A is for Ailsa, abscess and anxiety

Ailsa Craig and a mucky Hayley.

Sniff, sniff.

The theme for just now is 'A' - the letter we have chosen as the initial one for our cria names this year.

So we are pleased to announce little Ailsa Craig was born a week ago, a sturdy white cria to Hayley, now mum of FIVE girls in a row! Dad is In the Groove, and baby is shaping up nicely in the fleece department.

We were on the letter 'T' last year but we decided we couldn't think up enough names beginning with U, V. W, X or Y so we skipped right on to the start of the alphabet instead.

Anxiety comes in to it too -- Ailsa was very shaky to start with and was not up and nursing quickly, while Hayley seemed pretty disinterested in her. However, after being penned together for a while, Ailsa latched on and is going like a champ now, running about everyone and generally being a lively, bouncing cria.

Tannara just after shearing.

Big, big worry with Tannera too, our 11-month-old grey girl. We spotted an abscess during shearing, on her jaw, and started her on Nuflor immediately. The vet came and said she thought it had pretty much all drained out but that there was still a hard swelling on the bone.

Unfortunately after a couple of Nuflor shots she seemed to be getting worse, so the vet suggested we swtich to pen C daily shots, which we've done. Tan responded well to that and was on the up... until yesterday....

Gerry got a call from the estate to say she had been spotted lying out panting in full sun. He rushed over and sure enough, she'd managed to get heat exhuastion. The vet was called, and meantime he got Tan into the shade, righted her and put out some cold water for her. She had a huge drink and seemed to perk up a bit. The vet took her temp, which was up a bit, and said she probably did indeed have HE and to keep an eye on her.

Gerry left her in the shade, seeming much better. It was a very hot day for us and she has dark grey fibre, and we think she'd just got stuck in the sun not feeling too well, and then lacked the energy to get up and move to the shade. He also gave her a spray with some cool water.

Poor wee girl, and what a horrible shock for us. Later on, she was much better and had a good hearty feed of alfalfa and more water.

Today the news from the field is that she was up grazing with her sister, Morven. Great to see!

We have been sick with worry about her all week, not helped by the fact that I have been away with the kids for a break near Edinburgh!

Meanwhile, we have six more crias ready to show themselves, so we're still on tenterhooks. Will keep you posted.