Getting Busy

Unfortuntely Mike has fractured his fibula and is currently unable to do very much on the farm or in the house.   He had a fall whilst strimming on Tuesday.   At first we thought he had probably sprained his ankle.  His toes and ankle were an agry purple/red.

We ice packed it but by Wednesday there was no improvement so I took him to A & E at Taunton.
It took several hours but we finally left with Mike in a temporary plaster cast which will be removed and replaced with another one when the swelling has gone down.   The replacement cast will allow him to walk with the aid of crutches. Unfortunately with the temporary cast he is more or less chair bound because he is not supposed to put his weight on the injured leg but his shoulders are arthritic and he finds it too painful to take the full weight of his body on the crutches.

The shop is getting busier with the autumn approaching and we have stocked up on socks and the hand knitted items are starting to sell again.

Cick on the picture to see our range of hand knitted hats.

Shop Opening

Our Autumn/Winter season has started well.   We are fully stocked with socks, hand knitted mittens, hats, ethnic throws and fair trade rugs.

The alpacas are enjoying the late spell of really lovely weather and lazing around in the sunshine.

Even the hens seem jolly at the moment and they are laying well.

Click on the picture to see our alpacas for sale.

Moving On

I spent Saturday and Sunday at a local Dog Agility competition with my older dog, Dolly and young Ted.   They both worked well and Dolly was third in one of her classes but Ted is a bit of a wild card at shows and I need to up my game to make sure Ig ive him the right signals and information.  Dolly is an old hand and we get on well, but she only had one clear round all weekend (3rd place) due to lack of timely information from me.

The alpacas are lying in the pouring rain at the moment.   Sometimes when it rains they gallop for cover in their shelter but sometimes they just lie down.  I think this rain started as a shower and so they thought they would lie down and as it got heavier they did not feel it worth running for shelter.  Who knows!!

I am opening our farm shop this week and every week until 21st December which is the closest to Christmas given that we only open Thursday to Saturday 11.30 - 5 p.m. excepting unexpected circumstances.www.alpaca-stuff.co.uk

New Home for Three

Three alpacas left the farm this morning to go to their new home.

They were very well behaved when we herded them into the catch pen in our back paddock where they have been living since they were sold two weeks ago.   There is always a delay because we have our alpacas pre-movement tested for TB so that the new owners know that they are receiving healthy animals in that respect.

They are also up to date with all husbandry such as toe nails, vaccinations etc:

Two of them were happy enough to move from the catch pen into the trailer which was to transport them to their new home, but one, normally the most docile, decided to object and it took ages to get him in.  Alpacas normally travel very well once in their transport.  Mostly they lie down in a cush - i.e. with their legs tucked under them.

They do not have too far to go and should be grazing in their new field by now.

We are expecting a visit from another prospective buyer to look at one of our males sometime soon so our herd dispersal/retirement sale is starting to work.   It may well take a long time - perhaps as much as a year - to completely sell up, but we prefer to sell directly to new owners rather than take them to market.  Mainly because of welfare issues but also because they would probably make even lower prices than what we are offering them for.  Also we are not really in a hurry to sell and like to know who the new owners are so that we can help if they have any problems (unlikely) or in extreme take them back (has never happened so far).

Our Farm shop is closed at the moment but we will be re-opening in September through to the spring when we will be closing down finally.   There will probably be some stock left over which we will continue to sell online for a while.

This one our ethnic throws - made in Peru.   Click on the picture to visit our website.

All is Calm

What a change in the weather.   Really lovely and sunny and forecast to last for the next few days.  The alpacas are making use of their dust bath -  small bare patch in their paddock which they love rolling in.   I sprinkle it with  Diatomaceous earth, a very fine mineral which helps keep mites away.  Also good for preventing scaly leg in chickens.  They absolutely love it - even the new cria can be seen rolling away in the sunshine.

Click on thebottom picture to visit our Alpacas for Sale website

Splitting the Herd

We have sold three of our alpacas in the start of our herd dispersal.

A lovely couple from near Exeter have bought three alpacas which came  to us a year or so ago.


They want them as chicken guards/pets and already have farming experience with their sheep, so they should have no trouble integrating the alpacas. They have been living happily with our boys up until a few days ago when we separated them to await their pre-movement TB test prior to moving to their new home.

Click on the picture to see our Alpacas for Sale website.

Dreary Day

You would hardly believe that it is still summer today.   It has been raining and drizzling since first thing this morning.   I did manage to clear the paddocks and clean out the hens but really there is no incentive to do other than the essentials and basics.

All the alpacas seem to have decided to stay out in the rain.  I suppose because although continual it is fairly light most of the time.  If it gets heavy they usually gallop to shelter and the hens go running and flapping to their house.


Bed socks seem to be popular this week which is surprising because they are more popular in the winter usually.   Even though we call them bed socks, they are 90% alpaa and can be worn with any footwear - even wellies.   I also use mine as slippers on carpeted areas.   They don't work quite as well on tiled or wooden surfaces as they only have a single layer sole.    Our walking socks are probably the best for indoor slipper replacement on hard floors as they have a lovely thick cushion sole.

Click on the photo to see our range of socks.