Nottingham Hollow

Alpaca Creep Feeders

2009-07-05T10:01:00.004-05:00

My husband and I were just discussing our creep feeder that we set up for our crias. It is about 10' by 8' or so and just not cutting it for the five crias using it. When we first put it together three were considerable smaller than they are now at 7, 8 and 11 months and the other two had not been born. It actually looked big now that I think about it. Soon, Quinn, who is 7 months and 85+ pounds will be moving over to the boys side and that will obviously create more room. The thing is the 8 and 11 month old girls are going to fit in there for a long time to come. They are both on the petite side. I just cannot see making the door any smaller. I am now wondering if it will be something they will outgrow, as in "I'm not a baby anymore" type of growth.

There is an alpaca farm in Georgia that I know of that is actually able to put out tubs of alpaca feed - a continuous supply. I think I heard of an alpaca farm in Pennsylvania or Ohio that does the same. Part of me wants to try that in a big way but I just don't see my alpacas walking way from it until it is empty. Maybe someday I will try it with one of the smaller herds here. I don't want to be known as the Virginia alpaca farm that owns the two ton alpacas!

I was telling Chuck that the way I thought the creep feed would work is that I would put out a big dish of food and they'd go in, one or two at a time and have a bite or two and go back out to mom or to play. I was very insistent that we get the creep feed set up when one of the dams went to board at another farm and her cria was left behind to wean. At the time Princess Lea was 6 months old - she's the 8 month old I mentioned above. {Since then her dam has returned but the nursing connection was broken long enough that she is definitely weaned.} Anyway, I got it in my head that Lea needed a place to go away from the adults where she didn't have to fight for food since she didn't have her dam's help so hence the creep feed. It was never used as I expected to to be. The then three, would just go in and finish the food each time I put it out. Now they also go out and steal food from the adult females dishes when they are fed as well! Looking outside at them as I type I can see that Black Perl has joined them for some hay.

I guess we will extend the feeder space by another five feet and a couple more feeders or maybe a trough... They do seem to appreciate a place away from the adults from time to time. Especially on days like this where they don't really need the fans because it is cool (only 65!).

If I ever try the herd on feed available full time I will be sure to post the results...

Until the next time!

July 5, 2009

2009-07-05T09:25:00.004-05:00

Surprised? Me too. It is raining today and the husband is home and doing chores. I don't usually have the luxury of computer time as close together as I have the past few days!

I answered an ad I saw on Alpaca Nation about improving my website rankings. That gained me some insight as to where my website stands and it is not looking to good. It could be worse of course. One of the reasons I started to blog was with the hopes to improve or maintain my rankings. I have a webmaster who designed my site and maintains it for me but she can only do so much. Someone has to feed her the words & pictures. As lacking as I have been with attention to the blog I have been with being creative with the written words for the site and with pictures even worse.

So, I started thinking, why isn't the blog gaining me more hits to my site? Well, I had the "aha!" moment when looking at a clients blog. That's what the labels are for! I feel pretty ignorant now (and I guess I must be pretty stupid for telling everyone!).

So, back to the search phrases that were used and where I didn't do well!
1. buy alpacas virginia 23rd spot on Google...
2. virginia alpaca farm 10th spot - got lucky I guess...
3. virginia alpaca farms 12th spot - the difference one letter makes!
4. alpaca farm virginia 12th spot
5. alpaca farms virginia 22nd spot...

Next thing I did was to look at my stats. That was eye opening too. I can see the searches that got people to my site and some of them are pretty off the wall. I had to look at some of them using the different search engines and it was kind of fun. I didn't mess up my stats by following them back to my site though.

Providing I use the labels (correctly) and get my updates made on the website I am hopeful that I will start seeing my rankings go up a bit.

Enough for this post!

July 3rd

2009-07-03T06:42:00.004-05:00

Well, it's already July... This year is just whizzing on by! The next two or three months can whiz as fast as they want! I am ready for cool weather again. I know, you hear this every year...

Chuck has been off work the past couple of days and we have made some headway in the barn. The chute has been moved! It didn't seem like it was taking up so much room when we had six or seven alpacas on each side of the barn. Increased numbers made the real estate the chute sat on quite priceless! It is now very open and cooler! I had not thought about the chute blocking breezes but it sure was.

Most folks think of a chute that is long and narrow. Ours wasn't that way at all. The design pretty much came from out first vet with some tweaking by Chuck. (One thing he tweaked was the height... Big mistake. He was thinking that the alpacas are not as tall as her llamas... True, but I bet we humans are! I don't have to say "told you so" since he's the one who is reminded every time we use it when he hits his head! Anyway, this chute is wide enough for us both to get into with the alpaca. Some times that is great. It is not great when they want to kick. It is not great when the female would rather stand on her head to avoid a manicure... Oh, it is also not great when your 95 pound friend is trying to shear a two hundred pound male and he flings her around! Of course, that is another story best left to another day. She and I always manage to have these adventures that leave our other friends rolling on the floor laughing.

I spoke with "D" yesterday a couple of times. I kept getting these reports on her fiber finds in the house. Now you have to understand, unlike myself and others who are even worse than I am with processing fiber, she has always processed fiber. There isn't a craft she doesn't know how to do; there are very few she doesn't enjoy and there are none that she doesn't do well! But the thing is the lady spins, felts, crochets, knits - constantly! She markets through her website and at fairs, shows - you name it. So how did it happen that she "found" about 200 pounds of fiber left over from previous years - forgotten in a closet? She's giddy with excitement and plans for it. Of course, I know how it could happen - as breeders we get caught up in the breeding and our initial five alpacas have multiplied over the years and their friends have come and gone... the numbers are a lot different than in 2005...

Now in my case, I haven't been able to stuff it in a closet and forget about it. Currently we are sharing the house with the fiber... Good thing there are only two of us! The dogs are probably the only creatures who are happy it is summer since they can be outside more. When inside they have to be in their crates because of this year's crop of fiber. I am overwhelmed. I have fiber all over the living room. I have fiber stuffed in the shower of our 3/4 bathroom! I had to move out of my office for all of the fiber. It is absolutely out of control. This weekend is really going to be independence day around here. "D" is coming and is helping me sort all of the fiber and then taking it home with her to drop off at the mill!!!! I am so excited. It really got to the point of there being too much to ship - that would have doubled the processing fees. So, in the not too distant future I will have an assortment of felted sheets, rug yarn and roving. Once it it has been cleaned and processed somewhat I will be able to get to the fun part and get some products together. That I am looking forward to in a big way.

Next year I may well hook up with a coop and just have it taken care of on shearing day. Off the animal; skirted and sorted; off to the coop for processing. But then I won't have product specific to my farm like I do now... I kind of like seeing the fiber of my alpacas made up into items. I remember donating a poncho made from Jacob's fiber to a Silent Auction a few years ago. Or maybe it was a raffle - I can't remember. The following year at the show the lady who won it said "hi" and told me that her son had won it for her and he was so pleased. I remember thinking immediately of Jacob and not of my supply of dark fawn yarn. Kind of neat. But, this is business and decisions have to be made that aren't sentimental. This decision warrants a lot of thought.

I can across a product while reading the AN forum the other week. Truth be told, I already knew about the product but had previously learned about it back in 2005 or 2006. At that time we had a lot fewer alpacas on site AND they all had good manners - no one pooped or peed in the barn!!!! Then the product seemed extravagant. Well, many alpacas later and with the arrival of alpacas without manners {you owners know who they are! :-)}coming across the product again was a great thing. Would you like to know what the product is already? It is called Stall Skins. The best I can describe it is a cross between felt and pellon. It is black and about a quarter inch thick. The felted side is put down against the ground and the smooth, somewhat coated feeling side is walked upon. It doesn't sound like it would last does it? Well, it is an equine product and said to last about six years with horses. I figure it will take about $600 worth to do my barn floor. That will be in one piece and it will be fixed to the walls (baseboard)all around. The only bedding that will be required will be in the winter - we'd probably put down some straw for warmth. The trick to success will be to prepare the floor ahead of time. Now that they are relieving themselves in the barn no matter what has been done to discourage them, it is getting a bot smelly in there and certainly not helping with the fly situation. The floor/ground (it/s dirt/clay) needs to have a trench dug about 2' deep with rock put in and then the ground angled to drain into that. On top of the gravel we will need to put down some landscape cloth and then cover the whole floor with either gravel dust or coarse sand. We will level the floor and tamp that down really well. Then we will install the Stall Skin. From that point on we should only have to sweep up poop and the urine will have drained away. Supposedly it won't matter where they do their "duty" as it will all slope away into the leach pit. Oh yeah, once a month or so you spray it down (I am sure only where they go) with pine-sol or something and the odors stay away. We will also do the ground under at least one of our overhangs, probably both. My only concern is the fabric is black and one overhang does get sun almost all day. The other is shaded except in winter so it is a good candidate for being successful. I will keep you posted. This is a fall project - can't see us digging out there in 90 degree plus weather... Not these northerners!

Aside from the barn and fiber projects currently going on we have pictures on the schedule for all of the alpacas and once those are finished we will be able to update the website and sales list. Doing major organization in preparation of the fall show & symposium schedule so that when I come off that and go onto cria watch it will be smooth. Oh, and we started doing some landscaping directly around the house to try to improve our look... Curb appeal without the curb! And, the never ending work on the property out front. We will get that finished this summer. Some how, some way.

Have to run! Until the next time...

June 15, 2009

2009-06-15T09:16:00.003-05:00

Well hello...

I just wanted to post that we have welcomed our newest boarders to the farm. On Saturday Carousel and her son Mangini came along with Princess Lea's dam Dora. They will be here for the next five years and seem to be settled in already.

KHA Carousel is a very pretty pinto. She's mostly white except for a saddle that looks like a can of dark brown paint was turned over on her. She's on the thin side having just delivered her 2009 cria 17 days ago. So she, as a nursing dam, has a place in the dining room for feeding... (more on that later).

Her son is Victor's Mangini. Victor Valenzuela is his sire and Mangini is a former Jet's coach. Her owners follow the Jets so it was a good fit for them for a name. He's very friendly and adorable. And big. We haven't weighed yet but he is as tall as Black Perl who was born on April 29th! He was 21+ pounds at birth. Big boy. No wonder his dam is thin!

Dora and Princess Lea had a nice reunion. Princess plugged right back in to the milk bar only to find that it was no more. I worried a bit that she would persist and bring Dora back to milk but she didn't and Dora had no interest in allowing her to anyway walking away as soon as she tried. Phew!

On Sunday we bred Carousel with Nottingham Hollow's Archer. She wasn't especially interested until we brought some hay into the pen and she decided she could cush and eat while it was going on. The fact is, it was Archer's first time and he was initially a bit clueless. Once she cushed it dawned on him why he was in there. We will give him another go at her on Wednesday morning since it was his first time. We aren't sure he had swimmers but feel he will have produced some between Sunday and Wednesday...

In the meanwhile, all is well. On Wednesday we have to do herd health but hope to work out front on Thursday and Friday. We had planned on doing that this past weekend but ended up having to repair the house roof and later clean out under the overhangs out back at the boys sheds. Between the water leak we had at Tuck's hydrant and the rain we have had this spring we were starting to sink up to our ankles walking into the sheds. So, that had to be taken care of before work continues out front.

I have also changed my plans and want to put Jacob and Victor out front with the other older males. Then we will only have females and one yearling/weaning paddock out back. I have to keep the yearlings out there so that Quinn will have someone to be with. Then in the fall we will maybe move the yearlings out to the front and Mangini in with Quinn. It's ever changing around here...

So, I had better end this for today and get out to do chores before it rains or just plain gets too hot to be out there. The girls are looking towards the house so they are probably out of hay and water already...

Until the next time!

June 9, 2009

2009-06-09T08:55:00.003-05:00

It's raining! Again. The ground is so saturated that we just do not have room from more water from above. I am getting very worried that this will end up one of those years that it is too wet to grow hay. That's one of the downfalls we face here being dry lot. Or more like mud flats these days. I just looked out and see a patch of blue up in the sky so maybe the day won't be a total washout.

Anyway, back to posting about our female alpacas! Lets do the boarders first!

Holly has been bred to Marathon's Dynomite, a beautiful grey. Since she and Dynomite got together after she gave birth to Black Perl we were able to catch her at the optimum time. Holly should deliver in mid-April 2010...

It sure looks like Black Velvet "took" from her December breeding with Tuck! My friend Dawn owns an u/s unit and was able to see a pregnancy. Yeah! We will be looking for her to deliver the end of November or beginning of December 2009. I think Tuck has to be black recessive since his sire is TB and if I understand correctly could only throw black. In spite of Tuck being LF I always hope for TB!

Princess Curiosity was a hold out - now that breeding season is about over she has finally "gone down" for Tuck. He wasn't the intended sire so we are kind of up in the air as to what steps will be taken next. If I had to guess I would say she probably didn't catch (yesterday) as it was her first time. Only time will tell.

Dora isn't actually back here yet but she is claiming to be pregnant, just ask Ray Tubbs' stud that was used for spit testing last week! She covered him with green so much so that he spit back! Go Victor. Dora was here for breeding and looks to have taken back in January. We will be watching for a New Years eve cria. Can't think of a better was to spend that holiday! Well, yes I can.

Carousel just gave birth last week (or was it the week before already?). She is still over at Evening Skies Alpaca Farm with Dora - they both will be coming here in July and joining Dora's 2008 cria Princess Lea. Along with Carousel will be her cria Victor's Mangini, a little male who will keep Holly's Black Perl company... I digress from the topic! Before coming here in July Carousel will be bred to her intended sire at Evening Skies...

Now for the Nottingham girls!

I am very happy to say that Whitney allowed us to see her cria's ribs, cord and spine when ultra-sounded on May 18th! Too cool. She's due to have her Amerikhan Legend cria on or about November 10th. I can hardly wait - I am trying to imagine what color. Whitney is a maroon with white markings on her face & topknot. She has been popping out grey spots for years now so we call her genetically grey. That's our term; Andy M. calls it poorly expressed grey. Doesn't that sound classy? :-) Well, Legend is MF. Whitney in the past has produced CDSG bred to CMSG, CMRG bred to DB (TB recessive), MB bred to DB and MF bred to TB.

Also due right about the same time is Miss Wise Obsession. She has also been bred to Amerikhan Legend. Miss Wise is TB. Legend should be black recessive so the hope is that if we get any males this fall we will get a TB Legend male! I have great names picked out for her cria no matter which gender!

Our dear Clara, herd matriarch is pregnant again as well. We have had a talk and she agrees that it is time for a daughter - her last four cria have been male. Clara has been bred with CVA Cadbury and is due around the end of November. CVA Cadbury is a black - I thought BB but he sure looked TB to me. Clara is a pinto who used to allow the sire's color to pass through. That was until she produced a "mini me" with the arrival of Robin Hood! Archer was he second here for us and his sire was the same as Robin's; Archer ended up dark fawn. Darby, the little guy that passed away (lesions on his heart)was out of a brown roan or rose grey and was medium fawn with a white upper neck and head... So, a black girl sounds great this time around!

Tabitha has been somewhat of a challenge to get pregnant and no one could have been happier than I was yesterday when she spat at Tuck as we walked him through the girls! We had bred her in December with Legend, good breeding but no results. Next we tried El Fuerte, again - seemingly good breeding but no results. We lost the late fall, early winter window and next tried her last month. This time we drove her to All About Alpacas and she bred with a Dom Lucilio son, Bodacious. That apparently took so we will be looking for a mid-April delivery for her as well. (She and Holly should go about the same time).

That only leaves Nottingham Hollow's Lady Emma.... What a character she is. She comes from two head-strong parents and it is so easy to equate her with a human teenager it is almost not funny! Her story is almost a saga it's so convoluted! We need to go back to December for the full impact. In December we had Legend and Dynomite here for breeding. They came to breed Emma and Princess, Whitney & Wise. Well, you know that Whitney & Wise took and Princess has just recently understood what it means to be a paca woman... Emma cushed next to the breeding pairs in December but when it came her turn she all of a sudden wasn't quite sure what was going on... That was okay with me because she wasn't going to be 2 years old until March 1st so it was a tad early by the calendar... In January the males came back. The proven females dutifully spit them off; Princess could have cared less they were here and Tabitha had another beau... We decided to try Legend and Emma again and "captured" them in a 10 x 10 pen to make things easier for him. Emma went ballistic! "You want me to let him do what?!?(&^$%($" "I so don't think so!" She was totally intent on jumping the five foot fence and when that wasn't working almost took a six foot panel with her trying to get out and away. I swear I saw Legend give Dawn a look as if to say "I thought you liked me mom, how come you want to put me with that?"... We were freezing our butts off anyway and decided it was just too cold and we'd wait until spring and she turned 2 years. Like that was some magic moment or something. Fast forward to May. (April would have been better but there just isn't enough of April to breed thanks to shows and shearing schedules...) This time we haltered both Legend and Emma. They were in a larger area but still contained. Initially she ran him around with him on her back. That got old fast for everyone and she next took the stance. Experienced breeders know this stance. Rear legs planted for the optimum leverage against the dreaded cush! There was no way she was going to go down, that's all there was to it. I was beginning to really get bummed because I really wanted her to start her breeding career and I really, really wanted her to be pregnant by Legend. All he needs fiber wise is staple length. She has that and a pairing of the two should give us a phenomenal cria. Well, I ended up asking the vet for a shot of "Torb" to relax her in the event we managed to get better signals from her the next time. Well, the next week I was out cleaning up poop. I was coming out of Tuck's paddock and she was standing at the gate. Just for giggles I held the gate ajar and asked if she wanted to go in. SHE DID! I thought this was pretty interesting. Usually I am in there with them when they breed but I know a lot of people field breed and let's face it - alpacas have been doing this for ages without help. So, she's in there, no tail wrapped, me on the other side of the gate... I watched while Tuck jumped on her and rode her around for awhile orgling. Then she took the stance - I sighed (yes, I remember sighing!) and walked into the next paddock to continue picking up poop. The next thing I saw was her relax the stance and now she was just standing there - quite relaxed but standing. He got off, walk up next to her and cushed. About thirty seconds later he got up, mounted her again and she went right down! They bred for what I think was about 20 minutes or so. I never checked the connection - I was picking up poop - didn't feel like it was a good idea! I saw them reposition about half way through too! I tried leaving them together after - briefly tried to check on the advisability of leaving her with him for a few days - quickly decided that with the pacing she was doing there was no way she'd start a pregnancy worrying the way she was. Emma will lead when haltered but it isn't her favorite thing and I figured that would be the only way I would get her back in with him... Not so. Last Sunday we did the "gate dance" again only this time I helped the decision along with herding her in using the rake. Tuck got somewhat excited but never got close enough to smell her much less mount. She is either so not at the right point in her cycle or she's pregnant. She ran, kicked and as she flew by me out the gate I distinctly smelled spit. The next day she practiced evasion when we brought him down through the girls to test Princess. I will have to see where her mood is on Thursday. Maybe I will try a different male so he doesn't get so frustrated and she won't expect anything...

Chores are calling...

May 2009

2009-06-08T08:54:00.003-05:00

Greetings! I am totally embarrassed to be here three months after my last blog entry! That's way too long...

So, what has gone on since February? Lot's!

I attended the Carolina Alpaca Celebration in Concord NC for the first time as a spectator. I have been friends with the Barn Manager for a few years and always meant to be more supportive and go to their show as an exhibitor but I end up with having animals too young to show. After hearing about how nice their show is I decided to go this year with a friend. I got to experience it as an exhibitor and have to say that it is a show not to miss unless you really, really have to. The CABO affiliate does a wonderful job on this show from start to finish. I was so impressed with the ease in checking in I can't begin to say enough good things about it. What stuck in my head and what I took away from this weekend was that I could not remember seeing one frown on any volunteer. They set the stage for a great weekend! And it was. Since I wasn't there as an exhibitor really I had plenty of time to smooze and visit with lots of folks that I know but don't often see. Oh yeah, I even had dinner with Marty McGee Bennett - totally by accident - who knew that was the head table???? :-) I guess the very best take-a-way from the weekend was the fact that I was offered the show superintendent job for next year's show. Do I have to tell you I accepted? So, on February 12-14, 2010, come visit us in Concord, NC!

In March I attended the Virginia Classic, this time with my friend Carolyn's alpacas but without her. She needed to stay home to continue treatments on one of her males. I felt badly that she couldn't be there - going to shows together is something we both look forward to. It is sort of like a girl's weekend out. With a lot of work but ladies, you know what I am saying! Anyway, we were across from show friends the Tenney family and their daughter Danielle was kind enough to show Carolyn's boys for her. She did a very nice job. It really was a rainy, damp and dreary weekend and sometimes hard to keep spirits high. Oh - it was pretty cold too mostly due to the dampness. This years VA Classic was different. There was nothing in the show book by way of classes and that really was bothersome to many. I hope that decision is re-visited for the next show.

While all of this was going on I had registration happening for the two spring shows that I was show superintending, the Palmetto Classic and the California Classic. The PAC show was the first weekend in April and we ended up increasing attendance by around 70 alpacas over the year before. That was very encouraging to me in this questionable economy. The show still remained a Level II but makes me think that next year (2010) we will finally see it a Level III. If the farms that cut back on their shows this year had come we would have made it easily this year. Again, a great group of people. There are areas of improvement needed and some energizing of the volunteer base would be helpful. We will figure out a way to do this - just watch!

My last spring show was the California Classic held in Pleasanton, outside Oakland and across the bay from San Francisco. Okay, I have to start out with a bit of complaining... I hate flying. The flight from Richmond to NY was actually nice. There was leg room on the small jet and the seats were very comfortable. I flew into JFK and didn't have any trouble finding my gate for the next leg of the trip. JFK was clean and the only complaint there was the seating at our gate. They had these modular seats where people could lounge and sleep. Real chairs would have been more appreciated. Okay - so my complaint? If Richmond is an International airport why is it that when flying out of Richmond to another major airport one always has to go someplace else first? When flying to Nashville you have to go to Charlotte or Detroit or Philly first... Makes no sense to me. Anyway. The second leg of the trip really wasn't great. While the actual flight was only five and a half hours, the plane although larger was so uncomfortable I can't begin to complain enough! I will tone it down though and just say that there was hardly any leg room and the seats were very uncomfortable. The final complaint is that the sweater I wore leaving home at 4am was most certainly not needed upon arrival in Oakland... :-)

Flight(s) aside, the weekend went well. I had misunderstood and ended up spending an extra day there but the hotel was nice. They booked me an executive suite! La dee dah! The show went well, the weather was very cool! I wouldn't have believed that I would actually have been cold in CA in April but being that close to the ocean there were very cool breezes - the hot weather the day I arrived was the anomaly. I am looking forward to next year now and will make sure to have the right clothing!

April 29th was the day Holiday Weekend decided to have her cria. Holly is boarding here and is owned by Jim and Valarie Hartley of Flying Dragon Alpacas in Florida. She had a TB female who is just the cutest thing! Aren't they all? Well, sure but this one is special. Again, aren't they all? :-) She is Miss Independent and a little impish. I love watching her interact with the others.

We managed to get our females pregnant this year and did u/s and found that four out of five had taken. Not bad. We have since bred number five and Lady Emma and are hopefully looking at spring deliveries for those two.

Have to run - I will be back later!

Nottingham Hollow's Robin Hood....

2009-02-03T09:06:00.004-05:00

February 2nd may have been Ground Hog Day up in Punxsutawney but for the Veitz family it will be remembered as the day they welcomed Robin Hood to their home and hearts...
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maidens.... hmmmm

2009-01-20T09:02:00.002-05:00

Greetings this January 20th! Happy birthday to our friend Dawn from Mada Vemi Alpacas. Dawn reported yesterday that the two Legend cria are growing by leaps and bounds. Very exciting news since ours should be here in about ten months or so. I will look forward to having fast growing here as well.

Quinn, our newest cria from Miss Wise and Friar Tuck, is living up to his nick name of Super Tanker. He's well over 40 pounds and just coming up on two months next week. The little female cria we have here was born on October 15th and Quinn is now taller than she is. He is really hysterical to watch. Yesterday he was having issues with our female Whitney. Not sure what the issues were of course but she was disciplining him and he was standing right up to her. Before the session ended he climbed up on a pallet we have in the paddock for hay and just stretched his little body and neck and postured in her direction. I could almost hear her laughing as she walked away! :-)

Last week I had occasion to attend the Virginia AgriBusiness Council appreciation dinner as part of the VAOBA contingency. I was astounded at the number of agricultural industries represented and very pleased that VAOBA is now a part of it all. Alpacas have been classified as livestock in Virginia for quite a while but until last year we really haven't been very active in the state. We will next attend the General Assembly the week of February 16th and get to meet the delegates.

I have heard that 4H is really taking off in our state! We now have three clubs already formed. I think we are up to 39 or 40 children. This will really make our show full in October. Ray & Teresa Tubbs were the first club in VA and are amazing. On top of being the VAOBA Youth Committee Chair Ray is also on the AYA, the Alpaca Youth Association. He's doing a great job!

I guess that's it for this entry! so.......... Until the next time!

Happy New Year

2009-01-07T09:37:00.002-05:00

It has become painfully obvious to me that I am unlikely to ever keep this blog current! A big shame on me for sure. Back again, almost two months later!

The highlight of November was the birth of YAM. No, not a spud. YAM stands for Yet Another Male!... On Thanksgiving morning Miss Wise Obsession delivered her 2008 cria out of Nottingham Hollow's Friar Tuck; his first. It probably should not have come as a surprise that he is light fawn but it did. Tuck is light fawn but with a true black sire. Miss Wise is a true black. Silly me was really hoping for a true black female! Psych - not this time!

YAM was just an affectionate nick name given because of the day. His official name will be Quinn of Nottingham Hollow. Quinn means wise so we thought it appropriate. He does have nice fleece and his color is sort of a blush - I think truer to light fawn than his sire's color which leans towards apricot. Quinn is a delight in spite of his color and gender! When invited he will come up to us for a neck rub. I am glad he is not a bottle baby as we would probably have to geld him due to his friendliness.

In December we had a two female adults (with one female cria) arrive on the farm for breeding. True Blue Princess Dora, Chache and Dora's cria Princess Lea are owned by (our new friend) Faye G. Dora and Chache have been bred to Victor Valuenza for November 2009 crias. Princess Lea is a little black girl with a white face and dark silver grey neck. Haven't found and white in her blanket so I'd call her true black at any rate. She was born on October 15th. Quinn and Princess might just as well be twins the way they carry on and play together. I think watching crias grow together is the best!

Our other borders up from Florida are doing very well. Holly, the mother, is really gaining weight and filling out. This was what we were after! She was still nursing Mark when she got here and for the first couple or three weeks. You know how it goes, sometimes crias are like the biggest parasites! :-) Holly is pregnant and due in April 2009. This will be the only cria born here this spring. Mark has been weaned and finally is just "one of the young guys" and not so much a mama's boy now. He had a tough time - transportation from Florida and then weaning a few weeks later. I think Mark was entitled to miss his mama more than the average kid! This brings us to Princess... Princess Curiosity is an extremely friendly maiden who flits from male to male at the fence lines singing "I'm so pretty!" quite frequently. Unfortunately we have decided to hold her for a spring breeding because she just doesn't seem to have the maturity yet. That's not totally unexpected since she won't even be two until March 19th or 20th (I can't remember...). So, she and her dam will be bred together in the spring.

We have a couple of males here visiting from All About Alpacas for our older girls, Clara and Tabitha. Clara has been bred to CVA's Cadbury who is a bay black out of El Negro. Clara used to let the color of the sire pass through to the cria so we are hoping for that to happen this year with this one. Tabitha is bred to Chapala's El Fuerte and both females are expected to deliver around Thanksgiving - assuming they have both taken like I think they have. I have put my order in for girls this year. I hope they will be able to give us one or two more cria but they are in their teens now so will be retired if that's what is meant to be. We will see what Mother Nature dictates.

Miss Wise and Whitney are bred to Mada Vemi's Amerikhan Legend for their early November crias. Talk about an interesting weekend we had for those breedings! Miss Wise was only 12 days from delivering Quinn and we really planned on waiting a few more days before breeding her but she had other plans. Down she went, like a rock. There was no moving her! So, having tracked her cycle before I knew she was a 12 day gal and decided to let her make the call. Miss Wise is pregnant. She has a personality that when she is open will allow touching and kisses. When she's pregnant it is as if a switch is thrown and she gives everyone the evil eye! Well, Whitney was supposed to have been bred to Marathon's Dynomite, a Lethal Weapon son. Whitney is probably a poorly expressed grey (maroon with more and more grey appearing each year) and we thought she would produce a nice looking cria with Dynomite. Whitney disagreed. During the Miss Wise and Legend breeding Whitney was cushed next to them and spent the entire time with her head resting on Miss Wise's back or rubbing on Legend's neck! It was pitiful. We probably should have brought Dynomite to her right then. We didn't. So, we brought them together. Whitney would have nothing to do with him and went so far as to spit him off! She had chosen Legend and that was that! How dare we even think about her with this grey male????????? Whitney has since been spitting off. Next in line on the 15th of this month will be Whitney & Angus' daughter, Lady Emma. Emma was blessed with very long staple length and we just can't wait to see their cria!

Black Velvet has been bred a couple of times to Friar Tuck. We are having trouble deciding if she remains receptive or is doing as her dam (Miss Wise)did early on in her breeding career. Both females are a very good size and you wouldn't think they would have issues being submissive to the males. That did seem to be the case with Miss Wise when she was younger. With Velvet being a maiden who knows if that is what is happening? We plan to ultra-sound next week and see what we can see!

Now, the first Legend cria have hit the ground! There is Amerikhan Legend's Jackpot and The Great Amerikhan Dream, a boy and a girl with fiber that seems to have surpassed Legend's! It is going to be a very long year for us!

Until the next time!

Oops, I guess I did it again...

2008-11-10T11:25:00.002-05:00

I am back! I am embarrassed that it is November and almost two months since my last post. I have been busy.

Let me begin by saying that the show I wrote about was awesome! It was just four alpacas away from being a Level V show and the fact that it was our (VAOBA's)third show makes that fantastic in my mind.

We had some great volunteers this year as we do every year. I hope that people realize how valuable volunteers are and that these shows are successful or not depending on the volunteers. VAOBA has been blessed with a strong volunteer base.

Our judges were fantastic and rose to the occasion. Two of our halter judges had round about flights in to Roanoke and met up in Detroit the night before the show. They had dinner while we finished up compliance checking and had our exhibitors meeting. One was suffering from a cold and we were very happy he was able to make it. Scary thought at a judge having to cancel...

Anyway, the show is a fading memory now but one I still smile over. I am already looking forward to the next one. That happens to be in April in SC, followed three weeks later by the next one in California...

Meanwhile, we have made some changes around the farm - perhaps I should say we are in the process of making changes. We purchased a new male a couple of months ago and that about tipped the scales on being able to keep the males in the existing shelters and pastures. We are hard at work contructing a shelter in the front of the property along with fencing in a good area for them to play in.

Earlier I blogged about having some lumber milled - well, that is what we are using (mostly) for the walls of the structure. We had a carport delivered and that is what has become the roof and frame. We are behind schedule but hope to have it completed very soon.

Plans are that we start breeding here in December and continue into January. Miss Wise, our black girl, is due in December. She had Dougal on the 11th last December and was bred around 20 days later to Friar Tuck. We are looking forward to this cria, she has assured us it is a girl this time, and are very anxious to see what Tuck contributes. He has density and crimp - his only fault is he's a darn light fawn! Can you tell we like dark colors? :-)

I do believe every female of ours is open and plan to get them all bred this next couple of months. We had a busy spring and by the time we had time it was much too hot and humid. We did have a momentary brain skip and allowed Tuck in with two or three of the females in June... None are really behaving as though they took so hopefully we dodged that bullet. I really don't want May crias and couldn't explain what I was thinking if I had to. I guess it was just that I envisioned a lot of trouble with the males if they were open. I was right, they have had a "randy" year!

We have three alpacas here from Florida agisting. Not sure how long they are staying but it will at least be until early summer I think. We will start weaning the little boy in a week or so - just as soon as we reconfigure where everyone will live. The dam, Holly, is due in April. I hope that she gives her owner a female - just because.

I had word over the weekend that friends decided it was time to get out of the business and have done so. I am sad for them as it is probably a bigger life change than getting into the business - once these critters become a part of your life it is hard to imagine it any other way. The farm where the boarders came from has also sold out. It's bittersweet. Now they have time for relaxation and other pursuits but there is the hole created by the absence of the alpacas. They do have dogs and I believe breed them so it may not be as hard a transition as I expect it is!

Well, time to get to work other than on the computer. Until the next time!

It's Almost Show Time!

2008-09-07T12:39:00.003-05:00

Our show entries are going so well this year! It's very encouraging - we had been worried that gas prices were going to hurt registrations but it looks as though we will be good to go after all. The only downside is that my time is very scarce. I will get over that though! :-)

Things are progressing very well around our farm. We have the hay shed addition completed and have picked up our year's supply of hay. Chuck has been outside working on the tractor today mowing along the fence lines. We had flooding yeaterday with the rains from Hanna but it is just gorgeous out there today.

I had some very good news this past week. I have been hired by CALPACA to be show superintendent for their spring show. I am already not looking forward to the flight out but I will get over it. April will be a very busy month next year with the Palmetto Alpaca Classic the first weekend, shearing the third weekend and the California Classic the fourth weekend.

In late October or November we have four females and crias coming up from SC to stay with us. We will be breeding them to our boys and keeping them here until they have their crias. By then we really need to be able to get the boys moved out to our acreage cleared in the front. We have all that lumber drying for their shelter. Hopefully it will be ready when we are!

I guess that's it for this session. Time to do some real work...

Until the next time!

It's already the middle of August???

2008-08-17T07:22:00.002-05:00

Wow! What happened to this month? Not that I am unhappy about it mind you. The quicker time passes the sooner it will be fall and we will have comfortable temps again!

Well, I have to tell you, the VAOBA Alpaca Expo Registration has been open for 17 days now and it is filling up fast! It is exciting this year with on-line registration and a new venue - new people involved. It is going to be a great show.

We had a workshop last weekend in Orange where we learned the correct way to interpret the show division handbook and how to properly color check. What an eye opener! I am glad that we had it and will have corrected our ways for this show coming up...

The extensio is just about finished for the barn. Chuck got help last weekend from Dee and Rob and then on Friday from Dillan. The roof is up and just needs a bit of trimming and some roofing cement in a few spots. That will happen tomorrow. Then the sides go up and the door will bring contruction to an end. We basically have built a three sided shed but placed the open side against the barn. The walls are going to be a pine exterior paneling - we will probably get some more and put it up on the front of the barn as well to tie it all in. We have pallets for the floor and expect to put a vapor barrier down between the ground and the pallets so we don't end up with wet hay. The doors actually came off the premade building we purchased a couple of years ago to use as a run-in shed out back. We just took the doors off and made the opening considerably larger under the overhang. I knew we'd be able to use them someplace!

Chuck's sister is coming for a visit later today. She's probably on her way to the train station as I type... I will pick her up at 4pm in Fredericksburg. It will be nice to visit with her for a few days. But, that brings me to having to close this post and get to work on laundry and other housework... :-)

Until the next time!

Wow!

2008-08-02T14:58:00.002-05:00

I am thrilled to be able to say that the 2008 VAOBA Alpaca Expo is off to a fantastic start! We opened registrations just yesterday and have well over a hundred alpacas entered into this 3rd Annual Show. We actually had people wanting to register at midnight or 12:01am on August 1st. This year that wasn't necessary - could well be that next year will be!

That's all for today... just had to tell someone! :-)

July 30, 2008

2008-07-30T14:00:00.002-05:00

Imagine that? Back again in the same month? I'm trying!

It's been a very full month. The third weekend of the month was spent in Nashville attending the Affiliate Congress meeting along with 30 some odd other presidents and representatives of AOBA affiliates around the country. The fellowship was wonderful and I really enjoyed seeing everyone.

I drove to Nashville with the PAOBA representative, Jillian. Very nice lady! On the colorful side in that she spent her working years in theater as a stage manager. Lots of stories! It definitely made the trip go faster. Last July when I went with Keli, our then president-elect, we traveled through the night leaving her house about midnight. Came home driving through the night as well - very difficult trip. This year we drove during the day and it was much easier. It's not fun getting old!

Anyway, the meeting went very well and we left there looking forward to the year ahead of us. Our affiliate board changed last weekend with me moving into Past President (or as I affectionately call it the 'has-been' club)and Keli moving into my old job.

The meeting went really well. A lot of nice things were said and even though I have a hard time with receiving compliments it was sort of nice hearing them. We had a great presentation on Youth in Alpacas by David Barboza the new AOBA President. That was followed by Ray Tubbs of the VAOBA affiliate talking about 4-H clubs in our state. We then had the election and business meeting. David spoke again on the benefits of being an AOBA member. Following the meeting the board took him out to dinner - Buffalo Wild Wings - how impressive and classy was that?!? LOL We did all have a great time. We aren't a stuffy group after all!

So this week I am trouble occupying myself! Sounds good anyway. My work load has drastically decreased but I do have the show coming up so I won't be too relaxed for too long. Unfortunately it is so blasted hot that it is hard to stay focused on computer work when I think of the alpacas out there wearing their fleece. Poor babies! Every couple of hours we are out there hosing them off. They do love the water and it does seem to help them.

This morning out dog Skeeter managed to catch and kill a black snake! I am not fond of snakes especially but don't mind it when I see black ones as I know they eat rodents. This one wasn't meant to make it though. It was only about a foot or eighteen inches long so must not have been too old. Skeeter didn't want to give it up. I hope that he wasn't planning on eating it! Ick.

I sent off materials answering a RFP for another show superintendent's job. I am waiting on hearing from CALPACA on their show. I really enjoy being a show super so I hope that I am able to continue supplementing the farm income with the work. I should be going back to SC next spring for the Palmetto Classic and will also be hoping for the TxOLAN show which is in Fort Worth.

Well, guess that's it for this time.

Catch you later!

Wildwood Custom Milling

2008-07-10T18:05:00.003-05:00

Our friend Sue Hammer of Wildwood Alpacas came over today and started milling some trees we had cut down. We now have several red oak planks along with a bit of poplar. Our plans are to use the lumber for our next alpaca shed, a shed for the dogs (so we don't have to worry they can't get out of the weather if we aren't home) and maybe one for the ducks (we have 30 eggs so far...)

Here are some pictures taken today in our front yard of Sue at work milling!

It is a really neat piece of equipment designed (in my words) to let the machine do all the work. It does require the logs be rolled to the Wood Mizer but once on the "arms" it seemed like just about everything else was done just by moving levers. Sue walks with the saw and I guess guides it - maybe it is better said that she keeps it powered? I don't think she actually needed to "tell" it where to go.

A lot of us alpaca breeders supplement the farm income with activities related to alpacas. Sue is sort of doing that with her Custom Milling branch - our farms are always evolving and many barns and shelters are just waiting to be built!

Until the next time!

Triple H Days... Again!

2008-07-09T10:07:00.002-05:00

Summer in Virginia... happens every year! :-) Hazy, Hot and Humid. Of late the weather does seem rather violent as well. This year we have had tornados rip through the area - nothing like the mass destruction seen in the "original" tornado states but enough that it gives us all cause to worry. We used to need to worry about hurricanes. I am wondering if we will be hit with those this year as well. I hope not. Winter blizzards seem to be bypassing us so maybe there is just a shift of weather patterns happening. Whatever is going on, I am looking forward to fall!

We have the lumber arriving tomorrow for our barn extension. Hopefully we haven't forgotten anything pricey - if not we have come in under budget and that is always helpful. I am hoping that we will be able to get working on it this weekend.

Also arriving tomorrow is our friend Sue Hammer from Wildwood Alpacas. They are located 4 or 5 miles from us. Sue purchased a portable Wood Miser Lumber Mill (probably not the correct name!) and has been cutting trees up and making planks at their place for a few months now. We lost a huge tree last March and recently cut down about three more that had died; Sue will be helping us out by turning them into boards to be used on our next shelter for the alpacas.

Speaking of which, there may be an end in sight on that! We have the fence and just need poles, weather we can burn in and a little more time to get things done and we will be able to create that pasture in front of the property. Once that happens we will be moving most of the male population to a new home. It was always the intention to have the males in front and females in back and we are looking forward to that finally happening this year.

Before I know it the show will be upon us again. Registration opens on August 1st - it is our first year with on-line registration and I am hoping it goes smoothly. The last thing anyonw wants is more confusion surrounding a show! I decided to enter some fleece in the spin-off and process the rest of it... I am quite anxious to get my hands on Duncan and Emma's prime. I might just get lost in it!

Until the next time!

Alpaca Social

2008-07-03T10:33:00.001-05:00

Check out this great site!

Visit alpacasocial.com

Happy Independance Day!

2008-07-03T09:27:00.002-05:00

Almost... Summer certainly is here in full glory! The weather was really brutal towards the end of our Renaissance Season this year (June) but of late seems to be so very much better. I love the warm days and cool nights. Truth be told I could stand it if the daytime temps were about ten degrees cooler but what the heck.

My term as President of our affiliate is nearing its end. I am really tired and looking forward to an easier year coming up as Past President. I will move into that position at our annual meeting on July 26th.

I finally got my pictures to my webmaster and expect my website will be updated in the very near future. I was so late with that this year - shame on me. I really need to begin to pay more attention to business!

We have set the date and reserved our shearers for our 2009 shearing already! It will be on April 28th and we are having Fall Line Fiber and Shearing come to the house to shear. I would like to make a day of it and have an Open House as well. At least I have plenty of time to plan!

I decided against entering full fleeces into the VAOBA fleece show this year. I am going the Spin-off route instead. I actually can't wait to get my hands on Emma and Duncan's fleeces and don't want to wait until December to do so! This past week I have been up to my elbows daily in fleece getting it ready for processing. I think I will send some out to be made into batts and roving and keep some back to process on my own.

This is the year I will begin spinning. I have found replacement parts for my spinner and am making arrangements to take a spinning lesson to learn the proper terminology and parts of the spinner. I have the mechanics of how to do it down it is just learning about tension and twist and all that good stuff. I am also anxious to begin some locker hooking. That is a craft that began in the 1900's and my plan is to make hat's, purses and rugs. I am also thinking of something else but keeping that one secret!

Our next project is our hay barn. We are actually going to build a three sided shed off the back of our main barn having the open side of the new structure towards the barn wall. We have two doors out the back of the barn which would then go into the new shed. Having decided that winter births make the most sense for us we also think this arrangement will help keep the barn draft free in the winter. It should help in the summer too by blocking the afternoon sun. This project is only days from beginning and we have to complete it in time to pick up our second cut hay in August. I am really looking forward to getting the new hay. I feel so guilty feeding them what we now are that I have taken to top dressing their pellets with shredded alfalfa cubes! Even the males are getting treated.

We had a mystery here regarding Black Velvet recently. Velvet was sold in April and in June I noticed that she had bare spots on her back, above her tail. I could see the skin - it didn't appear rough or damaged but it appeared... It was a real mystery since it was in a very unlikely place for mites and those were something we hadn't had to deal with here. I pondered and watched, pondered and watched.

Round about the same time as this was going on I decided it was time to split up the female herd since I noticed the lactating dams were getting skinny. Miss Wise will soon be all set since Dougal is over six months now but Whitney still has a couple of months to go before I would be comfortable weaning Darius. Velvet, Emma and Tabitha could use a diet and I decided to pull them away from the others for the time being. They aren't really on a diet but they are not able to eat more than their own feed now that they are on their own. Emma was managing to get her sorry self into the creep feeder! Velvet had my head spinning bouncing from food dish to food dish. Feeding time was way too much confusion before the move; it has now settled down into a very calm event each day.

During the course of cleaning up one day we needed to access the back of the lot and opened the gate between the female herd. In spite of being in sight of each other they acted all happy and had a grand reunion. Chuck was doing the tractor thing and I was filling water buckets. When I made my way into the main female paddock I looked up at Darius and imagine my surprise when I saw tufts of black and brown fiber in his mouth! THAT'S WHERE BLACK VELVET'S FIBER WENT! The little bugger is just as oral as his dam only he uses his teeth! He doesn't get away with this type of thing with his dam and aunties so we are good to go with the current arrangement. I just can't imagine what he will be like once integrated with the males! Fun times ahead?

Better close now... Until the next time!

It's Almost Here!

2008-05-10T09:58:00.003-05:00

Next weekend begins the Virginia Renaissance Faire season and it is so hard to believe it is time! We have been working on our new shop for our site and are almost finished. That has kept us very busy this week.

I ordered a new scale this week that has a detachable face which will make it very easy to weigh fiber now. I plan to tackle that in the early part of next week. I am anxious to see just how much this year's crop has yielded.

Along with that I MUST get my updates to our webmaster!

Tomorrow I will be at another farm to help with shearing... Today is catch-up day with chores around our place...

Oh yes, and we have to get our garb ready for next weekend...

Until the next time....

Spring is in the air!

2008-05-02T10:27:00.003-05:00

Greetings!

Well, we survived another shearing weekend but it was a close call as to whether we would be able to or not! We had some wonderful help this year and some great surprises with our fleeces.

To begin with, on Friday we sheared our mature males who would otherwise have likely decided that the forecasted showers during the night would have provided the perfect opportunity to mess up the humans plans! We also had a gelding "party" as we females so insensitively called it. We have (had) a herdsire who had behavior issues since 2005. When his hormones came in back then, so did the attitude. Well, he made it easier for us to have him gelded by siring two males for us. I have to admit however, as the weekend progressed and we saw the fleeces of his offspring the pain of having had to geld him intensified.

A very happy surprise came when Nottingham Hollow's Friar Tuck was shorn. I have always loved Tuck's fleece. He's a light fawn whose fleece reminds one of apricots! Well, I have to say this is one guy who is getting better with age. Unfortunately I didn't test his first adult fleece last year but I also haven't processed it and plan to send in a sample this year along with a sample from this shearing. He is very dense and seems to have come into his own this year all around. He became a "man" :-) when bred to Miss Wise following Dougal's birth in December and has given us a very dense, crimpy fleece this year that feels great. Tuck took a fourth place in halter at the 2006 VAOBA Expo and that same year his Spin-Off entry took a First place in its class.

The first big surprise on Saturday was Nottingham Hollow's Duncan. Duncan appeared to be huge although body scoring him didn't back up the look. It was astonishing to see him after he was shorn! Almost as if we sheared off a whole alpaca! He's smaller than I expected and scores right where we need him to at just over a year old. Duncan's blanket filled two good sized skirting tables, is as soft as can be and most certainly will be shown at the 3rd Annual VAOBA Alpaca Expo on October 18-19, 2008.

We started our female shearing with the largest girl, Miss Wise Obsession. Somehow, Miss Wise managed to get her legs free from the ties, brought them up to her belly and drop kicked our 92.2 pound shearer clear across the room and into a wall! Miss Wise ended up half off the table and poor Dawn was a crumpled heap on the floor barely able to move. At first we were extremely worried she had a broken rib but she was still breathing okay and she determined it was just a very badly bruised bone. I will leave all to imagine what the remainder of shearing was like. Slow (and for Dawn) painful are a couple of words that describe it.

Because of that incident we needed to add another day on to the shearing experience and only got through two more females on Saturday. Sunday we had to finish up one mature but very mildly tempered female, two maidens and two crias. Clara was a real treat to shear after the girls on Saturday. We did the two crias next and after haltering Dougal we decided it was just easier to pick him up and carry him off the table and did the same with Darius. What a wonderful feel their fleece had! Both fleeces felt butter soft. Dougal is out of Angus and Miss Wise and Darius out of Whitney and Jasper Black. I have great hopes that these boys will continue developing as they are so far as it will mean we have two more good studs in the making.

Black Velvet was our next girl to be shorn. On Saturday night we sold Black Velvet and it's a good thing the deal came about then because she would have been a lot more expensive if it happened on Sunday! Understand that the entire weekend was humid, with temps in the eighties on Friday and Saturday with rain on Saturday night. The amount of crimp that Velvet had on Sunday gave us reason to pause... I could have been knocked over with a feather. Unbelievable. Her new owner is a VAOBA member and I am hoping that she decides to save the fleece to show it in October. I am steeling myself to accept that she couldn't keep her hands off it though. She's a brand new fiber artist and loving every minute of it!

We wrapped up the day with Nottingham Hollow's Lady Emma. It took six of us to hold Emma still on the table! Just the same she gave up a blanket with incredible staple length (I think seven inches), soft and crimpy... Another Angus offspring. Emma's neck fiber sheared off just like a blanket! She looks like a ghost of herself now she's so small.

Meanwhile, it is several days later and poor Dawn has to shear at her house this weekend. She is still hurting but probably feeling somewhat better as each day passes. Luckily her daughter Veronica can shear and enjoys doing it.

I have to thank Valarie Hartley, Carolyn Lohr, Sharon Hall, Jackie and Johnny Imel, my grand kids Samantha, Emily and Dillan, daughter Dee and of course Dawn Dolpp for their weekend help with our 2008 shearing... And, Dr. BJ Campbell for the geldings. Next year we will need a shot for Miss Wise please!

Until the next time....

Nottingham Hollow Remembers....

2008-04-15T14:43:00.003-05:00

All of us here on the farm experienced our first loss on April 9th- April 10th. Clara's cria, born on January 26th, passed away during the night. Lord Darby was thriving - in 10 weeks he had gained plenty of weight bringing him up to 44 pounds. There was absolutely no indication that there was anything wrong. He was brought to the State Lab for a necropsy and the preliminary results are in but really don't tell us what went wrong. We are hopeful that further testing will show something.

Clara seems to have handled it quite well. She was in the barn that morning with the others and came out with them when we went out to check him. He was behind a tree and we could tell he was on his side. She did a fair amount of humming while we were there and I guess it is safe to say that the herd said good bye... again. After making arrangements to take him in for a necropsy Chuck went out to pick him up. He walked back towards the barn and again they surrounded Darby. Clara checked him again and then just walked away. We really think she must have said her good byes when it happened. Thankfully she has been okay since then. It is her first loss (except when they left after being sold) as far as we know. She's going to be thirteen in May - I am sure her maturity helps.

Until the next time....

Getting Back to Normal

2008-03-10T07:28:00.002-05:00

This is an interesting photo that we took on March 9th. It was a few minutes after letting the females and crias out of the barn and they had all said "hello" to Darius without a fence between them. In this picture is Darius on the left, Whitney in the middle and Lord Darby on the right. What I find so interesting is the size comparison between Darius and Darby! Yes, Darby is obviously more substancial through the torso, but check out the heights! It is no wonder poor Whitney had issues with this one!

Aside from us getting the feeling that Darby is a bit put off because he's no longer the baby, all is well out in paca-land. Dougal "covered" Darius once - to show who is boss no doubt! It was funny though because he was gentle about it.

Gee, it's time to think about breeding for next spring now! I almost hope that Miss Wise isn't pregnant after all since we have made the decision to not purposefully have winter births next year. If she did take as I believe she has she will be due in December. The others will not be bred until late April now so her cria will be any "only child" for a bit. Our girls like to be outside year round and really do not take well to being closed up at night. In the winter months when they are near their due dates I do lock them in. In the spring I can be less panic stricken that they will deliver during the night. We have only had one night time delivery but the worry is there regardless...

Until the next time!

Nottingham Hollow's Darius

2008-03-08T13:57:00.003-05:00

The wait is over...

2008-03-07T19:39:00.004-05:00

Nottingham Hollow's Darius finally arrive on March 6th at about 9am. Unfortunately it didn't happen at home...

On Tuesday, March 4th at 9:30am, Whitney went down on her side with her legs straight out. She tried to roll but didn't get very fr and was in obvious discomfort. In spite of having taken a neonatal hands on clinic I called the vet out to check her instead of doing it myself. I have large hands anyway and the thought of going in to a tight space made me uncomfortable at the thought! The vet got here about 11:30am. At first she just observed. Did Whitney go back on her side? Of course not! Just like the human child who runs the fever at home and has a normal temp when at the doctors office... Just as she was ready to leave without giving an exam I pointed out the "alien" trying to escape from Whitney's side. Hmmm. It was decided we should do the exam. She did and at first didn't find anything. She went in again and found a uterine torsion. It was pretty severe, 180 degrees. After a lot of maneuvering it was corrected. By 7pm I was concerned again because Whitney was in obvious discomfort. I gave her a shot of Banamine and she settled down. At about 8:30pm I hit the sack because I was going to be checking her every two hours through the night. The vet had found the cervix to be closed tight but everything was softening and she was pretty sure Whitney would deliver Tuesday night!

At about midnight I woke to the sound of a freight train! It seemed to last forever but Chuck said it was only about three minutes. We had lost a tree that was on the property line but it luckily missed the house and fencing. All of the alpacas were fine and the fencing intact. Lots of downed tree branches, a shutter off the house, chimney cap and a couple of trees downed along the driveway... We found out on Wednesday that they were looking for a tornado touchdown on our road. They found it. Our damage was from straight line wind. The tornado touchdown was a mile or two away. I can't imagine what the folks living nearer to it went through with the sound since it was so loud at our place! It didn't bring on the cria though. Aside from me checking through the night Whitney was comfortable all night. Oh- we were without electricity as well.

Wednesday was Chuck's day off and he spent most of it taking care of the damage from the storm. I spent it watching Whitney. By late afternoon I began to become concerned again. She was cushed, legs somewhat out to the side. It could have been stage one labor but she was not opening or elongated at all. By supper time I decided I had to call the vet back as I was convinced she had another torsion. I placed one call to her cell and waited about 45 minutes and caught her on her house phone. She was headed out the door to dinner with her husband and some friends. I felt bad that I had to mess up their plans but while on the phone with her Whitney was obviously in a lot of pain again... She was trying to climb into the two foot high hay trough! By 7pm the vet was back out and found that she had started to "torse" again. It wasn't as bad as the previous one but bad enough. She corrected it, found the cervix to be slightly opened - just about 1 finger. We discussed what to do next.

One option that she had suggested that morning was to induce her. She checked with the doctors at Ohio State and they determined that if we were sure of her gestation date and that since her milk had come in it would be safe to induce. We knew the cria was a large one and very active and robust inutero. There was a problem though. The meds would cause her to deliver for sure between 19 and 24 hours. That's a lot of time to wait if she was going to chance another torsion. There were no guarantees that wouldn't happen. The doctor was scheduled to assist her husband, another vet, with a C-section on Thursday morning and would not be available to come out if there was an emergency.

The other option was to take Whitney to the camelid specialist over three hours away. There she could be monitored and if she had trouble the doctor would be right there. So, that was the option we chose. At 9pm on Wednesday evening we loaded Whitney in the van and drove her to the vet's clinic. We arrived there just after midnight having made great time on the road. Whitney did very well and only tried to visit us in the front seat a couple of times! Most of the trip she slept. The lights from other vehicles were somewhat upsetting to her, especial the blue strobe lights from the cruiser! I bet you figure they were for us? No, that happened in front of us...

We got her settled in and she had to be examined again poor thing. All was well still and this vet didn't feel she was dilated much at all. Maybe she tightened up, I don't know. She was started on Penicillin as a precaution since she had been examined so many times. She had refused supper Wednesday night so we gave her pellets and she had plenty of hay and water. Chuck and I left there about 2am and headed home, arriving at 5am. We cheated and fed the dogs early so they would let us sleep in some. Talk about exhausted.

I still don't know when Chuck got up but he woke me at 9am saying "It's a boy". I must have looked at him as though he had two heads or something because he laughed at me and said "Whitney had her baby - it's a boy!" After that it registered and I got up immediately, did the normal first things when one wakes up, and reached for the phone. I was on the phone with the vet when he stood, walked and fell for the first time. She was laughing at him because when he toppled over he got up, shook his head and looked at her as if to say "I meant to do that!" I smiled because it was something I could easily imagine...

She told me that about 8:45 Whitney started pawing the ground and groaned a couple of times. She put her in the chute and did an exam. She found the cria upside down. That's probably the worst position possible, right up there with a breech. Luckily she was able to turn him. She only had to get him started and he finished the turn himself.

Okay, you know how things come in threes? Well this time it was three hunches that were followed and each and every one was the right decision! I am not sure we would have had a good outcome at home. I actually don't even want to think about that.

He is a fawn color. I am not sure of the shade yet as he wasn't totally dry when we talked color. He weighed in at 19.5 pounds wearing the cria sweater. They usually weigh about .5 so we will call his birth weight 19 pounds. He stood and walked within half an hour of birth. After the first 5 ounces of bovine colostrum he poo'd! That's the quickest any of ours have passed the meconium!

We do have issues though. He isn't nursing. This is distressing me to no end as this is her sixth cria and there have never been issues before. She's had milk in since March 2nd... Unfortunately she wasn't milked out and her colostrum given to him. He had plenty of bovine but no camelid. I had said to watch her for engorgement as we dealt with that last year. It must have fallen through the cracks though. I suspect if he really isn't nursing it is because she is hurting. She was milked this morning and some of it spilled but they gave him 5 ounces from her. Of course it was over the 24 hour mark so it likely wasn't doing any good. This afternoon she was milked again and had less but they gave that to him too.

I can't wait to get them home tomorrow! Chuck is going to pick them up and I will stay back here and get things all ready for them. I am going to set up a pen in the barn so that they can bond in their own surroundings before they rejoin the herd. You don't know how much I am praying that he is stealth nursing and it has just been missed! I will be ready with the warm compresses for her though to make her more comfortable.

Now I have to go and sew some heavy duty snaps on to a cria coat I made. I brought a cria sweater for him but the vet said it fit him like a muscle shirt! What a picture that makes! :-)

I'll take pictures on Sunday...

Until the next time.

Day 350

2008-03-03T07:31:00.002-05:00

Who said cria watch is no fun? It's great in the beginning. It's when it is the last cria due for a long stretch and one has been on watch since November and when one is very worried that a dystocia is in the making that cria watch loses its charm.

There was a neonatal clinic this past weekend at the Virginia - Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at VA Tech in Blacksburg. I didn't go for the second year in a row due to cria watch. Well, let me rephrase that. Last year I didn't go because I was supposed to be on cria watch. Same dam BTW. On March 1st last year I woke to find an extra set of legs in the barn... Cria was standing, all cleaned off and a female! What more could one ask for? I would have preferred to have been able to see the birth but that would have just been icing on the cake. Good thing I didn't reserve space this year - she was actually due on February 22nd - I never would have thought we would still be watching on March 3rd!

As I understand it, it was a great clinic. My friend Valarie, a very new alpaca owner, attended and called me on the way home Saturday. First words were "Did Whitney have her baby yet?" I may have followed my "NO" with something like "Baby? Whitney is having a baby?" Cria watch does strange things to my sense of humor.

I have mentioned in a previous blog entry that I have moved my office and computer into the dining room so that I can have constant view of pasture and barn cam monitor. I never thought I would admit this but I am so tired of sitting at the computer. My fellow VAOBA board members are very tired of me sitting at the computer too, no doubt. I very rarely play games on the computer so my time spent of late has been researching what other affiliates do (checking out all of their websites!, Affiliate Congress work site organizational work, some show superintendent work and probably a lot of staring into space... There could be some possible action going on within a certain female alpaca as I type. Unfortunately she has settled herself such that there are five layers of fencing between us... Between fence and trees she does manage to make sure my view is somewhat obstructed.

Okay, I am rambling now and what is worse is that I know it. Today would be a lovely day for a baby... Temps should get to seventy degrees, it is sunny and we have gorgeous blue skies. I am expecting no company - she will have her privacy. Maybe she's been waiting for that?

Sigh. I will be back with pictures... Someday.