alpaca.farmer

Aberlour makes new friends

2011-12-14T14:37:00.003Z

After being isolated with Boz Flag for 2 months the time came for Aberlour to meet the other boys . It was a slightly torturous morning , since he refused to leave the field where he has been for the last couple of months - Flag proved his value again , I put him on a halter and we spent the best part of an hour coaxing Aberlour , an inch at a time , out of his field and into a new one ! We walked back and forth endlessly , unitl Abe decided to pluck up all his courage and venture along the bridle path to meet his new friends .

Then , a complete change of tune , no longer the shrinking violet , he went into total domination mode . There then ensued an hour of squealing and chasing , where Abe tried valiantly to impress upon the other 7 boys that he was going to be boss . Surprisingly , Teifi Magic ( from whom I expected trouble ) stayed largely out of his way and was pretty calm about this new interloper. Suffice to say it has taken a couple of days for complete calm to be re-instated , and Abe is firmly part of the herd now , thank god!

Monday saw the second round of Vit injections . The boys behaved really nicely, except for Magic , and were all injected with the minimum of fuss . Not so the girls - plenty of spitting from Athena on her and everyone else's behave , screaming from Kirtsy , and an escape bid from Artemis which was frankly laughable - a huge suri trying to squeeze under a gate with only 6 inch gap ....

All this in a sea of mud , but we remained up right and largely unscathed.

The weather is calm for the moment , the rain and snow have been and gone , fingers crossed that tomorrow is not as bad as predicted

Announcing a new arrival!

2011-11-09T20:10:00.004Z

I feel like it has been a long time since my last confession /blog, on one hand there is not so much to relate , the alpacas are all well , first Vit injections of the season have been done , no dramas ( I had my fingers crossed as I typed that so we should be ok) the chickens are fine , the baby chicks are now fully fledged but still minature , what more can I say ? Oh , the title !

Well , after much deliberation and searching I am pleased to announce that we are now the proud owners of a new stud male - he is a dark fawn , with dark tips , a fab pedigree and an even better name- introducing Andaw Czars Aberlour....

His father is Silverstream Czar, and he has a long and prestigious pedigree with a Jolimont and a pperuvian for grand parents and great grand parents . I hope he will do very well for us , with both a white and coloured background I am looking forward to some lovely fawns and who knows what else. Aberlour is still quite young , only just over 2 , but judging by the activity in the paddock he is very keen , poor old Bozedown Flag , who is his companion until quarantine finishes , is putting up with his amorous intentions in a resigned but fairly relaxed way!

He has been with us for about a month and is settling well , having come from a home with no children he is finding my youngest son hugely interesting , and a routine is developing - every day on his return from school Huw takes a short cut across Aberlours field in a bid to get to the cakes first and avoid the roosters! Aberlour loiters near the gate and follows him at fairly close quarters , its a bit like the keystone cops , Huw walks Aberlour walks , Huw gets nervous and trots Aberlour trots , Huw breaks into a flat out run so does Aberlour - its hilarious to watch , but both are secretly enjoying themselves. So far Aberlour has not vaulted over the fence at the end , but I'm sure the day will come !

Chickens are not as stupid..

2011-09-06T21:54:00.002+01:00

as Turkeys! Our turkey is lovingly trying to hatch 15 plums that she has gathered on the compost heap! She is very protective of her plums and attacked DH when he picked her up to put her to bed . In theory if Turkeys could hatch plum jam I would be thrilled ( we have tons of plums this year) but what I can't get my head round is how she's going to get the jam into the jars ....?

A close shave ...

2011-08-31T20:22:00.002+01:00

I was upstairs just getting changed ( isn't it always when you have your clothes off?) that the alpacas in the front field all suddenly stood up tall and faced the same direction . PANIC! I have been watching a couple of dogs chasing my neighbours sheep this evening , and despite his and our best efforts we have not been able to catch them or their owner , so I immediately thought that they were back . I yelled for DH and we both shot out of the house , him through one door me through the other , taking our dog with me , just in time to see a very large fox , turn tail and shoot off up the drive - the dozy chickens were all standing looking at him ! Close call!

Safe and dry!

2011-08-28T18:12:00.002+01:00

Thats the hay - we finally got the hay made on Monday night and worked late into the evening getting it onto the tractor and away in the barn, we were expecting heavy rain over night on Monday so I was really pleased and slept well , knowing that the hay was safely away for the winter . Woke to on Tues to ..... blue skies and sunshine ! The week has been largely lovely ! which is a bit of a pain in a way , ' cos the predictions were not good , and if we'd known we'd have cut the other fields as well!! However , our friendly farmer is happy to have them as silage if nec so it will all be fine .

The alpacas are all looking fantastic , Cerys had her meeting with Magic and everyone else is showing all signs of being pregnant. Fingers crossed.

we have another broody hen , which after the recent disasters , when DH took the eggs at the last minute and gave them to friends ... yuk , I am hoping will get me a few more nice hens before the winter .

DS#3 is happily heading to Switzerland as we speak - what it is to have nice friends .... I can't really speak after my trip to Mustique , but he does seem to do rather well on the holiday front!

Fingers crossed

2011-08-19T21:37:00.002+01:00

We have taken a chance and cut the first field of hay , well actually we cut it on Wed , but with 4 small children at home for the school holidays time is beginning to blur! So far the weather has held and I am quietly optimistic that we will be able to bale it on Sunday, which is supposed to be a very nice day! If not it will be silage and I will have to think again for the second field.

Th pacas are all enjoying a spot of the warmer weather , lots of sun bathing and general lounging around , everyone is looking very mellow! Today I tried the girls with some carrots , I know lots of people feed their alpacas carrots but I have always been slightly nervous of them choking ( yes i know that's slightly daft ) so today when the veggie box arrived with LOTS of carrots I tried feeding a few to the girls . I chopped them all up nicely and put them in the feeding trough , everyone came at a gallop and then skidded to a halt to look at these very strange things in their troughs. Lots of sniffing , and a fair amount of jumping about , finally only Bijou took the plunge and ate some , nobody else would brave it , so they all wandered off en masse to stand in the water trough! It's a little trick that Hermione has taught them all and I really wish she hadn't! Whilst it is very amusing to see all the alpacas taking turns to splash in the water troughs , at the moment , when the water supplies are very low it gives me a bit of headache trying to keep the water clean . I have tried buckets but Hermione tries to stand in those too and spills them all , fence buckets also get spilled but to a lesser degree .

Water is becoming a concern - two of my neighbours , one on either side have now run out of water , or more accurately their springs have dried up ! so we are being as careful as possible , flushing only when necessary - the beauty of small boys is that they are thrilled to be encouraged to wee on the compost heap- two birds with one stone so to speak!

ALLS WELL

2011-08-14T16:40:00.002+01:00

The girls ( and the boys ) are all looking good despite the unseasonably cool weather . Tomorrow I have one more mating to do , Cerys has an appointment with Magic , last week when we did spit offs she was the only one to sit - great news for the rest , but she was mated a couple of months ago and I was hoping that she had taken , anyway , tomorrow is the day !
Still we are waiting for a good spell of weather to get some hay making done , every year its the same - the hay fields are not quite ready in June when the weather is hot , and by August the weather is too damp??
The hens are all beginning to get the hang of laying back in their houses , and the pigs are enjoying the glut of cob nuts - a last fling before the butchers on Thursday!

Exciting news at last !

2011-08-11T12:51:00.002+01:00

Well , a long absence from blogging , largely due to the family holiday to the Vendee! Lots of sun and beaches and rock pools for small boys , kites for the not so small , and books for me!

The animals were all well cared for by a series of house sitters , and we come back to the same number we left - which is always positive!

For a couple of months now I have been looking around for a new stud to replace West , who sadly died last year , well I think I've found him ! I took a trip to sunny Devon on Tuesday for a hands on experience , and am well pleased with what I found. He is a youngster , not quite 2 , but with fantastic blood lines including Jolimont , Silverstream and pperuvian amongst others , a dark fawn , who i hope will add to my herd very positively. Awaiting vet checks before I bring him home , and then I shall reveal all!

Looking to the future.

2011-07-13T21:43:00.002+01:00

Sadly , on Sunday we had to make the descision and have Diablo put to sleep. An abscess had burst in his ear canal on Friday and I was really praying that the antibiotics would have begun to act - he was on a third type by this time - but unfortunately not . I took him on his last visit to the vet and made the vet promise not to mention that I cried , when he next saw me! It was incredibly quick, seconds really , and then home to the herd for mum to begin to realise he was gone. Poor Veronica was distraught and stood by him for the whole day. Finally I took him away at dusk , I really didn't want the foxes to get him . Veronica is still unhappy but is slowly getting better.

Meanwhile , matings carry on at a pace , I am determined that next year we will have a good strong crop of cria with a strong colour bias. The herd is looking well , and an infection that had started around Brizo's ear tag has subsided with the help of some anti biotic cream and anti fly cream , gosh the flies are bad this year. I am also hoping that we are nearly ready to make some hay , I leave it to the far superior knowledge of the farmer next door , but every year I am raring to go and he advises caution - he's usually right !

Maybe , just maybe

2011-07-04T21:12:00.002+01:00

we have turned a corner . I am really praying we have . Bloods and fecals came back from the VLA showing an underlying infection , so dose of penicillin and finger s crossed. Tonight he sucked his milk down on his own - the first time he has done that in 2 or 3 days , and took almost 200ml , which is more than he took all of yesterday and today combined. Not sure that penicillin can work that fast, he only had the injection 4 hours ago , but I am really hoping we may be on the way back .

Thanks for all your advice and support , much appreciated !

Still no decision but in my heart ...

2011-07-04T14:32:00.003+01:00

I know it cannot be good news . The blood results came back and showed no abnormalities at all , so the kidneys are a slight red herring . Poor little Diablo has had a tough weekend , his weight has gone up and down a bit , but when you only weigh 6.3kgs a little is alot if you see what I mean. He refuses the bottle most times , but is not feeding very well from mum , so it really is a case of force feeding him. He looks pathetic and listless , tries hard to eat grass but is clearly not enjoying life .
I am still waiting for the fecal results , and there is a slim chance that they may suggest an infection which we can clobber with antibiotics , but I am really not optimistic and I have mentally made the decision that unless it is clear cut and pretty good odds , Diablo cannot go on like this . You may think that I am jumping the gun , but I need to be prepared cos it is breaking my heart to watch him not make any progress and seem so miserable . I really hope I'm wrong he is a beautiful little chap.

Potentially tough decisions ahead

2011-07-01T17:25:00.003+01:00

Diablo had his visit to the vet this morning . I was reasonably optimistic - he was brighter and more alert , still not keen to take a bottle but his belly seemed full enough. Anyway, the vet kept him for a few hours and then rang with the news I dreaded - it is not simple or even probable that it can be solved. It seems that he has mal-formed kidneys , resulting in urine not being passed to the bladder effectively . Currently we are awaiting blood results , but it seems that we are not sure how this will progress. It may be that his body will adjust at regular intervals , but equally he may not be able to survive and I must look at the possibility of euthanasia . Not a happy night ahead!

With a heavy heart

2011-06-30T23:43:00.002+01:00

It is with a heavy heart that I await tomorrow . Diablo has not had a good day , whilst I would usually consider myself ' a glass half full ' sorta gal , today I feel quite the opposite. I called the vet out this morning- Diablo was lethargic in the extreme , and had lost weight over night , refused to actively take a bottle and was only taking a small amount that I was force feeding him . Blood and fecal samples have been taken , temp appears normal , no obvious pain or swelling anywhere - a total mystery. The vet has scratched her head and whilst we await the test results from the VLA Diablo will be scanned and x-rayed tomorrow morning to see if anything presents itself.
His feed at 6.30pm was also reluctantly taken , but by 10 pm he was sucking , which is the first time in several days that I have had any help from him , maybe positive? He does seem to be holding his head slightly oddly , and dribbling a bit , but I am beginning to see all sorts of things which may or may not really be a problem . Hey ho , hopefully some answers tomorrow , but I am not expecting them to be good.

On the plus side , there usually is a plus if you look , we have friends visiting from SF who we haven't seen for a year, and that is great.

Emotional roller coaster

2011-06-29T22:46:00.002+01:00

On the bright side , matings have gone well , all the girls have been mated now except Brizo , she is a maiden who showed a lot of interest a week ago , but seems to have got cold feet now that her turn has come , we'll wait and try again in a couple of days. Hermione has spat , and none of the other girls ( who were so keen a week ago ) could be persuaded to even come and look at Magic , I take that as a good sign.

On the other hand Diablo is causing me a lot of concern . I just don't have a good feeling about this . I weighed him tonight and he has lost a couple of 100g's , his feeding is erratic , and I rarely catch him feeding from mum . She has plenty of milk , and lets him feed but far too often I find him tucked up under a hedge or sunbathing and she is not paying him any attention. As soon as I appear with a bottle then she is right by his side . We have bottle fed a couple of cria over the last 5 years and I have never had one who is not interested in the same way Diablo isn't. He started so well , coming eagerly to the bottle , but now I have to catch him , and tonight I had to practically force feed him . Undoubtedly I am going to have to take a more proactive stance on this one , we go on holiday in 3 wekks time , so I need to be sure he is doing better by then or the house sitters will have a nightmare! Does anybody have any ideas or tips , I could really do with some !

And foxes , don't mention foxes !!! I have barely had a good nights sleep for weeks due to the constant attentions of a fox. Last night it chewed the corner of the nesting box , I kid you not , sometimes a gun looks most appealing .

still going in the right direction

2011-06-21T21:02:00.002+01:00

I am pleased to report that Diablo continues to progress , it seems that when the weather is bad he feeds very little ( and looses weight ) and if the weather is good vice versa. Tonight he took a bottle , but that is the first time since Sat. and he has gained a couple of 100 gms , so with all the ups and downs he stands at 7.3kgs ! Still hardly a giant , but good enough for me at the moment .

Today also saw some more matings , as did yesterday. Teifi Magic spent 2 weeks in a field with most of the eligible ladies and refused to perform his studly duties , yesterday I thought I was doing pregnancy tests, but it became immediately apparent that none of the girls are preg yet , judging by the fight to get into the mating pen!! So , two matings yesterday and 3 today . Artemis is very keen on this mating business , she muscled her way to the front of the queue yesterday , and then tried again today , standing next to whoever was mating and keeping an eye on proceedings. I find it very amusing that after a few minutes orgling the girls start dropping like flies until the whole mating pen is surrounded by very keen females. Lets hope it all goes to plan and we get a bumper crop of cria for next year after this years disappointing showing.

Progressing ....

2011-06-18T10:37:00.002+01:00

Diablo has reached the massive weight of 7kgs! What a relief. He is still coming in at night , and I am offering him a bottle morning and night but he only takes a small amount if any at all , as if he is being polite , but he isn't really interested . Whilst the rain is welcome in many ways , it is proving a hindrance for cria growth , I would love some nice sunny days for him so that he can get some Vit D and run around , but it looks set to carry on as a damp June. Anyway , the progress is small but positive . Thank you for all your support and good ideas .

Back to square one !

2011-06-14T20:30:00.002+01:00

Diablo lost a little weight yesterday and a little more today , so we are back to bottle supplementing! I am so disappointed , I really thought that he would be up and away with the progress he has made , but a combination of cold wet days and nights has taken its toil , and I think he has entered a vicious circle where he was too cold and wet to want to feed and then he was to weak to be able to feed , I had hoped that taking him in in the evenings would help , but clearly not enough! This evening he took 200mls of goats milk with extra double cream and it went down very quickly , almost instantly there was an increase in activity and now he is tucked up in the stables with his mum , feeding happily . Lets hope that a couple of weeks of supplementing will see significant improvement , after all there must be a tipping point when they weigh enough to feed well and run around ?!

Soggy

2011-06-13T21:12:00.002+01:00

It has rained ALOT over the last couple of days , but thankfully it has been sunny today . I am so grateful for the rain , and very sorry for the farmers in the SE who are on water restrictions , but yesterday when I was knelt on the grass in the pouring rain bailing out a drainage hole that was blocked , whilst DH tried to locate the problem I was rather less grateful.

.

Diablo was looking very sorry for himself , cushed against a hedge in the rain , so in he and mum came for a dry off and a comfortable night in the stable . I don't think he had been feeding very much , he looked a little lethargic and sad , so cria coat back on , and plenty of feeding , he looked much brighter this morning. At lunch time I let them out for some sun , and weighed him as well . Worryingly his weight gain since birth was only 1.5kg. I guess in percentage terms that s ok since he only weighed in at 5.5 kgs in the first place , but I had hoped for a bit more . Today may have seen a greater weight gain , fingers crossed, otherwise we'll be back to a supplement bottle for my peace of mind . Veronica is a good mum and always has plenty of milk , but being so small I suppose he uses alot of energy just feeding .

Shearing done at last!

2011-06-07T20:08:00.003+01:00

Last night I was too pooped to blog - shearing started at 8.30 and finished 14 hrs later at 10.30pm ! and we only did 22 alpaca!

Initially we started well , a friend bought her 3 to join us for shearing and it seemed to be going smoothly , 3 alpacas in the shearer complained that the hand piece was warming up too much and he would have to switch to the reserve hand piece , this also had a fault and so did the back-up reserve hand piece! After 3 hours of 'fiddling' with the hand pieces DH and the shearer admitted defeat and we called the whole thing off. Friend departed with her 3 unshorn animals , and we put everyone back in their fields. 3 hours later the shearers called to say that they were on their way back having got a new hand piece and would be with us in an hour! Back to square one!Call friend, round up alpacas , start shearing again at 6.30pm. This time we sheared our Friends animals first , and finally finished our own at 10.30 - at which point we all sat down fro bacon sandwiches and beer ! but only after everyone had showered!

ps the alpaca look great , and I am stiff as a board from all the bending and gathering of fleece

Shearers - a blessing or a curse ??

2011-06-05T11:18:00.002+01:00

It has been absolutely boiling here for a good few days and the alpacas are clearly finding it hard going - plenty of showering under the hosepipe- so I was pleased to hear from the shearers on Friday night , 11pm to be precise , and find that they are coming on Monday! All hands to the pump getting the barn spotless and dust free ( yeh right ) but very clean nonetheless and getting the house ready for the shearers to sleepover as the boys put it! Well that's the blessing - the animals will be cooler and happier and look lovely , the curse is that as soon as the date was set the weather has changed- it bloody well rained yesterday , and we have gone from hot but very dry alpacas to warm and slightly soggy alpacas , which everyone knows is not a desirable state for shearing. A strong wind is blowing at the moment so fingers crossed .

Diablo is doing really well , I haven't been able to catch him to weigh him , so I take that as a sign that he is flourishing !He has had his coat off for a few days now and is truly a lovely colour , just like his dad.

I have decided to re-name Teifi Magic , it seems that Houdini would be more appropriate ! On Thurs day evening I moved him from his field with the girls back in with the boys , so that we could spit off next week and see how we stand so to speak. Having made a monumental fuss about leaving the boys 2 weeks ago , Magic made a similar fuss about leaving the girls! Finally , we walked him , on his halter , back to the boys field well out of sight of the girls . For the first half hour it all went as expected , the girls breathed a sigh of relief and got back to relaxing , Magic stood at the gate and hummed in a most upset sort of way. Dh and I got back to planting the veg beds. Gradually the humming got louder , DH looked concerned and eventually commented on how loud Magic was , suddenly we both realised that he was very loud and very close ! Magic was on the bridle path on the other side of the veg garden hedge , trying to get back to the girls! Slight panic as we tried and eventually managed to get him back into his own field with the boys. This time I left him in the catch pen by the gate with Flag for company and breathed a sigh of relief , secure in the knowledge that he could not possibly get out of there. Flag sat down and looked thoroughly bored with his companion who was still pacing the gate and humming. DH and I went to get some supper , half an hour later Magic was back at the gate , this time the gate from the bridle path to the back garden! How the hell did he do it ? Anyway , by now we had decided that we would not sleep if we weren't sure he was secure , so gave in and put him back with the girls , Magic 1 - Humans 0!
Now we are onto plan B, not sure what that will be yet, but certainly plan A was a flop!

To quote from pygmalion

2011-05-29T23:05:00.002+01:00

- he's got , I really think he's got it ( apologies for the slight mis-quote) . Diablo is feeding himself!!! It's a bit messy and slightly unorthodox , but feeding himself he appears to be . Friday midnight feed found a cria with milk on his face , I waited a few hours and checked again , and whilst he is hardly an elegant feeder , he is managing , and Veronica's udder is reassuringly less full. Initially I was concerned that her milk supply was drying up , but after 2 days all is well , her udder is covered in the remnants of his feed and Diablo is out in the fields frolicking with the best of them. He has put on a little weight - 200gms - but now that nursing is being established I hope that we will see a continued progress. Diablo has fast discovered the power he has over the 4 girls in his field , if they get too close Veronica objects most strongly , as a result they are all keen to keep their distance if she is watching , so he has taken to running up to them and then chuckling to himself as they turn tail and leg it before Veronica gets any ideas - he has the makings of a holy pasture terror!

Beginning to see the light

2011-05-25T19:44:00.003+01:00

.. at the end of the tunnel I hope ! Diablo , as he will be called, is making progress thank God. Monday night was stressful , with a couple of night feeds from me , so I was tired by the morning . Luckily Tuesday was glorious , and so the little chap went out to meet some of the herd , red cria coat and all. Everybody was very excited to meet the new cria and there was alot of running around and of course lots of sniffing . Veronica was torn , on the one hand she wanted to get at the grass and on the other she really didn't like the others getting too close to her baby . In the end a compromise was reached by putting her in a small filed next to the rest of the herd . Diablo took it all well , initially he couldn't get up by himself , but once up could stand for a short while before folding himself back into a perfect little cush. Despite being over due by forever , he is tiny at just 5.8 kg , by far the smallest cria we have had.

Today he is able to stand and walk about by himself and he has spent a large portion of the day outside. The yearlings are very excited and there has been a lot of skittishness , Diablo is keen to join in but the flesh is not quite up to it! I am still milking mum about every hour and then giving it to her cria , his sucking reflex is a bit weak , thou' it seems to be getting better , and he is having trouble keeping his tongue under control , but that too is getting better. He is keen to feed from mum , but with a slightly out of control tongue and still wobbly legs he has not managed to perfect latching on , he knows where to go and is very keen so I am hopeful that within a couple of days it will all come right , meantime I am milking mum and supplementing with goats milk from a bottle . Still fingers crossed!

At last!

2011-05-23T19:12:00.003+01:00

Finally , on the day with the worst weather conditions for at least a month, Veronica has had her cria!!! A beautiful dark fawn boy , the spitting image of his dad West who sadly died last year. It has not been a smooth start , hence no picture yet , I just haven't had time , and I don't want to tempt fate.
After a gestation which must be the longest in history, 391 days, Veronica chose today to give birth. It is about the only day for weeks which i discounted due to the appalling weather conditions- we have had rain or drizzle all day alongside a gale force warning and incredible winds - and here in lies my mistake. I checked her a couple of times this morning - nothing , checked again just before I sat down for lunch - nothing . Then at 2.20 something made me check again - somebody shouting nearby I think - and she had a cria. I pelted outside with a towel to find a flat , wet , cold cria with the sack still over his nose , and a mother who was clearly concerned and had already delivered the placenta. Quick run to the stables , lots of rubbing and several prayers , and I was getting nowhere fast. Grabbed the heat lamp - ping! the bulb blew! Don't own a hairdryer - slight panic setting in .Called a neighbour who was luckily in , and had a heat lamp which he bought over pretty fast- things were looking up , but the crias temp was very low , so I decided to stick him in the bath - which i had just un-plumbed in readiness for moving it - oh s**t. Large tub trug came to the rescue and after half an hour in hot water inside a plastic bag , the cria started to struggle and hold his head up - success.

We are not out of the woods yet, he is finding leg co-ordination tricky , and cannot stand for long periods , so I have supplemented with mothers colostrum ,they are both having a rest at the moment, and i shall be back out every 20 mins or so for a bit more colostrum until he can do it himself!! Now to choose a name!

Still waiting!

2011-05-18T13:48:00.003+01:00

I can't believe it - we are still waiting for anybody to produce . Veronica is at 378 days and Kirsty is at 373! Veronica particularly looks like a battle ship , she is so huge , everyday I've looked and agreed with myself that today will be the day , but no , so far I have been completely wrong . All the signs are there for both girls , but neither seems in a hurry to produce . Both these cria are from Boz West and are the last of his line so I am really hoping for something special.

I can see that this year is going to be a long one ! I have decided to have a go at field mating , to that end I have put Magic in with a filed of perspective girls with high hopes that nature will take its course and I will not spend so much time walking him backwards and forwards to the mating pen , which requires haltering him first - an activity he does not like and makes as difficult as possible. 2 days now and no mating has occurred ! At first he was quite keen and the girls were pleased to see him , but within a few minutes they had chased him just a little too much and he is not remotely interested . All that posturing is fine when there's a fence between us .... he's turning into a bit of a wuss. So back to the drawing board , he will go back with the boys and we will return to pen mating !

things are progressing ...

2011-04-30T12:32:00.002+01:00

just not quite the right things! No , we still don't have a cria on the ground - Veronica is at 368 days ( our current longest gestation ) and looking huge , very uncomfortable and hot. She has been coming down everyday for a good soaking from the hosepipe which she plainly loves , and I have been telling her how much better she will feel if she would just get on and have it , but to no avail.

My broody hen has produced 6 chicks - would have been 7 but she trod on one - so I hatched the rest in the incubator for the last 24 hrs just to be safe , she is happily touting them around the garden showing them all off.

Finally we have aquired 2 new pigs ! Petunia and Daffodil ( don't ask) arrived yesterday and are saddleback piglets , 9 weeks old . Amazingly , our pig rearing feats range far and wide and we are well known!! When DH went to collect them , the breeder , whom we purchased from 5 yrs ago , said that he had heard about our first pigs from the butcher - I did say infamous didn't I ?- who apparently still recalls the 2 elephants we took to him all those years ago , and the breeder is in a different county!! These 2 are not destined for such greatness , a modest 70kgs will be fine !

Observation of the day

2011-04-18T19:21:00.002+01:00

... spring is truly here! How do I know ? Well , simple really - the alpaca are not showing much interest in their daily ration of hard feed , so the grass must be really good !

Currently I am waiting on a new cria , which should have been due on the 13 April , judging by last years days , 351 to be precise , but now we are into the final run up to 365 and still no sign , Veronica is very large and clearly uncomfortable , and the weather is perfect so it has to be any day now , but when ? Every morning I 've got up and had a quick look and thought' today's the day' but clearly I am wrong. I have had everyone on standby whilst I was away in Mustique , but nothing , so expect the news very soon , with pics I promise . This also means that mating must surely be on the horizon , still a couple of decisions to make , and plans to put in place , but on the whole we are ready to start , and I even heard from the shearers today - nothing concrete of course , but progress.

The sole remaining turkey has started laying , which is very exciting but not as exciting as if we had a stag, DH is dying to try soft boiled turkey egg , watch this space.

All our chicks seem to be growing fast , and since I have a broody sitting on 10 eggs I am debating the need to incubate another clutch myself , well in an incubator actually , ha ha . If I do hatch another lot and the broody does well I could end up with a grand total of maybe 42 chicks hatched this year , if they can avoid the fox I may at last have enough to sell !!

Since my last post we have been battling lumpy jaw in one of the young males , daily antibiotics have certainly helped and the swelling is less than a quarter of what it was originally , but after 6 weeks it is still not quite gone . The vet is unsure as to what may have caused it , a kick maybe , or bizarrely , hay that was too ' nice' - not enough hard chewy bits ?? Luckily Bilbo has started to put some weight back on , having got pretty skinny , so things are looking better , it would just be nice to see the back of it once and for all.

Tree climbing dogs ?

2011-03-06T15:08:00.002Z

A bit of a gap since my last post and quite a lot has happened , I shall try to be concise !

Firstly the alpacas are all well , Calpurnia is still not eating hard feed , but is tucking in nicely to her hay , I'm not overly worried but we are going to run some fecals just to be sure there is nothing else going on .Veronica is due to produce at the end of March / beginning of April , which is when I am away so DH gets to watch and wait a bit , fingers crossed she does it before I go or hangs on for a week until I come back . Out of interest , the alpaca people reading , can you tell me how you deal with birthing season , do you have somebody watching them all the time ? or just checking a couple of times a day?

This morning has produced another fox in our trap!! Hurray I am shouting . The last couple of weeks have been somewhat trying , I knew he was around but I couldn't catch him , and then on Wed he tried to take the big white turkey literally under DH and DS3 's noses! He didn't manage it , since DH was close enough to give him a good kick, but we have been on tenter hooks every evening since waiting for the poultry to go to bed ,we have almost mounted an armed guard except that we don't own a gun. On the positive , we have had our first turkey egg and our first blue egg - on the same day!!

And now to the title of this blog , as I am sitting here typing , I can see the children and the dog in a field and they have just taught her to climb a tree ! Not a small tree either , all 4 of them are perched in the tree and so is the dog ! Incredible , but I'm not sure how useful a tree climbing dog is ?!

I think i'm turning into Victor Meldrew

2011-02-05T19:51:00.002Z

Honestly I am , the weather is just not suiting me ! We have had amazing winds the last couple of days . On Friday we woke to find that the boys playhouse had blown onto the hedge - it took 6 men to move it to it's original resting place , but yesterday it moved of its own accord . Today we woke to find DH's boat had blown from the field , over the hedge and was sitting right in the middle of the bridle path - what is going on ?! We have lost a couple of old trees and various items have moved around , a gate has blown down - but the animals are all fine , which is the main thing . The alpaca are all scootched up against hedges , looking reasonably content , but I am having sleepless nights with all the wind , please just let me have dull and mild for the time of year , and I promise to be happy !

Concerned - a bit

2011-02-03T21:21:00.002Z

Still horribly windy , but not wet - is that an improvement I wonder ?

When doing the vit injections yesterday I did a quick condition score on everyone , all good at 3/5 except Artemis who is a 4/5 ( but she is a suri) , and Calpurnia who scored 2 - 2.5/5 . She is the only weanling who has shown any distress at being parted from mum , and even after nearly 3 weeks still spends a reasonable amount of time standing at the gate humming . She is happily eating grass , and hay , but refuses to touch hard feed like the others. I have tried feeding her separately with the rest of the herd nearby but unable to get at her bowl , but she pays no interest , I have tried sugarbeet- hot, warm cold , nothing! Does anyone have any ideas how to get her to eat better? All advice welcome , I've never had this problem quite as bad before . Calpurnia's mum still doesn't like to eat with the herd and will only eat substantially if penned next to them , is this the alpaca version of ' too posh to push'?

By the way , the new additions are ...... turkeys! A sort of rescue , 1 male 2 female , Norfolk bronze I think , but not really sure . The idea is to breed them and eat the offspring as DS #3 said to granny ' Of course we're not going to eat them , just their babies '!!

new additions!

2011-02-02T14:43:00.002Z

Today has been horribly windy and a little bit wet. Nonetheless I took the opportunity to do some Vit injections for the weanlings and their 'aunts' , Athena started spitting as soon as she saw the needle , needless to say we dealt with her first and put her outside the pen so that she had less access to us ! DH insisted on standing against the fence nearest her and then saying ( in a very male way) ' she'll just have to learn to not spit at me '!! Guess who smells particularly pungent??

I also took the chance to introduce a new member to the weanlings in the shape of Flag. He is not the smartest alpaca brain wise , but simply the nicest alpaca I have ever met. He walks beautifully on a halter , is very majestic , and just a generally great animal . I have put him in with the weanlings so that he can get to know Cassius , because in the fullness of time Cassius will have to meet the other boys and that could be nasty since he is my only male from last year - I thought he could do with a friend and Flag is perfect.Plus he is the respected leader of the boys .....

I also have 3 more new additions to the farm . Can you guess ? A clue - the male is called a stag. Answers tomorrow.

Still here!

2011-01-26T22:30:00.003Z

Christmas has been and gone and now we are almost at the end of January- where has the time gone ?

Like most people it has been a busy and hard time , the weather has made sure of that , and I am personally quite tired , both of the bad weather but also physically as a result of the weather . The alpacas are all well , a couple of weeks without significant rain means they are looking fluffy and well if a little dirty - the soil is very red here so as a result he white ones are all looking pale pink , a new colour for the BAS to consider?

Now that the snow has abated for a while and the night time temps are not so low I have taken the opportunity to wean the cria . Really it should have been done at Christmas , but I couldn't bring myself to drag them away from their mums in such horrid cold. As usual , the mums have barely given the weanlings a backward glance - if they could go out on the town I feel they probably would! The weanlings and their 'aunties' , however, are still occassionally looking longingly in the direction of the others , but time spent at the gate humming has reduced to almost nothing over the course of a week.

The chickens have been doing well , until today when a fox took 2 of my Legbars - I am gutted , I only had 3 Legbars and I have just bought 15 eggs for the incubator from a very nice chap who gave me a mixed box of my favourite breeds , including 3 legbar eggs - my hopes where high that I would get a rooster and thus have a breeding quartet, not to be this year I'm afraid. Silly birds they would insist on roosting in a tree - Lord knows how the fox got them.
But the 18 eggs I have in my incubator are looking good - fingers crossed

Now my task is to get a couple of fleeces ready for the futurity...... oh , and raise £25K for the school . Ho hum

time flies

2010-12-21T16:23:00.002Z

It's ages since my last post , Christmas school activities seem to have been at the forefront of our daily lives. With 2 performances each and 2 children to whom this applies ( the twins don't do these things at high school) I have spent a fair amount of time ferrying people here there and everywhere. I also organised the first annual carol service for the scouts , cubs and beavers. To say I had sleepless nights over it is no exaggeration - the main problem being that nobody seemed to communicate with the other leaders in their troupe and the vicar was out of the loop completely . Suffice to say that on the night it was a huge success , the church was full ( thank God ) the troupes all sang what they promised to sing , the organist played beautifully even thou he didn't get the order of service until 30 mins before ( don't ask) and everyone enjoyed tea and mince pies afterwards ! Phew!
After that I thought it would be a breeze until Christmas - didn't factor in the huge amount of snow , the crash which saw me tipped over in the 4 x 4 or the schools closing early! Anyway , we are all safe and well . The alpacas have reluctantly taken to the stables , althou they all venture out periodically just to check that the snow is still there , and to consume huge amounts of hay and sugar beet, preferably warm please!
Bizarrely the chickens have started laying again , and I have gained the 3 school chucks for the holidays .
The shopping is done , presents and food , barr a couple of non-essentials from Waitrose tomorrow , and we are snuggled down and ready for Christmas - I think !

Freezing

2010-12-07T21:42:00.002Z

Will it ever let up? I have had to ask for extra thermals to be dispatched ! It has not gone above -4 for 5 days now and frankly I've had enough. To start with I found it quite exciting to see -10 on the car thermometer as we drove to school - it's the southerner in me , it never gets that cold on the south coast- but now I've had it.
The alpacas seem to be coping fine , now that the snow has stopped and we have ice and a few green patches( not many) they are sleeping out in the fields again , scoffing hay and alpha a nuggets , and all the sugar beet I can prepare ! The hens are finding it harder . They seem mainly to spend the day in a large conifer tree on the yard , feet off the floor , pretty miserable.Last night I bought the smallest 5 into the utility room just to get warm for the night ! they make me laugh , they are like teenagers at a sleepover , they are constantly chattering until you open the door and then they all shut up!
We have entered the realms of school Christmas plays , I am loathed to say nativity since Jesus doesn't seem to make much of an appearance , he is some what swamped by the donkeys ( OK) sheep(OK) camels( a bit iffy) bees(???) mice (???) and all other manner of creature who I'm pretty sure isn't in the biblical tale . Add to that the strange phenomenon that every important speaking or singing part is held by a child with a varying degree of speech impediment , and you have a slightly surreal experience! Even ( particularly) DH commented that it was shocking to witness such a high level of talentless kids in one place !! However , they all show remarkable courage in standing up ( prob cos they don't know how bad they are ) and seem to thoroughly enjoy themselves , so we all sit through it and smile and clap , and everyone is happy . Thank god I only have 2 and not 4 this year! Am I the only parent who finds it a chore ?

Success , of sorts

2010-12-01T20:53:00.002Z

As many , we are covered in snow , not the proportions that the North and Scotland have thank god - I feel for you - but enough for hot water and extra hay for the alpacas !

They are all quite happy , some venturing into the stables at night , some preferring to sit on the yard , but all down by the yard and out of the snow and wind to a greater degree.

My success is with the sickly chicken . Finally , after a week of bathing her eye twice a day I think I have conquered whatever was the problem. Without putting you off your dinner , suffice to say that I have finally managed to get the last bits of pus out of her eye . It was congealed and set firm , but now it has gone . The eye looks a bit milky and I fear she may have lost the sight in it , but she is quite happy pottering around , albeit out of the snow as much as possible.

Other than that , we are bracing for a lot of snow tomorrow , the kids are begging not to go to school , but I feel that they may be disappointed , and we look forward to the weekend which should bring some rain and some sun , hurray!

Deja vu ?

2010-11-28T21:03:00.002Z

Like most we have some snow ! and the weather is bitterly cold , 6 miles up the road they recorded the lowest temp since records began for Wales -18C ! that is cold . At 10am it was still -7!

We have moved the boys back into their field , which is earlier than I would have liked , another couple of weeks and the pastures would be cleaner , but then the cold weather will help, however the forecast is for blizzards on Tues and their field provides much more natural shelter since they refuse to use the shelters!

The mums and babies are all doing well , plenty of fresh hay and they are happy. We have been getting the barns made up to house them on Tues , they really don't like to come in , but I cannot stand the stress of having them out when the weather is really bad.

The chickens are pretty unimpressed with the weather , I have a few who are snuffly and have sticky eyes , but a dose of antibiotics should be sorting that out , except for one of my legbars , who has a truly terrible eye . If you are squeamish read no further ! She has had the eye closed now for 4 days , after the first day I started antibiotics for the whole flock , since I felt it was more than just a cold , and I started to wipe her eye twice a day. It still sealed itself between wipes and began to swell to massive proportions , recently I cannot see the eyeball which is obscured by a thick , foul smelling cheese like gunk. I have been washing this out as best I can - chickens do not make good patients and continually twitch and try to get away - so far a huge amount of this 'stuff' has come out , but I think their may be an end in sight , it seems to be less each time ( albeit is still a huge amount and foul) I just hope her eye is OK underneath . I am loathed to visit the vet , the cost being so much more than the chicken ! but equally I don't want her to suffer unnecessarily , what to do? At the moment she seems to be quite bright and is eating and drinking , not quite as perky as the rest of the flock , but not sickly unless you see her eye.

OMG

2010-11-26T16:38:00.002Z

- snow already . I know they said it was coming , and we are as ready as possible , the pacas have been moved so that they have access to the barn - which they will hardly use , but makes me feel better- all the bits are in the right places ie . buckets and hard feed and hay to hand , but still it fills me with dread . After last winter I really cant face another one this soon , the pipes are frozen in the new part of the house , well outside actually , 'cos DH didn't get round to burying them , clearly he doesn't take the weather forecast seriously!

Anyway, we are ready but I still hate it !

Where does it go ?

2010-11-12T12:19:00.002Z

I have been lucky enough to have a few days away in London , purely pleasure , very relaxing and I have come back a new woman!

Meanwhile , DH has been left running the kids and the animals , and now he needs a holiday too!

Just before I went away I had a routine visit from the vet , to get microchipping and ear tagging done . I know I could do all that myself , but I am a bit squeamish about chipping . However , having had a tutorial from the vet , next time I shall try myself , and I will definitely do the ear tagging. Anyway , All the alpacas are correctly tagged ( per the new legislation which will undoubtedly want tagging ) and identified .

The weather has deteriorated fast over the last week . We had snow on the hills on Sunday night , and the last few nights have been so incredibly windy I haven't slept very well .Luckily we are all still in one piece , and only minor casualties - a gate has come off its hinges - but the animals are fine.

Clarification

2010-10-29T09:23:00.000+01:00

Pls see my comment on bTB to clarify a couple of points , thanks

Rethink

2010-10-28T14:43:00.003+01:00

Having thought long and hard I have decided that the BAS board and I would not make comfortable bed fellows . Whilst the board works for alpaca owners , their ethos is a long way down the scale from mine , and I don't think that any of us would have enjoyed the experience!! Frankly , I have more positive things to put my energy into than fighting with a board who don't really want my opinions , and who I do not consider pro active enough in certain areas . Enough said .

Yesterday was a lovely day , beautiful sunshine and crisp and cool , perfect winter weather , so we took the boys out for the day to West Midland Safari park - fantastic , they provide free kennels so that you can take your dog ( just not round the safari) and a great fun fair , some rides made me so ill I had to stop going on them , but the boys loved it . Who needs disney when you have WMS?

The alpaca are happy with 'crisp and cool' , the grass is still holding out well , no wet muddy patches yet , and all quite happy. I must arrange for the vet to come and micro-chip this years cria - I just don't quite have the nerve to do it myself, and they need ear tagging as well. I ear tag the pigs quite happily by myself , but pacas are a different kettle of fish and I need to watch the experts before I try it myself . God knows what Cerys will make of ear tagging !

Be careful what you wish for...

2010-10-25T19:11:00.002+01:00

Having openly - to their faces - criticised the BAS board for their recent ( lack ) of handling of proposed new legislation to be brought in to Wales , and yes England too ( see the BAS website today) they have decided to invite me to join the board ! A case of keep your friends close..... We shall see how that will pan out , but the title refers to the board not me! :) I look forward to a long and productive time ahead , you have been warned!

bTB and our community

2010-10-19T08:17:00.002+01:00

As you are all aware bTB is a problem that the alpaca community is facing , largely for the first time , and we are all scared about the possibilities . Imagine my surprise then , to discover that some areas of the country are not offering support and camaraderie to the whole community - one of the things that I prize in the alpaca industry above other agricultural industries is the 'family feeling' , we all support and work together - but sadly I am wrong! I received a call to let me know that in the north it is being strongly suggested at group meetings , that purchasing alpacas from Wales and the South West is a very dangerous thing to do and should be avoided at all costs if at all possible ! the reason is that sadly all our animals are riddled with TB and the North does not want them . WELL , I have news for you , there is very little TB in Wales and the South West , we are just as conscientious as the north about bio-security , in fact maybe more so , because we do have the misfortune to live in an area of bTB - but the hot spots are defined by DEFRA relating to COWS not alpaca.

Lets start at the top :-

Many of us live in areas where cattle are tested at 12 monthly intervals - their TB status is very accurate , 48 mth testing leaves room for all sorts of things to be going on ( think about it if you live on the edge of a hot spot, but your cattle are only tested at 48 mth intervals!)
Our vets are very alert to TB - they test for it almost daily and see the symptoms regularly - who is better placed to spot it ?
We practice high levels of bio-security - no nose-to-nose contact with other animals , badger fencing, secure feed areas , quarantine areas for animals that are moved on to the farm etc etc . the list is long and arduous.
We run a higher number of closed herds .
The farms that have been under restriction in the last couple of years are wide spread in the UK , from Sussex to Wales , Cornwall to the north.

My point is this - it is a terrible disease and God knows that we do not want it , but we are all at risk , sensible precautions are just that , but they will not prevent the spread , and scare mongering is not only inaccurate but prevents people from doing the right thing if they have suspicions about their own animals . Whispering at meetings , encouraging people not to deal with us does nothing but spread lies and fear. It damages our businesses , and the whole alpaca community is lessened by such slurs.

What we need is education , which the Welsh Assembly Gov is taking seriously . Enlighten guidelines and restrictions , which the Welsh Assembly Gov. are assessing for use from Nov - watch out England , you will be next - read the information and the proposed restrictions and make positive changes , it may start in Wales but it will affect the whole country sure as eggs is eggs .

Finally , rant over , alpaca breeders should stick together - do not throw stones at those who have the horror of this disease to deal with, do not make it something to be ashamed of, treat others as you wish to be treated . And be warned in the North , one day it could be you, and you will want the best information and support around - that may come from Wales and the South West where we have had the misfortune to have had to deal with it first - we carve the way , support us don't ostracise us , cos' one day you 'll wish you hadn't

Thanks

2010-10-18T20:13:00.003+01:00

to Lois , http://loishands.blogspot.com ,who has given me my first ever blog award , I feel really proud and a bit emotional! In the true spirit of blogging I will pass it on to blogs I read regularly and hope that they will do the same .

The rules that come with this award are:

Right click and grab the award for your site. Then post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers. Then contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen. So here goes , in no particular order.

Trauma Queen http://traumaqueen.net/

Maggies Farm http://bundaflicka.blogspot.com/

Faites simple http://faites-simple.blogspot.com/

Debbies alpaca blog http://barnacre-alpacas.blogspot.com/

Westhill alpacas http://westhillalpacas.blogspot.com/

Patou alpacas http://patoutalk.blogspot.com/

Whispering acres http://chooksiniowa.blogspot.com/

Coire alpacas http://coirealpacas.blogspot.com/

Thats my lot so far. Thank you all for your great blogs , full of laughter and tears and sometimes just quite ridiculous , keep blogging and pass it on !

Mixed emotions

2010-10-10T17:27:00.003+01:00

Today I sold my first alpaca to somebody else!
I sold one of my suri girls - Bozedown Riva - and I'm not quite sure how I feel about the sale . On one hand I'm glad to have some cash coming in , on the other I love all my alpacas ( except Kirtsy at the moment) and it was a bit of a wrench to see her go . I'm sure that she will be loved and cared for , just not by me and that feels a bit odd . What will it be like when the children leave home ?

Diatomaceous earth

2010-10-09T17:42:00.002+01:00

I think this stuff is great ! Recommended to me by another breeder , its uses seem to be wide and fantastic.

So far I use it in the alpaca hard feed and it seems to be keeping them all worm free according to the latest lab results - no chemicals , no resistance , a perfectly natural remedy .

Its second use for me is even more impressive - I use it in the chicken houses and it keeps the dreaded red mite at bay. We have fought long and hard to keep the mite away , and it has been a case of keeping it under manageable numbers rather than gone for good , but 3 weeks after putting diatomaceous earth in with their bedding there is not a mite to be found - fantastic!

It is fine like talcum powder , but made of fine crushed diatoms, which apparently have razor sharp edges for the mites and worms etc. which causes then to be sliced open and die - think thats right - but any way it works and it works very well - fab !

Shaken

2010-10-08T14:22:00.002+01:00

That would be me then! For the first time ever , I was attacked by one of my alpacas today , and boy was it scary and I am now pretty shaken!

A kind lady who visits the herd regularly knocked on the door today and said she thought that there was something wrong with the alpacas, that one had something stuck round its neck . Sure enough Brizo had stuck her head through the arm of a garden chair ( don't ask how or where she got it from 'cos I don't know) but sure enough head through chair , and her mum was going berserk . Kirsty is not the calmest of animals at the best of times and is very cautious of human contact, but she was screaming at the chair and spitting , trying to trample it , and in the process freaking everyone else completely . Course of action was clear , but how to achieve it was not!

Kirsty managed to panic Brizo into putting first one leg and then the other through the chair so that she fell to the floor and couldn't get up . Cue me , who ran into the fray and tried to grab the chair , only to be spat at ( expected) , bitten and trampled myself . I know she was in a panic to protect her 1yr old daughter , but she was truly frightening . I have a huge bruise on my elbow where she bit me as I tried to defend myself , a hoof mark on my ribs where she jumped on me and I promise I won't be doing that again in a hurry.

In a nut shell , despite the onslaught , the chair was removed , Brizo has no broken bones and neither do I , but its safe to say we are all a bit shaken!

Excitement

2010-10-07T13:40:00.002+01:00

The alpacas are all well , and looking good for the winter . Of course the weather has been grim and they have got quite wet , but their fleeces are growing well , which is just as well since I hear whisperings that this winter could be just as tough as the last .....

But the excitement............ finally my fox trap has worked ! This morning we had a fox in the trap , not a puppy or a chicken , but a real live ( not any more) fox. The kids were slightly worrying thou - 2 wanted souvenirs to take into school , tails , paws etc , and the other 2 wanted to tame it as a chicken guard ! Surely they have been paying attention as to who has been killing our chickens ?! The alpacas showed a reasonable amount of interest , and the puppy was kept indoors until the fox could be removed - thanks Steve- but the chickens will be a little bit safer tonight , until the next time . But since we know it now works the trap has been reset and we are ready .

I have just added 4 more to my flock , a couple of warrens and a couple of bluebells , so egg production will increase hopefully .

ps. just looked out and the trap is working really well - just caught 2 chickens this time !

Did I say autumn?

2010-09-29T20:01:00.002+01:00

I meant winter ! We have a couple of mornings of hard frost and I mean completely white fields , alpacas huddled round hay feeders and chickens who won't come out - eerily reminiscent of last year , please not as bad again!

Conversely the days have been warm and sunny , is the grass still growing ? should we start Vit A D & E injections now or wait a month ? so many things to think about . Everyone is looking very well , and I am pleased with the overall herd health going into the winter . We have 3 pregnancies , and lots of girls who are desperate to be mated , as DH will testify , but I am holding off until the spring , to allow some a break , but mainly to align our breeding programme and get us back on track for spring cria in 2012 , it is just too cold up here on the hills to contemplate cria later than August at the very outside .

Soap box over !

Amazingly I lost 2 chickens on Sat , and neither to a fox - the trap continues to catch lots of things , mainly the dog and a few chickens , but no foxes - anyway , one died of old age , fair enough , the second was taken by a bird of prey ! I saw it happen and I was gobbsmacked!

Seriously thinking of buying more chickens , mainly because my egg customers are beginning to complain that my supply is not ample enough, I can see us being overrun soon.

Autumn is definitely on its way

2010-09-24T10:30:00.002+01:00

The mornings are getting darker and the air is certainly cooler , and we have rain - autumn is here.

The alpaca have started cuing up at the gate in the morning to get their hard food ration , so the grass is obviously not as good as it was . In the summer they really couldn't care about hard feed and sometimes didn't bother to eat it , but now they are beginning to pow-wow around the hay feeders and wait for their morning rations! The cria are looking very good and growing well , Cressida's fleece is amazing and Calpurnia is also showing a great deal of promise , I cant wait for shearing next year - cos it will hopefully be hot again - how quickly the memories of summer fade .

Riva shows no more signs of delivering a cria , so I think we can conclude that she is not pregnant , another week and she will be sold I hope - unless she comes up with another spanner in the works - maybe she just doesn't want to leave us?

Last weekend was spent trimming trees and trying to get some of the garden hedges back under control .Some of them have not been touched for years , maybe even decades , but the time has come to get some light into parts of the garden that have become dark and a bit dank . DH has broken his chainsaw , so proceedings were slow and much sorer the next morning! but we do have a bit of light and firewood .

The tiny chicks are growing well , the adults have nearly finished moulting and I am waiting avidly for my cream legbars to start laying .

The sun is shinning.....

2010-09-16T16:11:00.002+01:00

the grass is still growing and everybody is pretty chilled .

We have completed a 5 day course of worming with the alpaca, this was a drench and its fair to say that DH and I are now fully wormed as well , so much came back at us one way or another! DH got a severe headbutt , and in a man sort of way insisted his jaw was broken - but it hasn't stopped him talking ( read complaining) so it can't be so bad. Every evening of the worming bought new amusement ( for me) , a different member of the herd played up each day , either sitting and then standing suddenly , or screaming and head jerking. The only member of the team who was consistent was Artemis , she spent all her time after her worming leaning against DH , sometimes this was a help , but mainly it was a hindrance .Artemis is desperate to be mated , and she has decided that DH is the man for the job!! Now that they are all wormed they have been moved to clean fresh pasture , and the summer fileds are going to be left until the spring , to make sure that the frost gets to them and cleans it all up . I am desperate to get out and top off , harrow and generally get ready for winter , but until today the weather has been very wet.

Riva continues to keep us guessing , but I really cannot believe that she is pregnant , she would be close to 12 months and 1 week , not impossible I know , but pretty unlikely. She has until the end of the month , and then she goes to her original purchaser , who has waited very patiently to see what is what. The only thing confusing me still is the inflated udder, it doesn't look as full as it did , but is still more than before . Any ideas anyone ?

The baby chicks are now outside in a coop full time , and are being allowed to range freely with the rest of the flock , they look so sweet.

This weekend sees a clear out of the polytunnel , time allowing , and some new winter cabbages and sprouting broccoli and parsnips to go in , maybe some onions!

Flat

2010-09-05T12:11:00.002+01:00

My posting has been a bit sporadic recently , and that is because it all feels a bit flat!

Currently , we have no great dramas( done it now!) and everything is plodding on nicely . Life is full of minor frustrations - Riva has still not produced , and I am beginning to think she has had a phantom pregnancy, I am struggling to find a buyer for bulk alpaca fleece , it's raining !

On the bright side , we have started a worming programme prior to putting the girls on their winter pasture , the hay is in and stored and we have plenty, the fox is not calling anymore - think it was run over! so nothing major , but just plodding . i could do with a lift- it all seems very dreary going into winter , and if we could at least determine Riva's status we could finalise a sale and put some money in the ' alpaca bank'.
Oh , and the cria are beautiful ! The two girls are showing great promise , with very highly crimped fleeces with fab lustre , Cassius is great too , but experience has taught me to wait for the first shearing before getting my hopes up too high ! as Bilbo has shown , he had a fab first fleece , but the second fleece is growing back with a distinct roan look to it , which is interesting but not quite what I was hoping for from a mid brown boy.

Sorry this is dreary , I will try to do better :)

Weather

2010-08-21T16:02:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was amazing ! We had torrential rain , and thunder and lightening! The rain was much needed but a little to intense , but the streams are beginning to trickle a little so we have reaped some of the benefits . Much to the amazement of our paying guests , i was out in the rain clearing cattle grids and ditches to allow for a peaceful passage of water ,I quite enjoy that sort of thing ( which is just as well) , at one point the youngest son opened the back door to see what I was doing and found the water rushing past 4 inches deep and just lapping at the sill!

Needless to say the animals were un impressed with it all , Riva is hanging on to her baby I think , but I have to admit that I have no mating date for an accurate guess. Mind you , it sometimes seems pointless knowing the due date anyway , since I haven't met an alpaca yet who has read the same books as me about gestational periods . Still watching and waiting . Luckily we have secured a farm sitter for next weekend - who wants to bet that that will be the time !? :)

Third son is still in Sweden , and rang today to say that he is happy to stay ...... forever! So far he has caught 5 fish with his new rod , is promising to teach his brothers ( that went down well , NOT) has tried all manner of new foods and is generally happy and content with the world. His surrogate mum is happy with him , and says that he hasn't stopped grinning since he got their 10 days ago , whilst he misses us a bit (!) he is having the time of his life , how much he will have to tell when he goes back to school , and on Tuesday he is going riding on Icelandic horses!!

The weather forecast is dodgy to say the least , hoping this means a hot September , I really need a few hot days to really make sure that the hay is thoroughly dry - I have my doubts at the moment , and Yes , I am watching it closely!

Busy , busy

2010-08-17T13:00:00.003+01:00

The last week has been very busy . As if three boys ( one is away in Sweden ) wasn't enough , we have guests staying in our holiday cottage , which is good for the bank account , but also time consuming , not only washing and ironing bedlinen , but chatting and giving advice about walks ( yes , me !) , pubs to eat in and generally passing the time of day .

Last week saw toenails trimmed , and a nasty sore area covered with summer fly cream , polytunnels sowed and then re-sowed , after the slugs had had their fill. It is never ending .

We did finally get a hay harvest in , but it was touch and go as to whether the grass would be dry enough for hay or just silage . I really wanted small bale hay , and we were lucky . Last night we got it baled and stored , so we are set for the winter , just before the rain came down again.

Riva is keeping us on our toes , she looks pregnant- big udder , loose ligaments- but hasn't produced yet , and now her daughter is looking the same !Do alpacas have phantom pregnancies?

I know that this is a slightly disjointed blog , for which I apologise , but this is how my brain is working at the moment !!

ps. we had a superb selectionof veg for supper last night- all home grown !

Well.......

2010-08-08T11:08:00.002+01:00

We may have surprise arrival. Last week I was all ready to sell Bozedown Riva , my light fawn suri , and had a buyer ready to come and collect her , so I went out for a final nostalgic chat with Riva , and as I looked at her across the field I thought ' She's pregnant' . All stop on the sale , cos she is clearly close to delivering - full udder gave it away- and a quick chat with a friend who happened to be delivering me Teifi Magic back for some stud work. Long and short , Garry came and had a look and a feel and confirmed my suspicions , we could be expecting a late arrival! Riva is a little monkey , she was clearly interested in mating back in April , but having tested her I held off , partly while I decided who to mate her too , and partly while I decided whether to sell her . The two are related strangely , it is hard to find a suri stud of good colour etc within a reasonable travelling distance , and Riva's babies have so far needed a lot of supplementing in the early days , I felt like a year off and that it would be better to sell her as a companion animal , having made it clear she can breed abut requires a lot of imput for the new cria .
Anyway plans of mice and men etc. looks like my year off may not be happening after all!

Yeuch!

2010-08-06T15:16:00.003+01:00

On Sunday we hatched 9 chicks ! One of them struggled from the moment it hatched and finally died on Wed afternoon , the first to spot this was the youngest son , who promptly claimed the dead chick as his new best friend , what can I say , he's 5! Anyway , after a little while he promised to put the chick in a box and wait for Dad to come home so it could be buried . Then we went out to a party.
Imagine my horror on Thursday morning when I could find the box in the kitchen on the island , but no chick . Had he sneakily taken it to bed with him ? Put it under his pillow ?

No , he fed it to the dog!

peace - and quiet / of mind

2010-07-30T19:42:00.002+01:00

The VLA got back to us today with the results of the pm , and they were as good as could be hoped for - perforated ulcer , no parasites or worms , no threat to the herd . Thank God .

In celebration DH has taken the boys camping on the coast for at least one night , so I am peacefully sitting with a curry , a bottle of perry and some chocolates with the TV remote on the arm of the chair , rubbish TV is beckoning , a good book is also waiting and I might get to have an undisturbed bath as well - luxury.

Tomorrow brings a new dawn- chicks are due to hatch , they are jumping and wriggling in their eggs in preparation , and I may get to sell my first alpaca...........

Thanks for all the support over the last few days - much appreciated , hope I don't have to do it for you !

what can i say...

2010-07-29T14:17:00.002+01:00

Sadly , after every-bodies best attempts Panteg Binky died during the night. I felt in my heart of hearts that she would not see the morning , and I hope it was quick and as painless as possible .

So this morning we set off at 8 am with 4 small boys and Binky in the back of the people carrier ( mercifully not a hot day and the air con is powerful) and took her on a last , in fact her only trip from the farm , to the VLA for autopsy. After along journey we delivered her and answered endless questions , the best guesstimate being that she died as a result of an ulcer , possibly brought on by the stress of shearing . Since we run a closed herd largely , and have certainly had no additions ( apart form our own cria) since last Sept , the likelihood of coccidia or worse , E.Mac , look remote. The grass is not grazed by other animals , and is kept clean as Eliane can testify after her first experience of poo picking, All her jabs are up to date and a worm count revealed nothing. Now we sit and wait , and try to remember that things could be worse. Also we shall think about the joy she brought us and try to decide whether to still enter her fleece for the GW show.

Still on a knife edge

2010-07-28T21:05:00.002+01:00

Mixed results toda y.

Small miracle - Binky is still with us ! I was prepared for the worst this morning , but at 6am she was sitting up with her mum cudding . By 9 am she was looking a little less bright .I made 2 trips to the vets today - the first to pick up anti inflammatories and anti biotics .The second to pickup more antibiotics and wormers . Advice from the RVC camelid department suggested that we should hit every option hard, and that is what we are doing. twice daily anti biotics and antiinflammatories , plus panacur, for 5 days .
Binky is very weak, but still alert and eating , all be it very small amounts , but she always has grass in her mouth when I go to inspect. Tonight she is in a stable to keep her warm, she cannot stand alone , but is still alert. I hope that the anti biotics will begin to kick in . We are still not really sure what we are dealing with . Fecal tests have not found any worm burden, but we are assuming the worst. Yet again I'm not sure what to expect in the morning. Pls don't uncross everything just yet - I hope we have a way to go!
ps . thanks for all the support

Prayers please , or at the very least crossed fingers!

2010-07-27T22:15:00.002+01:00

What an afternoon !About 4 pm I went to get the mums in for their afternoon tea - extra rations for mums - and as the herd advanced to be sorted into eating and 'not eating' Binky didn't come with them . At first she looked like she was enjoying a spot of sunbathing , but in a twinkling of an eye it became clear that we were in a very bad zone. She was almost cushed , but sitting on one side like they do when they are heavily pregnant , but she is only 14 months and not bred yet, she didn't even attempt to stand and paid no attention as the herd headed to pastures new without her. PANIC. I pushed her into a cush , and knew that with all the flies around her she must be ill- CALL THE VET.

The vet arrived within 40 mins , meanwhile I had a clean bucket of water which she had manged to stand to drink ( good sign ) but had dreadful scouring ( bad sign) , she also looked a bit bloated - my first thought was burst ulcer , peritonitis etc. and so was the vet's! Not hopeful. He ran some fecals-no worm burden- and other bloods which indicated a serious infection . Penicillin was already on board , but he rang to say that if this was cow or a horse he would recommend euthanasia . Finally , he came to have a final look and do what had to be done - and Binky was hard to catch in the field! She looked perkier and a stomach puncture relieved a little gas and she belched a few times , even began to eat a little Camelibra . We decided to hold off until tomorrow - antacid and pain relief were administered , and she trotted off to join the herd. I have hand fed her some hay and she was last seen munching on the grass.

Time will tell - if she is still with us in the morning we stand a chance ..... pray , dance , cross what ever you can, I would so like a little miracle please

the good news or the bad news?

2010-07-25T18:24:00.002+01:00

The good news is that the fox trap works !

The bad news is that we have only managed to catch nosy chickens so far! Oh the irony of it.

Today we were brave , and let them out all day , which is the first time in a week , and I was very nervous all day. DH and I were outside nearly all day doing various jobs that we had held off whilst we had visitors ;the polytunnel has been weeded to within an inch of its life , and new rocket , lettuce , spring onions and carrots sown. I have also planted the cucumber plants I have been nurturing and also the pepper plants ,so the tunnel is full.
In order to do this we had to pick a cabbage ( which we had for supper fried with bacon and mushrooms in cream ) and ditch some lettuces which had gone over .

We cut down an oak tree which had not survived the winter , and I topped off 2 alpaca fields and mowed the front lawns - all in all we look pretty neat and tidy.

The cria are doing really well , Calpurnia seems to have regained full movement in her ear and they are all running around like mad things enjoying the summer weather .Hermione seems to have gotten over her desire to keep Cressida away from the others and now allows her to join in their games and sometimes even instigate them!

One week into the holidays - only 5 to go!

From near disaster to disaster

2010-07-19T22:21:00.002+01:00

Oh how life is sent to try us !
Yesterday we had 35 people for a bbq - in honour of friends returned from far flung places - just before they arrived there was a sudden yelling from DH which was frantic , ' get me a knife ' is not his usual cry , but he really meant it . On going to do a final tidy of the yard he found the alpacas humming in a desperate sort of way , and found that Calpurnia had become entangled in a football net that the boys had left in the field ( Yes I know , it should not have been there , that said ) she was hanging lifeless by the neck - panic , but luckily she was 'just' in shock . Mad cutting of said net and some rubbing , she returned immediately to mum , apparently none the worse for her ordeal - I needed a strong drink, and since it was 3.30 on a sunday , I had a strong drink!

On closer inspection , one ear is not working quite right , I hope it is a temporary thing , but honestly if that is the worst that happens - I'm lucky. Disater averted.

Today I made my annual pilgrimage to The Royal Welsh show - truly a day not to missed . 8.30 arrival then 8.30pm departure - 12 hours well spent, sans enfants. On my return , chuffed with my day and head buzzing with the antics of the Royal Kings artillery , my house guest tells me that at lunchtime he saw the biggest fox ever wonder throu the back garden having killed another chicken! I do not know what to do with the bloody thing, any printable answers would be most welcome . Shooting is clearly very tricky on two fronts
1. it is so unpredictable
2. I don't want guns around the alpacas

any other suggestions pls. At this rate by the time the kids go back to school I will not have a single chicken - damn that bloody fox.

Perfect trio

2010-07-13T17:32:00.003+01:00

At last Hermione has produced the baby I have been waiting for , for the last 3 years! Actuallythis cria has been cooking for 358 days so it has been a long wait but finally we have - a girl! A beautiful light /mid fawn ( hard to tell since she is still wet ) , typically Hermione waited until I was out at the Year 6 Leavers assembly to produce , but the cria was still wet and wobbling so I think not more than an hour old . She has gone straight into a stable with mum , to keep warm , she is keen to feed bubt is taking a while to find the right place , I haven't weighed her , but she feels the smallest of the 3 cria , but she is super special being the last cria born to Bozedown West , god love him , and so I am thrilled she is a girl .
So this little girl makes 3 cria for the year - 2girls and a boy, one fawn , one dark brown and one black - a perfect trio!

Bloody foxes

2010-07-10T10:39:00.002+01:00

Well they would be bloody if I could get hold of the damn thing !

Another visit from the fox , this time in broad day light, mid afternoon. Lost 8 hens , and I am really p*****d off . I cant poison it , in case something else takes the bait like a dog or a red kite , and I can't shoot it cos I never see it , so trapping is the only answer , and I haven't got a trap! Hoping for a nasty road accident.

The alpacas did save some hens , they were making such a racket with their alarm calls that DH went to see, cos he was in at the time!! and I think between them they scared the fox , but not before he had taken my beloved Brahma !

And yesterday I heard of somebody in a town near here who feeds the damn things ?! ....

And now a girl!

2010-07-08T13:39:00.003+01:00

Yes , finally , Cerys has delivered a beautiful dark brown girl! She is up and wandering around , seems to be feeding well - mum is not very interested and is content for her to sit with the rest of the herd while she is off eating grass, in fact she is the same as last year! Cerys takes a couple of days to become really engaged with her cria , this year she is better than last and is letting the baby feed and is quite agitated if I pick the cria up and take it to her , butt otherwise content for her to run riot around the field with whomsoever she likes . Consequently they are now in splendid isolation with the rest of the herd in the neighbouring paddock , until the bond has strengthened.

Sadly , i am unable to give details or even time of birth , DH was home all morning on alpaca watch , but failed to watch very closely, despite sitting with his feet hanging out of the window facing the birthing field whilst he varnished frames! The first I heard was after I got back from pilates ( yes , I know I swore I'd never exercise ...) and he yelled ' I think there are 2 black babies - are there s'pposed to be ?'

Anyway , all's well etc . Now just waiting for Hermione......

ps . She's called Calpurnia!

So much to say - too tired to say it !

2010-06-30T13:41:00.003+01:00

We have had a busy couple of days , and quite frankly I'm knackered.

The shearers decided to come a day early , which threw me into a total panic and saw me racing around the countryside at speed limit defying speeds to collect vaccine for annual injections , paper bags for fleeces etc. etc. and then they were 6 hours late , whilst glad to see them I could also have christened them - but we got stuck in straight away, and by 9 pm all the herd were shorn and very beautiful if a little thinner than they started the day! I always look forward to shearing day , the excitement of seeing the alpacas back in their glory , of getting to see how cria have REALLY developed over the year .... but half way throu I always remember what a dirty , back breaking sort of day it is and I wish it was over . This year our shearer was a lovely lady called Penny , who handled the alpacas with great care and kindness which the pregnant ones really appreciated and so did I .
I also got 3 great fleeces for the Great Western Show , so all I have to do now is learn to tidy them up ( my mind has gone blank , but you know what I mean ) and then we are set.

Through all this the alpacas behaved well , a couple of screamers but only one spitter and no gratuitous kicking as happened last year . I think they are all relieved to be cool again , and so whilst chaos reigns I have put the little boys in with the big boys , on the grounds that since they don't recognise each other anyway , everyone starts from a level playing field and some of the squabbling may be avoided- we shall see !

I meant to take some 'before ' and 'after' photos , but I am too tired and it was too dark for the 'after' so that will have to be tomorrow. It is amazing how the family resemblances become really clear when they are all shorn , you will see what I mean from the pictures.

Enough for today , I am off to water the poly tunnel.

Finally - Teifi Magic is a father!

2010-06-22T12:25:00.004+01:00

At last Bijou has delivered her cria . A beautiful black male cria , she is thrilled , he is very strong , everyone is content .
Yesterday , after returning from the school run , I went to inspect a broody hen ( who against the odds has hatched one !) and look at the alpacas . DH says he saw her puffing when he left for work at 7.30 ( seriously doubt it myself) but as i watched Bijou went to the poo pile and it became clear that the straining was going to produce more than just poo. I dashed for a change of clothes ( for me ) and my birthing box just in case , and by the time I returned , literally 5 mins , a head and 2 feet were out . All in all it was 20 mins from start to finish , I barely had time to apply the sunscreen ( again for me ) or organise the deck chair and can of coke . He was cushing within 5 mins , up on his wobbly legs within 20 mins and feeding within 40mins - the easiest delivery we have ever had . Bijou has tons of milk and is a great mum , all should be well.

Yippee

2010-06-16T22:22:00.003+01:00

my first sale of fleece! A lady locally has bought some fleece from me to spin, she is a member of a local craft group so who knows where it may lead .

Bijou is still holding onto her baby , lord knows how she is able to walk ! I really thought that today would be the day , the weather is perfect and set to be so for a couple of days , and at lunchtime I'm sure she was having contraction s , but when viewed again 15 mins later she had gone back to chewing the cud.
The latest canine addition to the family is progressing well , she has a great desire to carry things around ( must be the gun dog in her) and to collect things for her 'nest ' , to date she has a fluffy pencil case , a woolly hat and some odd socks ! She hasn't chewed them just collected them , she reserves chewing for the sheep droppings she has found in the fields - why do they chew poo? All the boys are thrilled , althou' their devotion has varying levels , #2 son happily picks up poo , whilst #1 son doesn't even like to take her out for a wee.....

Back to watching and waiting , fingers crossed , uncross those legs Bijou , we need a bit of positive excitement!

Mixed blessings

2010-06-09T20:30:00.002+01:00

Today has been a bit of a roller coaster emotionally, poor old (5yrs) West has never been far from my thoughts , and after the initial flurry of activity to get a postmortem sorted at Shrewsbury VLA there is not much more I can do except sit and wait . The vet says it is unlikely to be anything that will be of concern to the others, fingers crossed, the wethers in the field with West have all looked a bit subdued and a little bit lost , but maybe that's just me. Talking to the local farmers , who have been very sympathetic , a diagnosis is emerging - apparently yesterday at approx 2.30 threre was a humm dinger of a thunderclap and a lot of lightening ( thou not the rain we so desperately need) and all the animals went berserk , the sheep farmer said all his sheep were shocked into silence and then all hell broke loose. Could this be what killed West? the timing fits , my rough estimate was that he had been dead about 4 hours when I found him at 7.30 , judging by the level of rigor etc , and there was no sign of a struggle , heart attack is where my money goes at present.

Anyway on a happier note , i collected our puppy , Jasmine, today. She is an 8week old black lab , and truly gorgeous . The boys are thrilled with her , and she is currently sleeping peacefully after a very tiring 20 minutes with the boys !

Oh B*****ks

2010-06-08T20:02:00.002+01:00

Just been to check on the alpacas , and find that my stud male West has died .Fine this morning , now stiff as a board.Why is it always the good ones? No obvious sign of injury , fit and healthy, looks like he just fell over and died . His tongue is hanging out at the side , but that could just be the angle of the slope.......

F***, f***, f***

Sitting on my hands!

2010-06-05T21:14:00.002+01:00

As for most people the last week or so has been glorious weather , sunny warm , in fact darn right hot on occassion! The alpacas are enjoying the sunbathing and the regular showers I am giving them . Veronica started it - she heard me watering in the polytunnel and came to wait outside , she made it clear that she wanted to be 'watered' too!I started with her toes which she held out very nicely , and worked up until I got to her face , she is not keen on having water sprayed directly on her face but will stand under a sprinkler if it is held well above her head like rain! Gradually almost all the alpacas came and joined in, some got very excited , particularly Artemis , who threw herself around and I was in danger of a good kick but luckily she missed . The funniest was Kirsty, she just reminded me of the ladies who manage to swim calm lengths without getting their hair wet or smudging their mascara - her whole demeanor was' don't wet the hair'! She held each foot up nicely and eventually sat so that I could really wet her back - but not the hair or the face!

I can confirm categorically ( I think) that Hermione is expecting - hurray hurray hurray! Judging by the bulge and the foetal movements I feel quite confident in this statement, by my reckoning she is due on the 19 June .....
Bijou is also looking huge and her due date was yesterday.... hence sitting on my hands. She comes in quietly every morning for extra rations in peace and quiet , but is looking uncomfortable , the shearers are due in the next couple of weeks , how precise is that! , which kicked things off for her last year .....
I am still not 100% about Cerys , she is refusing any advances , and I have stopped testing her on the basis that if she is pregnant then I don't want to stress her , she will also be due on 19 June , so we shall watch and wait . Her belly is swollen but not as big as I would expect - has she just had too many pies?

Yesterday we did Bluetongue vaccinations, a bundle of laughs as usual , not hard but it was hot and sweaty work. I took the chance to tidy up some nails and do a bit of essential 'dagging' , boy did I smell great by the end of all that!

I did it !

2010-05-23T13:42:00.001+01:00

The pink Walk for breast cancer was last weekend , and I did it! Along with 2 friends we trudged the tow paths on the Brecon and Monmouth canal until we reached Llangattock - it was good fun , but the last few miles were hard , very tender feet were OK as long as you kept going but when we stopped ....ouch! We finished in the first 100 , anad took just under 5 hours , so those of you who promised money - now would be a good time to cough up!

Clear as mud!

2010-05-15T11:42:00.002+01:00

I did some spit=off's this morning , and really life is no clearer!

West shows great enthusiasm for the first girl , but if he gets a knock back , he goes off the boil and isn't very interested in any of the others - kind of tricky when spit-offs are the order of the day. Help from the 2 eldest boys is actually more of a hindrance , but I never seem to remember this until they are already 'helping' , #'s 3 & 4 sons , althou' smaller are much more help! anyway, with 'help' everyone was rounded up and penned for said spit-offs , first up was Kirsty who gave a resounding spit or several- good result.
Second up , Acantha , she is a really sweet little girl , and whilst not spitting , refused to be caught , conclusion - pretty sure she's pregnant. At this point West sat down himself , in sheer frustration I think!
Third up was Veronica , she spat for Wales - pretty good , but West hardly moved off the spot , took one look got spat at and refused to show any further interest.
Tried for a fourth result with Hermione , who's status is unclear but leaning towards pregnant, West refused to budge , had a cursory sniff , she spat he ignored her ! Cue me doing a passable orgle to see if that would get things moving - definite interest from all the alpaca , but more om the lines of ' what the hell is she doing now' , and a few surprised walkers .......

hey ho , life is never as simple as I'd like ! Off to view new puppy who is now 4 weeks old !

Big decision!

2010-05-11T14:23:00.002+01:00

The last few days have been hectic but very productive , hence the blogging gap. Over the bank holiday, with the help of generous friends, we managed to get new gates hung at the bottom of the drive onto the yard , new fencing on the side of the field by the drive - it all looks very smart on arrival now- rose hedge trimmed , beech hedge trimmed ( understatement ) all the rubbish clippings burnt , veg gardens weeded..... all this with 6 kids in tow , a very arduous ( and for everyone else) enjoyable walk- I don't like steep hills so it was on the side of torture for me , and a riding lesson for the children. Pretty pleased with ourselves right now.

Plus the grass is growing ! We seeded and rotivated etc. a large patch of lawn and it is definitely green. Also managed to get the empty alpaca fields fertilised and it then obligingly rained... fab.

I have also been doing spit-offs and matings , which seem to be going well,I still wouldn't stake my life on Hermione being pregnant , but she is certainly doing a good impression. Bijou is looking larger by the day , she is due in 3 weeks so fingers crossed that we don't have to endure the wait like last year.

Now for the decision- I have put my first alpacas up for sale! I feel slightly sick at the thought of selling them , but it has to be done . Bourbon and Bilbo , my beautiful brown boys , do not have a place in my herd , being too closely related to most of the girls , but Bourbon particularly shows a lot of promise and I have tried every which way to keep him , not to be . The two of them are so close I think it is fairer to let them go together . I have also put Bozedown Kirtsy on the sale list. She is a great animal who has produced a couple of lovely girls for me , fab quality , but she is white , and my dream goes towards the darker colours , so sadly she too is going . Although I've put them up for sale , parting with them will be another story - gin will be in order !

surprises

2010-04-30T18:59:00.002+01:00

The weather has been lovely , and the alpaca have been making the most of the gorgeous sunshine . Today , I did some pregnancy testing , and got a couple of surprises - Riva isn't pregnant going by the joyous greeting she gave West when she saw him . That is a shame ,but hey ho . Artemis was very keen to make friends with West ( little hussy) as was Acantha and Veronica. I wasn't expecting any of them to be pregnant , so Veronica was the first to be mated this season. Kirsty did a runner as soon as she saw West , so I didn't get a chance for a close encounter - the jury is still out on her status.Then came the surprises, Hermione is now 4 and a half , and for 3 years we have been trying to mate her with no success. Today , she went berserk and turned into the resident spit fountain , I have my fingers firmly crossed, interestingly , just before I went outside I had been reading an article on an alpaca forum in the states which was specifically saying that big boned animals ( Hermione ) and those with accoyo( Hermione) take longer to mature and may not be mate able until 3 or 4 years old ! How spooky is that. Athena was the next surprise - the jury is still out , but it looks promising - she spat at West , and after much sniffing he didn't even try mating with her , can the males tell I wonder?

The chicks were due to hatch today, and sure enough last night I saw a few piping . By this morning we had 7 chicks, 6 were bouncing and one looked distinctly dodgy , but tonight we have 14 healthy chicks including the dodgy one . I am really pleased- 5 barnevelders, 5 buff Sussex and 4 heinz 57 from my own flock. Currently they are all flaked out in the incubator like a huge chick carpet.

chickens always make me smile

2010-04-24T11:46:00.002+01:00

Today I went to collect eggs , and just had to laugh. One of the hens had very carefully collected my lemon shaped and coloured egg timer into the nest and was contentedly sitting on it ! Moments like that are just so few and far between , but make life a little bit lighter .

What goes around.....

2010-04-20T20:03:00.002+01:00

What a busy weekend . No paying guests so we took the opportunity to do some gardening - well rotivating actually. We ( DH & I ) worked all weekend rotavating and stone picking an area of approx.400m2, and boy did we find plenty of stones to pick ! It is back breaking , shoulder knackering work , followed by rolling and raking . Luckily it is all now done , and fertiliser has been applied , just waiting for the weekend to grass seed the whole lot - keeping the chickens and the children off should be fun!

Along with everything else , I am now on the look out for a puppy ! 2 litters look promising , but we are on a waiting list for both, I am after a black lab bitch , and the people on the list ahead of us cannot decide between black and yellow , so we are holding our breath and praying quietly that they prefer yellow!

The days are beautifully warm and the alpacas are sunbathing a lot which is lovely - get those Vit D levels up girls- and the hens are doing fine as are all the chicks , incubator still purring away nicely -D Day is the 1st May

alpaca make over

2010-04-12T21:48:00.002+01:00

The sunny weather just keeps on coming ! A week now and the days are just lovely , the alpacas are doing some sunbathing and so are the hens. It is lovely to see everybody laid out and relaxed after a tough winter.

Yesterday I moved the mums into a new field next to the weanlings and yearlings , in order to clean their field and let it grow for the births in June , needless to say that within a couple of hours 3 alpaca had made it back in with the mums , funnily enough not the ones I would have predicted , all the boy weanlings stayed away , and since they were all mummies boys I'm quite surprised , and Brizo didn't bother either , but her older sister did! Anyway , it became clear that keeping them in separate fields was a bit of a farce , so I let them all in together , amid much excitement ( well 2 mins worth) and then it all settled down and they got on with munching and sunbathing .
Today , we rounded them up and did a bit of toe nail trimming , and a bit of facial hair trimming , Brizo and Binky have fantastic fleeces , with great crimp and lustre and it grows all over their faces , so much so that their eyes were fast disappearing , which in a huacaya is a bit disconcerting ! Anyway I trimmed and trimmed and tried not to go over board , but I fear I didn't make much difference and we may have to repeat the performance tomorrow. I also did a bit of dagging and washing of hind legs for the same two ladies who have a habit of getting their legs gummed up with any twig or bramble within a 5 mile radius and then get into a horrid mess , so a good wash was called for after the worst was cut away - we don't want fly strike , that's for sure.

The school chicks are spending their first night out in a coop without a heat lamp , the day temps have been great and they are all fully feathered so it should be fine ........

Also , I had a bit of a shopping spree and am now the proud owner of ..... 4 cream legbar chicks - all hens ( they are autosexing ) and an incubator full of eggs ! 6 Barnevelders , 6 Buff Sussex , 3 Panteg khaki and 3 dark brown eggs of the Heinz 57 variety ! Hatching date is May bank holiday so fingers crossed .

I have my sister to stay for the rest of the week , and then next week I start halter training and spit-off's for real , with a dose of mating thrown in for good measure . Watch this space !

After the snow ...

2010-04-02T21:08:00.002+01:00

came the rain , inches of it all in a very short space of time , we had over 3 inches in about 2 hours today - the fields are water logged ,the animals bedraggled and at one point the stables were flooded! Marriage to a water engineer has its benefits , but sorting out the drains around the stables is clearly not one of them!

On the positive , I have made a great start in the poly tunnel ; today I planted little gems , radishes , spring onions , carrots , rocket and mixed lettuces. So our salad intake is about to go up and our waistlines down I hope , sadly it never works that way for me , maybe I should give up the chocolate and the full fat coke as well as eating salad? No , life is too short .

The cockerel with a penchant for beating us all up has finally met his maker , today he was dispatched by my generous neighbour , he knows that I cannot quite bring myself to do it , and with DH being a veggie ( of strict proportions ) -no hope there , so he does it for me , which is very kind and very helpful too. At least now the kids ( and visitors) can walk around without fear of an attack being launched at the back of their legs - more shocking than painful , but pretty irritating .

Fingers crossed tomorrow is sunny .

snow again

2010-03-31T10:57:00.002+01:00

what can i say ? just as everyone ( alpaca wise) was looking relatively clean and fluffy the snow has come down again and we are back to muddy bedraggled animals who are craving some decent grass and a bit of sunshine .I am really thankful that we don't have any cria just born 'cos that would be giving me a deal of stress , the temp is back down to 2C and we are feeding expensive amounts of alpha pellets and peas , which I thought we had almost stopped , this winter seems to have gone on for ever! Berlioz is looking a little bit thin , as are a few of the others , not worryingly so , but I shall be glad of some good rampant grass growing very soon .

I had hoped to spend Easter weekend trimming toe nails , getting some vaccinations done and checking a couple of pregnancies , all of this in the warm spring sunshine - looks like it will be muddy toes and essential vaccines , the rest will have to wait , the ground is really slippy and I don't want to risk any injuries by testing pregnancies .

The chicks are doing really well , we have built them a large wooden pen in the garage, with a heat lamp , and they are growing really quickly, last sunday they even got to go outside for a couple of hours since the weather was really nice and warm. One of my hens is showing signs of going broody , when I am sure that she is I can crank up the incubator and take a trip to the Wernlas collection for some pure breed eggs - I really would like some cream legbars and also some barnevelders , they are my favourites and my little flock is being over-run with hybrids, time for some new blood!

flashy lawnmowers

2010-03-24T22:22:00.003Z

It was a lovely day today , and the mums came down into the back garden and did some much needed lawn mowing for me ! They really enjoyed the grass which is looking pretty lush compared to the fields , and it kept them out of mischief almost all day .there is enough for at least another days worth of grazing , the only slight downside is that they are in the garden of the rental cottage and so the alpaca poo will have to be cleared thoroughly before our first guests arrive next week. Like all of us , I am praying for the grass to start growing , the consumption of hay and hard feed is slowly going down , but the grass is not growing nearly fast enough yet.
The yearlings have found a hole in the fences which means that they can get into a field that I was resting , I really need to get it sorted out , but I have so much going on that for the time being they are doing as they please !
This year we must make some decisions about hay - do we have enough space to put a couple of fields aside for hay ? or do we just bite the bullet and buy in ? I need some fences putting up , and fields dividing , bu the fencers are somewhat elusive at the moment , it is lambing time , so we are being patient , but I would like the job done . I really need to switch the yearlings and the mums over for a couple of weeks to get the halter training done , it will be easier in the mums field 'cos the catch pens are better and it will be less stressful for all concerned. , and then swap them back to do some spit-offs and see who's pregnancy has held over the winter , and start some matings for those girls who open . I need to think about getting my beautiful black Teifi Magic to come and do some mating work , I am sure that Athena is open , and they would have a beautiful cria. Bijou and Cerys are both expecting Magic cria in June / July , and I think that I will leave them open and re-align the breeding programme , so that most cria are due in April and May, which is the perfect time for us , being quite high up we can still have some pretty chilly nights and the snow has only disappeared of the tops in the last day or so , and by April /May it is much warmer whilst still giving them a good long season before the winter sets in .

The chicks are coming home from school on Friday- I don't have enough hours in the day to deal with all this and do the housework, guess which isn't getting done?!

for once it's welcome

2010-03-18T20:29:00.002Z

Finally we have had a little bit of rain , only a really small amount , but just enough to get the grass going , and the ground is so dry we do need it . Luckily with rain comes warmer temps and it has reached 14 degrees today and is still 10 at 8pm . Thats what I want right now . We have had some dreadful heath fires , where acres of mountain have been destroyed , and its only March - god help us in July.

The pacas are pleased with the rain , well I am on their behalf, they will be a bit cleaner soon and I am tired and broke from buying in so much hard feed, luckily we grow our own hay , but even that is coming to an end .

The polytunnel has its first crops growing nicely, I have added a couple of hanging baskets of strawberries to the tunnel , and the 'first earlies' are dong well. All the tomato plants and courgettes are going well in the house , and some capsicum peppers are coming up , so we will be able to make our own ratatouille at this rate - that has always been my goal!

I've gone and done it now!

2010-03-17T20:24:00.002Z

Physical exercise is not really my thing . I know I get quite a lot of exercise running around after 4 kids , alpacas ,the school and of course DH , but structured exercise has never really appealed to me . I do ride ,not as much as I would like at the moment , and I have started pilates , which I love , but it is fair to say that this is the most I have ever done in my life , more than I have ever done all put together ,and I am getting on to be starting out !
Anyway , I have agreed to do a sponsored walk ! It is a cause with which I have far too much personal history , my mum died from it far too soon and far too long ago , it is breast cancer. There is an organised walk along the lines of the moonwalk, but not at night and you can wear clothes ! So now I am in training for 20 miles of canal walking , can't quite believe that I have agreed to this , I normally only walk to the car and then into waitrose and back to the car ....... the walk is called 'the pink canal walk ' and I am doing it with a couple of friends ( more may materialise ) one is a really keen and sporty type , the other is like me - a couch potato , I shall keep you up dated on our progress.

Thank goodness !

2010-03-14T19:38:00.002Z

A while ago ( about a month) I lent my incubator to the primary school so that they could hatch some eggs into chicks (!) .I did have a few sleepless nights when I prayed fervently that the eggs would hatch , and a few nightmares when nothing did and I had 200+ upset children to deal with , but last week the chicks began to hatch.

On the monday night the first egg'pipped' and by Tues morning we had 2 chicks - sadly one died almost immediately - but Tues and Wed were a hive of activity in the incubator and a source of fascination for children and staff alike .By Thurs we had 10 chicks and the final two hatched early on Thursday. Thank god we had 12 chicks . We had put 18 into the incubator , 4 were infertile , 1 died at birth and 1 never made it out of the egg , but on the whole I am pretty pleased with 12.

The children and parents have been a source of amusement for me and my children . I forget that , despite living in a rural area, many do not have the slightest idea how hens are made ; the parents have been as amazed as the children and the best question ( worst) was from an adult who asked what the chicks would be when they grew up ! hens ?! my reply was that yes they would be hens , or maybe roosters , the parent said ' thats fine with the yellow chicks , but what will the black chicks be ?' ' Hens '. the light began to dawn- ' do you mean that all chicks aren't yellow'? I suggested that different breeds might be different colours like dogs are different shapes and sizes ......

We have to choose 3 chicks for the school to rear and keep in their hen house ( not yet built) , luckily we put 3 different types of hens' eggs in , and will hopefully have 3 different coloured hens . There are 2 yellow chicks ( white hens) 3 stripey chicks ( legbar crosses) and 7 black chicks ( barnevelder crosses) - so fingers crossed.

I hate ...

2010-03-05T12:14:00.002Z

world book day! there. I don't hate the concept - getting everyone to read a book must be a good idea , but the level of commercialism surrounding it is frightening . I have 4 small boys , all of whom are required to dress as a book character on world book day - great you may think , how much fun is that , well none at all for me . First think of 4 different characters which are appealing to said boys , and then get the costume . I'm afraid that I refuse to spend lots of money on buying or hiring costumes so it has to be feasible from what we already own. But it always causes a row , when we get to school and have to stand next to rented or bought costumes the degree of amusement for us all begins to pale , the kids all complain that their costumes don't look as good and I have a sense of humour failure ! Thank god it's only once a year

doing it again

2010-02-26T14:40:00.003Z

Spring really is on the way ! there, done it again , but this time I'm right ( only this time ??) My daffodils are coming up along the driveway . Hurray! AND the soil in the poly tunnel is warm enough to start planting ( I think ) so tomorrow I shall commence planting with a few lettuces just to see how we do .

AND the chicks are due to hatch on Tuesday ! We have lent our incubator to the school , and Tuesday is the day of reckoning , pray something hatches , I cant bear the stress if nothing happens .

My epitaph!

2010-02-23T12:55:00.002Z

My epitaph will be ' spoke too soon ' ! The snow is back , I cant believe the length of time we have had bad weather , nearly 2 months now , that must be a record . The animals are coping with resigned determination , the weanlings are doing really well and I have to say that the whole weaning process was much easier this year - maybe 'cos there were 5 of them and 3 'aunts' , now we have the trial of halter training , generally I enjoy halter training , but I am itching to get on with it and the ground is too hard and slippy to be safe ......

Since last week we have escaped the cold of Wales for a trip abroad... to Disneyland Paris , and it was just as cold there! We took the 2 eldest boys and left the other 2 with my long suffering sister . I'm petty sure she enjoyed having them , and they certainly enjoyed staying, we have a constant whine of ' I preferred Aunty Nessa's'! Anyway , the rest of us braved Disney , sorry to say it does nothing for me and DH , we are just too old and sensible ! but the twins loved every minute of it . It really is a master piece of marketing , cos when you look at it dispassionately you spend a lot of money to stand in queues, run from one queue to another and walk alot without actually going on too many rides ! But we had some lovely family time and we don't get to spend much one-to-one time with the twins, so on the whole it was nice , but we could have done it at West Midland Safari Park for a fraction of the cost!!

The veggies are sprouting nicely , and DH has dug over the beds in the poly tunnel and redefined them , so we are nearly ready to plant something , the early potatoes will be my first planting - cant wait. Despite the snow the hens have gone into overdrive and are laying a dozen a day, which I am finding hard to get rid of! but luckily a couple of new mums at the school gate have asked if they can buy eggs from me so ...

calm again , spring is coming !

2010-02-15T16:09:00.002Z

the alpacas are back to being 'all fine' , Cerys' limp has gone and she is looking lovely - her cria is due in July and she is in really good condition , not missing baby Bilbo at all!

Finally I have got round to preparing the ploy tunnel - I have dug in a huge amount of alpaca poo , so handy to have a factory in high production - and have started my first seedlings. Last year we didn't get the polytunnel until June so we were a bit late starting, but this year I am determined to be off to a flying start . Sadly , my mentor and inspiration ( competition?) have moved to the USA , so I don't have quite the same level of 'go' that I had last season , but I see that Eliane has planted her tomato seeds as well , so who knows , competition from across the pond?

I have planted 6 different types of tomatoes , 2 types of couregetttes and some peas, the lettuce , rocket and radishes will go straight into the ground , and the potatoes are chitting on the window ledge. A little bit later I will plant runner bean and french beans ready for the glorious summer......

spoke too soon !

2010-02-08T14:05:00.003Z

Did I honestly say that life had been a bit on the dull side ? did I ? You may have thought that by my grand age I would have got the concept of tempting fate , but clearly not!

On Thursday Cerys was cushing a lot , When she did get up she was not weight bearing on her front left leg - oh joy - first thought , broken . But after a few minutes she did begin to bear weight albeit very gingerly , and as the day progressed she got better . I did have a feel but she was not impressed , and it is difficult at my majestic height ( not) to hold and examine a front leg whilst the examinee is trying to sit and spit .... I put it down to pins and needles ! On Friday morning I looked out and this time she was hobbling on left front and rear right - quite a feat- and clearly there was more of a problem than pins and needles. Call to the vet , a very nice 'girl' came out and had a look , she'd never really seen alpacas before , except once when she came to me to do some micro chipping when she was a student ( get the picture?) Cerys is normally pretty cool , apart from the kicking , which she is very generous with , but on Friday she spat and screamed , tried to sit and was generally the most uncooperative she could be . I tried to keep her calm by talking gently to her but she couldn't really hear me since she was screaming so much , more in an indignant fashion than one of pain , but still ear splitting . Eventually the vet agreed with me that there was nothing really to find , and it was probably a sprain in all the slippy mud . Hurray! A dose of bute and she was fine - now why didn't I think of that ?

Today all is well , and the snow has started again!

ps . can anyone explain why DH always splits whole bales of hay , when I have specifically bought racks which hold a full bale ??

snow and weaning !

2010-01-31T16:03:00.002Z

It's back! the snow came down last night and is covering the ground quite nicely , enough to mean that the animals cannot eat the grass , back to hay and warm water and hard feed every couple of hours .

Coupled with the fact that I chose yesterday to split the cria from their mums - stress! Actually , the babies are doing OK , so long as they have food to keep them occupied than they seem happy , it's the mums! they are pacing the fence lines , calling and calling for their babies . I am trying not to listen , normally they give a token call and then seem to settle down to putting back some condition on . They can't see the weanlings (!) who confined to the yard and stables , but I guess they can hear them, and with the snow I can't move the weanlings to a further field, cos they won't have access to the stables easily . Clear up snow , you're getting in my way now !

times passing ...

2010-01-27T11:21:00.002Z

It's been a while since my last blog ( confession?) for 2 reasons
1. I have pretty busy with animals , house , children etc
2. The animals are all fine and that also means a bit dull to write about ( there, I've gone and tempted fate)

We are motoring on the jobs list , the'new' house is coming together , yesterday I laid ( the cheapest) lino I could find in the boys toilet , any of you with boys can work that out , since it will have to be replaced reasonably regularly! I was pretty proud of cutting it to the right size etc. and new porcelain has been purchased for the shower room , bath sides for the bath room , new hot water tank for rental cottage . All of this is great , but it doesn't do much for the general tidiness of life , most of these things are sitting around in big boxes waiting for DH to get to them . I have toyed with plumbing in a toilet , but don't feel quite up to that without supervision just yet .

I have also bought FAB radiators for our bedroom and the second lounge ( being the only rooms without underfloor heating) really great old fashioned ones that look a bit like the ones we had in school - who would ever have thought they would be desirable?

The alpacas seem to be fine , we have had the odd limp , mainly centred round slipping in the snow , and they are all happily troughing through a small nation's budget's worth of hard feed as well as the grass and hay ! Particularly popular are the micronised peas , unfortunately this is a shared favourite of the chickens who are right in the troughs helping themselves!
Berlioz has been weaned from me - no more bottles - and after a couple of days of pestering me he largely ignores me , such gratitude! Actually , I'm pleased that he is behaving like that , I was worried about berserk alpaca syndrome , something which his sister is close to I think , and in a male would be intolerable . I still see him having a quick suck from his mum , but I have never been sure exactly what he gets if anything . All the cria are ready for weaning , some over due , and as soon as the weather is nicer I will separate them , but with more snow due on Friday , it won't be this week!

Not more!

2010-01-13T07:38:00.000Z

Yes , more snow ! School is canceled yet again and I have HAD ENOUGH ! the world has gone mad , and before you start me on global warming- don't!

chickens are so amazing .

2010-01-09T19:32:00.002Z

The other day I went out to do the animals first thing in the morning . Because it was cold and I like figures I decided to open my car door to see what the temp was - there being a thermometer as part of my car . I had not used the car for at least 2 days ( the snow was undisturbed) and possibly for at least another 36 hours before that . I opened the door , strange smell unlike the usual child infested car small , and a gentle cluck! Sitting on the passenger seat was a chicken ! I knew that I was one down and had looked for her , but never checked the inside of the car . Significant amount of chicken poop, but luckily without a food intake they can only poop so much, so I rushed her inside , gave her some corn and a bowl of warm water - and she was fine ! I mean absolutely fine . She chased the cats who came to look at her . Pooped on the floor and then I let her out with the others . Ostensibly no harm done - how amazing is that!
Oh and the temp was -10C ! not bad at 8.30am !

Finally our house!

2010-01-06T20:35:00.006Z

Recognise that Eliane ?!

DH has wireless connection in the warm, but only if you sit just there!

Family room !

A few pics for our friends and those who have put up with house building in an alpaca blog!!

SNOW!

2010-01-06T15:29:00.003Z

Not a particularly original title , but true nonetheless . We have finally got some real snow , school is closed , the kids are thrilled , DH is working from home ......

The alpacas are not enjoying it very much , the blacks slept out all last night and came in this morning looking like pandas , the whites slept in and looked very smug this morning . They are all tucking in heartily to the hay , my friendly farmer next door has delivered me a large bale for the first time since we are getting throu so much - should prove interesting trying to unwind it in the confines of the garage - DH's idea ! The warm water is going down a treat as well , funny how all the animals like warm water , and the sugar beet is also proving popular . I make it up with boiling water , so it retains a bit of the heat and they absolutely wolf it down . All day they have not moved from the barns and it looks set to stay like this for a while - I think school will be shut until Monday , since the council has nearly run out of grit , so even the main roads are pretty ropey compared to normal , and DH would have done well to have bought the bag of rock salt when I asked him ......

Little Binky with the cute lips!

The poly tunnel has discovered another use , the hens have spent the day in there! I think they find it a bit tough on their feet in this weather so they have been able to do a bit of digging today , which hasn't happened for many days recently .

Back out now to make up stables with straw for bed time and some more water - I really need an out door tap that does hot water , but since we have woken to frozen internal pipes a couple of times recently , I don't think that's a goer!

Houdini x 2!

2010-01-03T17:44:00.002Z

After another restful morning , where nobody woke before 9am , the peace was shattered when #DS said ' Mum , are the pacas s'posed to be in the back garden ?' NO! BY 9.02 we were all outside - the building work has necessitated the removal of several farm gates - the one to the road , the one from the garden to the bridle path......Panic . The boys live on the other side of the bridle path , and as if by magic they became aware of the girls at just the same moment we did , a race to see who could call them first . It was close , but I manged to block their imminent arrival on the bridle path and then get them out of the garden and back into their field, where it transpired they had ( again ) opened the gate . Little monkeys , they have learn to open one of the gates , an extra lock has been put on , but at some point last night someone ( me ) forgot to put the second lock on , hence the escape .

A sigh of relief , breakfast all round , relax . Then at 3pm - ' Mum , should the pacas be in the back garden ' AGAIN , NO! This time, the children had left the gate open when they went to retrieve their sledge before an epic sledging time on the mountain .
Tonight I have checked and double checked those locks , if they are out tomorrow I don't know what I shall do !

Colour co-ordinated!

2009-12-29T19:15:00.002Z

The weather has come in with avengence , and so the alpacas are coming in for the nights - well strictly speaking the white and pale colours are coming in , the black and dark brown are staying out ! Why? Does anyone know why, I certainly don't , but I have often observed that colour is a big issue for alpacas . I don't think they discriminate , but they are colour conscious , Dark colours stick together , pale colours stick together , and unless there is a bigger agenda , that is largely how they stay ! The exception to this gross generalisation is the way that little Berlioz is treated , at feeding time Bijou ( as head of the herd) gets first pickings and guards her trough to the exclusion of all others regardless of colour , but Berlioz is allowed to eat with her .I think she senses that he needs a bit of a helping hand , and makes an exception for him.

Yesterday was also Vit injection day . An event that we all look forward too ( not) . We took a different tack this time , and injected Athena first , and whilst she still had time o land one good spit in DH's face , she was quickly removed from the catching pen . She spent the rest of the time prowling the edges she could reach and trying to spit , but didn't manage to get us again and we were all alot cleaner and happier, I also managed some toe nail trimming so Hermione looks quite the lady now !

Regression

2009-12-20T20:44:00.002Z

The snow has arrived , althou a pretty pathetic attempt compared to some parts of the UK , it is sufficient to cover the ground ( just ) and cause a few slips in the car! Deja vu as I slid down the drive , but this time I did it more slowly and there was nobody at the bottom to hit - result!

The alpacas are continuing in their own contrary way - they will not come in to the stables for shelter , preferring to sit under the trees, what is their logic ? The post title refers to the weaning process for Berlioz . Since the weather has got colder and tougher have gone backwards in the process . We are back to two full bottles a day , when we had reached just one 3/4 bottle at bed time . Berlioz is always pleased to see me and guzzles the lot , so I think he must need it . On the plus side he is continuing to eat hard feed , doing much better than his slightly older compatriots , and he won't be 6 months until Jan 13........... so whilst the weather is bad and he is still taking the lot I shall carry on feeding him and try hard to quell my feelings of shame that I have gone backwards !

Our first night in our new bedrooms was very successful , despite the cries of ' who can sleep in this heat?' ( 17C) , waking to more snow and still feeling warm was a great treat which I suspect we shall come to take for granted all too quickly. It seems that all the inches of insulation are paying off !

CHILLY!

2009-12-19T17:24:00.002Z

Wow , it is cold today ! The temp has not risen above -2C all day and the wind is making it feel colder . Last night I took the alpacas into the stables , they have a choice of 3 but insist on all trying to cram into one ! They did appreciate the round the clock hay and hard feed to order ! At last they are beginning to look fluffy again after all the rain , and the pale ones are looking their proper colour rather than muddy grey.

Tonight is our first night in our new bedrooms - so exciting . The floor situation has improved , a change of adhesive has done the job , and we should be easily finished by Wed so that I can start using the kitchen for Christmas - truth be known I have already started to fill the cupboards- but don't tell DH since he feels I should do nothing until it's finished .
The children finished school yesterday so we can wind down a bit towards Christmas , presents are all bought , but I don't have a tree , food is sorted out so we are doing ok . Finished kitchen would just polish it off , fingers crossed!

God bless the NHS , and other bits !

2009-12-13T10:12:00.002Z

I have been quite for a couple of weeks , partly because on the animal front life is quiet ( i hesitate to say dull cos that is tempting fate ) alpacas have moved to a clean field once the rain has stopped and we have had a couple of crisp mornings , so the risk of that field turning into a quagmire are less . One hen has decided that now is a good time to moult ( mad ) but her feathers are growing back quickly .

On the house front ,2 steps forward 1 step back ! All the new bedrooms are ready to go , ie they have carpets/ wood floors , blinds , beds and heating and light , voila! On the down side , the slate floors were supposed to have been finished last Friday , and by now my kitchen would have been finished and I would be filling cupboards , cooking and generally moving everything in - not so , the floors are a nightmare . The adhesive wont stick to the slate , although it has stuck very hard to the floor , the tiler is blaming the adhesive , the adhesive manufacturers are blaming the tiler , us and generally everybody else , work has stopped with 25m2 laid and waiting to be taken up , I just want my floor laid NOW! Until the floor is laid the kitchen cant be finished ......

Anyway the title of the post might suggest that we have also had experience of hospital recently - anyone like to guess which son ? Yes , Theo! On Friday he and his twin brother went to scout sleepover prior to completing a 26 mile ride for their cycling badge ,half an hour after we got back from dropping them off the phone rang , general conversation about an accident, A & E etc , 'please meet us there' . Luckily the large glass of baileys which I had just poured ( the stress is getting to me ) had not yet been touched , so off I duly set . Had to stop for petrol , not normally a hazardous job , only to get caught up in the middle of a fight , finally got out of that and got to the hospital ,to find 2 shaken scout leaders , mildly blood covered , and one very shocked and blood soaked child . Apparently during a game of hide and seek in the park behind the scout hut , which boasts swings and a roundabout , T had slipped down a bank , only to discover that he had slashed his buttock and the top of his leg on what appears to have been a piece of glass. The wound is 3 or 4 inches long and a couple of inches deep , very unpleasant . Have to admit that I did laugh when the nurses asked the scout leaders if it was a knife wound - what do they think goes on in scouts in a quiet little town in the Brecon Beacons ?! - anyway the nursing staff were brilliant . Althou we were there for 3 hours , not a minute was wasted , we had xrays , wounds cleaned etc , they were quick, efficient , but above all very , very kind to a small boy who was deeply shocked but who also showed enormous bravery and was polite and courteous to everyone even when he was in serious pain . Finally , Theo was stitched up , 3 internal and 9 external stitches , he had gas and air , which made him laugh a lot , but also made him sleepy , which was a blessing since he dozed throu some of the worst stitching , which took the best part of an hour . Now he has a lovely war wound , and is a local hero for the next couple of days - many of the scouts saw the wound when it happened and one was sick , so they are very awed by his experience . I am very proud of how he behaved, but hope never to have to see that again !

so trusting - not!

2009-12-07T18:07:00.002Z

As for many , it has rained a hell of alot recently and today has been no exception.

The last week or so has been hectic - I have set us the deadline of 12Dec for us to be able to move into our new house end! I have been madly painting and fiddling, DH has been fitting kitchen , which he has done very professionally , but like most guys it is hard to keep him on task , and everything has taken a long time ! The alpaca have had the minimum of care for the last week or so - I have dashed out and fed everyone , let out the chickens and then got on with house things .

Today was a bit more relaxed - the stone masons arrived to lay the kitchen floors , so I can't fiddle down there any more , and have reached a halt up stairs pending the arrival of carpets on Friday .I have made up drawers for the kitchen etc , but DH doesn't want anything in situ until he is ready - I am champing ! Anyway , as a result I spent a bit more time with the alpacas. As always I started the day with a bottle for Berlioz , I am beginning to wean him and reducing the volume of milk he is offered gradually , today it was pelting down when I went out so I wore my full length Drizaabone , Berlioz was obviously not impressed , he was very cautious and finally decided that he didn't feel hungry enough to brave THE COAT , I went and changed and then , miraculously , he was hungry and drank the lot _ little monkey . Gradually he is eating more hard feed , and is more adventurous than the other cria , he was very impressed with the micronised peas and garlic , less so with the sugar beet . Maybe they will come in tonight ?!

Another first!

2009-11-28T21:55:00.002Z

SNOW! in November! The tops of the hills were covered this morning , the children were very excited , the rest of us ( DH , me and the pacas) were filled with dread .

Also , the pipes froze , I think , anyway there was no water this morning for a couple of hours , now supply is normal, luckily. All of this spurred us on to great things - we moved all of the furniture out of the second stable , beds and mattresses came inside , as did a very large sofa ( with some help from our friends ) , so I can sleep better knowing that all the soft furnishings are inside , and the alpacas can use enough stabling to keep them all dry and warm. Sods law - my mega torch has gone bust! So tonight , in the sleet I was trying to get the alpacas in using a head torch with a failing battery , at one point I tripped over Cerys who had refused to get up! Eventually I did manage to get them into the stables and everyone was settled and feeding on some nice hay ! Oh , and we manged to get some paving stones down , to extend the hard standing - the mud is SOOO bad .

New Years resolution #1 - a big spanking new barn for the pacas!