Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Herd Behaviour

I had a chance to duck out and see Sam this morning. I had to drop Jack off at the boarding kennel and Sam is kind of on the way. He is happy munching all day in his paddock. I have two small sections of hay left so I thought I would share it out with Sam, Ted and Georgie. Firstly I was a little worried about putting hay out as they don't get feed hay but I didn't need to worry. Georgie was the first to greet me so I gave her some then Ted came over and I gave him a small pile about 40m away from her. Sam finally came down and I fed him about 20m behind Ted. I waited around until they had all finished and it was interesting to watch who went where.

The pecking order is Ted, Sam and then Georgie. Georgie was the first to finish and she just walked off and started grazing again away from the others. Sam then finished and made a wide circle around Ted and went to where Georgie had been given hers. He hoovered around there for a bit. Ted finished so came to see what Sam was eating, Sam hen moved to where Ted had been.

It was like a lovely little dance. No ears back from anyone, no rushing. Everyone knew their place and they all moved around gracefully. It was just lovely to see. :o) Tomorrow is the last day I see Sam. I cried this morning. I am so sad :o) It will only be 11 days and I have been away from him longer before I think it is because of the move and I am worried about how he will travel on the truck. I hope he will load quietly for them. I hope he arrives in one peace and doesn't loose too much weight. I hope he doesn't get cold over night. They are predicting gale force winds and a blizzard near Wagga this weekend - what am I taking him too!!!!!!!!! At the moment he is living in a cotton combo and it is really warm during the day and still quite warm at night.

Poor Sam!!!!! :o)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the move - may all go well for you and Sam!

Unknown said...

Hope the move went well for you and Sam! Let us know how you are settling in.