Moving on

The Chardstock Six are up for sale and three of them have been booked already.  We are thinking of keeping one of the males, Horizon Anchor, whose sire was Classical Priam  to see if he has any potential as a  herdsire.   He is a really lovely alpaca with very dense fleece, good crimp and pleasant temperament.  He is a little larger than most of our alpacas but that is probably a good thing as we do not want  our herd to be any smaller in individual size.

Having had a few days of warmer weather the grass is looking green again and the alpacas seem to have decided that it is preferable to hay, which is a bit worrying as it is probably not that nutritious yet.  They still tuck into their alf alfa though, so with only a few weeks left until spring (famous last words) we are hoping that they will retain their condition long enought to benefit when grazing becomes more plentiful.

Surprisingly we seem to be having quite a few enquiries which is unusual for us- we don't often start until April and after.  Three potential buyers have visited over the last 7 days, so time will tell  whether this is a good omen for the rest of the year or just a fluke week!!  Even if none of them buy in the end it is encouraging to have interest this early.

We have decided to open the shop as often as possible to see if it improves sales, because again, we have had a number of people phoning to find out when we are open.  Part of that is probably to do with half  term holidays, but we shall see.   

The does are looking VERY pregnant and I will be very disappointed if several do not have twins as they are looking fit to bust and both sides look very big.   If nothing materialises, we shall have to assume that we have been vastly overfeeding them!!

The buck and the young castrated male have settled in well in their new shelter, although worryingly the buck got his horns stuck in the stock fencing this morning.   Mike thinks the top wires need re-tensioning so he has promised to do it asap.  As the weather was fine and the goats have regrown their fleeces to keep them warm we let them out to graze.   They were,  of course, delighted, but still very good about going inside again at the end of the day -probably still feeling a bit chilly when the sun goes down.