A Decision

It is that time of the year when you can feel yourself wishing the time away, can't wait for this years cria to be born, some of the females are starting to look a little rotunda and some of them are definitely getting stroppy. They are all in good condition, nobody losing condition which is unusual for this time of year. In fact we have been weighing every couple of weeks and their weights are very stable, it’s a bit like weight watchers as they all take their turn on the scales!
So to give us something to focus on we have decided to name the day for our open day which this year is going to be on the 9th April Easter Monday. We would usually wait until there is some cria on the ground but our are a bit later this year and to be honest we would just put it off and it would never happen.
So now all I have to do is get all the knitwear ready to go to the Futurity in a couple of weeks, carry on training the Show team to behave in the show ring ready for the SWAG show and make all the arrangement for the open day.
Better get on with it then!

A bit of a ranting blog

Well it is a quite time of the year for us now, Alpacas and Llamas all up to date with husbandry tasks, all the females that have been bred were spitting off when last checked and won't be checked again until spring as they would not be rebred anyway,  so fingers crossed they all hold. Not wishing to wish the time away but we are really looking forward to seeing the results of some of our breedings next year.  We decided to use some outside Studs this year as well as one of our own younger males, we will just have to wait and see.

I have been reading with interest other blogs about cria not growing, there seems to be a few this year, we have one who didn't put any wait on for weeks, wouldn't take a bottle, always under Mum who looked like she had enough milk, we gave up with the bottle and stood back and watched.  The cria 'Choc Ice' who is now five months old was still only 13 kgs at 3 months is now 28 kgs and is running around with the rest of the herd.  Not sure why she didn't grow, she is obviously smaller than the rest of the cria but she always felt solid and well covered and there didn't seem to be anything else wrong with her.  Her mother was a maiden but she was very good right from the start and we saw Choc Ice suckle so I am sure she got the colostrum very early on.  Who knows! these animals will always surprise you.

Now for the ranting bit!
It has been a bit of an odd week mainly because I was due to go into hospital on Friday so I had bee getting myself all geared up for it, rearranged work, stocked up the larder for Steve as I would be out of action for some weeks, arranged help for animals, cottages, grandchildren etc.  I even tidied the house and sorted out the office.  So Thursday came and I had finished my last job for about three months, fedd the animals for the last time and collected the eggs, got back into the car and looked at the phone to see I had a new voice message.  The hospital had been try to ring me and in the end left a voice message (we intermittent  mobile signal around here) They had canceled my operation ! now I was really upset about this, but it was to late to ring the secretary, I had to wait til the morning to find out that there was not enough beds.  Now I could be waiting until after Christmas for a new date,  to say I am not happy is a understatement, I had put my life on hold for three months which as it was winter was not too bad I could cope with that, but if the new date is going to be in the spring I won't be able to work or do anything during one of our busiest times. I do appreciate that it couldn't be helped if there were no beds available especially critical car beds then something has to go, just wish it hadn't been my operation.  So not good I have to wait until Monday now to hear when the new date will be.  In the meantime I have a whole weekend in front of me with nothing booked in as I shouldn't have been home so I am going to make the most of it and do what I like................now what shall I do!

Final cria of the year arrives!

I haven't updated the blog for several weeks as there really hasn't been anything happening except for the routine things and several things which I really couldn't  or didn't want to write about just yet!

Marietta & Lalique

We have been waiting and worrying about Marietta's cria since she was so ill earlier in the year.  She has made a full recovery but we still worried about the cria, over the last few weeks Marietta seemed to get bigger by the day and we could see the cria moving about.  Anyway when I arrived in the field this morning there was a lovely Dark Brown Female sat in the field still wet so she hadn't been there to long.  Marietta had obviously read the text book, gives birth in the morning, up on their legs in 30 mins, suckling within the hour.  We have called her Lalique, her sire is Blacklands Picasso and she is a gorgeous chestnut brown colour.  So that makes six out seven cria are female this year, not bad!

Caramel, Amber and Caliban ambushing Summer

Our neighbours had a wedding on their property this weekend and we had some of their guests staying in our cottages, so little Lalique had loads of visitors this morning as the news spread around about her arrival.

Choc Ice

We have also had two lots of visitors over the weekend both interested in owning Alpacas, todays visitors arrive a couple of hours after Lalique arrived, great timing I would say.

Caramel & Tigerlily

We are well into our breedings this year, we were hoping to do spit offs but cria and visitors and an afternoon BBQ seem to have delayed that so we will now do them tomorrow after we have been on a llama walk. At the moment we have three spitting off, Bramble, Lily and Mica,and four which were bred last week Carla, Phoebe, Cassini and Midnight, we are holding on to Ella until Marietta is ready to bred and then I am hoping they are going to visit a rather special Black male who resides in Dorset. That leaves little Summer who is still quite small and I am thinking we should leave her until next year.

Salvador with his harem 

All this means that our first Cria will arrive late May early June next year. Can't wait !

100% record

We had our last another cria last night and another girl, this time it is a lovely dark fawn possibly light brown, we will have to wait and see.  This female is our final cria from Golden Nugget this year although he has several more to go for his co owners Lakeham Alpacas, so far he has only produced females.

Carla with her lump

Carla has been looking uncomfortable for weeks now, she was 363 days yesterday and spent most of the morning sat in the shelter chewing the cud.  We checked her at 1pm and she was looking just the same but when we got back at about 5.30pm it was obvious she was in labour, Carla always has her cria in the afternoon so we weren't too worried.  After about half an hour of nothing happening and carla pushing I thought I had better have a look, Gloves on and lube I had a little feel around to discover the head and one foot but the other leg was bent back at the knee.  This was quite easy to sort out so I left Carla to finish the job which only took another ten minutes before a little brown female cria was deposited on the ground.  She was up and about in about half an hour but seemed more interested in running around the field than finding the milkbar.  As we hadn't had dinner and lunch seemed along time ago we put Mum and Babe into the field shelter, turned the light on and went home to watch proceedings on Alpaca Cam. Carla soon past the placenta and babe eventually found where the milk was kept after sucking the walls of the shelter for what seemed like ages.  Alpaca cam comes into its own in situations like this. we have swallows nesting in the shelter............. not sure what they made of having the light on all night but is interesting to see them caught mid flight on the camera.  The cria has been named Golden Caramel (aka Caramel) which is a name my daughter has been suggesting for all Golden Nuggets cria but it actually suits this one.

Carla with Caramel

The rest of the crias are doing well and I managed to get a couple of pictures whilst in the paddock last night.  Choc Ice seems happy to share her Mum with Amber, Cassini doesn't seem to mind feeding them both!

Amber & Choc Ice sharing the Milkbar

Salvador continues to be a bully if the girls don't want to play he jumps on them and bites their ears.  Calico is nearly as bad and seems to one step behind Salvador all the time.  Finally Lily's cria now named Tigerlily is getting stronger by the day, she was a little early and her tendons in her back legs were a little loose, so she was wobbly for a few days, very funny to watch her trying to keep up with the older ones.

Tigerlily

Shearing was on Thursday and it was very hot, poor old Colin was suffering a bit but the girls especially were relieved to their fleece off.  My house is now full of bags of fleece which I need to start skirting before deciding which ones to enter into which fleece shows and what to have processed into yarns and tops.
it's been very hot here today but I managed to get some seeds into the veg garden, they are a bit late  but the soil is very warm so I am hoping things will catch up.  Tomorrow we are going to collect the Studs ready to start our breeding program, I am hoping to get all our births in May and June next year, wishful thinking I think!

Tooth Ache

Haven't blogged for a while and the only excuse is that I have had raging tooth ache since coming home from the Devon County Show.  Finally got an emergency appointment on Wednesday and an xray reveled a tooth abscess. So I have antibiotics to take and the next available appointment was 29th June so I thought I was in for a long painful wait.  So an early morning call this morning took me by surprise, so I am now minus the offending tooth but still in some pain, which I am sure will pass shortly.

Anyway down to Alpacas and Llamas, still only 4 cria, 3 are growing and acting normally but little Choc Ice is not putting on weight, we are topping her up with a bottle which she takes sometimes and not at others. she sits down a lot and doesn't join in the games even when Salvador jumps on her and bits her ears.   Not sure what do do now, she has had ADE today so that may give her a boost, so any suggestions would be gratefully received.

We have two more births due, Carla who is now 358 days and Lily 337, Lily normally manages to surprise us by giving birth early usually when we are closely watching on of her field mates.  So this year I have been watching her closely for the past two weeks, she looks very uncomfortable.

Oh yes Devon County show I almost forgot, we took Atlas and Prospect, I put them in the shelter the day before the show as rain was forecast.  I took a quick look at their fleece and almost dismissed them both, they were both over fleeced and due to the damp weather things didn't look promising.  So we were very surprised when Prospect was placed 3rd in his class of junior fawns.  Atlas wasn't placed in his class but I had entered them in the Dams Progeny class where we picked up a 2nd place.  Both boys are from Marietta who has been so ill recently, not sure she understood what I was telling her when I showed her the rosette, she had produce 3 cria all males and all have been placed in shows.  She is still carrying this years cria, we are hoping that it will be OK but are just pleased that she has recovered from what ever was wrong with her.
Now Dentist told be to rest and be waited on today so I think I will try that.

3 girls 1 boy, not bad!

Today Bramble gave birth to a lovely female cria or maybe I should say Bramble was present whilst her baby arrived.  She has been looking uncomfortable for days now and this morning she was sat down, rolling and occasionally standing up, this seems to be her main problem, she spent the whole day sat down, not only that she was usually sat facing down hill .................. has nobody told her about gravity!  it was obvious she was in labour and she was quite swollen at her back end, so I left her to it for a while.  Came back she is still sat down .......... facing down hill, off I went again, came back lunchtime, exactly the same, she wasn't in much discomfort so I left again for a while thinking that by 3. O. clock even Bramble would have given birth but she wasn't even straining!
I decide that I would take a look and see if anything was happening.  Now Bramble is not the most co operative of girls at the best of times and I was on my own so wasn't to hopeful.  Bramble was still sitting down and I approached her she gave me that .............. don't you dare come near me look! , but stayed put and I managed to feel inside to see if anything was going to put in an appearance ............. there was two feet and a head but I couldn't feel the nose, a bit of gentle feeling about and I found the nose, the head was slightly back presenting the top of the head instead of the nose.  Once I got the head around the right way Bramble started to push ............... still facing down the hill so she pushed uphill, but at least she was doing something.  So at 3.45 pm a large (8.5kg) arrived, sired by Caliban and we have named her Calico, standing up and suckling with in the hour, not worst for her slightly drawn out arrival, tonight she has her coat on and is running around the field with the other three cria.

Bramble still facing down hill!

Bramble & Calico this evening

So far this year we have 3 girls one boy , we have 3 possibly 4 more births this year so it will probably even up, but a good start anyway.
I have been out with the camera today as I spent so much time in the field tried to get all three cria in one photo, this only happened when one sat down.  The little brown and white cria has been called Choc ice,  Ember still weighs less than Salvador and Choc Ice even though she is nearly two weeks older.

Embers rear end, Choc Ice sat down,
Salvador trying to play.

Salvador.

All I need now is for Carla gave to give birth tomorrow, she had the same due date as Bramble and has been looking fit to burst for days now.  Devon County show starts on Thursday and it would be so nice not to have to worry about births for a few days, the next two just coming into their birthing window.

We are taking two of the boys up to the show and as they are forecasting rain and mist tomorrow I have put them into the field shelter, which they are not at all please about.  The inside of the shelter is now plastered in green stuff and I am not sure if the same green stuff counts as field condition!

Filing cabinets

As it has been raining most of the day I thought I could catch up with the accounts whilst watching the pregnant females on Alpaca cam.  Phoebe is looking very uncomfortable and sitting down a lot so I don't think it will be long before her cria puts in an appearance.
As I had filing all over the floor this morning the conversation came around to filing cabinets, decisions had to be made, carry on filing into box files,......................... never can find anything when needed quickly.  Purchase a suspension filing cabinet, ...................wood or metal, I would have liked wood, Steve liked Metal.  Do we go out to purchase or buy on line, ....................can I get out of filing now and maybe have coffee/lunch out ...............easy decision there then,  ............... go out and purchase two two draw metal filing cabinets.  Had coffee out, Steve has spent the rest of the afternoon putting together said filing cabinets. (I think the wooden ones would have been easier to put together) Lots of cursing and lots of mess later tools and packaging all over the front room and I think the first one is almost complete.

I have roasted a joint of our pork in anticipation of Steve's eldest son coming for dinner tonight and am now not sure if it was tonight or tomorrow, still haven't done much filing or accounts but its been fun watch the construction progressing, don't think the other one will get done until we get back from the SWAG show at the weekend.

It's still pouring down with rain and I still have to go and check the animals and collect the eggs.

What a week that was!

The trouble with this lovely sunny weather, there is so much work to be done, not forgetting the Alpaca watching especially in the evenings.  We seem to get in later and later ......I don't seem to have much time for blogging.
The girls have spent a lot of time sun bathing flat out...... all looking like dead Alpacas...........
We did get a day off Friday and went to Exeter for a little shopping and to arrange something for later in the year (more about that later).
Saturday we gave the llamas and the Stud Males their Lambivac injections, enlarged the pig pen as the three weaners have almost doubled in size, ran the hoe over the veg garden etc. All this before taking Caliban over to Tower Park Alpacas for a return visit to one of their females (Pearl ) who adamantly spat off mainly down Steve' s shirt....... so Caliban back in the trailer ready to go back home after helping Rolly give the Lambivac injections to Willow, Pearl and Sparky.  It was such a lovely afternoon just right for sharing a bottle of wine in the garden with Rolly & Jo before checking out the new arrivals, a couple of Runner Ducks.......... I really would like some!
Hopefully their pearl will spit off again next week as Caliban and Nugget will be returning to Lakeham Alpacas for a while.

Marietta and Cria

We finally managed to get the weighing scales set up on Sunday, we got all the girls into a holding pen and one by one we weighed all the females. Whilst they were confined in the race we gave them their lambivac injections as well.  Marietta (340 days) came running in to the pen with the rest of the girls and although we didn't stress her by weighing her we did give her a jab and then let her back into the field and carried on with the rest of the girls.  I went to let the next girl out and noticed Marietta had decided to give birth and the head and the legs were already out.......... no hanging around for her then.  By the time I had weighed and jabbed the final two girls......... she had delivered a lovely brown male cria.  Marietta has been such a reliable female, her last cria Atlas was born 360 days before this one and the previous one Calypso 372 day before that.  She always lets us know when she is ready to be mated by sitting next to the pen whilst other matings are going on.  Both her last cria have been placed in the show ring and this one looks the best yet, sired by Caton Golden Nugget, his fleece looks great, he has been named Golden Prospect and we are really pleased with him.

Prospect and Stefano

Talking about females letting you know when they are ready, Lily who gave birth just over two weeks ago to Stefano, sat next to the breeding pen on Sunday so I opened the gate and in she came, sat down,  so we put Golden Nugget over her, she is not quite as reliable as Marietta but if she is ready who are we to argue!

After all this excitement we had to take Midnight up to Blacklands Alpacas for a mating with Inca Picasso, she is our champion black girls .......a maiden who has taken a bit of time to work out what it was all about..........I think she got it this time as Picasso certainly took his time.  That means we only have Marietta left to bred for next year and I am sure she won't want to hang around!

Cria's Cria's everywhere!

From reading fellow bloggers there are lots of cria's arriving now all very exciting!. I have tried to get some decent pictures of Lily's little cria but I either get Mica in the way or cut some ones head off but here is my attempt, Lily (or half of her anyway) with her cria closely followed by Mica.

We haven't decided on a name as yet but the little chap weighed in at 8.4kg and he is a very light fawn with a slightly darker tail, we weren't sure what to expect, Lily is a dark brown with what you might call "colour contamination" or she could just be going grey, father Langaton Caliban is white, you could call it an experiment, we were hoping for a darker colour but ha ho he is cute and will make a lovely pet or he could come trekking with the Llamas.

We are now waiting for Carla and Marietta to produce both mated to Catons Golden Nugget.

Tomorrow we will do the spit offs with the other girls if they are all going according to plan we will have early birthing season next year.