I am a very happy girl! Both of my girls spit off! Now we just need to keep them happy so they'll stay that way. I kind of feel sorry for the boys getting all happy thinking they get to play again, but such is the life of a herdsire. A friend did tell me something really scary, four of her girls have been holding on to their pregnancies for close to or over a year now. ay,yi,yi. I really hope my girls don't do that to me. It'll be really exciting especially to see Carmella's cria. This one will be Flash's first. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for light colored girls. :-) I've recently relocated to my new home where my farm will eventually be.
Farm hunting time!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
100% Alpaca
I was disappointed to learn that 100% suri should not be done. Not for a good quality wearable product. Not that suri isn't a good quality fiber, it is; however, I have recently learned that suri fiber doesn't have memory, therefore it won't hold the shape of whatever it's made into. That was very disappointing but not the end of the world and certainly not the end of my suri herd.
My fiber mill made a very simple suggestion: blend the fiber. If I want to still have 100% alpaca blend the suri with huacaya. And he said I would only need 10% for the yarn to retain memory. Of course I can blend it with other naturals as well. I was already considering silk, angora or cashemere. I have no problem adding huacaya to that list.
Now that I know that blending is a necessity, I'll definitely be adding huacaya fiber animals to my herd. I've just about completed my revised plan which tells me that at the end of 5 years I should have 17 breeding and fiber animals, not counting the cria born to my breeding herd. I think 17 is a nice manageable number.
My fiber mill made a very simple suggestion: blend the fiber. If I want to still have 100% alpaca blend the suri with huacaya. And he said I would only need 10% for the yarn to retain memory. Of course I can blend it with other naturals as well. I was already considering silk, angora or cashemere. I have no problem adding huacaya to that list.
Now that I know that blending is a necessity, I'll definitely be adding huacaya fiber animals to my herd. I've just about completed my revised plan which tells me that at the end of 5 years I should have 17 breeding and fiber animals, not counting the cria born to my breeding herd. I think 17 is a nice manageable number.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sad Day at the Ranch
My visit yesterday was bittersweet. It was great because I got to spend all day with my kids. We walked Michael and Ewok and they did very well. Ewok has decided he definitely does not like being halter trained but he cooperated - somewhat. Michael did so well, he looks like a champion. He’s going to do his father and grandfather proud. We did a mock show and he tolerated being touched, though he did object to looking under his tail. Not bad for a 4 mo old on the halter for the third time. :-) I’m especially excited that he gained another 9 pounds. He will definitely reach the cria goal of 60 lbs by 6 months. He already weighs 57.
People say that alpacas are really smart and I fully believe that. Especially after yesterday. I went to hug my boys because I won’t be seeing them for a while and they went with it. Even Ewok and he hates being touched. It was almost like they understood I was saying good-bye. I’m going to miss them terribly. I didn’t interact too much with the girls because newly preggos are hormonal shouldn’t be upset.
Rick and Patti gave me an amazing send off: we had wine and cheese on the patio and they gave me an alpaca bear. Rick looked over my route to make sure I was going the most efficient way.
I know they’ll take great care of my kids. But I'm going to miss going to the ranch every week and seeing my kids grow and sitting with Rick and Pati and discussing alpacas. It's very hard to find good people and I'm very blessed to have them as friends.
People say that alpacas are really smart and I fully believe that. Especially after yesterday. I went to hug my boys because I won’t be seeing them for a while and they went with it. Even Ewok and he hates being touched. It was almost like they understood I was saying good-bye. I’m going to miss them terribly. I didn’t interact too much with the girls because newly preggos are hormonal shouldn’t be upset.
Rick and Patti gave me an amazing send off: we had wine and cheese on the patio and they gave me an alpaca bear. Rick looked over my route to make sure I was going the most efficient way.
I know they’ll take great care of my kids. But I'm going to miss going to the ranch every week and seeing my kids grow and sitting with Rick and Pati and discussing alpacas. It's very hard to find good people and I'm very blessed to have them as friends.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Oh Happy Day
What a busy,busy productive day! We officially traded Keona for Priscilla, we drew Ewok's blood for his ARI registration, walked the boys (Michael and Ewok) and both of my girls, Priscilla and Carmella were bred.
We bred Priscilla to Blade and Carmella to Flash. They were happy campers. What's truly funny is that Blade hurt his knee the other day so he was walking with a slight limp but when he realized he was going to the breeding pen, that limp disappeared. He wasted no time to getting the deed and if his knee was bothering him, it didn't show. He even went back for seconds. Priscilla was such a great sport, she took a nap while he did his thing. The things we gals put up with.
We went to get Flash, and he actually started to skip. I'm so proud of myself that Rick and Pati agreed that Flash was a good breeding choice. He got right down to business. Pretty good for a first timer. When he was finished, he got up, and tried to go back for more but he was so excited he was just all over the place. We tried to let Majik breed to his grandmother's best friend but they both spit him off. Poor guy.
Michael and Ewok didn't walk quite as well as they did the first time, but they did walk further than the first time. Nice trade-off. Then after being forced to walk on the halter, poor Ewok has blood drawn. He was not a happy camper. Michael let me put my hands all over him which will be great for shows, but he wasn't too pleased about my looking under his tail. One step at a time.
Overall, it was a very successful productive day and I'm a happy camper. I wish I could be here for the spit tests, but a girl can't be greedy.
Yes, I can. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for girls.
We bred Priscilla to Blade and Carmella to Flash. They were happy campers. What's truly funny is that Blade hurt his knee the other day so he was walking with a slight limp but when he realized he was going to the breeding pen, that limp disappeared. He wasted no time to getting the deed and if his knee was bothering him, it didn't show. He even went back for seconds. Priscilla was such a great sport, she took a nap while he did his thing. The things we gals put up with.
We went to get Flash, and he actually started to skip. I'm so proud of myself that Rick and Pati agreed that Flash was a good breeding choice. He got right down to business. Pretty good for a first timer. When he was finished, he got up, and tried to go back for more but he was so excited he was just all over the place. We tried to let Majik breed to his grandmother's best friend but they both spit him off. Poor guy.
Michael and Ewok didn't walk quite as well as they did the first time, but they did walk further than the first time. Nice trade-off. Then after being forced to walk on the halter, poor Ewok has blood drawn. He was not a happy camper. Michael let me put my hands all over him which will be great for shows, but he wasn't too pleased about my looking under his tail. One step at a time.
Overall, it was a very successful productive day and I'm a happy camper. I wish I could be here for the spit tests, but a girl can't be greedy.
Yes, I can. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for girls.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Using Knowledge for Planning
The more I learn about this business, the more I tweak and adjust my plans. It happens. It wouldn't make sense not to make changes if I've learned that something I want to do isn't practical or financially sound. A lot of my original plans were made based on being excited and anxious to get started. Now that the initial excitement has given way to common sense, I can make real plans.
I still have a lot to learn about this business, but I have learned enough to know that my stress level and vet bills will be a lot lower if I stick to my plan of a predominately fiber herd. Besides, I have found that I really like the male alpacas more than the females. It might be because the males are more sociable, but I understand that the constant hormone fluctuations of being pregnant, giving birth, nursing and nursing while pregnant can play games with one's disposition. Another reason males are easier.
Speaking of adjusted herd plan, I've been reading for sale ads and it's amazing to me how many animals are being sold for practically nothing because the animals are so closely related to their herdmates. I've been thinking of how to avoid this in my own breeding herd and I've decided to have two herdsires and each of them having their own exclusive females within my herd. This way I don't run into the issue of having my animals so related to each other that I have no one to breed them to. Now, I just need the discipline to stick to that plan. :-)
I still have a lot to learn about this business, but I have learned enough to know that my stress level and vet bills will be a lot lower if I stick to my plan of a predominately fiber herd. Besides, I have found that I really like the male alpacas more than the females. It might be because the males are more sociable, but I understand that the constant hormone fluctuations of being pregnant, giving birth, nursing and nursing while pregnant can play games with one's disposition. Another reason males are easier.
Speaking of adjusted herd plan, I've been reading for sale ads and it's amazing to me how many animals are being sold for practically nothing because the animals are so closely related to their herdmates. I've been thinking of how to avoid this in my own breeding herd and I've decided to have two herdsires and each of them having their own exclusive females within my herd. This way I don't run into the issue of having my animals so related to each other that I have no one to breed them to. Now, I just need the discipline to stick to that plan. :-)
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Happy, Productive Day
Today was a great day on the farm. Pati and I had a great conversation about my kids, my future plans and where they fit in those plans. We decided that Keona wasn't the best fit for my plans and they generously allowed me to trade Keona for one of the white proven females, Priscilla. I put my hands on Priscilla she has really nice fiber, just as important, her cria, Cleveland, has great fiber and luster. I'm very happy with my trade and I'm still on track to give myself Carmella as a Christmas present. And typical of how wonderful Pati is, she gave me Priscilla's fiber. It's really great.
In other business, we put the boys on halter today. Ewok didn't alarm scream like he did last time. He actually walked along side Michael. Michael behaved beautifully. He pulled and pronked a bit, but for a new guy, he did very well. We took Michael and Ewok by Boy's Town and introduced Michael to his father, Blade. However, once Blade determined Michael wasn't a female, he lost interest. Haltering and unhaltering Michael would have gone a little better if his Mom hadn't kept clucking at him. Now that I think about it, maybe she was just trying to make him feel better, but he took it as come here.
All-in-all it was a good day.
In other business, we put the boys on halter today. Ewok didn't alarm scream like he did last time. He actually walked along side Michael. Michael behaved beautifully. He pulled and pronked a bit, but for a new guy, he did very well. We took Michael and Ewok by Boy's Town and introduced Michael to his father, Blade. However, once Blade determined Michael wasn't a female, he lost interest. Haltering and unhaltering Michael would have gone a little better if his Mom hadn't kept clucking at him. Now that I think about it, maybe she was just trying to make him feel better, but he took it as come here.
All-in-all it was a good day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
