News

Just could do with a few more hours in the day, and days in the week .... but all good fun! Had one of our Introduction to Alpaca Courses today, very well attended by 18 keen students, who all listened very attentively as I burbled on.. at length! The new projector worked really well and hopefully by the time we come to do our next course in August our new lecture room will be finished.

Along with Chas & Rachel from Classical MileEnd Alpacas we have made the difficult decision to sell CME Tulaco Centurion. We wish his new owners, Houghton Hall Alpacas, the very best of luck with him - he certainly did a great job for us and we look forward to seeing crias from our Snowmass boys over his progeny.

We've had to change the date of our Open Day to the 14th August, which will soon come around... there'll be lots of Snowmass cria running about by then.

Tomorrow I'm off to the studios of BBC Radio Solent to be interviewed on our lives with alpacas, I confess I'm rather nervous, but hopefully won't turn into a complete stuttering wreck....

Spring Show

Back from the SWAG Spring Show ... good fun, great company, and lovely warm weather. Bonaventure our Beige Junior Female was placed 5th and Bonami went into the ring with 28 other Junior Fawn Males and was placed 4th - I was happy with that and with the Judge, Cathy Lloyd's comments. I'm hoping their fleeces will hold up for the Nationals and the South of England. We really need more shows in the winter when they all look their best.

Spring in the air

Glorious weather - 21 degrees and wall to wall sunshine for last couple of days... pacas are feeling it, they're climbing into the water troughs for a cool down.... I gave the girls a new field today ... they went bonkers, charging about and rubbing themselves on the holly bush, and jumping for joy .... I dashed in to get my camera, but the battery was flat.

The swallows are back so its officially Spring. All the daffodils we planted down the drive have come up, so that was well worth the effort .

Thought I'd get Boris the Morris out for a drive, poor chap's been in his garage all winter. Covered in paw prints - how did a cat get even get in there? We always have to jump start him the first time and then he's fine all summer, but today he was stubborn, apparently something to do with the starter motor thingy .. Peter said he'd fix it for me. I have to say poor Boris is in a rather sorry state, I think he's now beyond shabby chic and just plain shabby!

Off to the Spring show this weekend, not sure how many I'll take but Bonaventure and Bonami, who are now both covered in moss will be going and probably another couple to keep them company.

By the way - does anyone know what this tree is - really pretty blossom ?

Karin Mueller Course

We had a brillient training day with Karin Mueller, Camelid Vet from Cambridge University on care of the pregnant female, birthing and care of the newborn cria. Here are some of the pictures of us all practising on dead lambs and birthing 'boxes' .....

SCANNING & CATS

Busy day yesterday, what with Marmade cat to the Vet for castration, then getting all the girls in for scanning with Alan. All pacas lovely and dry as we still hadn't any rain at that point, always a bonus when holding them for scans, but by the time he arrived it had started.... Anyway, great news all the ones he scanned pregnant in the Autumn still are, and of the two he thought were reabsorbing back then, one is definately pregnant afterall - Orchid, who is Sir G's mum, who we haven't had a cria from for 3 years, so really happy with that, and Medina possibly, but not definately ... she is spitting off so hopefully its a yes, and not a retained CL, and she too has lovely cria and both were put to Incan King.... fingers crossed then for 19 crias - starting with Orchid and Toffee Apple, who is pregnant to CME Tulaco Centurion both due end of May. Rain then got a bit serious, which was great as it watered all the fertiliser in - the fields have changed colour already.. whilst moving whole load of 8' feed troughs on a wheelbarrow, 3 at a time, the wind caught the gate I was going through and they all fell off on to my foot, much swearing! Peter took Jerry cat for his little op this morning - apparently he was a little reluctant - literally climbing the walls - should be fun when they come to find a vein!!

Spring!!

What amazing weather we're having - I've certainly made the most of it - been outside enjoying the sunshine and even took time to sit out with a magazine and a coffee and just absorb the rays... all that lovely Vit D! We have just finished all our Spring-time husbandry on the herd. The last ADE shot, wormer and heptovac... lots of injections, but thats it now for 6 months apart from the crias when they arrive. We don't have any due til the very end of May and the rest are all June and July, if all goes according to plan. We've had half of our fields fertilized and now we need a drop of rain to wash it in before we can swap everybody around and do the other half - hopefully we'll get rain on Wednesday - I just hope it knows when to stop, but we are desperately dry here, only having had 1 days rain in the whole of March so far. We have Camelid Vet Karin Mueller from Cambridge University coming here on Sunday to give a course on Crias, Birthing etc for Members of the Southern Alpaca Group - should be an excellent day. Our course with Jay Holland went really well and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it - the pacas behaved impeccably and were led around the obstacle course by the end of the day.

Futurity

Back home and still tired despite going to bed at 9pm the last 2 nights! Hangover lasted all Sunday morning but thankfully I didn't need the bucket that was beside me as I drove home - never again - but good fun at the time!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, despite my disappointment over "Bonami's" lack of success, well he came joint 7th anyway! Our Beige Junior Female "Bonaventure" did well coming 2nd in her class, shes a real cutie and grand daughter of our Supreme Champion female Bonita, a great line for us to be breeding to the Snowmass boys - can't wait to see her Dam and big sisters cria this summer....

Rebecca won with her picture in the art competition, so she was very happy. I'm still trying to decide wether to buy a faecal egg counting kit at huge cost?

Its been 15 degrees and sunny here today, but much to my frustration I have been indoors for a lot of it on the phone to Apple trying to resolve computer problems ... 3 hours later and still not fixed. Peter had a much better day outside and started the spring harrowing on the empty fields, ready for fertilising next week. It's all beginning to grow now, just needs a bit of encouragement.

We have toad and frog spawn in the pond, though I haven't heard the frogs at night yet, probably because I was sleeping so deeply!

Next event our training day with Jay on Saturday .... pictures to follow...