wow – the rain is taking its toll on the ground and several of the field shelter polytunnel type are flooded inside.

We use solid wooden ones with rubber matting in too but nevertheless there are several groups being barned each night at the moment to give the Alpacas feet a chance to dry out and prevent the “top down cold up” from the elements.

Bath and West show starts this week, usually a good Alpaca turn out and fund day to be had in half term.

funny to think that after GCSE’s the boys have finished until September!

so much to catch up on, with the wet weather its been barning at night for a long time now with temperatures dropping below 10 degrees at night – no good for newly shorn Alpaca herds at all!

one of my friends had a serious heart issue and time stood still for a while but she is much better now thank goodness.

meantime, in a mixed day today – the boys have ventured out to support the Village Duck Race.

We have purchased tickets and some very very pink Fudge!

is it me or can one not get onto the BAS site today?

MUSCOVY MANSION

and an appropriate day for our ducklings to hatch is it not?

Many of you have read the article I have written in Smallholder this month and know that Muscovy are amazing broodies.

Nevertheless they are also very protective. go near if you dare…

If you know the duck, she may let you have a peek by raising a wing – trusty cameraman ready

… how new can this photo be!!

just hatched and already booked- bless!!!!

wow – I cannot believe its been so long and so much has happened in such a short space of time.

We have newly shorn mascots now!

who are out walking the town hence the signs…

and we have been busy mating which since shearing has brought out the um, more creative positions!

and the good news is that 3 out of 5 mated earlier are spitting off still.

well I promised you a photo of the simply gorgeous cria and here it is…

with the majority of the herd “soaking up the rays” –

it is the lull before the storm of the next birthings….

just a quick blog as reallly tired after shearing Monday.

early hours of Monday – the lilting Titanic gave birth to a lovely fawn cria. the first of 2014 and only 4 plus weeks late – mother forgiven – its a girl!

obviously iphone photos so apologies for that but it was in the early hours and obviously barning all Alpaca with the cold nights as just shorn.

naturally Mum jumped the shearing queue and out she went whilst it was dry!

back soonest – hot weather coming!

wow – what happened to the weather?

one minute torrential – the next T shirt basking.

The alpaca have been in and out and up and down the lanes …

more than a lift in the Eiffel Tower (no Joan Collins jokes here please its before the watershed)

sooo – with shearing looming next week, 90% of the Alpaca are now in the barns until THE day.

Few realise how THE day becomes the focus… the shearers are um, shall we say busy to say the least.

Well the ones I have met so far. Everything has to be ready,

Alpacas in, Alpacas dry, shearing pens ready,

holding pens ready, moving pens ready, fleece bags ready, labels ready,

help ready, tea and coffee ready, lunch ready… are you getting the gist?

this year we are doing things very differently and hopefully it will be “alright on the night”

few realise that shearing does not “just happen” but is a military operation!!

as for getting the Alpacas in for keeping them dry – well the haystacks I just monitored on the CCTV at 9pm –

um well least said soonest mended!

at least when the fleece is not wet you can pick out the straw and hay…

so to a Man Thing. do men listen? is it me?

i asked for two hooped hurdles,

he brought one.

I asked for the trogs to go down to the manure heap,

he took one and left the other.

I asked him to pop out for a HAM because i did not have time to defrost a gammon, soak it then cook it this week end.

In the full knowledge I have 5 in the freezer, what did he buy?

you guessed it … a gammon.

Is it me?

with GCSE’s started and the testosterone running riot – i do wonder!!

still, at least he tries and i am always grateful for any help at this time of year!

onwards and upwards…

and no, the Titanic is still lilting folks!!!!!

well it appears I am not the only one who is unhappy with the Herd software! but it also appears that no one has created one that satisfies all – lets get designing please.

All preparations for shearing thwarted due to rain.

Few folk realise that Alpaca cannot be shorn wet.

it is not just the electrical danger, it is the fact that the shears will not go through wet fleece and there is nowhere to dry them.

with the average fleece laid out being 7ft x 4ft approximately, thats ok for a few but not many have the facilitiy to dry more than a few out.

So barning is essential for dry fleeces which means:

Around 40 Alpaca to shear soon with torrential rain forecast. Has to be done inside obviously.

They have to be bone dry or the shearers – who book the date a year in advance per herd – cannot shear them.

So during the course of advance preparations all Alpaca will disappear from the fields into the barns – as I get them in – to be kept dry until shearing– as the weather is going to be dire.

They have to be monitored, fed, hayed, watered and mucked out from now until the weather improves enough for them to return to the fields newly shorn.

High risk of hypothermia if permitted to get cold and wet at anytime but especially when just shorn.

Peru – its hotter of course when they shear and they do not have our weather to contend with!

With one female already 3 weeks and 5 days overdue on giving birth to the first Alpaca to be conceived here – it’s bound to happen on shearing!

She is lilting like the Titanic on a daily basis …

I’ll keep you posted on that one.

meantime before it started raining:

topping

halter training

barn clearing

pen set up

Alpaca herd software.

Extensively used for recording all husbandry with your herd.

From toenail cutting, ear taggin, registry records, mating dates, birthing dates, LMD’s, shearing, innoculations, observations – you name it – there should be one for it!

But which one? What do you use?

There are a number of products out there and I am currently very unsatisfied with the one I use as it does not have the functionality I require.

Please let me know what you are using and what you recommend/do not recommend about it.

This could be very useful for all.

wow – its been a very busy 6 days since I last blogged. We have been busy with preparing for imminent births, imminent shearing and imminent rain!

topping, poovering, spraying all done and ready as we could be for the rain.

Here is a brief reminder of last year…

bring it on!

wow – its May. Where did the first part of 2014 go?

our first female due to give birth on her 11.5 month last mating date is now two weeks overdue already and looks like the Michelin man! Bless!

its full on with spraying inbetween bouts of wet weather at the moment.

Few non farming folk realise that spraying cannot be done in the “too hot or too wet or too windy” phases of life. So trying to keep the nettles/thistles/buttercups to an acceptible or neglible level is even more difficult in the current weather conditions!

Bit like mating really – Alpaca dont when its too hot and slide off when its too wet!

likewise, the warm wet weather is bringing out the critters from midges to bumbles in force.

So IVOMEC jabs for the entire herd are a must – prevention rather than cure is the way forward sometimes when weather conditions are uncertain for a few weeks.

Galloping towards shearing now with the barns all clear for the girls

and hurdle pens ready for the boys!

my highlight this week was catching the cria in colour sequence when eating

with halter training and feet pick up training, spraying and strimming …

Strimming areas which need collecting with the G23 – not to be field tidy but because it will get in the soon to be shorn fleeces otherwise!

The funeral is next week and thank you to those of you writing in with your kind thoughts to the family.