August 2008 President's Letter
By John Maddy
Aug 15, 2008, 07:15
August 2008 President’s Letter
Dear Fellow KLAA Members,
Where has the summer gone? It is already the middle of August and it seems the summer just started a few days ago. I am not sure how your weather has been this year but I will say, ours has been about as perfect of a summer for llamas that we could ask for. We have had decent, timely rains all summer, which have kept the pastures green and our temperatures have been quite mild. As a matter of fact, over the past several weeks the highs have been in the mid 80’s here at Country View Llamas.
I would like to thank all the volunteers, and especially Donna Keith for taking care of the Kentucky State Fair booth this year. We were not able to participate because we have a female llama, according to our records, who is over 100 days past her delivery due date and we refuse to both be gone from the farm more than an hour or so at a time. Her last cria was a difficult birth and this time, with her going over so long, we are getting, and as a matter of fact, have been EXTREMELY concerned about her. Our vet has been here twice in the past 45 days to check on her and he tells us that everything seems to be FINE and that inducing labor on a llama is not a wise thing to do. This was also the advice of a llama vet from Ohio State. So, here we are, held hostages of our own farm, day after day, going to the barn nearly every hour to check on Dream. I know most people will say that going over her due date this far is IMPOSSIBLE. However, we keep very good records on our llamas and our last breeding date and pregnancy check tell us the facts. And, she has never been re-exposed or even in a pen next to a male since she was last bred on 05/12/2007. She has gained 70 pounds in the past 4 months and we see a lot of activity going on so we know the baby is still ALIVE and KICKING. We keep hoping and praying that TODAY is the DAY but so far that day has not arrived.
We look forward to hosting the September 6, 2008 KLAA Meeting at our farm. Our business meeting is scheduled to start at 11:00 am, potluck lunch at 12:00 noon, and our meeting will continue for another hour after lunch. Please note: Meat and soft drinks will be provided by KLAA. Mary Jo Miller is, once again, gracious enough to conduct a clinic after the meeting. If you have anything particular that you would like Mary Jo to demonstrate or explain, please let her know ASAP. Marvel and I will be giving a short demonstration on the preliminaries of cart driving.
This will be a very important KLAA meeting, as we will be discussing the 2008 NAILE Show as well as possibilities for the 2009 Kentuckiana Show. Please contact any member that lives close to you and invite them to the meeting. Car pooling will be a GREAT IDEA considering the price of gas. Yesterday, Regular gas at the new Love’s Truck Stop, at our exit, 55, just off I-71 was $3.53 per gallon. You may want to consider filling up there.
Bring a friend and your favorite dish and enjoy the day of food, education and socializing. For directions to our farm, CLICK HERE
Sincerely,
John Maddy
2008 KLAA President