Alpacas

Yesterday I wanted Nick to help me trim toe nails of all the alpacas as they had not been done since shearing in May apart from the alpacas we had shown.

We set up the barn as usual and decided to get the boys in first as that includes Ben, the gelding who really hates having his toe nails trimmed.  Mike would be around to help to hold him whilst I cut his nails.  We normally blindfold him with a towel as this keeps him calmer.  We put him on a halter and covered his eyes and he was actually quite relaxed and co-operative but when I came to trim the nails they were rock hard and instead of the quick snip snip which I usually do I had to gradually pare them back to a reasonable shape.  In the end I had to give up.  See photo of Ben below.

Although we have had some rain recently the ground is still very hard and I suppose the lack of moisture in the ground has meant that the nails have become very dry too.   We did manage to trim all the males' toe nails but I had to hand over to Nick a couple of times because my hands were aching so much trying to close the clippers and achieve a cut.

We have decided to do the rest of the herd in batches on consecutive Tuesdays so that we do not have too many to do at once if they are that tough.   If we have some rain it might well be a different story next Tuesday.

We also weaned the kids - i.e. separated them from their Mums.   All except number 7 were fairly accepting of the change.  I expect they had been gradually suckling less and eating more grass.   We put their Mums in a shelter where they could not see them but of course number 7 looks on me as her source of milk as she has been bottle fed so she is finding it more difficult to get on with life without her Mum and me.

Two chickens have died - I think they were both quite old and probably found the heat a bit much.  There were no signs of illness or parasite infestation of any kind.  This morning I found the remains of a third one - or at least a pile of feathers.   We think she must have been shut out when the automatic doors on the chicken shed shut last night.  Alario is in the same paddock but the murder took place behind the sheds so perhaps he did not see.

David and Jane with our grandchildren Zach and Tara came down yesterday evening as they were dropping off Jax, their dog, for us to look after whilst they go to Portugal for a couple of weeks.  When they come back they are going to look after the farm so we can go away on our annual dog show holiday.   We had a BBQ supper and some champagne to celebrate our planning permission to convert the barn into a house.  So that was very enjoyable.

The grass is looking a bit sorry for itself - we could really do with some prolonged rain, although it would spoil holidays for a lot of people. 

Horizon Anchor

Absent Birth

We went to Sidmouth on Sunday to a fete at a Residential Care Home.   They asked if we would take some alpacas along for the residents and visitors to see.  It was a very low key affair but everyone was very friendly and enchanted with the alpacas.

When we returned home we found that Baptista had given birth early to a lovely little white FEMALE cria.   She was trotting around and obviously there had been no problems, luckily.   Her ears had  been bent in a strange way in the womb so she looked more like a mini llama, but we have put some masking tape on them to encourage them to grow into the normal alpaca shaped ears and she looks quite pretty now.

We are about to wean the kids so are expecting a lot of noise tomorrow because they will not like being removed from their Mums.   We are going to put them in the paddock nearest the house so that they cannot see the other goats.   The young bucks will go to live with Drake (our stud buck) and a little castrated male kid from last year in their pen which is farther down the farm.

Latest newborn, Lucky number 7, Horrid Job done

Another girl is born.  In the photo she is only about half an hour old and then a little older searching for Mum's milk bar already.

Number 7 is the kid we have been bottle feeding.  She is now about three months old and will soon be weaned but she is so friendly (cupboard love?) and comes running when anyone goes into the field.  She also jumps up like a puppy which might be a bit scary when she is a full grown goat.   She really is lucky because she nearly died of hyperthermia when she was born in March during that awful winter weather. 

On Tuesday Nick and I did my least favourite job on the farm which is tagging and chipping the cria.  Although not required by DEFRA as alpacas are not governed by them, most responsible alpaca owners comply with the normally accepted rules for other livestock and identify them with an ear tag and most also insert a microchip which is really only used if the animals are to be shown or exported to ensure that the right animal is shown or shipped.   It could also be useful in the event of theft as alpacas are generally registered with the British Alpaca Society who also record the microchip number.  

Tagging involves a process rather like having your ears pierced but using a really big earing which supports a plastic tag - see number 7!!  Goats have to have one in each ear or (and they are covered by DEFRA - or Animal Health) an electronic tag.  I think that is a microchipped ear tag, but I am not sure.  The tagger is like a giant hand held pincer machine and you attach the tag to the piercing pin, hold the pincer over the ear, being careful to avoid the veins which run either side of the centre of the ear, and squeeze hard.  Alpaca ears are much tougher than goat ears but kids make a lot more noise.   I think the pain is only momentry and as soon as they are released they trot off as if nothing has happened.

Microchipping is really just like a subcutaneous injection in that you use a large needle and applicator to push the tiny microchip under the skin of the animal.  In an alpaca it is normally at the top of the neck where other dangers lie, such as the carotid artery.  There is also the problem that alpacas are naturally slim creatures and it is quite difficult to find sufficient loose skin to allow insertion of the chip.

Nick says that I am very proficient in this task, but  my hands are always shaking with apprehension when I start, although once I have done a couple I usually relax.  Number 92 was born today (see photos with Mum, Luciana) which means that I must have tagged and chipped well over a hundred animals including the goats.  I suppose you get used to it more quickly if you have to tag 100  at a time and not spread out over a few years

Guess the sex!!

Lavinia, a really pretty light fawn girl has just given birth to - you guessed it - another boy.  He looks as though he will fall into the new beige colour range as he has a trace of fawn along his topline, but cannot be sure until he is properly dry.  We name our boys from a list of Spanish boys' names which I downloaded ages ago.   We thought this would be appropriate as the alpacas come from South America, where Spanish is the national language in most countries.  We are on the Vs and he is going to be called Laurels Don Vitas - which is quite apt as he seems to be full of life already.

Last night we celebrated the news that we have been given planning permission to convert part of the existing barn into a house and to build a new barn which will be bigger and much more useful than the one which was already on site.  This will give us a new burst of energy, and whilst we are very comfortable in our little log cabin it will be lovely to have a bit more space and get all our belongings out for use again.  It is also good to know that we will not have to leave our beloved Laurel Farm.  

Ideally we could have done with some females being born so we could sell off the older stock without diminishing the numbers of breeding females too much.   We might have to have a big rethink once we know the final numbers and sexes.   We have already decided that we will use Alario this year to cover as many females as possible as he seems to be very fertile and generally throws more female offspring than male.   They are usually good quality too.    In the past we have not used him over whites but we are thinking maybe he would produce fawn cria, which would be lovely.  Hopefully his imput will redress the balance of the sexes.   The main problem is that he is related to many of the herd so we will have to be careful when setting up his matings.

I don't believe it!!

Baptista, a very pretty light fawn female, gave birth to yet another boy!!  I cannot believe that we now have seven cria and six of them are boys.   The good news is that most of them are very attractive and all but one are coloured i.e. fawn, brown and black, which makes them easier to sell in the pet market.  The latest addition is fawn with a white face, and seems to be quite strong and although his mum is a maiden she is looking after him really well.   He started to suckle very quickly and the weather is looking OK at the moment so we are hoping that we won't have the torrential rain overnight that we had last night.

I went to Axminster this afternoon to collect some medication from the Vet and buy some egg boxes as we have run out of second hand ones.  I was shocked to find that they cost 20p per box for six eggs.  Since we only charge £2.20 per dozen for our surplus eggs that would mean a massive 40p per dozen for just the boxes.  We are hoping that this is just a glitch and that more second hand ones will be donated in due course.

We have been having a bit of a tidy up around the yard and Mike dismantled some old fencing which we made from old pallets when we first came here.   The log cabin has just been repainted and with our hanging baskets looks quite attractive.  Mike is struggling a little with work around the farm because his elbow locked up a few days ago and he has had only limited movement since.  He went to the doctor today who thinks that he may have dislocated it some time in the past and it has not returned to normal,so he is going to have it xrayed next week.  He is having a run of really bad luck with his health at the moment but let's hope this is the last of it.

I took Charlie to training this evening and although he is still as manic as ever he is now listening as well.   If I am quick enough with my instructions he does it right and Sam (our trainer) said he was "awesome" at one point.   I just hope I can achieve the same result at the next dog show.

Boys galore

We have just sold the last of last year's boys, Jose and Pepe.   They were prize winners at the SWAG  Spring Show and the Devon County Show where they attracted a lot of interest because they were so handsome and such a lovely colour. 

Just as well because of the six births on farm so far five have been boys which is quite unusual for us as we have had a majority of girls most years in the past.   They are all very good looking boys and we will hope to add some value before selling them by taking them to shows in the hope of picking up some rosettes.

The animals are all enjoying the sunshine at the moment and getting fat on the lovely summer grass.

We have moved the agility equipment down to the bottom of the home paddocks in an effort to save the neighbours suffering the barking of the dogs left shut in whilst we practice.  

Most of the rest of the births should happen this month so the new arrivals will be well grown before winter sets in.