Alpaca Farmgirl

 

This weekend alpaca farms across America will be hosting National Alpaca Farm Days on their alpaca farms. Our farm, Fairhope Alpacas, in beautiful Fairhope, Alabama will be open to the public on Saturday & Sunday, September 24 & 25th both days from 1-5 pm.
To find a farm near you, visit the National Alpaca Farm Days website and check out their farm locator. Go see an alpaca breeder near you this weekend to learn more about these magical creatures!

 

It started out a glorious morning. My beloved herdsire Magnum was coming home from a long breeding engagement in Colorado. Another of our herdsires, Firecracker, was on trailer as well. IN addition there were three other alpacas who belonged to me but that I had never seen in person – Guardian Angel (our Archangel daughter) and her male cria by side, and Foxy Lady who we had gotten in exchange for several of Magnum’s breedings.

I was thrilled with the prospect of hugging Magnum’s neck again and greeting the new arrivals. The transporter was to be here at 8:30 AM. This was the kids’ first morning out of school for the break so we all lingered in bed a little longer than usual.

When I heard the buzzer indicating that the transport trailer had entered our front gate, I flew out the door. Running towards the trailer, I saw Magnum’s head in the back window. I almost wept with joy! I hurriedly greeted Capt. Dick Hegeman of Alpacas In The Forest, who was driving the rig. We exchanged pleasantries and got Magnum off the trailer. Poor alpaca had been traveling for 7 days!

As I walked Magnum into the barn something caught my eye in the first stall on the right. A lifeless brown lump and a placenta.

My heart sunk. Tapioka had had a stillborn. I felt an empty pang in the pit of my stomach. Disappointment flooded through me, “Oh no!” Dick and I both said at the same time. I quickly put Magnum in his pen and rushed to get back to the dismal scene. “It’s stomach looks like it moved a little,” Dick said.

“Really?” I asked disbelieving. I scurried into the pen and picked up the lifeless cria who hung like a limp dishrag in my arms. “She’s really cold,” Dick said. “Do you have a hot tub you can warm her in?” “No, but I have a bathtub,” I said, without thinking.

“Go ahead. I’m empty so I can wait while you see about the cria,” Dick said. “Let me know what I can do to help!”

“Okay!” I hollered over my shoulder as I ran to the house with my little dishrag.”

As I ran, I looked down at the cria. “It’s dead,” I thought. “It’s already dead.” Caught up in the drama I thought I’d try anyway. There was no life in the cria’s eyes. No spark to show me she was with us. I was going on a fool’s errand, but for some reason I was compelled to go...

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Alpacas are ruminants. Their digestive system are different from humans. Their stomach has three compartments, and they chew their cud like cows do. However, cows can exist on low quality forage, while alpacas need higher quality grass and hay.

Alpacas should have access to young, tender pasture grass or good quality hay at all times. Alpaca Nutrition expert, Norm Evans, DVM recommends for alpacas hay or pasture that is 10-14% protein with a TDN of 55-63%. The calcium and phosphorus ratio should be 2:1 or less and the potassium should be 1.75% or less. Orchard grass is ideally suited for alpacas, but other grasses with the above ratios will work as well. Pasture and hay should account for around 80% of the alpacas’ diet.

In the United States many alpaca breeders give their alpacas a supplemental feed. It’s like “alpaca chow”, a dry food specially made for alpacas. You can order alpaca feed from most feed stores, and some brands allow you to have it shipped directly to your farm. Extra vitamins and minerals are also available for alpacas. These are fed as top dressing or offered in a separate dish free choice.
For more information about Alpacas and their care, visit our website. More articles like this one at the Alpaca Farmgirl Blog.

Photo credit: Val Newell of Crown Point Alpacas

 

Farming is a metaphor for life. Everything that happens on a farm – birth, growth, harvest, successes, failures, and eventually death – happens in real life as well.

In most jobs, we expect to have things go well. And when they don’t – we have a bad day. We’re disappointed and hope the next day goes better. The same thing happens on a farm, but in more of a Man vs. Nature format. When things go bad on the farm – let’s face it – they can go really bad.

Mother Nature is the friend and the enemy of the Farmer. She’s like the little Girl with the Curl. When she is good, she is very, very good (Think adorable baby alpacas who come up to you for butterfly kisses). And when she is bad she is horrid (Think Hurricane Katrina).

I am the kind of girl who would rather be at a spa than a camp ground. I actually wish farming weren’t dirty. Yet I am inexorably drawn to the constant in-your-face struggle with nature. We usually win. Life on the farm is peaceful, beautiful, and serene. The joys and rewards that come with farming have no equal in my eyes. Yet there is the darker side. It’s a rollercoaster we must ride. In order to have the highs, we must endure the lows. Do you remember in the Ron Howard movie, Parenthood, when Granny tells them that she likes the rollercoaster?

Me too, Granny. Me too.

This morning, after a 2 hour nap rather than a full nights sleep, I sat, bleary-eyed, feeding our new premature cria, Pippi. Exhausted to the core, I looked outside the barn to see the alpaca herd grazing. Occasionally a cria would jump or run. A light fog was lifting. The grass was so green it jarred my sleep-filled eyes. The sounds of alpacas gently munching on the grass was a song in my heart.

I looked down at the tiny being in my arms, depending on me for everything – her very life. The thought she might not make it brought a tear to my eye. But that is okay. It is who I am. Farmer. Nurturer.

Walt Disney once said that for every laugh there should be a tear.

He would have been a good farmer.

This was originally posted on the Alpaca Farmgirl blog. If you liked this article, you might also like How Can You Eat At a Time Like This?

It started as a friendly competition among online Twitter buddies Kathryn and Lynn. They got to talking about whose fiber was finer (& perhaps better), Lynn’s adorable angora rabbits’ or Kathryn’s beloved alpacas’?

They decided that they would settle the matter once and for all by having an impartial judge, a master spinner, spin a sample of both fibers. Each participant sent a sample to "celebrity judge" Chris, who blogs here) for him to spin. They also sent samples to each other so they could spin the others’ fiber and comment on it. Chris has spun the fiber and knitted a sample square from each. The results will be posted this week on Fiber Arts Friday on the Alpaca Farmgirl Blog.

Read Kathryn’s take on the smackdown here and Lynn’s here. We are awaiting our Celebrity Judge Chris’ results and his account of the Alpaca Bunny Smackdown this Friday. I admit to stalking him contacting him in order to get inside scoop. He’s not talking so bugging him to death asking him about it won’t work.

This week on AlpacaFarmgirl we are celebrating both alpacas and bunnies, the animals and their fiber. We are hearing from both the rabbit camp and the alpaca camp. We’re giving away fiber, yarn and more so check with us each day this week. Tune in Friday for the unveiling of the judges results on the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival, where you can also link your own fiber-related blog posts.

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was a day of easy births, it was a day of dystocias (difficult births), it was a season of tiny babies, it was a epoch for a rather large baby. One cria was up and running around, the other was weak and wouldn’t stop bleeding!

Saturday, May 30 was an eventful day on the farm! It began with a nice farm visit from our friends, Cheryl and Andy Bowen of Humming Star Alpacas. They came by to see their alpacas that are currently boarded here while they get their facility prepared. After enjoying their alpacas, we observed Poquita getting ready to have a cria. The Bowens had yet to see a cria born so this was the perfect opportunity for them to witness an alpaca birth first hand.

As the birth progressed, one leg of Poquita’s cria appeared to be stuck. I tried to get it out, but it was really stuck. The placenta was wrapped around it and wouldn’t let me get it out. So I had to break it. I had really been hoping that it was a membrane that I was popping, rather than the placenta because you are not supposed to break placentas. Unfortunately, it was the placenta. Fortunately, the cria did well from there, mostly coming on out on her own. I did help pull a bit when it was time for the chest cavity to come out. She was a big baby. Poquita was tired at this point, and I wanted that baby out ASAP since I had broken the placenta.

It all turned out beautifully! The cria just about hit the ground running. She was almost 23 lbs. and happy to join the world. By nightfall she was playing with the other cria, giving the older male cria a run for their money. We’ve been calling her Rachel Alexandra, in honor of the incredible filly who won the Preakness last month.

Just as Cheryl and Andy were packing up to go to a lunch date, I looked over at Sonyadore and said, “You know, we may be about to have another one.” Sure enough, about 30 minutes later, (just as I was sitting down to eat my lunch), the Artist calls to me, “She’s having a baby!!!”

I will admit that I did go ahead and eat a few bites of my lunch. It’s not like me to miss a meal. By the time I got out there, the baby was on the ground. Whoosh! Born. No problem being born, but once she was here, the difference between this cria and Rachel Alexandra, born an hour earlier, was staggering. In comparison, this cria was tiny! 12 lbs. and weak as a kitten. The little darling had no get up and go. She was born to a first time dam and just didn’t seem quite ready to be outside in the world.

Her umbilicus began to bleed. I called the vet who advised me to tie it off with waxed dental floss. (the wax would help keep out germs) I did this, not once but 4 or 5 times. And it kept bleeding. Lots. This little gal had me worried with so much blood. (This is the first and only time in 10 years of alpaca breeding that I have ever had to tie a cord. Go figure.) But it finally stopped bleeding. I treated her with an antibiotic and dipped the naval several extra times.

It has been two weeks since these cria were born. Their beginnings were very different. One with an easy trip, one with a leg hung up. One strong as an ox from birth, the other needing a little time to adjust to the world and catch up. Today, Rachel Alexandra is still running around, daring the boys to chase her. She’s big and strong with the ultra long legs of a colt.

I decided to name her counterpart Amity which means friendship. Amity is a social butterfly. She loves to play with other cria and she runs around like she’s at a sock hop! You would never know that she had a rough start if you saw her today. She’s Miss Personality, and her fleece is to die for!

The day they were born, Cheryl and Andy came back over to visit Amity. I loved being able to show them that cria can have very different beginnings, and that sometimes the weaker and/or premature cria just need a little extra time to get with the program. Now there’s no stopping either of these precious darlings!

Alpaca Nation Means Business

We shear the alpacas once a year. Since we do a large number (77 this year), it works best for us to have a professional shearer come in and to do it all in one day. Our shearer is Mark Loffhagen who lives in Colorado. Mark and his team travel around the USA and shear over 7,000 alpacas a year. Each year he brings a “head man”. This year it was Jason from Wisconsin. The head man is Mark’s right hand man and moves the alpaca into the different positions as Mark shears. Jason also trimmed teeth and worked some ropes.

I thought I’d walk you through what happens here at Fairhope Alpacas on shearing day. We start with white animals, then light fawn (pictured above), darker fawns, browns, greys, and blacks are last. This keeps the fleeces from getting contaminated by darker colored fibers.

This year we used a blower to blow all the excess dust off the fleece before we brought the alpacas inside for shearing. We did NOT blow the fleeces that we intend to show as that would disturb the natural architecture of the fleece. However, I want to utilize the rest of my fleeces for my fiber biz this year so I decided to try getting the dust out before we sheared. (We will also process last year’s show fleeces this year.) To begin, the animals are walked in, by color (above).

Our shearer uses ropes to stretch out each alpaca. This restraint keeps the animal still, which helps to prevent them from getting cut during the shearing process. When we started shearing over 50, we began to use two stations. Notice in the background there is another station where another alpaca will be shorn. After the shearer is finished with one alpaca, he can quickly move to the next station to shear another one without having to wait for us to move that one, clean up, and bring him another one. This makes the process run more smoothly and enables us to shear up to 100 alpacas in a day. Though today we only had 77 to do.

The ropes are put above their feet, and the rope man pulls them to the proper amount of tightness so that the animal is comfortable, yet cannot flop around and injure itself. Above is Mac, working the ropes. (Mac is the greatest - be sure to stop by his blog)

Steve snuggles up with Rose Point as she awaits her turn.

While the alpacas are restrained we take care of other herd health measure such as administering any shots that need to be given and we trim the teeth and toenails on those alpacas that need it.

The bags we will be putting the fleeces into are labeled prior to shearing day.  We owe a huge thank-you to Jodi for doing this! Clear plastic bags are preferable, often we purchase shredder bags from an office supply store. Each alpaca has a bag for it’s prime or blanket fleece. This is their best grade of fleece and is what is used for next-to-skin products. Then we have a bag for their seconds, usually neck fiber. It is usually a bit shorter and can be a bit more coarse than the blanket. Last is the thirds which is the belly, lower legs, and the rest of the fibers. This fiber is usually the most coarse and can be used in rugs and other products that don’t have to be very soft.

Each alpaca also has its own ziploc bag where we put a 2" x 2" sample that comes from the mid-side of the blanket fleece. We send this sample to Yocom McColl for testing. The test results will tell us how fine the fiber is, how uniform it is, and how much variation there is in the sample. In the picture above, don’t miss the weeds flowers the kids brought me during shearing. They’re sweeties.
Here Pink Cyclone is being shorn. The lovely ladies in the picture are the fiber crew (left to right: Jodi, Carmie, and Sarah of Sierra Echo Accoyo Alpacas.) They help pick up the fiber as it comes off the animal and put it into bags. Merci Beaucoup!

Then the bags were handed to Mary for weighing. Mary is a wonderful spinner who is always helpful to us on the farm! During many of our Farm Events,  she and Mac can be found conducting spinning demonstrations and even giving spinning lessons. The white bundles on the table (pictured above) are our show fleeces.

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Years ago, I was caring for an adorable, little cria named Bennie. Bennie kept getting sick, and against all odds, he kept getting better. He had pneumonia several times, many IV’s and even TPN (total protein nutrition IV). On 3 different occasions I kissed Bennie goodnight and goodbye, only to return again the next morning to see him alive and well, there. This lead to his nickname, the Energizer Bennie. He kept going, and going, and going, and going,…….

One day the nationally renowned veterinarian (NRV) with whom we were consulting, told me that I needed to do a transfaunation with Bennie. This meant that I was supposed to go and get rumen (stomach juices) from another animal and put them into Bennie’s stomach. Ooookaaay.

So I asked NRV where I was supposed to get this donation rumen. He wasn’t sure. Hmm. Goats were considered. My vet said he wouldn’t work for me anymore if I bought a goat. (No offense goat lovers, just that alpacas and goats aren’t a good mix due to parasite issues.) Then we decided to find out if there were any slaughterhouses around so that maybe we could get some rumen from a cow who had been slaughtered for beef.

I was so proud of my resourcefulness for thinking of this! I had no farming background prior to alpacas. This stuff was seriously foreign to me, WAY outside of my frame of reference. We got alpacas to avoid having to slaughter animals so I wasn’t familiar with where to find a slaughterhouse. Finally I located one about 90 miles away. I called ahead and told them that I needed a cow’s stomach. They said,” Oookaaaay,” like I had asked them for a heart from a Martian.

I had brought a medium sized styrofoam cooler with me in which to transport, the, ahem, rumen. When the nice man lead me into the “kill room”…do not faint, Katy, do not faint… I saw a massive thing on the ground. All around it had been cleaned up. The room smelled strange, of disinfectant plus something eerie, like death. I looked at my cooler. Then I looked at the bovine stomach on the ground. Hmmm. The cow’s gut was about 6 times the size of my cooler. I was at a loss.

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The United Nations designates International Years to draw attention to major issues and to encourage international action to address concerns.  The objectives of the International Year of Natural Fibres 2009 include:

1.    Raising awareness and stimulating demand for natural fibers and improving  the lives of those growing natural fibers.

2.    Encouraging innovations in natural fibers and they way they are used.

3.    Fostering an effective and enduring international partnership among the various natural fibers industries.

4.    Promoting the efficiency and sustainability of all the natural fibers industries.

The UN defines natural fibers as “those renewable fibers from plants or animals which can be easily transformed into a yarn for textiles”.  Since the 1960s, the use of synthetic fibers has increased, and natural fibers have lost a lot of their market share. The main objective of the International Year of Natural Fibers is to raise the profile of these fibers, to emphasize their value to consumers while helping to sustain the incomes of the farmers.

Natural fibers contribute to a greener planet. They are healthful, comfortable, renewable, high-tech, and most importantly, NATURAL.

In a letter to AFCNA members, Dianna Jordan, President of AFCNA (The Alpaca Fiber Co-0p of North America) writes, “These are exciting time for alpaca fiber producers.  The alpaca industry is beginning to experience a shift in focus from strictly breeding and selling to exploring new ways, and expanding existing ways, to grow the fiber industry.  Current economic conditions have shown to be an incentive for many breeders to take a closer look at the fiber end of the business.  There appears to be an increased interest in utilizing fiber production as a means to offset expenses.  More and more alpaca breeders are discovering what AFCNA members already know…the future is in the fiber.”

For more like this visit AlpacaFarmgirl!

 

No, I’m not breeding for blindness.  lol. However, I have three wonderful alpacas with eye problems. Read My Home for the Blind - Part I (SiSi)

Beloved

This story begins with a wonderful fawn herdsire named Tre. After we had been breeding alpacas for a few years, we realized that we needed to beef up the density of our herd. (this means we needed our alpacas to have more fiber) We searched for a male who could help us with this goal, and we found an incredible one named Tre.

Tre was gorgeous and very laid back. He went to lots of shows. He would lumber into the showring, half-asleep with an attitude reminiscent of Eeyore. “I’m here. Thanks for noticing.” Never the flashiest guy in his class, but judges usually remarked that Tre had the best fleece in the class.  He was often the bridesmaid with a multitude of 2nd place ribbons.

On the farm, Tre quickly became our favorite alpaca. He was so handsome, and so easy-going that my young children could walk him around and enjoy him. With his great personality and textbook perfect fleece, we expected to have Tre for years and years to come.

Then he injured his leg…We imagine that he was playing with the other boys when he tore his ACL. The injury seemed to bother him while breeding so we opted to have it surgically repaired. In hindsight, this may have been a mistake. Tre’s laid back personality lacked the fighting spirit he needed to overcome the complications that followed his surgery. Tre never recovered from the surgery, dying a few weeks later back at the farm.

Losing Tre at age 4 was heartbreaking. It was truly tough on everyone at the farm. His funeral was attended by our family and farm manager, Jeremy. The children made a cross on his grave with the petals from a nearby gardenia bush. We had worked hard to save him. We had loved him so dearly.  And we hadn’t bred him nearly enough.

When Tre died we had only 2 of his cria in utero. When the first one came due, we had a horrible situation where a veterinarian (not my usual one) and I disagreed on whether or not the female was in labor. In the end, it turned out the female had been in labor but she wasn’t progressing because the cria was breech. The cria died during the vet’s attempt to deliver the cria from a breech position a day later. (Note: Do not try to deliver an alpaca in the breech position. Experts recommend a c-section for a full breech.) The stillborn cria was a girl who looked just like Tre. The vet and Jeremy tried to revive her for 30 minutes. It felt like an episode of ER. Many tears were shed. The disappointment surrounded us and weighed us down. We cut a lock of her fleece, and buried her atop on her father’s grave.

When it came time for the last Tre cria to be born, I was more than excited and nervous. I dared to hope. My heart had been broken twice that year. I was ready for anything, but I was also hoping so hard for a beautiful fawn female who could carry on Tre’s bloodline. The dam carrying this last cria was Earth Angel, one of the best females we have ever had the pleasure of owning.

 

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To thank our readers this Holiday Season, we have 12 prizes which will be given away at Alpaca Farmgirl. From December 12-23, one Giveaway will be ending each night at midnight. Check back to see if you’ve won.

Our 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways include something for everyone. There are prizes for fiber artists, chefs, livestock owners, knitters, and more! Our goal was to offer something for everyone.

Winners will be chosen at random. Enter as many different giveaways as you like, and along the way learn more about alpacas! Leave your comments on my posts and let me know what you’d like to hear more about. Click here for more information and to enter.

12 Days of Christmas Giveaways:
Day 1 - Christmas Cards
Day 2 - Hay Bale Bag
Day 3 - Alpaca Baby Blanket/Throw
Day 4 - Alpaca Bean Coffee Gift Basket
Day 5 - $50 Williams-Sonoma Gift Card
Day 6 - Alpaca Scarf (or Kit)
Day 7 - Toothamatic
Day 8 - Alpaca Socks
Day 9 - Blog Design/Makeover
Day 10 - Alpaca Yarn
Day 11 - Alpaca Teddy Bear
Day 12 - $100 Home Depot Gift Card

Happy Holidays from Alpaca Farmgirl! ~ Katy Spears

Saturday morning, while I was at an alpaca show, Judy decided to have her cria. Early in the morning. When it was very cold. When our farm manager, Jeremy, arrived, he found this little guy with purple ears and his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth. The baby was almost lifeless.

Jeremy is not the type of to allow a cria to die on his watch, so he blow dried him and got him warmed up. The baby began to show more life. As he warmed him, the cria would sometimes give in to his weakness and his head would droop. “HECK no.” Jeremy told him and brought him around again. The first day he was bottle fed goat colostrum (alpacas almost never have extra colostrum to freeze). This is his mom’s first experience with having a cria to nurse and she took some convincing.  But by Sunday afternoon, the little guy was up and nursing.

Born weighing only 9 and 1/2 pounds (12 lbs. and under is considered at risk), we really didn’t expect this cria to be doing so well. Today he is at 10 and 1/2 lbs, and he’s running around, healthy as can be! The kids and I have come up with some possible names for him. We have a poll on Alpaca Farmgirl where you can vote for which name you think we should choose. Vote here.

Once a month Alpaca Farmgirl will feature an interview with an interesting Alpaca Farmgirl. Visit this site to read about a variety of inspirational women in the alpaca industry.This month our interview is with alpaca breeder Cindy Lavan who lives in Bowdoin, Maine. Cindy and her husband, Tim, have been raising alpacas for 15 years. They have two sons who have grown up with their alpacas. As a Southern girl, I am in awe of a woman so tough that she could raise livestock in Maine! Cindy and her family do almost all the farm work. In this interview we will learn what it’s like to care for alpacas through Maine winters, how she and Tim have invested for their sons’ financial futures through alpacas, her thoughts on how the economy will affect the alpaca industry, the large role alpaca fiber plays on their farm, and more!

Q. Whose idea was it to raise alpacas, you or Tim? And how did you hear about them?

A. It was actually Tim’s idea initially. He was reading an article in the USA Today newspaper during lunch and brought home the article. I was taking graduate classes and working at a local university. I was consumed with finals and work so he contacted AOBA (the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association) to learn more. Remember this was before the Internet so we had to talk to people over the phone. We never really saw the alpacas themselves in person for quite some time. This was while we were working in Washington, D.C. and lived on Capitol Hill. Not really the perfect habitat for these lovely creatures. While D.C. is a great place to live, it’s not where we wanted to raise a family, let alone run a farm and business.

Q. A few years ago when my twins were young and I was struggling, I asked you, “How do I do all the farm chores, watch the kids, and keep the house all at the same time?” You told me to “Forget the house.” That advice has saved my sanity many days. Any other shortcuts or advice on “the daily stuff” that you can share with us?

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