Last cria - perfect timing

Well Akela obliged by having her cria this morning - a beautiful very dark fawn Centurion girl who we have named Andromeda. So that's the last cria giving us 9 boys and 5 girls - not too bad. All perfect timing as I'm off on my hols tomorrow with Rebecca for a week, leaving Peter to peace and quiet and all the animals to look after and a list of jobs -wouldn't want him to get bored!

Bretta's not being a good mum and her cria isn't getting all the milk he should, he's not gaining enough weight, so they're in a stable for a couple of days re-bonding, seems to be working as every time I look in she's feeding him. All the others are putting on stacks of weight - those we can't pick up we don't weigh anymore, as long as they're charging about and playing they're fine!

Sunbathing!

I had to go to the other side of stockbridge today on paca business, a good opportunity to have a look around the art galleries which were full of lovely pictures and sculptures, including a bronze pair of boxing hairs which must have been about 10 foot high - £38,000 - I managed to resist them, 'cos I'd never have fitted them in the car!

The sun was shining yet again this morning and the pacas were really enjoying themselves and I couldn't resist taking these pics of BonBon and Bonami sunbathing - sweet, hope Rebecca doesn't do the same to me next week on the beach.....

Tums and makeovers!

We're waiting for Akela to have her cria, due on 24th July and she's looking huge as you can see. It's the last one of the season so of course it'll be late! Rebecca took the picture - its a bit out of focus, but check out that tummy!

Rebecca's been busy with my iPhone today .... maybe this'll start a new trend ... I have some wicked pics of some very well known alpaca people at the Bath & West sporting similar makeovers - I'm open to bribes to reveal!

Bacchus & Bonaventure

Bacchus making sure he gets his photo taken..

(Bettina x Centurion)

Bonaventure

(Bonita x Centurion)

She's been looking at the dressage books - the beginnings of a very nice pirouette!

A course with a difference

Well that was a busy couple of days .... a birth on Friday, all very straight forward, text book really and leaves just 2 to go, both due now.

Saturday dawns, a lovely sunny morning, just perfect for a Beginners Course and the eager new and prospective owners due to arrive at 10 am. All ok first thing and I busy myself finishing off sales lists and notes and clean the house, not sure why I feel I have to do that but my Mum would have approved, bless her! Back outside at 8.45 and theres a girl in labour. By 9am she didn't look quite right so I decided to have a quick poke about .. that feels odd, I say. A bit later I have another feel and decide it's a vet job, either a torsion or a breach, certainly not like anything I've felt before and out of my league for sure. The folk arrive and I leave her under the care of Lucy our Saturday help. Vet arrives and the course skips from toenail trimming to dystocias! With the audiance staying a respectful distance away he confirms the torsion and we set about rolling her gently down the slope to correct it. It worked after about 10 minutes and then the cria was successfully delivered and it was a girl! Well done Vet Andy!

We managed to complete the course, but it was rather disjointed with all the comings and goings, but I think everyone enjoyed it and hopefully it didn't put them off!

Missing the rain!

Today the skies are a wonderful mixture of blue, billowing white and grey thunder clouds and that deep deep purple. There's been the odd rumble of distant thunder, all full of promise of the wet stuff, but still we get just a sprinkle of rain, when others it seem get floods. I certainly don't wish for a flood but we so desperately need some significant rain to get our grass to grow. We had just enough to turn the grass green last week but still have large cracks in the soil.

Yet another busy day, visitors in the morning, alpaca keepers for the future, then mobile matings, which turned out to be spit-offs (they'd had rain!). After lunch preparing notes for Saturdays beginners course and the usual job of cleaning out the cria groups shelter. One little chap managed to roll under the fence and end up in the dressage arena, left him for a while to see if he'd work out how to get back, but no, we had to help him out, much to the relief of his mum Beulah.

No crias born today - we have our last 3 due now - come on girls, its school holidays from tomorrow and we want to go to the beach!

Here goes - first blog!

Not usually the way we conduct breedings on our farm, but I was leading Ardingly down through the field of empty females on his way to the trailor and I thought I'd just see who was interested - well 4 of them, as you can see, and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss introducing one of the young maidens to grown up things! I had planned on using him on her anyway, as her dam is grey and she is going a bit in grey in places. He's already produced 2 rose greys, so maybe this'll work. By the end of the session they were all sitting beside him!