I have never been very good at knowing which field mushrooms are edible or not – what do you think?

so we do not eat mushrooms here full stop – far better things to choose from…

well, my battered 22 year old farm car was put to shame in the Tesco Car Park in Cirencester when she saw this beauty…

Tesco clientele is definitely on the up and up if you can shop in one of these…

We have been delighted with our Alpaca fleece part of the business from 2008 to date but nothing gives greater pleasure to those of us in it for the “long haul” than knowing each year your stock has improved and is on track for super fibre and super cria long term – especially when those Show Experts look at them.

This years shearing was no exception…

All over “Density” in the fleece is one trait to look for, along with uniformity across “type” and conformation:

likewise those non ground poaching pads must have clear pads and even toes… with good fleece coverage at the joints to protect against the elements…

Flat pads, even toenails…    a particular Camelid trait

The length of the fleece is called the “staple” and should be long and strong all over the body – seen more noticeably when shearing… along with the “fineness” of the fleece itself…

and then you move to something called “crimp” which should be clearly seen along the length of the “Staple” and preferably the staples should be defined clearly…

and finally and then look for the “lustre” at the body end of the “staple” which is the “shine”

Really pleased with our Alpaca herd at Kensmyth – that’s for sure!

for the overdue girls but…

thanks to Mitchell who held Mum whilst I went in and rearranged a leg for birthing, we can now announce the arrival of our beautiful little black girl… well done Mitchell, good job you are not squeamish and you can go back to sleep now!

she weighed a tiny 6kg and dysmature (born late but not fully grown in the womb so appearance of a premature cria) and she is doing nicely thank you all – no thanks to the weather!

well the Election results have probably surprised everybody but especially the boys who in no less than The Times – predicted “a landslide” LOL

one thing for sure about Alpaca – they will give birth when and where they are ready to…

meantime – I do not think I could do this manoeuvre if I was 3 weeks overdue in pregnancy – could you ?

Everybody knows that in farming there is a saying “where there is livestock, there is dead stock” but we have never lost a cria birthing in ten years and due to our stringent Biosecurity, living on site so prompt action taken and excellent Vets, I consider we have been lucky – but it is hard work and long hours as we all know .

Many readers of this blog wondered what I had referred to previously and now it is time to talk about it.

you will recall that we had a very dry spell followed by a few days rain then dry again – this left the ground exceptionally slippy under foot. Alpaca love to roll and one morning one of my favourite Alpaca was getting up from a roll and two other younger Alpaca galloping about didn’t stop in time as they went towards her and knocked her back down to the ground. A simple accident with disastrous consequences.

As she got up she was clearly injured and as I had the Vet already on their way to attend to a Wensleydale lambs ear anyway, he looked at her immediately.

The outlook was not good and we gave her the appropriate pain relief drugs to assist and close monitoring to see if with all my attention and love she could remotely improve.

To keep this brief – she was euthanased as she was unable to walk properly as it had worsened and no animal is ever allowed to suffer at Kensmyth.

it was a tragic sudden accident and a week I would not want to repeat – she was a gentle kind Alpaca with a loving disposition, very friendly and I miss her daily.

Her legacy lives on in her son and daughter who will be retained in our genetic pool but she was a “one in a lifetime Alpaca” for us. All our Alpaca are insured and I would also like to personally thank Jacinta at Armitage Insurance for her sympathetic and prompt handling of this tragedy.

very important visitors to Kensmyth who just love the Alpaca  – who just love showing off