Zoey 101 and Alpacas!

 Here's the You tube video!
http://www.teennick.com/videos/clip/quinns-alpaca-full-episode.html

Alma Park Alpacas™: A teen show all about an alpaca

I can't believe I missed this! We watched every episode of Zoey 101! Thanks to Rose at Alma Park for finding it!
Alma Park Alpacas™: A teen show all about an alpaca

June 23, 2011

Dovis giving birth to our 2 newesr crias! Part 1

Dovis Part 2

The day began pretty much like every day...nothing too unusual although I did notice that Ishtar had been kind of agitated for the past several days....very noisy...unlike herself.

 

I had finally convinced Jay to help me move my compost pile and so he got his tractor and was scooping it up and turning it.  How exciting!  I'm composting my alpaca manure with worms and was very pleased with the results.  My worms were multiplying like crazy and turning leaves and alpaca pellets into lovely rich humus! 

He was going forward and back, scooping and dumping when all of a sudden he was looking back over his shoulder to see where he was going when I heard him yell "Julie!  There's a head coming out of somebody!"  (he still can't tel the animals apart!).  Low and behold there was!  It wasn't Ishtar though, it was Dovis, who we weren't expecting to give birth for a few more weeks!   I ran in and grabbed my camera and the phone just in case we needed to call the vet, and sat back and watched the miracle! 

Things went very smoothly and in about a half an hour, we had a beautiful white female cria on the ground.  We were never lucky enough to be present for the whole birth because up until now I had found that the more I waited and watched, the more likely they were to be born as soon as I had to leave to do an errand or attend to something else!  So it was truly a pleasure to see this fascinating event...the way the dam pushes, and then breaks...how the cria hangs out and the fluids drain from her lungs, until finally the final push and she falls to the ground in a mass of rubbery limbs breathing in the new air!

If you watch the above videos, you will hear the grunting and pushing of Mom Dovis....but the moaning is Ishtar!!  And sure enough...she got caught up in the act too, and like yawning is contagious, she also went into labor!  We saw her water break and she delivered a healthy male cria about a half hour later!

The two little ones are about 6 weeks old now and thriving!  We named the female, LH Philippa and call her Pippa...now where did that inspiration come from?!  The male we named LH Sigfried after the beloved vet Sigfried Farnon in the James Herriot books.

Our herd at Laurel Highlands Alpacas now numbers 9 and we are expecting one more cria very soon this summer!!

June 21 2011!

If you've been reading this blog then you may have noticed that the dates of my posts don;t match those of the actual dates posted!  I've had a little difficulty with my website blog so I gave up...for too long!  Now I'm back in the swing and intend to update everything that has happened between then and now and believe me there has been a LOT!!  So stay tuned!

June 12, 2009...my assistants!

Tucker giving Hamilton "Rabbit Ears" and Tanner mugging for the camera!

June 12, 2009: Rain, Rain, Rain!!! I think we need to build an ark! I've been trying to finish painting our barn and the weather is not cooperating. Kevin came back and made some adjustments to the doors. We decided that Dutch doors would be more practical for ventilation and just because the alpacas like to look out! We also added rain barrels that I got for nothing at a local company and Kevin added spigots after he cut a hole in top after I spray painted them to match the barn.


Our biggest event though has been my new assistants! Our neighbors Tucker and Tanner love to help me with the alpacas. Tucker told me that they look to see if our garage door is open, then check for lights, then race down on their mini mopeds! I was always worried that I'd be collapse outside and no one would find me( just kidding!)..but not any more! They love to help me corral the animals and feed them and anything they can do. It's been great for the alpacas to get used to them so that my family are not the only people they see and interact with. One day, I went out to feed them and held out my hand full of food to Hamilton and instead of running the other way, he took it! From then on the others have been slowly getting used to us. Flo and Hammie will eat out of our hands and that gives Tucker and Tanner great delight!! Did I mention that they work for ice cream!! I make sure that I have some special treat for them because I really appreciate their help! The animals enjoy their company!

Hamilton..always curious!

June 10, 2009 Preparing fiber for processing

June 10,2009: So much has been happening I've found it hard to keep up my journal! After our clip, I sent our samples to Yokom-McColl Testing Lab and spent many, many hours skirting my fleeces. I was sure I needed some professional direction so I called Leslie from Autumn Mist Fiber Mill for advice since that was where I had decided to send it. I had purchased yarn from Aussie Hill Alpacas in New York to try and figure out what I wanted my yarn to be like and they were kind enough to share the name of the mill that had processed their fleece..from those skeins of yarn I was able to determine what type of animal I needed.

My buddy Tucker with Hamilton and Flo.

 

Leslie from Autumn Mist was very helpful and advised me to remove seed pods, briars, and of course, poop. So after many weeks and lots of interruptions, my fleece is on the way to be processed! The fiber histograms were back in less than a week and I was extremely pleased with the results! Hamilton's fleece is 15.6 microns and that is cashmere quality! Now to keep it that way! Firenze is not far behind with 19.6, Dovis is 23.9 and Ishtar is 26.1. I called my guru of all alpaca knowledge, Fred from Northwest Alpacas, to find out how to keep a low micron count and his answer was simply..genetics. Hmmm. Well, they've got that!



May 4, 2009 Our First Clip!

May 4, 2009: We did it! We had our first successful "clip"! We rented a cargo van and got all things ready..halters, bags, gloves, knee pads, people and animals in preparation for a 4:00 departure and a 5:30 shearing. At 3:20, we got a call from our host Betty that the shearers were ahead of schedule and would be there in about 40 minutes- about an hour and a half earlier than we expected! Since we had never loaded our animals, let alone walked them anywhere on a lead, a challenge lay ahead of us! Instead of the nice relaxed pace of leading them into the van, we needed to get them in and fast! First we had to call our neighbor Emily, who wanted to come along for the adventure and hope her parents could get her to our house so that we could leave in about 15 minutes. Luckily, they all hopped in the car and we actually had 2 extra helpers which we really needed.


I was able to halter Ishtar and lead her to the van and when she saw it, she cushed and wouldn't get up. We tried lifting her and nudging her and she finally rose. We needed a ramp for the van and luckily Jay had positioned a piece of plywood to act as a fence between the actual fence and the van (we haven't got lane ways YET). We took it and made it a ramp and Brenda and Joe filled in as human fencing. Ishtar got up the ramp with a little slippage and Emily got in and held her back while we tried to get the others, who had by this time wandered off to graze! After a little bit of herding. Jack grabbed Hamilton and carried him into the van and the rest followed! We were on our way and reached our destination at 10 past 4! Not bad for beginners!

Once at the Kresko's the fun began! As each animal was brought in it was weighed and readied for shearing. Once again the set up was for one alpaca to be restrained for toenail clipping and any needed shots and then shorn and another one poised and waiting, and we all had jobs. For each station people were needed to hold the animal while others fastened loops around each foot. The alpaca is gently lowered to the mat and the ropes pulled taut so that it can't kick anyone or hurt itself. Then someone swoops in and clips the nails and gives injections. Jamie and Matt begin shearing and first the blanket(prime) is removed collected all in one piece, then the neck (2nds) and then the legs (some not worth saving). Several times, the rope must be tightened or loosened to enable the shearer to turn the animal or get between the front legs. The object is for this all to be done like a fluid dance with all parties knowing their jobs and when to do them and most of all to stay out of the shearers way, but to be close enough to do the job! If this sounds like a tough thing to accomplish, keep in mind that it is all done in about 4 minutes per animal without any mishaps or injuries to anyone or any animal!!! Some cried and bawled (all of ours did!!) , but I think it was mostly due to the indignity and strangeness of it. I'm sorry that our video isn't longer because you would have seen Ishtar get up, and I swear if she could have, she would have smoothed her hair, brushed off her shoulders, given us all a cold glare, and walked off with a huff and as much dignity as she could muster!

In all of my reading, it is recommended that you begin with the lightest animals first and work up to the darkest to avoid mixing darker fibers with light. In reality,the order pretty much depends on who's set up and ready to go first. Since ours were the last to be shorn, I asked the shearers if they would mind doing all of mine on one mat to avoid being contaminated with all of the other colors. No matter how hard you try to clean the mat between each animal( and I was meticulous at my station!), some fleece seems to find it's way back and I figured that mine would only be contaminated with similar colors. So at the risk of behaving like a diva, I asked for special treatment! Not only that but I wanted a bigger fleece sample for the Ideal Alpaca Community and I wanted it from a specific place on the animal! Jamie and Matt were very happy to oblige, thank goodness! Our four went very smoothly despite a lot of strange noises!

Betty and Dan invited us to stay for a pot luck meal afterwards and we gladly accepted. There was ham barbecue, kolbassi and kraut, no bakes, dirt, and I brought my chocolate angel food cake (made from scratch no less!). I've noticed that many alpaca events wrap up with food and fellowship. We've met so many nice people in this alpaca adventure! Yesterday we added Betty, Dan, Lori, Derek, Barb, Carmen, a nice young marine, and so many others whose names I can't remember.

We thanked our hosts and all who helped us and returned home where we found it was much easier to unload alpacas who are glad to be in a familiar place! They leapt from the van and ran up to the barn!! We all laughed at how easy it was and what we had accomplished today!

They are no longer fluffy and huggable..they look like E.T. with their long skinny necks and huge eyes! They are so thin without fleece!! I gave them extra food last night and this morning. Unfortunately it is raining like mad and the temperature has dropped a bit but I have seen them go into the barn and huddle together for warmth!

I can't wait to get the results of our fleece samples to figure out what characteristics we have in our herd and what we may need to add with our next breeding. For now, anyway, their work is finished and the alpacas can relax, graze and work on growing their fleece for next year and their crias! I'll be busy getting our fleece ready for processing!