All the Alpaca seem to be happy out there in the cold. As long as they have a nice heated water bucket, which prevents their water from freezing in the cold weather. Alpaca seem to be like camels and drink is spurts. Sometimes the alpaca drink a large amount of water and at other times they seem to hardly drink much at all.
I am certain they consume less water in the winter than they do in the summer time as I am the one who fills their water buckets.
In the mornings when it is very cold the alpacas often have frost on the top of their fur.
I know they prefer the cold weather to the hot weather. They have told me!
I know they hate to get their hair cut and I am not looking forward to this, this year except for the fact that we could use some more alpaca fiber to work with.
I have 2 alpaca hats now. They don't seem to mind I am wearing their fiber on my head. At least they haven't said anything. I know they are slightly overweight, or so the vet says. But the Alpacas swear they are starving to death, but the vet says I am feeding them too much. Go Figure! I would prefer that they be a little fatter in the winter time as I think this will help them stay warmer.
But after wearing alpaca hats, gloves and socks for a while now I know how warm their fiber is.
And some of them already have pretty thick coats.
They often don't have the sense to come in out of the rain, so I guess they don't mind the rain. And I know from wearing my alpaca hat that alpaca fiber repels water. When it is a heavy down pour they go into the barn and run in sheds.
I am already looking forward to the spring and the warmer weather but I know they aren't.
Popular belief is that you must shear your Huacya Alpacas every year and we do. But I often wonder what they did on their own when they were in the wild before they were domesticated.
I know the cashmere goats run themselves against trees and eventually shed all the cashmere off and leave it blowing in the wind. Or stuck to the trees or bushes. In any event if you don't get the cashmere off the goats they take care of it themselves. So somehow they are fine without any help from us in the fiber thinning department.
I do have a new alpaca male that I rescued, who was living with a few calves. I don't think he was sheared last year so it looks like he has two years worth of fiber on him. The man that sold him to me called him an alpacer. So if anyone is looking for one alpacer or doesn't know what an alpacer is, I have one. An alpacer is an alpaca that hasn't been sheered I guess!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
New 1 Female and 2 Male Alpaca cria @ furbelow farms in Goochland Virginia
Last year after Alpaca Cria Stella Blues was born to us, we had a loss,
Hot Fudge Sundae miscarried a beautiful female Alpaca that was still born, The vet came and was unable to get the cria out it was all stuck and twisted inside somehow. We donated the dead cria to Terri at Fireweed Alpacas in Goochland VA, for her neonatal clinics which she holds on a regular basis.
After that we had an additional 2 males, one was a complicate birth for Bliss. Tipper put out a rose grey, Casey (still looks silver grey). Tipper stands as the most easy birthing female alpaca we have. She never needs any help. She goes in the barn and comes out with an Alpaca cria. The rest of them seem spoiled and prefer our help.
We will soon add pictures of the new males Charlie, a bay black or true black alpaca and the grey looking Casey who looks just like his dam Tipper. It sure looks like Casey, after his first shearing, will be a rose grey like his next oldest sister, Maggie
Logan is our main Herd Sire and Logan is the Sire for the 2 new alpaca boys. Logan is re bred to most of the girls for next years alpaca cria (baby alpaca). Logan is NOW available for the very first time for breeding's on a very limited basis. With several cria on the ground now, he continues to pass on his dense fleece and curly, very crimpy fiber to his offspring.
Misha finally had his way with Sunset Pearl This is a white to white breeding. Pearl is 1/2 Acoyyo. Pearls sire is a full imported Accoyo, Peruvian Don Juan, who took 1st place at the 2004 AOBA Fiber to Fashion Show when he was over 10. At almost 10 years old herself, she has very crimpy fiber that she inherited from her sire. Pearl continues to be one of our best producers. Too bad for Misha, She always gets pregnant on her first breeding!
We also picked up a beautiful very promising Buck from Green Fence Farm . His name is Moose, He is out of the Green Fence Farms prize stud, 2003 Virginia Fair Champion, Telleman. See a picture of this buck "moose" at the bottom of the page. Moose's kid looks just like his daddy and hopefully he has had his way with Suzy, Cinderealla and our "Moose" girl. We look forward to having 5 or so new Cashmere Goat kids in the spring. Please Contact Ginger for New Kid information and to reserve your kid now!
Hot Fudge Sundae miscarried a beautiful female Alpaca that was still born, The vet came and was unable to get the cria out it was all stuck and twisted inside somehow. We donated the dead cria to Terri at Fireweed Alpacas in Goochland VA, for her neonatal clinics which she holds on a regular basis.
After that we had an additional 2 males, one was a complicate birth for Bliss. Tipper put out a rose grey, Casey (still looks silver grey). Tipper stands as the most easy birthing female alpaca we have. She never needs any help. She goes in the barn and comes out with an Alpaca cria. The rest of them seem spoiled and prefer our help.
We will soon add pictures of the new males Charlie, a bay black or true black alpaca and the grey looking Casey who looks just like his dam Tipper. It sure looks like Casey, after his first shearing, will be a rose grey like his next oldest sister, Maggie
Logan is our main Herd Sire and Logan is the Sire for the 2 new alpaca boys. Logan is re bred to most of the girls for next years alpaca cria (baby alpaca). Logan is NOW available for the very first time for breeding's on a very limited basis. With several cria on the ground now, he continues to pass on his dense fleece and curly, very crimpy fiber to his offspring.
Misha finally had his way with Sunset Pearl This is a white to white breeding. Pearl is 1/2 Acoyyo. Pearls sire is a full imported Accoyo, Peruvian Don Juan, who took 1st place at the 2004 AOBA Fiber to Fashion Show when he was over 10. At almost 10 years old herself, she has very crimpy fiber that she inherited from her sire. Pearl continues to be one of our best producers. Too bad for Misha, She always gets pregnant on her first breeding!
We also picked up a beautiful very promising Buck from Green Fence Farm . His name is Moose, He is out of the Green Fence Farms prize stud, 2003 Virginia Fair Champion, Telleman. See a picture of this buck "moose" at the bottom of the page. Moose's kid looks just like his daddy and hopefully he has had his way with Suzy, Cinderealla and our "Moose" girl. We look forward to having 5 or so new Cashmere Goat kids in the spring. Please Contact Ginger for New Kid information and to reserve your kid now!
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