Alpaca Creep Feeders

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

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

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

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

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

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....

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

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!