New Baby reindeer to my herd

Great video!Fun to see Miss Freya and her Big Antlers! She is smart to be getting in out of the rain and training herself to be in small spaces! Now she is just looking for her treats!

 

The sun shone for a couple of hours today - almost made me hope that Spring is on the way.

Lotte

Boris having a scratch

 

While Lotte and Boris look glorious soaking up the sun, I'm suffering from Hector withdrawel. When you have some time....could you pretty please take a pic of "Mr. Personality" and post??? How is that cuddle bug doing???

 

Brooke, he was in the foreground on Friday's picture and in the next couple of days (maybe tomorrow) I'm going to saw off his antlers so that he can join Boris (and me) again. So I am sure they'll be a before and after photo!

 

Great pictures of Boris and Lotte! I can't believe how green your grass is, where I live if you can see any grass at all it is brown and hay looking, and the rest is covered in snow! I too am going through Hector withdrawals! Oh no, so you might have to saw off Hectors antlers?! I guess he just does not want to part with them! Good luck with that job!

 

I don't know anything about reindeer psychology, but isn't sawing off Hector's antlers a little drastic for his sense of himself and who he is (and has been - Mr. Studly!)?? Won't he go from 'Prince of the pasture' to subservient to Boris??
I understand that he will lose them soon, but still....it's just a thought....He is so 'Princely' with them.

 

Lily, in many ways you are correct but that is one of the reasons that I am doing it, as while Hector is "leader of the herd" he is stressing about keeping his girls together, climbing the fence to try to get to the rest of the reindeer and generally stressing which is causing continued weight loss.

Reindeer are notorious for not being able to gain weight during the winter months (their metabolism) but Hector continues to loose weight and Spring is a way off yet. I have had faecal worm counts done (which were negative) and full blood works which all came back as him being healthy but I can't afford him to loose any more weight.
Boris, being a castrate will not instigate a fight and lowering Hector place in the herd will take the worry leadership off his shoulders and hopefully he will relax more.

Removing antlers at this time of year on young bulls is something that is often done. Older bulls usually drop theirs in December (therefor losing their place in pecking order) and they also have gone into rut carrying far more weight, as the previous summer they haven't had to use calories on growing just packing on the weight. In the wild many young bulls wouldn't survive their second winter, they would also be unlikely to be "in charge" as older bulls would fight them off but this also leads to obvious problems of stab injuries.

Entire male reindeer are always a worry over the rut and winter months.

Hope above tries to explain.
Edit ... and now it's done, he wasn't worried at all about the sawing but he hated the taste of his vitamins!
Before and after photos.


In picture 2 you can see the mud along the fence line which has been created by Hector running up and down trying to get to the rest of the herd (he isn't alone, he has 2 girls with him).

 

This is funny to me, as with his antlers he looks so grown up, but with them gone he looks like baby Hector! He really has lost a lot of weight, I really hope he just starts eating and not worrying about the herd and just relaxes! Thanks for the pictures and great explanation!

 

There's our handsome guy!!!!! He does look a little sad without his splendid horns. He certainly has been busy.....wearing out a path along the fenceline. Thanks so so so much for the photos!!!!!! When will he get to rejoin the herd????

 

Brooke, firstly I will worm and vitamin the two girls that are with Hector but they are my 2 most difficult ones, so it may take tactics. Hubby and I will try by ourselves tomorrow to see if we can catch them up, if not I will give a "shout out" to local reindeer followers to get a few extra bods to help (the rest I have done alone). Also I would like a couple of days for everyone to get used to the change in status (through the fence line) so hopefully there will be less issues.

Already today Ana has had an antler wrestle with Lotte through the fence and Katya (his mother) had a minor head to head with Hector. I am expecting most problems to be between the girls once reintroduced as they will no longer have a strong bull to keep them in line and will want to assert their dominance over each other. Any skirmishes will be minor though - I hope - the only "wildcard" is Elsa, the new girl, who is quite a dominant little lady. We'll see, it might be necessary to remove hers too as I believe she was quite a fighter at her previous home.

On a very positive note Hector really enjoyed getting cuddles again today, something I haven't been able to do (except strokes over fence) since September.

 

Happy boy again, even if he loses status.

 

BohoKaren - I'm sure Hector adored his human-mommy cuddles.....I bet he's missed you terribly. I would definitely de-horn Elsa...since she is a meanie. I wish you & Hubby much luck with deworming and vita shots!!!! I admired your new "squeeze machine".....very creative and sweet! Maybe you could patent it....and make boatloads of $$$$......more money for lichen.

 

Lousy quality video but I thought worth sharing as rarely do you see this much play or catch it on film. (If you are confused by setting I swapped paddocks between the two groups)

Ana and Elsa now also injected and vit and Ana had a manicure too, so I am planning to put the whole herd together on Sunday. The next video maybe of fights.

 

Now I know how Santa gets around the world in one night!

 

Looks as though they are in training for the next reindeer olympics!

 

Well it looks like those vitamins are working just fine! They sure do have a lot of energy! I think I need some of what ever they are on! lol

 

hahaha... beautiful Karen, absolutely breath-taking. Spring must be in the air. It has crept into their step.

 

Do you know who was the fast one with the big antlers who was in the lead in the beginning?? He really left the others behind!!
And then there was a slower one, bringing up the rear??
Love love love your reindeer and videos!!

 

Lily Pink. A little hard to tell as video is dodgy and I was looking at camera during filming. But first out lap Twiglet is in the lead, return Boris but then next out lap Boris trailing. Running close to camera with tongues hanging out (hard to see unless you pause) is Boris and Mischa. They are never at top speed (50 mph) just play speed.

Just a gentle video of Freya to enliven post.

 

Hi BoHoKaren, just an FYI, when I pressed the play arrow it did not play but it said "this video is private" I thought you might like to know. I don't know if it is just me or not!