After several dry weeks we finally got some moisture, a couple of inches of wet snow! Yesterday morning started off with sleet but it soon turned to large white flakes of snow. The snow soon covered the ground and also covered the alpacas. Cushed, warm and comfortable the adult alpacas did not want to get up and so stayed cushed getting covered in snow until we started to put out feed. The crias enjoyed the snow, playing chase, digging in it and nosing it, oblivious to the crust of snow building up on their backs.
The alpacas didn’t seem concerned about the snow and thankfully the wind was light and so the temperature did not feel too bad as we did chores. Obviously warm clothes and gloves were needed (including of course alpaca socks), but with the right attire doing chores in the snow was really not bad. Of course I am talking about an Eastern New Mexico snowfall as opposed to a northern state snowfall, which would be much heavier and last for much longer. I know I can cope with a few days of snow, but I’m definitely not cut out for the several weeks of snow some of the more northern states experience.
Once the feed and hay was out the alpacas were all quite happy to stand out in the snow and eat from the hay feeders. I was going to move one our of outside hayfeeders in to one of the shelters but as you can see from the picture below it was quickly surrounded by alpacas who were not keen on me moving it!
The alpacas enjoyed their daily treat of warm soaked beet pulp and we also added a little alfalfa to their hay to help them stay warm throughout the day.
By the time the snow stopped falling everyone was pretty happy, the alpacas had full stomachs, the crias were having fun and we were happy to see moisture finally soaking our parched ground.