New Baby reindeer to my herd

BoHoKaren You made my day with the Lexi's kicking tummy. With all the sad stuff going on with the virus this should give
us a ray of hope for new life all around. Prays going up for HOPE .
happycallie

 

Thanks for the baby reindeer post. Made my day.

 

BORIS update today. He lost his first antler.
Boy was he miffed, he immediately ran to Elsa, went on his back legs to show he still had dominance and then he did the same to Gandalf.
Loosing antlers to Boris, is losing face.
He then spent the next half hour walking round with his head on one side looking very miserable.

Stay safe all our virtual friends. scary times. xx

 

Poor big baby... He does look a little lopsided. I wonder if that will keep him from raiding the store room?

 

Bless him, he looks as though he is telling you not to make fun of him

 

Thank you for all the pics and up dates! Lexie's calf seems to be a very active calf and it will be fun to see what color it will be!
So very glad you have some food sorted for now, and praying this will all get better world wide very soon!
It must feel really weird to your reindeer to lose one antler and have all that weight now on just one side!
Take care everybody!

 

Here is Boris without his antlers.
It's a natural part of the reindeer year but he has dropped in his status overnight (antlers go and so the king is dethroned). From bossing the entire boys to being bossed by them.
Whoever has the biggest antlers is head of the herd and Boris HATES being the underdog. Poor Boris.
You can see the new "velvet" growing under where his antlers were, so it won't be long before his new antlers blossom.



I have an udder watch post to share too but I will have to await a reply on this one to add.

 

Those pictures are cute! The first one makes it look like Boris is wearing a velvet beret on one side of his head.

 

Poor Boris, this is "pay back" from the other males. Looking forward to Udder watch also!

 

Just a hint, as Katya and Mischa will stand beautifully while I lay between their back legs for photos but this girl isn't keen but I am pretty certain she'll be the first AND not many days away!
Whose udder?
This girl does not appreciate standing still for intimate photos so it isn't the best photo to show how well it is actually developed but she is my guess for the first to calf and I am convinced within the next 7-10 days.
Eeek, have to get "shepherding hut" sorted pretty quickly as spider have taken up residence and leisure battery charged (as it's dodgy), water tank steralised and that's just for me living in maternity paddock without preparations for the newborns...
Exciting times, stay tuned

 

Lol Karen you sure are a brave woman! Thanks for the pictures!

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to send all the photos! Boris stories are always a favorite with me; poor boy being taken down a notch. Blessings as you rush about getting all prepared. Excited to hear of the first baby's arrival!
My guess on the udder - Elsa.

 

Poor Boris, tell the other boys not to boss him around he is still "King"

 

It's Lexi's udder. I'm pretty sure she will be first this year but I may be wrong as some girls still have a lot of Winter coat hiding their udder.
Katya doesn't seem close yet, which is causing me an issue as she had to change rutting paddocks as she kept escaping from Gandalf. If calf before mid May then Gandalf's, if after then Frodo's... Mid May I will need to either castrate or sell if female as I can't guarantee father unless I DNA.

 

Boris is "King" in my eyes too, Lilaclady. "King of Comedy"!!!
I wish you the very best of luck with your impending birthdays, Karen!! Hugs and Kisses to all your critters...

 

Why does knowing the father of Katya's calf matter so much?

 

Rivak, if Katya's calf is female, then if I didn't know who her father is then I would need to rehome her of keep her away from either bull to ensure no in breeding in the future - it would be a 50/50 gamble. If male then again I would have to remove from breeding programme as again I couldn't guarantee who related to..
A tricky one as Katya has lovely easy calves. I just hope I can easily tell by date delivered.

 

Ahhhhhh, possible inbreeding never occurred to me. In that case I hope you can figure it out and keep the baby!

 

Just as Kentucky thoroughbred owners keep extensive breeding books which show lineage back to Man-of-War so does Karen with her reindeer herd. She also knows lineage of her fellow herders reindeer so as to keep diversity in genetics. It's not like she has hundreds of herds to work with and there is the ban on importing reindeer in effect.

Karen is an amazing and dedicated reindeer owner!

 

Well thank you dafodily, your kind words brought a tear to my eye.

Pookie and I couldn't organise an Easter Egg Hunt, so the next best thing was an antler hunt. Still 7 more to drop and 3 small ones I can't find yet.

If someone doesn't mind commenting I have a lovely video of the herd once I upload to Youtube which for me brings a smile.