Getting Acquainted

Orchid and Candytuft our guest alpacas

 

The weekend was a full one.   First we settled Orchid and her cria Candytuft in to the quarantine pasture with Ma Cushla and Primera, weighing them first so that we can monitor Candytuft’s weight and also know if Orchid is holding her weight during her visit.  Orchid is a little on the heavy side, but as Candytuft is a strong, robust cria she will probably nurse a lot of that extra weight off Orchid.  Our farm must be such a dramatic change for those two girls after the lush green pastures of Louisiana.

 

We then spent time getting caught up with Dale, finding out what he had been up to since he retired from the Air Force and updating each other with news of friends and acquaintances. 

 

Dale had asked us if we could spend Saturday educating him in good and bad points to look for when purchasing alpacas and also showing him routine tasks such as toe nail trimming, teeth trimming, our feeding practices and other aspects of alpaca care.  So Dale got a pretty intensive Alpaca 101 course in a day!  It was a lot of information for him to take in, but he seemed appreciative of the information we shared with him and said he felt more confident in assessing alpacas by the time he left us on Sunday.

 

Part of Saturday morning was spent helping Dale decide which herdsire he wanted to use on Orchid.  We looked at Orchid first and established her strong and weak points and then showed him our herdsires and also their fleeces from last year.  Our Enchantment’s Prince Regent was Dale’s selection and I am sure that Regent and Orchid will make an outstanding match.

 

After that we went over the breeding contract and also talked about contracts in general to help Dale when he comes to drawing up contracts for his own alpaca clients.

 

We covered a lot of information during Dale’s visit, it was a lot to take in and remember but Dale knows that if he forgets anything or needs to clarify anything he only has to pick up the phone and call us.

 

During his visit Dale commented on how relaxed our alpacas were and how our girls go into their different feeding pens at feeding time.  He also said he hopes Orchid and Candytuft will learn to be that relaxed while they are with us.

 

For now Orchid and Candytuft are wary of us and still getting used to their new surroundings.  We will take things easy with them initially, not making an effort to interact with them unless they come up to us.  So far Orchid has come up to sniff me a couple of times, but Candytuft will only stand behind Orchid and peer around her to look at me – she will come around in time I am sure.   We will handle them with care and respect during their visit and in time they will learn to relax around us.

 

For many alpacas one of the biggest hurdles in human interaction is trust and we work hard to raise our alpacas to know that they can trust us.  During their stay Orchid and Candytuft will learn to trust us too, already they are watching how our alpacas interact with us which in itself will help them feel more at ease with us.  Alpacas being herd animals do pick up on the behavior of others in the herd.

 

Once quarantine is over we will introduce Orchid and Candytuft to our main female herd.  It will be nice for Candytuft to be able to play with the fall crias, while she is quite a bit younger than them she is a good size for her age and will not have any problem joining in the cria games in the evening.

 

Already though Candytuft has an admirer.  I discovered Little Man (aka Windrush Peruvian Tonka) looking longingly through the fence at her on Sunday morning.  Usually Little Man is one of the first to go into the cria pen at feeding time, but on Sunday morning he was completely distracted by Candytuft’s presence.  I’ve told Little Man that he will get a chance to meet Candytuft soon, but somehow I get the feeling that for him it will not be soon enough.  He may be a little but he’s telling me he’s definitely a man in alpaca terms, a herdsire in the making – one day Little Man, one day.

 

Rosemary

Didn’t They Do Well!

 

Courtesy of Regina Dart of Llano Soleado Alpacas I have the initial unconfirmed results of how our alpacas did at the show and they did well.

 

Windrush Zindel’s Kanika took 6^th in her class – the judge loved Kaneka but felt her staple length (length of her fleece from skin to tip) was shorter than the alpacas that placed above her.

 

Windrush Zindel’s Atlas – 1^st Place – poor Regina had to literally run to the class with Atlas due to her having alpacas in the class before.  Regina was the last person to enter the class.  When the judge looked at Atlas’s fleece he told Regina “your going to be happy you made it to the class” so we take it he liked what he saw, especially as he awarded Atlas first place.

 

Maggie’s Lionheart of LSA (known to us as Mags) – placed 6^th in his class.  The judge loved the structure and architecture of Mags fleece but discovered that Mags fleece is tender (breaks easily).  Still the judge liked Mags well enough to place him in the class.  Tender fleece can be caused by a nutritional deficiency or stress.  With Mags being an orphan cria he has had a fair amount of stress in his little life, but we will be tweaking up his nutrition too to make sure that his fleece becomes stronger.

 

Windrush Zindel’s Pride – it seems as if Pride did not place in his class.  We are not really sure why as he is a beautiful alpaca.  The alpacas in the ring with him on the day must have pleased the judge more than Pride did.  We’re not giving up on showing Pride based only on this one result, he is young and will no doubt change as he matures.  We are sure he will get his ribbons in time.

 

Windrush Ashling’s Dream – placed 3^rd in her class.  The two alpacas that placed above her showed more fleece density than Dream.  Dream’s fleece is pretty dense so the two alpacas placing above her must have really dense fleeces.

 

Windrush Zindel’s Zianna – placed 1^st in her class.  I don’t have any feedback on the judge’s comments but with Zianna’s bright, soft handling fleece I am not surprised that she did so well.

 

In the fleece classes we also did well.

 

Windrush Shiimsa  – 3^rd in her class

 

Windrush White Blast – 1^st in his class and also white Color Champion.  Well done Blast!  To get a color champion ribbon in a white class is a great achievement and for an up and coming junior herdsire it is a great acknowledgement of the quality of Blast’s fleece and his breeding potential.

 

Windrush Zindel’s Carissima – we’re still waiting to find out how Carissima did, hopefully she also placed in her class.

 

Regina and Bob Dart also did well with their alpacas – Nightingale took 4^th in her class, Swiss Miss took 1^st in her class, Dulcie took 1^st in her class (Dulcie is a particular favorite of mine as we bonded when I gave her an impromptu halter lesson when I visited Bob and Regina one day – well done Dulcie!), Athena took 6^th in her class and Charlie took 6^th in his class.

 

Song who was also an orphan cria and who was bottle fed at our farm at the same time as Mags took 5^th in her class and has now met her new owner Debbie Conkle of DJ’s Classic Alpacas.  Song will be staying in Texas after the show.

 

Our Stormy who we sold to Bob and Regina for their daughter Abby to work with also performed well at the show.  Both Abby and her brother Nathan used Stormy in their Performance and Obstacle classes, Public Relations Classes and Showmanship Classes.  Nathan and Stormy took 2^nd in their Performance and Obstacle class and 1^st in their Public Relations Class, while Abby and Stormy took 5^th in their Performance and Obstacle class and 2^nd in their Showmanship Class – congratulations Nathan, Abby and Stormy!

 

So all in all it was a good show for us.  Bob and Regina still have three alpacas to show in the white alpaca classes on Sunday and we will be keeping our fingers crossed that they win some good ribbons.    The white classes are the most competitive at any show.

 

A big Thank You has to go to Bob and Regina who took part in their own form of competition – the alpaca 300 yard dash as they worked hard to make sure that all of the alpacas from our two farms made it to their classes on time.  There is quite a distance from the alpaca pens to the show rings, with crowds and alpacas to negotiate along the way.  To keep up with all the classes and persuade some first time show alpacas to make the dash to the show ring with them was no mean feat – I think we need to award Bob and Regina the alpaca handler gold medal!

 

Rosemary

Today’s The Day

Dream's beautiful head

 

The show classes begin today at the TxOLAN Alpaca Spectacular.  Alpaca show classes run the darkest fleeced animals first gradually working toward the lightest fleeced animals.  With this in mind I fully expect Kaneka (black), Mags (dark brown), Athena (medium brown), Atlas (who color checked as light brown rather than dark fawn), Pride (who color checked dark fawn rather than medium fawn) and Dream (medium fawn) to show today.  Zianna who is light fawn may also show today but may show first thing on Sunday morning depending on the speed at which the classes progress.

 

Young Dream has been receiving lots of attention and admiring looks from other alpaca breeders at the show.  Dream has a stunning head and great coverage making her very striking.  Dream is still not too enthused by all of the attention but I suspect by the end of the show she will be getting used to it.  Mags too seems to be settling down to all the attention.  At home he actively seeks out attention, but as of yesterday evening he was starting to remain cushed when visitors came to our pens indicating that even he had more than enough human attention to satisfy his needs.

 

The fleece show started judging yesterday and hopefully will be completed by this afternoon.  Once the fleece show has been opened for viewing we will be able to fins out if the any of the fleeces we entered won a ribbon.

 

Back home things have been reasonably quiet.  The four girls in the weaning pen who did not go to the show were a little unsettled the first day after their pen mates left for the show, today they are settled and more interested in hay than anything else.   Once the show alpacas return home the four girls in the weaning pen will be rejoining the main female herd group and the show alpacas will be put into the weaning pen for a three week quarantine period.  By the time the show alpacas return home they will be more than ready to stretch their legs and take a good roll in the dirt and then happily relax in familiar surroundings – even for alpacas there is no place like home.

 

Rosemary

Off To The Show They Go

In the early hours of Thursday morning Ric and I loaded up the alpacas going to the TxOLAN Alpaca Spectacular into our trailer and then Ric drove the seven or so hours to Fort Worth, Texas.

 

Ric’s journey was long but uneventful and the alpacas are now in their pens at the showground.  Atlas, Pride, Mags, Kaneka, Athena, Song, Zianna and Dream are the alpacas at the show this time and with the exception of Kaneka and Athena this is the first show for this group.

 

Ric reports that for the most part the alpacas are doing well, Zianna though is doing quite a bit of humming and seeking attention and Dream is also humming too and was not pleased to have her fleece color checked at the showgrounds – she growled at the volunteers checking her fleece!  Dream is so much like her dam Rosie who is very vocal and has that same growl when she wants to express displeasure.

 

The alpacas will not start showing until Saturday, so they will have time to settle into their surroundings before the classes start.  Ric will walk them as and when he can to get them used to their new surroundings.  Bob and Regina Dart of Llano Soleado Alpacas, our alpaca neighbors (they also have alpacas in Clovis, NM) will be arriving on Friday and will take over caring and showing our alpacas for us.

 

Ric will be pretty busy during the show as he is the show superintendent along with his business partner Danette McCleary.  Danette and Ric worked together as Show Superintendents in a volunteer capacity at some earlier alpaca shows and worked so well together that they decided to form a company M & M Supers and contract to work as show superintendents at various alpaca shows around the country.  The position of the Show Superintendent at the show is a big one, among the show superintendent’s duties is the receipt and verification of all of the entries, compilation of the class list, contracting the judges and ensuring the health and color compliance checks are carried out on all alpacas at the show.  The show superintendent basically coordinates the show making sure it runs smoothly – with over 500 alpacas at the TxOLAN Alpaca Spectacular that adds up to a lot of hard work.

 

As for me, I have remained home to care for the herd and will anxiously wait to hear how our young alpacas do at the show.   We have spent many hours preparing our young alpacas for the show and can only hope that they show well.  Here’s hoping for lots of ribbons, preferably in blue (1^st place) and purple (Color Champion and Reserve Color Champion)

Rosemary

More Teff Please!

Teff Grass (right) Wheat Hay (Left)

 

The alpacas have eaten their way through the large bale of Tiffany Teff grass we purchased a couple of weeks ago.  We didn’t let them have free access to the bale but rather rationed some out at each feeding.  One thing is for certain they love the taste of it.

 

I still have not been able to find anything hugely worrying about the Teff grass, but part of the problem is the lack of information on it.  I just hope that there isn’t something about it such as a mineral tie up that will cause problems several months down the road.

 

Just from observing the alpacas we have not seen any bad reactions to the Teff grass such as diarrhea or bloating and they seem very content with it.  With the little bit of alfalfa we were feeding with the wheat hay prior to getting the Teff grass I did notice that the alpacas seemed a more aggressive when they saw the alfalfa bucket.  There would be much pushing and shoving, grumbling and spitting.  With the Teff hay they are certainly excited to see it but are less aggressive than with the alfalfa.

 

One of the drawbacks of the Teff hay is the seed heads.  The seeds are tiny and many.  This second bale seems to have less seed heads than the first but I wonder if those tiny seeds will work their way into the alpacas fleeces.  From what I have seen so far the seeds seem to stay on top of the fleece rather than work their way into the fleece and brush off quite easily.  Lets hope it stays that way.  The picture at the top of this post shows Teff grass to the right of the picture with a piece of wheat hay to the left to give a comparison of size.  The picture below this paragraph shows a wheat head on the left of the ruler and a Teff head on the right of the ruler.  You can see just how tiny the Teff grass seeds are.

Wheat Hay Seed Head (Left) Teff Grass Seed Head (Right)

 

So far we are happy with the Teff hay.  I really feel our herd needs that bit of extra protein.  I was not happy with how they were looking when we fed them the wheat hay alone.  We have had wheat hay in the past and our alpacas and fleeces have always looked good, but this year’s wheat hay was not giving the same results despite its good figures on the hay analysis.  Since we started feeding the Teff hay along with the wheat hay we have already seen an improvement in the herd.  If our alpacas were usually on lush green pastures the Teff hay might not be a good choice for them, but for our situation it seems to be working well.

 

Rosemary

Weanling Update

 

Our spring crias are just about weaned, I say just about because we tried putting the female weanlings back in with the main female group this weekend and Annochia still wanted to nurse from Anya.  Annochia’s behavior was not a complete surprise to us; Annochia comes from the close Bjorn family who don’t like to be weaned.  Anya did kick Annochia off but we decided that we would put the weanlings back in their own pasture for a while longer just to make sure that no one brings their dam back into milk.

 

The dams really have taken the weaning process in their stride.  What was interesting with this group of weanlings was that the boys weaned with more ease than the girls.  Usually the boy crias are the most reluctant to wean, not so with this group though.

 

We have now graduated Pride and Atlas into the junior male pen.  After their move they did spend a couple of days hanging around the gate wondering how they could get back to the female herd, but now are starting to integrate well.  Something that was unexpected was that our orphan young male Mags has really settled down since the arrival of Pride and Atlas in the junior male pen.  Mags went over to that pen a few weeks before Pride and Atlas and was still actively seeking human interaction, but with the arrival of Pride and Atlas young Mags is acting much more like an alpaca.  Perhaps he feels he now has some seniority in the herd pecking order and that has given him the reassurance he needed.

 

Stormy has now gone to live with his new owner Abby Dart and we got a lovely report yesterday from Abby and her mother Regina on Stormy’s progress.  Abby already has Stormy going over bridges, jumping over jumps and going through a maze – good job Abby!

 

So now in the weanling pen we have only girls – Annochia, Dream, Serenity, Song, Zianna, Kaneka, Velvet and Carissima.   Kaneka, Velvet and Carissima are yearlings and are already weaned but have provided a good stabilizing influence on the weanlings.  We now take the weanlings (both boys and girls) for walks on their halters several times a week to help them become relaxed at being on a halter and they are all doing well.

 

For us weaning is a process that needs to be handled with care and consideration.  True it takes more time to go through day weaning before final weaning, but it makes for a gentler separation for the alpacas.  It is a stressful time for the weanlings and sometimes for the dams too and it is worth putting extra effort into the process to make it as easy as possible for all involved. 

 

Rosemary

Getting the young folks involved

 

The Alpaca Breeders and Owners Association recently announced the formation of the AOBA Youth Association.

 

Years ago when we first joined AOBA the Paca Pac Club was in existence.  I must admit we didn’t pay too much attention to the Paca Pac Club, as we didn’t have small children to keep entertained at shows.  It seemed as if the Paca Pac Club mainly went into action at the Annual Conference and its purpose was to provide something for children to do while their parents showed alpacas and attended seminars.

 

Not too long after we had joined AOBA the Paca Pac Club was fazed out.  The exhibitors did not utilize it, perhaps because at that time the majority of alpaca owners were past the age of having small children around (I’m trying to be diplomatic here about the average age of alpaca owners in the 1990’s)

 

Looking back at the Spring 1999 edition of Alpacas Magazine, I see there was an announcement of the 1^st Annual Writing Contest for Children.  I’m not aware that there was ever a 2^nd Annual Writing Contest for Children so I am not sure what happened to that venture.  (I have always told Ric that I would need to refer to those old magazines one day, today’s the day and how interesting to look back on how things were then!)

 

These days we have younger families owning alpacas and joining AOBA.  Some of the families already have children, others still have that part of their lives to come (maybe) but there are definitely more young faces at alpaca shows and events these days.  There are also children who do not own alpacas but are very interested in learning about them.

 

Hence the time seems right for the formation of a Youth Division.

 

The AOBA Youth Division (AYA) website states:

 

“The AYA will work with all youth organizations such as 4H, FFA, scouts to form AOBA’s premier youth association.

 

Components of AYA will provide opportunities to learn more about alpacas, participate in youth shows; learn to become our future alpaca breeders, leadership training and development and top notch education.”

 

 

To learn more about AYA then check out their website at http://www.aobayouthassociation.com   There you can register your child to be a member, learn more about the initial focus of the group and read about member benefits (did someone mention scholarships?).  Bear in mind that the AYA is still in the development stage, if you are already an AOBA member you should receive emails regarding the progress of AYA, if you are not an AOBA member it will be worth checking back to the website on a regular basis to keep updated with the activities of AYA.

 

It will be interesting to see the AYA develop, the alpaca industry has always professed to be very much family oriented and so to create more youth involvement in the world of alpacas is a good thing.

 

Rosemary

Choosing a Mentor Is As Important As Choosing Your Alpaca

 

Jenny and Clarissa

When it comes to getting started in the alpaca business, whether you are buying breeding stock, fiber alpacas or performance and obstacle alpacas a good mentor is invaluable.

 

I cannot say enough good things about our mentors who have helped us on our journey into the world of alpacas.  They were always willing to share information and provided us with guidance along the way, they were also good judges of when to stand back and let us figure things out for ourselves.  Without them we would have undoubtedly had a much harder route on the way to success in our alpaca business.

 

Compared to when we first purchased alpacas there are many more alpaca farms to choose from these days.  Some have been in the business for many years, others are relatively new to the business and each farm will have its own “personality” so as to say.  It is very easy for someone to set up an impressive website and create a certain impression of them or their business, but when it comes to your needs a website probably will not be able to help you as much as a good alpaca mentor can.

 

While a lot of alpaca sales are made over the Internet I strongly advise new alpaca owners to physically go to the farms that they are considering purchasing from.  By doing so you will get a much better idea of the quality of the alpacas on the farm, the level of care of the alpacas, the knowledge of the farm owners and whether your personalities gel or clash.   There is a lot to learn about raising alpacas and I always maintain that you should purchase from a farm who not only has alpacas that suit your needs but who you feel you can communicate with freely and well.

 

I still remember when we were first looking to purchase alpacas, we received a very impressive video and brochure from one farm, the alpacas in the farm brochure looked beautiful, the description of the farm and its owners sounded great, but when I telephoned the farm to ask a question the response I got from the owner was not a good one.  He sounded irritated by my question and seemed to imply that it was something that everyone should know (I later learned that it was something quite specific to his farm).  The response to my communication with that farm was enough for me to decide that I did not want to do business with them.   How could I learn about alpacas from them when they were not responsive to a simple question?  To this day I still have not done business with that farm, they have some spectacular alpacas but I just cannot bring myself to do business with someone who was condescending and rude to a potential customer.

 

So when you are looking to buy alpacas, take a close look at the owners too.  Are they approachable?  Are they willing to share information freely?  Do they have a good reputation within the alpaca community (you can always ask for references from their customers or other breeders)?   What is their knowledge base?  Have they only been in the business a short while and have little knowledge themselves or have they years of experience that they can share with you?

 

Take the time to get to know the farm you are purchasing from, you will soon get a feel for how they do business and whether they are a good fit for you.  I have often said that you need to feel comfortable enough that should you have an alpaca emergency at 2 a.m. and need to call them then you would do so.  You would hope not to have that situation, but it might happen and you might need to talk to someone who can share their experience and guide you in what to do, or direct you to someone who can help you.

 

Going back to the subject of selecting performance and obstacle alpacas, a good alpaca breeder will know which alpacas in their herd have good potential as performance and obstacle alpacas.  They will guide you through your selection rather than just sell you an alpaca that maybe looks cute but is not really a good choice for showing in performance and obstacle.  A good alpaca breeder will want you to be successful in your endeavor and will work with you to help make that happen.

 

There are many wonderful alpaca breeders who are more than happy to mentor their clients, whether the client is spending several thousand dollars or a thousand dollars.    If you choose your alpaca mentor with care and consideration you will most likely discover that not only do they teach you and help you in whatever aspect of alpaca ownership you choose they will also become firm friends in the process.

 

Rosemary

And Here’s a Good Example!

I subscribe to the “Google Alert” service and have my alerts set so that whenever a piece of news includes the word alpaca I receive an email notification from Google. Yesterday I received a Google Alert that fits in with the subject of selecting and training alpacas for performance and obstacle classes.

Here is a great example of an alpaca owner exposing one of his alpacas to a different environment. Now the alpaca farmer in this clip is taking his alpaca out more to get the people in his community familiar with alpacas and maybe to raise awareness about alpacas in the United Kingdom, but just watch how this alpaca reacts to his visit to the local pub – he’s pretty calm and relaxed, perhaps a little uncertain about being stroked by the people in the pub, but all in all the alpaca does really well. It is a good example though of how you can take alpacas out in public and get them used to different environments (and do some great marketing at the same time)

Click through to this link (from the good old BBC) and enjoy!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7833623.stm

(I have to say though that you can tell this alpaca is not a Yorkshireman, there is no way he would turn down a pint of good bitter if he was!)

Rosemary

The Element of Temperament

 

As mentioned in the previous post temperament is very important in an alpaca that will be working with children, or for one that is going to be entered into performance and obstacle classes.

 

Alpacas as a rule are docile, but like all species some alpacas can change temperament when under stress or uncertain of their surroundings or handler.  Some alpacas are definite home bodies enjoying nothing more than mooching around the pasture and eating hay, others are a little more outgoing showing natural curiosity and being quite happy to go to new places or be away from their herd for a short while, a few alpacas are more boisterous trying to crowd you and seeking attention.

 

It is good to observe any potential alpaca purchase in his or her home environment.  Typically that is when the alpaca is going to be at its most relaxed state and you will be able to see how it interacts with the other alpacas in the herd and also how it interacts with humans such as its owner or visitors to the farm.

 

For an alpaca that is going to be used for performance and obstacle classes though, it is good to observe that alpaca outside of its usual environment.  If you are brand new to the world of alpacas and want to purchase an alpaca just for performance and obstacle classes then a good place to look for a potential performance and obstacle alpaca is at an alpaca show.  Watch the alpaca as it is shown by its handler, is it relaxed and yet paying attention to its handler or is it nervous and concerned about the alpacas around it and the various noises of the show grounds. 

 

Ask questions of the alpaca’s owner as to how the alpaca has been trained.  Is the alpaca used to traveling?  Has the alpaca been in many shows, if so how did it behave?  How does the alpaca do when you trim its toenails?  How does the alpaca behave when you have to show its teeth (it is common practice in alpaca halter shows for the judge to look at the alpacas front teeth to check for correct bite).  Are there any things/actions that the alpaca likes or dislikes?  Does the alpaca have any bad habits (nipping. kicking etc.).  Has the alpaca had any health issues?  What kind of mentoring and after sales support will the owner provide to you if you buy the alpaca?  (More on mentoring and after sales support in a future post.)

 

Your questions and observations will help you get a feel for the alpacas personality.  Don’t be afraid to ask the owner if you (or whoever will be the alpacas handler) can take the alpaca for a walk, pick up the alpacas feet, look at its teeth, look at the alpacas fleece.  Ask if the owner is willing to take you and the alpaca to another location to show how the alpaca reacts.  A reputable alpaca breeder will happily answer your questions and work with you to make sure that the alpaca you buy is best suited to you needs.

 

Purchasing an alpaca for whatever reason is something that should not be done on a whim or on emotion.  Alpacas can live into their 20’s and need good care and attention throughout their life time.    If you are uncertain as to if alpacas should become part of your life consider asking a local alpaca farm if you volunteer time there helping with chores and working around alpacas in order to get a better idea of what life with alpacas is like. 

 

Finally remember one of the golden rules of owning alpacas – you cannot keep an alpaca on its own, it needs other alpacas around it to be healthy or happy.  At a minimum this means one alpaca buddy, two or more is even better.  If you cannot afford to purchase and maintain more than one alpaca look into agisting (boarding) the alpaca at a farm that already has other alpacas.

 

Take your time making your decision about alpaca ownership and which alpaca you is right for you.  

 

Rosemary