New Baby reindeer to my herd

Would love to have seen the reindeer in the back of the delivery van. They were obviously making sure that all the feed had been delivered!

 

And inspecting the quality!

 

My Big Boy Boris' (castrate, food store raider) antler growth seems very exciting this year. I was worried as he dropped old set of antlers very late but he is making up for it now. Last year his front (bottom) right was only a single prong. It split last week but not only is it splitting again but he has bumps on the underside AND still a few weeks growing time to go...


PS anyone any clue how to do a siggy thingy... I tried but seems I have just got an image icon???

 

Boris's antlers are just beautiful! He has such soft gentle eyes!

 

Baby Lexi (second born) is now moulting out her baby coat and looking pretty dreadful... Her main body is turning grey but she will retain some white facial markings and I think a patch on her rump but time will tell.

 

She looks like someone punched her in the eye!

 

I wish I were that flexible!

 

Caviar, it might be even more scary yet, as the black bit is her new summer coat, if she moults out all around white, then she will always look as if she has a black eye!!!

Willow, keep practising, you'll get there!

 

I think it will be temporary only when she sheds her winter coat. Above the nose her skin appears to be black unlike the pink skin on her nose. Black skin, grey hair, pink skin, white hair. At least that's the way it is in my experience of other animals. Do grey reindeer get "whiter" looking the older they get?

 

Lexi looks like she applied too much eye liner. Maybe the new cat eye stoke at the outer corner would make her look chic?

 

Noelle, I agree, she has dark pigment (Y shaped) on her nose/foreface but also white (pink skin) around her eyes that hasn't moulted yet... Think her head will actually be mostly white but with dark on nose and spots/patches round (unmoulted coat around eyes seems to have pink pigment too) eye but we'll see.

Hector snoozing today, overnight he had managed to scratch just above his eye and on his back... not sure what he had been up to BUT he was a typical male and needed a "magic sponge" poor boy!!!

 

He was working hard to get that last winter hair out! See how tired he is?

 

Wow, no wonder Hector was wanting all those head rubs , look what was growing underneath!
His new antlers are just amazing, and he is just too cute!!

 

Hector's new antlers are fragile at the moment until they stop growing and turn to bone....Then we will need to start talking about manners, head rubbing on mamma!!!
Slight good news, I thought 3 of the 4 babies had developed an abscess from their first inoculation but Thor and Lexi's lumps have gone just Loki with an abscess.. it bursts, I bathe, it seals up and start again. He has just started to moult so the less coat on neck will help.

 

How heavy will Hector's antlers be once they turn to bone?

 

You know, I haven't a clue Birdie (can't answer until he drops them - December ish, depending how much hormones run through his veins) but they won't look quite so impressive once he strips his velvet but I'm still pretty pleased for a 1 year old.

Sorry I haven't got a more recent photo of Hector available but looks as if another of the tines is about to split again. His antlers are cooling off (antlers are warm when growing) so his antler growth has nearly finished and they will be hardening to bone. Once they have hardened he'll strip his velvet, which is the sign that he will be about to go into Rut, & I need to move him to a "safe" paddock (usually a few days "window" before hormone levels raise beyond but once a bull strips I tend to get organised VERY quickly, just in case.. The my Cuddles Bunny will be a lethal weapon for 2 months... oh joy! Hopefully I may be able to Share a video of my lovely boy turning into a Monster from Hell, probably early September. (parents of teenagers may be able to sympathise )

Instead I have the baby boys (Sorry Edit.... it's Mischa and actually Hector behind not Boris but you can't really tell which are his antlers) to enhance the post..

 

I adore this pic...of the baby boys eating face to face!

 

Sorry folks for the lack of posts, been a tricky time here..
Have a "Fruit Loop" not only claiming they her reindeer but giving exact location to their paddocks, which I have always kept secret... She did all this on her business page which reaches in excess of 2,600 mostly locally. I have been on padddock patrol beyond... A friend lost 2 reindeer because of random people feeding them bread.. It is harrowing times..
On a happier note...

Not a serious post at all..

There's a bucket full of water under Hectors nose (for babies) and an auto drinker 4 paces behind... but he likes to fill his nostrils with drips from the tap..... I am still trying to work out why!.. He regularly fills his nostrils after I have filled baby bucket with drips from the tap and then goes into sneezing fits!

 

Fresh, moving water is safer than "standing" water. My cats love to drink from the bathroom faucet even though they have water of their own.

Love the tilt of his head and the view of the new "rack".

Hope that the "fruit loop" doesn't cause you any more problems.