts please, just fiber shorn or plucked (gently) from living animals--and I'll be sending out a box of goodies to them right after the new year. The fibers don't need to be washed (I'll take care of that, as I have the set-up to do it) but they should be somewhat cohesive rather than a tangled mess.
I noticed on the Web site, it says that the balls are "resistant, but not impervious" to scratches and gouges. How often does the zoo have to buy replacement balls? I see the larger ones aren't exactly cheap! Is there a "ball replacement fund"?
I would guess "hardly ever," but I use cardboard to enrich my animals. Skunks is easier to enrich than rhinos. From reading other keepers' testimony, bears can damage boomer balls, and probably tigers too.
We have ones our old jaguars pretty much tore the crap out of. They're good for educational purposes, to show just how strong their claws and jaws are. Our current jags don't do quite the same damage to them, but they still scratch them up pretty good. They're also not allowed the smaller ones that the old guys tore up - only the bigger stronger ones these days. :)
I'd put it in her food dish over her grain so she'd have to move it around to get the grain. Since it's out of her bowl, I'll consider her successfully enriched! :)
I'd put it in her food dish over her grain so she'd have to move it around to get the grain.
Interesting. We do that with our llamas to keep them from bolting their grain, which is a common problem with llamas and alpacas called "choke". Would you do it for the yak for the same reason, or strictly for enrichment?
No, just for enrichment. We've never had that problem with our llamas, as far as I know. I don't know if this is why or not, but we feed them in tubs that clip over the edge of the half-doors of their stalls, so they're eating at a higher level, not off the ground. Like I said, I have no idea if this would help or not, but I thought I'd throw it out there. :)
I love llamas, and alpacas are the cutest things EVER!! We don't have them here, though.
we feed them in tubs that clip over the edge of the half-doors of their stalls, so they're eating at a higher level, not off the ground.
Yeah, our feeders are not on the ground but at about 48 inches up. It's more of a greedy eater problem rather than a location issue. Switching our feeding program to crimped whole grains (rather than pelleted feeds) helped, and putting a heavy fist-sized ball in each feeder to slow them down also made a difference.
Do you feed them separately or all at once? We have six, and always separate them to feed them. I'm told they will fight over food otherwise, and I don't know if this was one of the issues they had too, or not. Since I started here, we've been separating them. Again, don't know if this would help or is feasible - just trying to impart the little llama knowledge I have! :) One of ours (the old gal) gets a high-fiber feed plus grain, and the others just get grain.
Do you feed them separately or all at once? We have six, and always separate them to feed them.
Right now, we've only got two so they are fed in the same area but with separate feed bins. With six, you're wise to give 'em some space from each other.
One of ours (the old gal) gets a high-fiber feed plus grain, and the others just get grain.
Most non-breeding llamas don't need ANY grain, except as a light supplement during the super-cold snaps; camelids have such efficient rumen that they really only need hay, grass, and minerals for the greater portion of the year. There are an awful lot of overweight llamas out there, according to Dr. Steve Purdy (our east-coast camelid specialist) and an awful lot of llamas that are seriously mineral defficient, particularly in selenium, which our North American soils do not have in abundance unlike the llamas' and alpacas' native soils.
Earlier this year, we had to put down a 23-year-old llama who was very near and dear to our hearts. He'd been rescued at age 10 from an abuse situation and was with us for 13 years. Bry was on a grass and pelleted-grain diet all those years, because his teeth had been smashed by his first owner so he couldn't eat hay. As Bry entered his extreme senior years (20+), we did put him on a higher-protein pelleted horse diet to keep the weight on him. With extreme age, high protein intake rather than high fiber intake is usually more important.
We also found that Bry needed an iron supplement above and beyond anything he'd get in his pelleted feeds. With a senior camelid, it's important to have at least once-yearly full blood analysis to find out what's going on.
Are you supplementing with a camelid-formulated dry, loose mineral mix?
Coya, our old girl, gets iron supplement, and they all get a mineral mix, too. Ours seem to be doing well overall, even sweet old Coya with her half-underbite! :) One of the keepers once called her ugly - did she get hell for that! :)
sweet old Coya with her half-underbite! :) One of the keepers once called her ugly - did she get hell for that!
I'm glad the keeper was "enlightened" by the others. Our old Bry was disfigured about the mouth, too, and I used it as an opportunity to explain about animal abuse when folks would see him and react negatively to his facial appearance.
It sounds like Coya is in a good place for an old llama to be.
Yeah, she can't always go out in the cold with the others, but we let her stay in her stall with her daughter, Xena a lot. If you're ever in the area, come visit them!
we let her stay in her stall with her daughter, Xena a lot.
Do you blanket Coya? We found that to be very effective for Bry, particularly as he was a Ccara llama. I made a blanket for Bry for $15 ($5 for the old Coleman polyfill sleeping bag from the Goodwill, $10 for strapping, velcro, and buckle closures from JoAnn Fabrics) that was fabulous. It's a great design that someone on the camelid listservs came up with years ago especially for the senior animals.
Kodiak is a Lanuda type, and Kimchi is a Tapada type, so they generally are unblanketed unless we shear early and get a late spring cold snap.
For more on llama types: http://www.llamas.co.uk/Pages/llama%20types.htm
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-12-16 03:52 pm (UTC)Yak with Red Ball in Snow.
Date: 2005-12-16 04:31 pm (UTC)Coinkidinkally, I have been washing yak tail fiber this morning in preparation of sending it off with a shipment of assorted fibers to Pixar.
Speaking of which, do you have any unique animal fibers from your workplace that you might want to include? Pixar wants to add to their fiber library--no pelts please, just fiber shorn or plucked (gently) from living animals--and I'll be sending out a box of goodies to them right after the new year. The fibers don't need to be washed (I'll take care of that, as I have the set-up to do it) but they should be somewhat cohesive rather than a tangled mess.
Let me know.
Re: Yak with Red Ball in Snow.
Date: 2005-12-17 05:28 am (UTC)Re: Yak with Red Ball in Snow.
Date: 2005-12-17 01:44 pm (UTC)Depends. What's a glidder? And does the glidder fiber naturally shed or is it shorn?
Yak!
Date: 2005-12-16 04:32 pm (UTC)Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-16 04:58 pm (UTC)Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-16 04:59 pm (UTC)Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-16 06:05 pm (UTC)I noticed on the Web site, it says that the balls are "resistant, but not impervious" to scratches and gouges. How often does the zoo have to buy replacement balls? I see the larger ones aren't exactly cheap! Is there a "ball replacement fund"?
Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-16 10:01 pm (UTC)Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-17 01:05 am (UTC)Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-16 05:45 pm (UTC)Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-17 01:43 pm (UTC)Interesting. We do that with our llamas to keep them from bolting their grain, which is a common problem with llamas and alpacas called "choke". Would you do it for the yak for the same reason, or strictly for enrichment?
Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-17 11:28 pm (UTC)I love llamas, and alpacas are the cutest things EVER!! We don't have them here, though.
Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-18 12:43 am (UTC)Yeah, our feeders are not on the ground but at about 48 inches up. It's more of a greedy eater problem rather than a location issue. Switching our feeding program to crimped whole grains (rather than pelleted feeds) helped, and putting a heavy fist-sized ball in each feeder to slow them down also made a difference.
Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-18 12:56 am (UTC)Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-18 01:22 pm (UTC)Right now, we've only got two so they are fed in the same area but with separate feed bins. With six, you're wise to give 'em some space from each other.
Most non-breeding llamas don't need ANY grain, except as a light supplement during the super-cold snaps; camelids have such efficient rumen that they really only need hay, grass, and minerals for the greater portion of the year. There are an awful lot of overweight llamas out there, according to Dr. Steve Purdy (our east-coast camelid specialist) and an awful lot of llamas that are seriously mineral defficient, particularly in selenium, which our North American soils do not have in abundance unlike the llamas' and alpacas' native soils.
Earlier this year, we had to put down a 23-year-old llama who was very near and dear to our hearts. He'd been rescued at age 10 from an abuse situation and was with us for 13 years. Bry was on a grass and pelleted-grain diet all those years, because his teeth had been smashed by his first owner so he couldn't eat hay. As Bry entered his extreme senior years (20+), we did put him on a higher-protein pelleted horse diet to keep the weight on him. With extreme age, high protein intake rather than high fiber intake is usually more important.
We also found that Bry needed an iron supplement above and beyond anything he'd get in his pelleted feeds. With a senior camelid, it's important to have at least once-yearly full blood analysis to find out what's going on.
Are you supplementing with a camelid-formulated dry, loose mineral mix?
Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-18 10:23 pm (UTC)Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-19 01:09 pm (UTC)I'm glad the keeper was "enlightened" by the others. Our old Bry was disfigured about the mouth, too, and I used it as an opportunity to explain about animal abuse when folks would see him and react negatively to his facial appearance.
It sounds like Coya is in a good place for an old llama to be.
Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-19 02:57 pm (UTC)Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-19 03:17 pm (UTC)Do you blanket Coya? We found that to be very effective for Bry, particularly as he was a Ccara llama. I made a blanket for Bry for $15 ($5 for the old Coleman polyfill sleeping bag from the Goodwill, $10 for strapping, velcro, and buckle closures from JoAnn Fabrics) that was fabulous. It's a great design that someone on the camelid listservs came up with years ago especially for the senior animals.
Kodiak is a Lanuda type, and Kimchi is a Tapada type, so they generally are unblanketed unless we shear early and get a late spring cold snap.
For more on llama types:
http://www.llamas.co.uk/Pages/llama%20types.htm
Umm, where is that?
Re: Yak!
Date: 2005-12-19 04:38 pm (UTC)