New Baby reindeer to my herd

Glad to hear of the weight gain! And very excited to see more photos! I have only seen a few reindeer photos in the past, and nothing as interesting as those you have - up close and personal.

 

Thank you Karen for the photos. So glad to hear Katya is rebounding with her weight.

 

Labmommy... \Wouldn't trade Boris ever (he's my boy) Don't tell Boris BUT he's a castrate now...
His past... at 15 months (as an entire but he should have been a teenager) he stripped his velvet on the 30th July, usually (very) older bulls don't strip (come into mega hormone overdose) until early/mid August. I still haven't seen an adult bull "strip out velvet" so soon... So I whimped and had him castrated as he was my cuddles bunny. The problem with the rut is the more tame your entire Bulls are, then the more dangerous as they aren't frightened of you so will charge/challenge/play but without a full set of armour, even play fights?sparing just can't happen!

 

Oh I see. Have you had the same done to Hector so that he won't breed back with his Mama? Or does that come later?

 

@BoHoKaren , I have just got caught up on recent posts here that I have missed. Loving the pics and vids, please do keep them coming! They really are beautiful looking creatures. What was going on with that one that only had one antler in the last vid you put up? Maybe it's just my tired eyes but it looked like it was in the middle of it's head. Love all the info you give us too, it's very interesting!

 

Hector is too young to be a worry about yet and next year, I think, I am doing a temporary cow swap with my related girls who will be visiting a friends bull calf (who is white) and her related cows will visit Hector.... This way Hector should get one "rut" (and pass his gene's on) and then most probably the snip, unless I reinforced all my fences and go for 2 bulls - depends how brave I feel!!

Fifi - you are absolutely correct, my newest import Ana only has one antler "My Little Unicorn" but it is on the left side not in the middle.

Not a pretty photo but an educational one. This is what I mean by stripping velvet. Entire males (which Boris was at this time) strip their velvet within about an hour once their hormones start to rise. They thrash their heads/antlers in hedges (and I put cut conifers down to assist them). For a very short time they have "dreadlocks" as in this photo before those too are stripped off. Although it looks painful, it isn't but I do warn the neighbours that it is about to happen in case they think the reindeer have gored someone!


Hoping to get my "Rent a Bull" before he strips, as once this happens you only have a couple of days of "friendly reindeer" before Dr Jekyll becomes Mr Hyde!

 

Wow! This reminds me of the phrase "taking the kid gloves off"! He looks like he can do serious hurt!

 

Wow, yet some more interesting stuff I didn't know about reindeer! It does rather funny with his dreads and how amazing that they strip their velvet in just an hour..yikes!!!

 

The girls, castrates and less dominant bulls can take days/weeks to strip velvet... but the macho males gets it done quickly...
Boris as a teenager stripped in a hour and two weeks earlier than most adult bulls... Daren't keep him entire as his hormone levels must have been beyond!!!

 

Took my SIL, BIL and niece into YNP yesterday. It's so warm now that the elk and bison have headed into the high country to escape the heat and bugs. I'm actually happy that we didn't see many as the bull elk should be "stripping" their velvet right now in anticipation of their rut next month. Very interesting to see your bulls with "dreadlocks". Thanks for the pictures and the education on your herd.

 

Thank you for all the photos Reindeers are so beautiful animals. I also like your new avatar BoHoKaren

 

An old photo of Mischa visiting a Hospice and bringing an early Christmas cheer to the residents to whom Christmas was a little too far away - it was published in a newspaper so hope it's okay to share - if not Mods please delete..

I thought I would feel down after a hospice visit but quite the opposite, the joy the reindeer bring to the residents, the smiles on their faces - we now love doing Hospice visits and I am hoping Hector & I will be able to work alone for them (time and training will tell but I think he will work without another reindeer about and just me), as then we could bring the joy of Christmas to more residents, more often.. This visit, Boris was there too but he was with another handler and sneaking into a residents room who was too poorly to come outside, in fact he rested his head on her tummy while she stroked him. A lovely day...

 

Having worked in Social Care myself Karen and also being an animal lover, I think it's wonderful you do that! I can just imagine how much pleasure it brings to some of those people!

 

What a wonderful thing you are doing for those in hospice care! I am sure you will have many blessings returned to you for your kindness to others.

 

Oh Mischa looks so beautiful & regal!!! The story of Boris laying his head on that ladies tummy is too sweet! What you are doing is so wonderful! It must be a lot of work, money and tons of time. I know you must do it out of love of the animals...but also sharing them with others is really heart warming.
Thanks for sharing all of this with us!!!

 

Hey, we aren't Saints... It's only hospice visits that are free, all other visits are charged for to pay for their upkeep for the rest of the year - expensive animals!
Boris helping himself to his idea of a Wedding Breakfast while waiting for wedding guests ad Bride/Groom to join us for photo's

 

BoHoKaren, I just love your pictures of your reindeer,and your kindness in your hospice work! It is nice you can make a little money to help keep these beautiful animals! Thanks for sharing!

 

Feeding time video - and for once they were better behaved (less barging of me). I swear they knew that they were being filmed!

 

Yes, they were all on their best behavior! Who was out in the field just laying down?
I actually found myself saying out loud...hi to Lotte and Hector. I love how they follow you around. I've really become so fond of your reindeer family! Thanks for the new video!

 

Brooke, it's Ana. She always comes in last to feed (she is feeding in the closing shots). She is my most recent "wild import" (January) and the others bully her a bit - hence I feed in 3 locations.. Tame ones follow me from feeder to feeder and that leaves her the first feeding station to herself! She's sussed it... no need to hassle with the tame ones... take an extra snooze, then come in for undisturbed feeding