Wow

When we were at a dog show on Saturday Nick delivered the second cria of the year, a stunning little black boy with the softest fleece I have ever felt.   At the moment the crimp is only at the base of the fibres but if as he matures the crimp improves, he will be very exciting young animal.

There are only three more to give birth in June and the rest are due in July.

Result

We took some of our young alpacas to the Devon County Show last Thursday.  Mike came with me in the morning to help me unload and set up.  He stayed to watch Tanya (our pretty little multi alpaca) win first in her class and after a bit of a wander round he went home so that the dogs were not left too long.  Jose and Pepe both had third place rosettes which was especially pleasing as the classes were quite big for the browns.

Although we had finished showing by early afternoon we could not leave until after the show closed so it was quite a long day.

We are giving the does and kids free range of the race and  they are really enjoying the extra grazing and the exercise must be good for them.  Number 7 the kid I have been bottle feeding is behaving more and more like a pet dog.   When she sees me in the yard she starts calling and if I go into the race she follows me around.

We are still waiting for the next cria to be born.  Bourree looks very pregnant but no sign of any movement yet.

We usually by sacks of potatoes from a local farmer in the winter  and  this afternoon he called in with his daughter to have a look at the alpacas and to say that they were baling some hay on a nearby  field and offered it to us.   Timing was perfect as we have nearly run out again.   Although the alpacas do not eat much hay in the summer it is good for them to have it available as the long fibres are good for their digestion.  They arrived at tea time with a trailer load which is now safely stored in our hay loft.

Nick has been continuing his onslaught on the weeds today.   Apart from the usual nettles and docks we have a lot of Himalayan Balsam - I think its other name is Japanese Knot Weed - which is trying to take over around the bounderies.

I took Romie for a private lesson with Sam Waring on Monday which was very useful. As I suspected my timing is not right and she gave me one or tips to try and and exercise over three jumps which I shall be working on up  until our ext session.

Dolly and Charlie are both doing well and  I am hopeful for them both when they start competing.

We have another broody hen and we are  hoping it might be third time lucky hatching eggs.   The last two attempts have resulted in several chicks and they even nearly reached maturity but all met untimely deaths for one reason or another.  She is laying on 9 eggs so we might get several chicks if she sticks to her job.

Blog down

Blog has been down so unable to update!!  Photos are - first cria (male)of 2011 meeting the aunties!!  Me holding a kid waiting to be weighed and having a quick cuddle!!  Charlie wants to be let  out of jail!!

We had what seems to be our annual coffee morning in aid of Devon Air Ambulance on Saturday.  It was well attended and  our thanks go to all our helpers and all the dog handlers who came along to give the morning some entertainment by demonstrating their agility skills.  We think the takings will be about £300 by the time the collection tin contents are added to the entry price, raffle, cake stall and plant sale money.

The paddocks are lovely and green at the moment but  the ground is extremely hard and desperately needs some rain to ensure that growth continues.

At last I have got my vegetable garden started!!  I bought some bedding plants at a stall at Tunbridge Wells Dog Show and also picked up some marrow, courgette, cabbage, Pak choy, and lettuce plants.   Neighbour Pam has promised some runner bean plants so all I have to do now is remember to water them and keep them weed free.   My strawberry plants are also doing very well and there are a lot of strawberrries waiting to ripen.  I am off to Axminster tomorrow to get some netting so the birds do not get them first like they did last year.    I have the remains of a sack of potatoes and I am going to put them in a tub to see if they will reproduce.   It will be good if they do, but no loss if they don't.

The kids are due for their first vaccinations on Tuesday.   It only seems a short while since they were born.   They are certainly very lively and happy and still cute looking with their little devil horns peeking through.

We keep getting birds flying in and out.   I have to remember to shut the office door when I am in there or a swallow with dive in and out again and there is evidence of bird presence in the dog kennels and one flew into the kitchen yesterday morning.  Luckily they all seem to be sensible enough to find their way out again - must be bird silly season!  There also seem to be a lot of bees both honey and bumble which presumably is a good thing as there was so much talk of bees being the subject of disease and dying out.

No 7 Dog

Number 7 kid seems to have turned into a puppy dog.   As soon as she sees one of us with her bottle she comes running up bleating and skipping and if she does not get it soon enough she jumps up just like a dog.  I know we shouldn't let her do it as she  will be a big heavy goat one day, but it is soooo cute!!

Quite a few kids seem to be scouring a little so tomorrow we are going to give them all a dose of Vecoxan just in case.  This is an oral medication for Coccidia (not sure if I have spelt it correctly) which is a stomach bug that can kill quite quickly if not treated.

Alpaca matings are going well and our first cria is due later this month (from last year's matings).

We only have three young males left for sale which is a relief as we had more males than usual born this year.  We have a couple of people interested in them, so fingers crossed they will be on their way to a new home soon.

After months of being short of grass we are now over run with grass,  nettles, docks and other weeds.  Buttercups are coming up all over the place and we have never seen so many dandelions on the front bank.  Mike is manfully strimming and we are trying to keep the little garden tidy.

We are having a coffee morning in aid of Devon Air Ambulance on the 14 May so we are tr;ying to get everything looking a bit neater than usual.  We  did one last year and it was a great success, greatly aided by a lovely sunny day.  We are hoping for the same luck this year.

Some friends are going to help put on a Dog Agility Display and there will be a cake stall, craft table, raffle, and of course a chance to see the alpacas, goats and chickens as well as chilling out with a nice cup of coffee, a lovely view, and good company.

Dolly, my  15 month old pup is coming on in leaps and bounds with her agility.   She seems to be taking to it  like a duck to water.  I think she might have her mother's speed but is more controllable at the moment at least. Chairlie did very well at the weekend and if we ever manage to get a clear round I think he will be in the places.

Changing Places

Nick is continuing with the fertilising and spreading Grasstrak which is a mineral supplement for the soil.  This is a good way to get vital minerals into the alpacas naturally.


We are trying to make a start on mating the  alpacas who were not mated at the end of last year.  We thought we would try out our young males but they did not seem at all interested.   They are still a bit young, but I was hoping for at least a little enthusiasm.  It is strange that they are both acting the same way, so it is probably just a matter of timing.   We'll try again in a few weeks.

All the goats and kids seem to be fine.  Number 7 is still having a top up bottle every day.  As soon as she sees me enter the paddock she comes rushing over bleating until I give her the bottle.  She worries me a bit because she is so anxious to get the milk  down her I am worried that she will burst.  Much to her disgust I take the bottle away during her feed so she has a chance to let her tummy settle. 

Although we could do with some rain, it is lovely having nice spring weather.  The female alpacas in the winter paddocks spend a lot of time paddling in the stream or in their water hole which is spring fed.  When we brought the herd up to pick out the ones for mating they kept stopping at the dusty patches for a lovely roll.  

Little Life Lost

We went to a dog show at the weekend and Nick looked after the farm.   Sadly one of the little kids that I had been feeding suddenly died.  He seemed fine and then the next time Nick checked he was dead in the shelter.   He had been scouring a little and we had given him some medication but it was difficult to tell what caused his death.  He was quite full so he might have gorged himself on the milk bucket, or maybe he was just destined not to live.

The other problem kid number 7, seems to be coping alright and we are keeping a close eye on her.  Her Mum is the Doe with only one udder working and twins to feed.

The  good news is that Romie with her brother, Nikey, made it to the semi finals in the knock out pairs and have qualified for the finals.  Unfortunately they are held Up North so we probably won't be going.  We'll see.

The grass is growing at last - Nick has been fertilising the farm and I have been battling with the grass which we laughingly call the lawn.  Shame it all has to grow at once.

The alpacas are loving the sun and spending a lot of  time lying around soaking up the rays.

Hooray - Dolly can do the weaves on her own now so it is just a question of getting more speed and experience before she is a fully qualified agility dog.    I will be getting her measured at Kernow show at Easter.  There is no doubt that she will be a Large as opposed to Medium or Small dog for competition but it has to be officially confirmed.

Goat Mountain

This is the oldest goat and her kids learning mountain climbing on our special goat mountain.  Today we tagged the kids so that they can be identified easily.  I think Defra should come and do them.  Poor little things have to have one in each ear and you should hear them scream.  Still it is over quickly and they scream just as loudly when they see me coming with the bucket.

Number 12 and number 7 are still a concern but they have been promoted from a bottle to a bucket.  We make up some Lamblac and put it in a bucket which has teats on it.   The bucket is suspended on a partition Mike made in the goathouse and the theory is that they can get the milk ad lib when they cannot get it from their Mums.  At the moment we still have to guide them on to the teat but once on they stay and suckle until full.  They have been shut in most of the day because it has been very cold and wet, but they usually love frolicking in the sun.

I took some of our young alpacas to a show at the weekend.   There was lots of competition and the bigger breeders brought along multiple entries  for most of the classes.   We only achieved a  fourth and a sixth but I was not displeased as both were in quite big classes.

The event was held at the Hand Equestrian Centre at Clevedon which has been revamped since I last went there to a dog show.  It now has quite a smart cafeteria, bar, good quality stables and an excellent arena.

There was a really good atmosphere and although it was quite hard work because, being on the committee, I was involved in setting up and breaking down as well as showing our own animals.

My friend Pauline came along and luckily was able to show one of the boys as two were in the same class.  She stayed for quite a while and we were pleased to be able to spend some time together as we don't see as much of each other now we have moved to Devon.  On the Sunday my client/friend Anita came along and was interested to see the show alpacas.  She commented that compared with showing other animals (she has bred cattle and dogs at least in the past) alpacas and their owners do not present themselves very well.   She thinks we should learn some ringcraft!!  I agree with her actually, but I am one of the worst offenders for lolling around whilst the judge goes backwards and forwards trying to decide the winners.

Another alpaca friend has a really good alpaca and he quite rightly won the Supreme Champion.   She has just gained planning permission to put a house on their property - so it is obviously it is her year.

We are now catching up on our matings and Emilia, a really good alpaca who has rejected all male attentions up until now suddenly decided when we were spitting off some alpacas (testing them for pregnancy by letting a male near them) suddenly decided to sit and allow herself to be mated.   There is no guarantee that she will be pregnant but at least now she is acting normally.

I have suspected that the Blue Tongue vaccination has effected fertility and behaviour amongst our girls and had already decided not to use it this year.   As it happens there have been no reports of Blue Tongue in the UK so far this year.  It might be just coincidence but I don't believe that.

Last year  and the year beforewe had one or two females who were young and healthy but they did not become pregnant and we have never had problems before.   Anyway we shall see how it goes this year.

The alpacas who were shown are being kept in quarantine at the moment and will not be allowed back into the herd until the end of the showing that we intend to do.   That will be about June.  They are happy enough as there are five males and a couple of females so they are not alone.