And The Weather In England Is ………..

Well the weather in England is currently very different from that in New Mexico.  Even for England a country know for it’s rain this summer is an unusual one.  The North of England has been experiencing a deluge with major flooding in the areas of Sheffield, Bentley and Doncaster to name a few.  Dams have burst and there are many people who have had to evacuate their homes.  One poor couple in Lincolnshire were televised as they returned to their home of forty years to find part of it had fallen off into the flood waters, a heartbreaking scene.

Fortunately in Stevenage where my parent’s live while the rain has been falling it has not been as bad as the areas up North.  The forecast for the next few days is that the rain will be back with a vengeance on Saturday and then will start to diminish over the next few days.  I hope the rain doesn’t follow us to Rome on Monday!

In addition to the rain a car bomb was found in London in the early hours of this morning, and while fortunately it was discovered before it was set off the police are saying it was capable of causing major carnage.

Just to top things off in England it was announced yesterday that Buckingham Palace is in need of some serious restoration and is quite literally falling apart – all in all it seems as if England is crumbling!

On a different note I wondered if my legs might crumble after attending my first aerobike class with my friend Val.  Happily I was able to complete the class without totally embarrassing myself, although when the instructor told us to do arm exercises while pedalling I soon decided that I should not try that unless I wanted to impale myself on the handlebars of the aerobike!

Back at home Ric is getting back in the swing of things, he reports that the weeds were more than a foot high and he has been doing a lot of mowing.  One of our dogs Sandie has not left Ric’s side since he returned home, she worships the ground he walks on and missed him a lot while he was away.

Clarissa’s cria is continuing to do well, but is a little perplexed about this man who is now looking after him (Ric), he has only had women in his life until now so will need a little time to figure out who Ric is! 

Ric reports that several of the girls rejected the male when he behaviour tested them today so we will need to have an ultrasound session soon to confirm pregnancies – how exciting.

So Monday we are off to Rome and hopefully sunnier skies, I’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing any alpacas there but you never know!

Rosemary

Congratulations Laura and Ren!

My journey to England went smoothly (my bags actually arrived with me for once!) and as expected life has been a whirlwind of activity since my arrival.

 

Of course the big event has been the wedding of Ric’s daughter Laura to her lovely fiancé (and now husband) Ren.  The wedding took place on Saturday and in true tradition Laura was late arriving at the church.  She had expected to be a little late but ended up being 30 minutes late as the car that was booked to take her to the church could not find her house!  Ren was getting a little anxious about her late arrival, but all went well once Laura arrived and what a beautiful bride Laura was.  Ric looked decidedly nervous as he walked Laura down the aisle, but he made it without stepping on her wedding dress and fulfilled his task of giving away his daughter.  The weather that had been rainy up to the wedding cleared up for the day and the sun shone for most of the day with a small shower immediately after the wedding.   It truly was a joyous and happy day.  As Laura and Ren are such a cosmopolitan couple (Laura is English/American and Ren is Romanian) wedding traditions from England, Romania and the United States were incorporated into the wedding.  There were people from all over the world in attendance and we all had a wonderful time getting to know each other and celebrating the marriage of Laura and Ren.  The happy couple and some family members will be leaving for Romania next week where more celebrations will take place.  The same day Ric will be heading back to the United States to get back to the farm and relieve Kathryn and Kelly from their farm sitting duties.  Kathryn and Kelly have done a marvelous job looking after everything at the farm which has allowed Ric and me to enjoy the wedding celebrations and our short time away together.  I will remain in England until July 12 when I will return home and then try and catch up on everything at the farm.

 

My mother has already put Ric to work with various tasks she needs doing and we have also had the chance to visit my father in the nursing home where he now stays.

 

Yesterday was spent reuniting with my dear friends Linda and Val, who have both had challenges in their lives in the past year but who are both coping well with what life has thrown at them.

 

The reports from back home tell me that Clarissa’s cria is doing well and is already up to 19 lbs.  He will have grown so much by the time I get home that I will hardly recognize him – hopefully he will remember me.

 

The rest of this week will be spent catching up with family and helping my mother with various tasks and then on Monday my mother and I will be traveling to Rome, Italy to visit my brother Chris and his girlfriend Carla for a few days.

 

As I write this the rain is falling again and the weather man is saying it is the wettest June on record for England.  It’s quite a change from the heat and dryness of New Mexico, but at least I don’t have to go out in the weather to do chores every day!

 

 Rosemary

Finally!

After 355 days gestation and in 98 degree heat Clarissa finally delivered her cria yesterday.

It was not the fastest labor and I had some concerns about her lack of progress, but she managed to deliver her cria with just a little help.

The reason for the help was that the crias right front leg was bent back during birthing making delivery slow and more difficult, but I was able to reach in, find the bent leg and then gently flip it into the right position.

With the day being such a warm one poor Clarissa became tired toward the end of the delivery so I gave her a little assistance during her last contraction and out popped a beautiful white boy!  He was a little sluggish for a while which was probably due to the long, hot delivery.  While he could sit sternal, standing was a bit much for him and so he took his first sips of milk while cushed on my knee as I held him under Clarissa.  He seemed to like this idea and we had a couple more nursing sessions like this before he decided that maybe he could stand on his own and nurse.

Clarissa’s cria is extremely sweet and his fleece is very bright and soft.  Clarissa is an excellent mother and stood so still while I worked on getting her cria to nurse.

So we have another little male addition to the herd, now all we have to do is name him!

Rosemary

Preparing for Take Off

As my trip to England draws closer everything is getting more hectic.  I am gradually working my way down my to-do list but there still seems to be a lot of things left on that list.

Of course the number one thing to do on the list is “Deliver Clarissa’s cria”, but Clarissa and her cria just are not willing to help on that one.  Clarissa was definitely more uncomfortable yesterday and her “bump” was noticeably larger and a different shape.  Her cria has been very active over the last couple of days so hopefully it is getting into position for birthing.  Fingers crossed today will be the day and all will go well.  My trip will be much more relaxed if I know that all is well with Clarissa and her cria.

I am taking my laptop with me to England and hope to be able to update the blog periodically from there.  Some of my posts will be alpaca related and others will not, but I hope whatever I come up with to write about while I am gone is of interest to you readers.  Who knows I may even let Ric loose on the blog to do a post or two!

My trip schedule is already fully booked, from Laura’s wedding, to seeing my parents and getting together with my dear friends Linda and Val, my time promises to be fully utilized.  I will also be taking my mother on a short trip to Rome as her birthday present.  The younger of my two brothers Chris lives in Rome with his delightful girlfriend Carla and it will be great to see them in their home again.  I need to make sure that I throw my coin in the Trevi fountain to ensure another trip to Rome in the future.

Kathryn and Kelly will be arriving later today and then tomorrow they will get a whirlwind refresher course in looking after our furry family.  Thank goodness for all of our friends who have come to our aid to make this trip possible.

It will be great to see England and Rome again, but I know I will miss my animals and will be ready to come home and see them all again by the end of my trip – and by that time Ric will be more than ready for me to show up again to help with chores!

Rosemary

So Why Do Alpacas Have Long Necks?

Someone asked me that question once and at that time I did not have an answer.  Why indeed have alpacas evolved to have such long necks?

One suggestion I received was that if their necks were shorter they would not be able to reach the ground to graze.  Well that seems to me to be putting the cart before the horse, as the long legs of the alpaca surely developed because of the alpaca’s need for a long neck.  Look at sheep, they graze quite happily and they can reach the ground to do so but only because their neck and legs have evolved to allow them to.

To try and answer the neck question I started to think of other mammals that have long necks.  All the members of the camelid family (camel, guanaco, vicuna, llama and alpaca) do.  The camel definitely carries it neck a bit different from the rest of the camelid family, but still it has quite a long neck.  Giraffes of course are famous for their long necks but they belong to the Giraffidae family which is apparently related to the Bovidae family which includes cattle, goats, sheep and antelope.

Now I did have someone once tell me that alpacas smell a little like antelope and if you watch an antelope prong and an alpaca prong you start to wonder how far back in the family tree you need to go to discover that antelope and alpacas are related.

An idea for the answer to the long neck question came to me one day when we let the girls out onto the winter wheat.  It was something I had seen before but it just struck me that day as being a possible answer. 

You see whenever we let the alpacas out, they first of all kick their heels up in joy and then next they do is ………………….. run over and starting reaching up to eat the leaves off the trees.  The alpacas and llamas LOVE to eat the leaves off trees, in fact one evening when we were putting out hay I decided to bring some storm damaged branches into the pasture and the alpacas left the hay and made a bee line to the branches to eat the leaves.

So it seems to me that while alpacas are typically seen grazing grass these days somewhere in their past they were really tree leaf eaters and that is why they developed the long neck and long legs.  It makes sense to me – what do you think?

Rosemary

How Far Back Do We Go

I had a discussion today with a fellow alpaca breeder about heritable undesirable traits in alpacas and how far back we need to go when declaring issues with alpacas that are for sale.

Both the alpaca breeder I was talking to and myself are in favor of full disclosure when it comes to selling an alpaca.  Like all other livestock species you are going to get flaws and faults and to me it would be foolish and unethical not to discuss with these with the prospective buyer.  The fault might be a minor one such as a slight deviation of the legs, but still it seems only fair to let the prospective buyer know.  I certainly don’t want them to feel that the alpaca in question is full of faults, but no animal is perfect and if they are aware of any faults or defects at the time of sale then the buyer will feel more comfortable with the sale and ourselves as sellers.

When it comes to serious faults that are heritable then full disclosure is a must.   Personally if I had an alpaca with a serious fault I would not put it on the sales list, depending on the fault I may also no longer breed that alpaca as it would be wrong to carry on creating alpacas that could share the same fault.

But what happens when you know of an issue in an alpacas bloodline but which has not affected the alpaca you are selling?  I hear many breeders say that they do not disclose faults past the first or second generation.  From their point of view if the trait has not reappeared by then it is not an issue to be concerned about.  I can see part of thier way of thinking, but I have concerns about that practice.  If the fault is one that is heritable then it is quite possible it could skip a generation or two, but wouldn’t it be better to know so that you could avoid putting two alpacas that had the same trait in their background together.

I guess the best route to go is to be as honest as possible.   Inform the buyer of any issues that you are aware of and maybe even take the opportunity to discuss with them the risks involved and chances of that issue happening.  Then allow the buyer to decide for themselves how comfortable they are with the risk involved.  If they decide to go ahead and puchase the alpaca they have done so with full knowledge and should be happy with their choice.  I can guarantee that if there is a problem with the alpaca and it is not disclosed at the time of sale they will not think kindly of you and will not be back to buy another alpaca from you.

By the same token if you are looking to buy an alpaca, it is worth asking if the seller is aware of any problems with other family members from that alpacas pedigree.  The sellers reaction to your question will not only help you to decide on whether the alpaca you are considering is the right one for you, but will also give you an indication of whether the seller is someone who you feel comfortable with and who will treat you ethically and fairly.

Rosemary

Kit Cat – Brave or Suicidal?!

In addition to the alpaca herd we also have a collection of other animals that we have gathered.  Several of them are strays who showed up and ended up staying.  Others we inherited with the property when we purchased it.

Kit Cat is one who showed up one day and ended up staying.  He showed up with a companion who we ended up calling “Blackie”.  We are pretty convinced that Blackie and Kit Cat were deliberately dropped off here.  They were not part of the original cat group that we inherited with the farm, but rather just appeared one morning.  Blackie was in pretty bad shape when she and Kit Cat showed up, it looked as if she had a broken hip.  I cannot fathom anyone abandoning an animal, even more so an animal that is injured, but someone did and Blackie and Kit Cat became part of the barn cat group. 

Blackie recovered from her hip injury although she always had an odd gait.  She was a sweet and loving cat who loved to be stroked.  She lived for several years until she developed cancer and we had to have her put to sleep.

Kit Cat on the other hand was in good health when he arrived.  He had been neutered and was probably a house cat at some stage as he always tries to get into the house.  Unfortunately though he has learned the behaviour of spraying and so we keep him outside rather than allowing him to put his mark all over the inside of the house.  He has not been declawed and we felt he would be okay living outside with our cat group.

Kit Cat looks to be part siamese, he is slightly cross-eyed  and is about as bold as a cat can get.  We cannot eat outside if Kit Car is around (and his nose is good so he usually shows up if food is around),  he has no hesitation at walking up to someone, rubbing up against them and then swiping a piece of food off their plate and running off with it.

Not long after his arrival Kit Cat figured out that our dogs get a much larger portion of food than he does and so started paying the dogs a visit when their food was out.  Now with our one dogs, Missy, this was not too much of a problem, she might snap at Kit Cat and chase him away from her food but that is all.  Sandie on the other hand is a different story.  Sandie is food aggresive and will attack anything that gets between her and her food including Kit Cat.

Personally if I were Kit Cat the first time I tried to steal food from Sandie’s bowl and found myself in her jaws would be enough to convince me to leave her alone at feeding time.  This has not been the case with Kit Cat who persistantly goes into the yard when she is eating.  So far he has escaped unscathed (although I am sure his pride has taken a beating), but the frustrating thing to me is that despite being grabbed by Sandie and shaken Kit Cat will try and get back to Sandie’s food the instant she lets him go.

So is Kit Cat brave or is he suicidal (surely he must be running low on cat lives by now!).  I think he probably is a little of both but with a little more emphasis on the brave.  He knows what is going to happen yet still he tries to sneak past Sandie, usually without success.

Despite Kit Cat’s suicide missions into Sandie’s yard he is a pretty nice cat.  He loves to be handled and has gone through all sorts of “love holds” from various visiting children, he just lies there and enjoys the attention. 

Kit Cat also loves to hang around the alpacas.  He isn’t bothered by those curious faces that reach down to sniff him and he loves nothing more than to curl up in their hay feeders for a good sleep.  The alpacas are used to him being there and gently eat around him.

When we have something exceptional with one of the alpacas Kit Cat is usually not far away, watching to see if there could be anything good for him in what is going on.  He loves bottle fed crias as they usually drip milk and he is there in an instant to lick it up.

When TeQueely was so ill last year I was touched by Kit Cat’s attendance by her side every night.  As I sat with TeQueely and checked on her during the night Kit Cat would be there curled up next to her.  When the weather got really cold he decided that maybe he should curl up on top of her.  I have to say I discouraged him from doing that, for as nice as it must have been for him TeQueely was not too sure about having a cat sat on her during the night.  At other times during the winter I have found Kit Cat curled up in the front of Missy’s dog house having crept in there with her once she is alseep.

When the llamas first arrived Kit Cat made it quite clear that he was going to walk through the pastures even though the llamas would chase him.  As with Sandie he would not be deterred and just kept coming back until the llamas realized he wasn’t a threat to them or the alpacas.

I have also seen Kit Cat playing with snakes that he has caught.  He performs a most graceful dance as he tries to catch the snake without getting bitten.  One time though he did get a snake bite and holed himself up by the well housing until he felt better.

Kit Cat is a great one for getting in people’s cars or trucks, usually looking for food.  He knows that the vets truck is a good source for beef jerky and the UPS and Fedex vans hold all sorts of mystery to him.  We always have to check departing vehicles to make sure that Kit Cat is not about to embark on an unplanned journey.

We do not have any idea as to how old Kit Cat is, to me he is just starting to show a bit of age, but then again who knows what his life was like before he arrived here and the toll that it took on him.

One thing I have learned with Kit Cat is that it doesn’t matter what I do or say to try and prevent him from putting himself in danger, if he wants to do something he is going to do it come what may.  I still tend to try and prevent him from putting himself in danger but I can’t be with him every second of the day and he can get himself in a pickle at a moments notice!

We didn’t ask for Kit Cat but he decided to stay around our place despite the food aggresive dogs, the snakes and the llamas.  As bold as he can be he is a big softie and now we would find life strange without him. 

Rosemary

Pens, Pens You’ve Got To Have Pens

Some of the most versatile pieces of equipment on our farm are the lightweight portable pens that we use.  In the girls pasture alone we have seven different pens set up.  Why so many you may ask, well their first function is to help us to separate the girls into different feeding groups.  We put fast eaters in with other fast eaters, slow eaters in with other slow eaters, thin girls that need some extra rations go in another pen, dams and small crias in another, larger crias in another, dams in late pregnancy are grouped together and of course the llamas need to be fed in a pen or the alpacas would not get much food!

The portable pens are great when we have a new cria born as we can put the dam and cria in a pen for a while to allow them to bond without all of the other alpacas getting in the way.  If we have an alpaca that needs some form of medical treatment it is easier to catch them by herding them first into a small pen (or enticing them in with food which usually  works).  When it comes time to halter train crias the pens are a great place to work.  The pens allow us to do so much in a gentle, easy way.

Yesterday was a great example of how useful it is to have multiple pens set up.  I had four girls to behaviour test and no one to help me with the task today.  One of the girls Keeva was already in a pen having eaten her ration and so I let the other girls from that pen out leaving Keeva ready to test.  The other three girls, Cinnamon, Snow and Anya were all in the weanling pasture, (they are all well weaned and of breeding age but are keeping our weanlings company) so I herded them into a portable pen set up in that pasture and set them up with a bucket of hay to keep them occupied while I got organised.  I then moved Cinnamon into one of the pens in the main girls pasture that we use to feed the llamas in. 

To start my tests I brought Zin over.  Zin and I share a special bond, he is very responsive to me and is easy to handle even when he is excited at the prospect of breeding a female alpaca.  I put Zin in with Keeva and she ran and then spit hard so I opened the gate to allow her out and put Zin back on his leadrope.

From there I walked Zin over to the pen where Cinnamon was waiting.  Cinnamon ran a little bit but allowed herself to be mounted and bred. 

Once I was sure everything was going well with that breeding  I brought Snow over to a pen close to where Cinnamon and Zin were.  I left one empty pen between the pens I was using as sometimes if male alpacas are in adjoining pens they can distract or taunt each other rather than concentrate on their breeding duties.

I then walked over to the boys pen to get Tobiano to use as my tester male.  I could see Cinnamon and Zin for the majority of the time I was catching Tobiano and was able to keep an eye on them while I was away from their pen.  I walked Tobiano over to Snow and put him in the pen with her.  She ran and spit so I quickly caught Tobiano and removed him to a different pen to calm down a little while I took Snow back to her pasture.

Having returned Snow to her pasture I brought over Anya and put her in pen I had previously used for Snow.  I then brought Tobiano back and he again got rejected!  (Good news as far as we are concerned but I am not sure Tobiano shares our feelings).  I removed Tobiano again and then returned Anya to her pasture.

It was then time to check on Cinnamon and Zin, who were still breeding without a problem.  The whole time I was checking Snow and Anya I was in close proximity to Cinnamon and Zin and if there had been a problem that needed my immediate attention I could have put Tobiano in the empty middle pen for a brief time while I dealt with any problem.

Having made sure that all was well with Cinnamon and Zin I then took Tobiano back to his pasture.  I could tell by the level of Zin’s orgle (orgle is the noise male alpacas make when they are breeding) that his breeding was about to come to an end, and sure enough by the time I came back he was standing up ready to go back to his pasture.

So today the pens were utilized well, they enabled me to get a lot done unassisted and with the minimum amount of stress to the alpacas or myself.

The great thing about the pens we use is that they truely are portable and lightweight.  Each pen breaks down into four pieces and I can easily carry the pieces on my own.  While some of our pens have not been moved in a while, they can be moved very easily if our set up or needs change.  They really are very versitile and useful.

Of course in addition to doing my behaviour tests I was also keeping a close eye on Clarissa in case she decided to go into labor.  She did roll a couple of times but then went back to eating, so it’s back to watching and waiting on her!

 Rosemary

Alpacas at the Lake

Monday evening just as I was about to turn in for the night the heavens opened.  Fortunately I had received a weather warning on my computer that we were going to receive a heavy downpour or two and so I made sure that the feed barn door was closed and the fans turned off in the shelters.   The alpacas already knew bad weather was coming as they were all in their shelters as I made my rounds. 

I made it back to the house with a few minutes to spare and then down it came.  Not only torrential rain but close thunder and lightning, so close the thunder shook our house!

Eventually everything calmed down and the alpacas started coming out of their shelters which is always a good sign that the weather has passed.

When I went out in the morning to do chores the pastures were literally flooded.  There were some dry areas but the girls pasture and the boys front pastures now had lakes in them!

Some of the alpacas were not too keen on the lake situation, but others became adventurous as the morning progressed and decided to check out the water.  TeQueely in particular loves to play in water and it was she who led a group of the weanling girls into their lake for a paddle.  TeQueely loves to kick her feet about in the water while the others just waded around in it.  

The three crias in the girls pasture also decided to venture into their lake, one cria at a time, one foot at a time.  First in went Athena, then Velvet decided maybe she should give it at try and then Annie, who had been nursing when the other two first went in.  It was quite comical to see Annie look around for her friends after nursing and then dash over to see what they were up to.

One strange happening in all of this rain was that while there was a lake in the girls pasture and there was a lake in the boys pasture the wheelbarrow that I left sitting between the two areas was bone dry.  It was left outside in it’s usual place just outside the gate to the girls pasture so how did it not catch one drop of rain?  It baffles me especially as the wheel barrow by the boys pasture had a good inch of water in it.  One of life’s great mysteries I suppose!

Rosemary

If They Spit and Run Their Pregnant – Right???

Ric called yesterday to let me know he has arrived safely in England.  His flight was 1 1/2 hours late arriving (even though it departed on time) and his son Paul did not arrive to pick him up until 30 minutes after Ric had arrived.  That good old M25 traffic delayed Paul but at least he arrived in one piece!

My other “waiting” Clarissa is still holding onto her cria although she spent all of yesterday with her tail much higher than usual, surely soon it will arrive.

I had a couple of females to behaviour test yesterday, one  rejected the male spitting violently at him, the other after an initial mild spit decided to cush and breed. 

Behaviour tests are often referred to as “spit tests” in the alpaca world which is a little bit of a misnomer for not all alpacas spit when they are pregnant.  Maiden female alpacas in particular will often run from the male rather than spit when they are pregnant.  Some older females will only run too and then there are those that spit like crazy as soon as they see the male leaving you in no doubt at all about their receptiveness (or rather lack off).  I have even had a couple of girls refuse to walk over to the breeding pen when they are non-receptive, they know they have no need to breed again and are telling me so in thier own charming way.

One concept a lot of new breeders struggle with is the fact that the first behaviour test is not an indication of pregnancy.  All that the first behaviour test tells us is that the alpaca has cycled and released an egg.  With the release of the egg her hormones change causing her to be non-receptive.  If that egg goes on to be fertilized and implant itself in one of the uterine horns (usually the left horn) then the none receptive behaviour will continue.  If the released egg does not get fertilized and passes on through, the female will usually be receptive to the male at her next behaviour test.  So while the first behaviour test indicates that things are starting to happen it is certainly not a definite sign of pregnancy.

Some female alpacas undergo a complete personality change once they are pregnant.  My first alpaca Jenny was a classic case of that, she would be as sweet as sugar if she was open but the moment she got pregnant watch out!  She would then remain grumpy until the cria was delivered and then the sweet Jenny would re-appear.

So far our behaviour tests are looking promising, a few more tests and then we will be making an appointment for the vet to do some ultrasounds and give us confirmation that the next bunch of crias is busy in the making!

Rosemary