Update on Mags and Song – and Happy Birthday Linda!

Mags and Song Share A Piece Of Hay

The two orphan crias Mags and Song are growing well.  They still get a bottle three times a day.  Song has been taking less milk each feeding and is down to between 4 – 8 oz per feeding.  Once Song has finished with her bottle she is quite adamant that she does not want any more milk, but will often try and nurse from Mags, which I suspect, is more for comfort than for food.

 

Mags on the other hand is not keen on reducing his milk intake.  As big as he is, it is time for him to start a gentle process of weaning from the bottle.  While Song happily eats hay and alpaca pellets, Mags will occasionally take one pellet in his mouth and play with it but that is it.  He does eat hay, which is a good thing, but I feel he is too reliant on the milk bottle.  So we have started to reduce the amount of milk in his bottle.  That hasn’t gone over well with Mags and set him back a little on his bad behavior, but we continue to be consistent in managing his behavior and taking him through the weaning process.

  

It is quite sweet to see Mags and Song together, they tend to eat hay together during the day and they often cush next to each other at night.  Song has started to buddy up a little with one of the other crias Stormy, while Pride has tried hard to engage Mags in play but Mags shows little interest in cria games.  I feel that Mags might always be a bit of a loner but maybe when we transition him to the junior males pen he will interact more with the older boys as he develops.

 

On a separate note, today is a special day as it is the birthday of my dear friend Linda.  Linda has recently moved into a new house and is busy remodeling it to make it her dream home, and I know that the results of her labor will be beautiful.  I don’t know if Linda will have time to read this blog in between her remodeling projects, but I know she is a frequent reader of the blog and I would be most remiss to not wish her a very Happy Birthday and thank her for being the wonderful friend that she is.  (Oh and by the way Linda when you have finished remodeling your house we have one over here you can come and work on!).  Have a wonderful birthday and don’t work too hard!

 

Rosemary

 

 

Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns Blog!

It hardly seems possible that a year has passed since I started this blog, the time has passed quickly. The blog has brought me much pleasure, through the blog I have “met” people from around the world some who own alpacas, some who would like to own alpacas and some who just enjoy reading the blog. It has been great to exchange experiences with other alpaca breeders around the world, and also to be able to keep in touch with family and friends in many countries who like to read what we are up to at Windrush Alpacas.

As I start a new year with the blog I am looking forward to another year of life with the alpacas, new crias will start to arrive in a few months, shearing looms ahead of us and as with any business there will be the everyday challenge of keeping it running smoothly.

In a few short weeks we will have a “cria” of a different sort arriving in the world. The word “cria” is a Quechua word for baby, and baby Pienescu, the daughter of Laura and Ren will be arriving soon, making Ric and myself grandparents for the first time. I have warned Laura that while I am great with new borns that are covered with fur I am not so certain about the furless human variety!

I am sure the next year will bring us our share of surprises, hopefully all pleasant ones. As the alpaca industry develops we see more of a focus on alpaca fiber, and that has certainly been reflected in our business and is something we intend to focus on and develop further.

As a reward to myself for having created a blog entry for almost every day of the past year I intend to give myself one or two days off from blogging each week. While I usually don’t have any problem coming up with something to write about, I do wonder if my content would be fresher if I gave myself a break once in a while. I would hate for the blog to become dull and uninteresting just because I think I have to post something every day. You know how the saying goes “all work and no play makes jack a dull boy”.

I hope those reading the blog will continue to do so, feel free to pass on the blog address to those who you feel might enjoy or benefit from reading this blog . As we encounter different experiences at the farm I will share them with you. The alpaca industry is relatively new as livestock industries go and there is still much to learn. I feel that by alpaca breeders openly sharing information that the learning curve will be much easier on us all.

So Happy Birthday Blog – and may you have many more!

Rosemary