Spring Time on the Farm

It has been the strangest spring with record breaking highs and a lot of rain.  We are happy to have spring here, but wonder what this weather will do for us in future.  Putting those thoughts aside we are enjoying the beautiful days.  We have limed, fertilized, aerated, and seeded three pastures and now we have two more to go, but they will have to wait until we can move the alpacas off them.  We are now seeing the green . . . yes, the beautiful tender green!  The alpacas are going to be so happy when we can move them onto these beautiful, rich pastures.
We have shearing coming up on April 6.  We are working getting ready for the event.  For some reason the herd has found all the leaves, sticks and general junk they can roll in.  I guess they don't understand how much time it takes me to clean their fleeces.
Halter training is in full swing.  Dancing Paws was led up on the deck and visited with Annie our indoor cat.  There is not a lot of leading done in the winter, so spring is a great time to get everyone back into walking with us.  Alexi, the cria, is doing exceptional in this area.  He is a delight.  The two weanlings are a bit more hesitant, but two are doing pretty well on the lead.

Alexi seemed to have discovered the joy of loping yesterday after the chute was opened after being closed for several weeks.  I truly think loping is a dance of joy.

Eddie looking out.

Maverick caught in the bucket.

What a beautiful day on the farm.  A nice breeze and a day in the 70's, what more can one ask for.  I just want to soak in the warmth and the sunshine.  Rich picked up a van full of straw so we placed bails where we have some major erosion problems in the pastures.  Erosion is such a problem for small farmers.  We use the straw to slow down the run-off.  Once we get a gully washer we are really going to have a problem if we do not have a plan in action.  The alpacas love to kush next to the hay, in fact the cats love to lay right nest to the hay.

As you can see, Alexi and J Arbuckle have been playing.  Alexi has now learned to lope.  They are so much fun to watch.

Seeing Green!

I am so excited that the 3.5+" of rain this past week have us seeing GREEN in our brown pastures!  I really hate the brown of drought!  Though there is a lot of mud and still a great deal of brown we are seeing some Green.  This, of course is very good for the alpacas, as they have been eating a lot of hay and they will get plenty of that once Winter sets in.  Lots of wet weather means more beans in the barn  but more grateful alpacas.  Chores took a bit longer this morning.


I have been noticing Frederica shaking her head often, so yesterday I used some Q-tips to explore what was going on inside her ears and discovered a lot of dust.  This morning I flushed her ears with warm water.  I hope that does the trick.  So far it looks good.


I am a bit worried about J Arbuckle, he seems so depressed.  He hates being away from Priscilla more than being separated from his dam, Bess.  If I can get him out of the nursing mode I can put them back together until spring. Weaning is such a slow process and I personally think a beautiful animal can have its fiber ruined if it is not handled right.  What is right for the dam is not always right for the cria.  Bess is doing better being separated  during the day.   Perhaps I should give some thought to separating Freja and Priscilla for part of the day.  


As I was feeding the big boys in the shed, because of the misty rain, I discovered Illapa would not go inside to eat the grain.  I need to be sure he has a dish of grain outside under the over hang.  I think this explains why he is always wet when there is water.  Oh, my this is like have the kids back at the house.

Tomorrow I am teaching spinning to a new student.  It is always exciting to open up the world of spinning to a new student.  I am so excited.  I wish you could all join us in the Fiber Cottage!


Alpaca Lady 

Rain!

I was so happy for the rain.  I loved hearing the rain hitting the roof when I awoke.  It was exciting to hear the rain giving  the farm a drink, however it meant I was going to have a wet trip to the barn.  I was shocked to find it was only 37 degrees, burrrr!  The wind was gusting to at least 15 mph.  So, I bundled up and headed to the barn.  For the most part the alpacas were dry and happy, but mostly hungry.  Of course there was a lot of poop in the barn.  I noticed the cria was going outside to use the poop pile.  That certainly explained why he was wet.  I always have a towel in the barn, so I dried him off and put his cria coat on.  I don't normally put a coat on a wet cria, but I felt I had dried him fairly well and I knew he would continue to run out in the rain to use the poop pile.  This afternoon I will throw his coat into the dryer and warm it up before the evening sets in.
I thought about not separating Bess and J. Arbuckle, but I looked at Bess and how skinny she has become and knew that even with a rainy day it was important to continue separating them.  Sometimes you just have to push yourself into do the right thing.
I am back in the house, nice and warm in front of the fireplace.  Ah . . . I did make it through the first really nasty morning.  

Weaning, the slow process!

Weaning is such a slow process, ugh, just when you think you are getting ahead the dam is anxious to nurse, or the alpacas do not cooperate when they are being separated and you are in a hurry to get some place.  Many breeders just separate them and that is the end of it, but I believe it is critical to do it right and the process must be at the pace both the cria and dam can handle.  I nursed 4 babies and I can tell you that each of the babies had different needs.  In fact I had different needs with each of the babies.  So, it is my own experience I draw on when it comes to weaning.  I want my cria to grow up secure and confident.  I want the dams to feel it is the right time and be ready for the nursing to end.  It seems even more important when the dam is not re-bred shortly after delivery.
For now, J Arbuckle is with his dam from night feeding until morning feeding.  That way he is next to his dam in the dark.  I think a couple more days of this and we will not let them together at the evening feeding, but rather when I am just about ready to hit the sack myself.