Cindy’s Alpaca Blog

Male alpaca behavior can be very aggravating for their owners.  Adult males usually don’t live together happily in the presence of females.  Like other herd animals, one male considers the herd of females to belong to him - and will fight off any other adult male that looks to be a rival.  In the wild the other males would challenge the reigning herdsire to take over the herd.  The loser would simply leave and live elsewhere.  The problem is that on a farm rivals can’t leave - they live in the pasture next door!  So…let the games begin!

We have three adult males who are constantly vying for top stud status.  One of them is actually a gelding, but he doesn’t know it.  So, we have to rotate room assignments frequently to keep the boys from being too cantankerous with each other.  Our best herdsire, Shaka, is also the most calm and least aggressive of the three.  I have never seen him pick a fight - and it takes several escalating threats from one of the other males to provoke him to spit back at them.  His is the temperament that I want to pass on to my growing herd.  So this weekend he was moved to his own private suite - which will also become a breeding pasture.  Luckily we are able to position this prime real estate away from the view of Shaka’s rivals.  Breeding season begins next weekend (November 29), so Shaka will have his first breeding dates with some of our females.  We hope to have some beautiful true black genes passed on in some calm and easily handled cria.

Last week we had a very sad morning on the farm.  Just as I was finishing the poop scooping in the “maternity ward” pasture I saw something that looked like a garbage bag that was half buried.  When I got closer I realized that it was a stillborn fetus - still encased in its amniotic birth sac.  Lisa Marie had aborted her ten month fetus.  If the cria had survived it would have been a dark brown male.

Alpacas are usually  easy birthers - with cria and Mom up and running within the hour, but there are the 20% that don’t make it.  We did not send this little one off to the lab for testing - if another cria is still born we will certainly order complete diagnostic testing.  However - this one was dead before it hit the ground.  A very sad morning for us.  Thankfully the dam, Lisa Marie seems to have suffered no ill affects.  Since she was a first time mom, she may not have been fully aware that she was even pregnant, until seeing this unfortunate cria born during the night.

Alpacas are nearly always born between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm.  It is not unheard of for a cria to be born in the early morning hours - but if the dam is laboring after 4:00 pm there is cause for concern.  Unfortunately for us Lisa Marie showed no signs of labor the night before this little fellow was born.  We’ll never know exactly when the birth took place.  We only know that the cria looked to be stillborn and had certainly been dead for several hours when we found it at 7:30 am that Sunday morning.

Lisa Marie left home yesterday to visit a friend’s farm for re-breeding.  Hopefully her second pregnancy will produce a healthy cria for us!

Lakota’s mom took off yesterday for a breeding date at another farm.  Since Lakota is five months old and weighs nearly 60 pounds, we kept him at home to begin the weaning process.  My heart went out to him today!  He moped around the barn looking for his mama and moaned his croaky little humm.  He even began following me around as I was doing the daily chores - hoping that I would lead him to some sign of his mom.  Luckily for him, he did not have to be isolated from his “aunties”.  Since mom is the one who left, he was able to remain in the pasture with the other mom’s to be until he adjusts to his new weanling status.  He was our only spring cria - so he doesn’t have a buddy to ease his loneliness.  Freckled Rose is only a couple of weeks old - not a worthy playmate yet.

I wonder if I will feel such attachment to all of our crias.  Lakota was the first to be born on our farm - right into my arms!  He is one big butterball now - with the softest, fullest fleece imagineable and a sweet temperament.  At five months of age he is easy to lead by just using a “bracelet hold” - one hand behind the head and one hand under the chin.  He will still come up to humans and cluck for kisses.  I am cautious not to give him too much attention - I don ‘t want to spoil his personality later on.  As soon as he gets over the stress of weaning, we’ll put him in with the yearling males, so that he can learn how to be a male alpaca.  I want to wait until we are around for a couple of days in a row to make sure that Heli Arc and Crimson won’t aggressively pick on him    (Heli-Arc and Crimson)  

Our first Fall cria was born on Friday, November 7 of 2008.  Lady Sadie’s official due date was Thursday, November 6.  She didn’t show any signs that birth was imminent, so we planned a full day away from home on Friday – a usual work day followed by dinner downtown and a concert given by one of our favorite classical singers, Kathleen Battle.  Our son Benjamin would be home mid-afternoon, and he promised to let us know if anything was happening.  I called Ben around 4:00 pm to check on everything, and he had not noticed the new cria in the pasture yet, so he reported no change.  It wasn’t until we had already had a lovely dinner at a downtown restaurant and I was turning off the ringer to my phone in preparation for the concert that I noticed that Ben had left a message at 5:30.  A new cria was following Lady around the pasture!  He thought it was a female, and she was up and nursing.  We nervously stayed for the concert, and then rushed home to greet our newest alpaca, a beautiful rose grey female with white speckling all down her legs.  She weighed in at 17.4 pounds and was nursing very confidently when we first saw her.  Mom and baby seemed to be doing very well.

We never did find the afterbirth in the pasture the next day.  I was concerned that Lady Sadie might have retained the placenta – an unusual occurrence that had already happened to us with our last birth at the farm.  But Lady showed no sign of distress or of straining to deliver the placenta.  Her temperature was normal, and she was eating and moving normally.  Our best guess is that a hawk or eagle must have feasted on the afterbirth, and removed it from the pasture before we got home that night.  We have a couple of hawks that make their home in the woods behind the pasture, and I’ve spotted more than one eagle circling the lake looking for meals.  We also have a pair of large white faced owls that nest in the wooded area behind the pastures.

I plan to name our new cria Freckled Rose because of her unusual sprinkling of white spots on her legs and through her back.  She is a beautiful and welcome addition to Lake Liaho Farm.

Mornings at Lake Liaho Farm usually start for me at 5:30 am.  Not because the alpacas are early risers - far from it!  They do not appreciate being disturbed before daylight.  No, I rise at 5:30 because I relish the early morning hours to eat a leisurely breakfast and do my spiritual reading.  I am a student of spirituality and the Bible, so I spend the first forty five minutes of my day reading the recorded words and deeds of Jesus, or the writings of other spiritual masters.  I follow this practice with thirty-forty minutes of meditation.  By 7:00 a.m. I am usually ready to head to the barn.  Hazel and Maude, our two great danes, are ready too - anxiously pacing the floor in front of the door waiting for me to attend our “critters”.

In the barn I do a quick “look-see”  and count heads.  After all are present and accounted for I proceed to preparing breakfast for our alpaca herd.  Breakfast time is a highly anticipated time for alpacas - they anxiously pace back and forth in their stalls waiting for room service to begin.  Breakfast consists of approximately 8 ounces of a grain supplement seasoned with minerals and dressed with fiber nutrients on top.  I usually start with the males, since their stalls are on the same side as the food bins.  Alpacas are creatures of habit.  They quickly get used to a routine and will anticipate the same routine every day.  The boys know which order their food bins will arrive in, and they line up accordingly.  Meanwhile, the girls have gathered in clusters awaiting their breakfast.   Once the boys are happily munching on their grain I carry a stack of food bins into the first girls’ stall.  Lurissa, our nursing mom, always goes first because she requires a double portion to offset the calories that her cria will drain from her during the day.  All the other girls know that she will be first, and politely stay out of her way.  Once she is busy eating the other girls gather around me in the neighboring stall - vying for attention and claiming a food bin of their very own that morning.  No one is disappointed!  The yearling males come next - coming eagerly to the fence panel where their breakfast bins will be hung.  Last but certainly not least are the soon to be moms who get lactation feed.  As with all the other alpacas - they know the order in which they will be served, and line up accordingly.

After all the animals are satisfied and happily eating their grain I get busy with poop scooping.  Poop scooping is a fact of life for all alpaca owners.  We maintain very clean pastures and barn areas by removing all the feces twice daily.  Poop-scooping may seem like an onerous job, but in fact I find it very relaxing.  Alpaca poop has very little odor.  It comes in little pellets that are easy to scoop up with a small plastic rake and bin.  Alpacas will generally choose one or two common latrines that the entire group will use every day, so the poop tends to be collected in one small area in each pasture.  While I’m scooping up poop I notice the beauty of the morning - there is often mist rising off the lake, and birds are singing.  It is not unusual to spot the large hawk that makes its home in our woods circling the sky looking for breakfast.  I once saw a bald eagle circle the woods next to the lake about eight times before finally flying away.  Deer sometimes make an appearance outside the pasture fence.  Deer sightings are always occasions of excitement for the alpacas - they will line up and sound the alarm to each other until the deer finally bounds off into the woods.  I feel particularly blessed during these morning hours.  How many people in the world are privileged to witness such beauty every morning?  I want to drink in the nature around me and carry its pristine loveliness with me throughout the rest of my day.

After the cart is emptied in an unused field away from our pastures, room service continues.  I sweep out each stall and rinse out the hay bins, standing them up vertically where the sun can dry them.  The water bowls are rinsed out and refreshed, and the empty food bins are cleaned and hung out on the fence to dry.  Some of our female alpacas find this routine to be very comforting, and they are reluctant to leave the barn stall during clean-up time.  I am constantly nudging them out of my way and literally sweeping right under their feet!  Although alpacas don’t generally appreciate being stroked or petted like dogs and cats - they do form attachments to their people!  I notice each animal’s place or rank in the herd, and then I treat them accordingly.  They are very interactive and social animals, and they will rank their owner in the herd as well!  I always want to be the “queen” so I am direct but respectful with them, acknowledging their space and refraining from unwanted random touching.

Reluctantly, my morning chores come to an end around 8:30, when I head inside to shower and get ready for work.  I am fortunate enough to be able to arrange my work schedule to start at 9:30 or 10:00 a.m.

I can honestly say that my life is enriched by starting each day with my alpacas.  They are fascinating animals, and I feel blessed to have been invited into their herd.  Check back at this site later and I will describe the end of the day and what its like on herd management days.

Shaka, our full Peruvian True Black herdsire, is a true gentleman.  He is a beautiful boy; very large with lustrous and dense black locks.  Shaka is easy to handle - he stood patiently with me through a thirty minute interview a couple of months ago, allowing me to stroke his neck while answering numerous questions about our farm.  His temperament is one that you’ll want to pass on to your farm.  He has already produced four cria in Kentucky - all black or black and white pattern.  Right now we are offering an introductory breeding fee for only $1500.oo.  Shaka’s first breeding season in the state of Florida will begin November 30.  Reserve a breeding this season and import some true black Peruvian genes to your farm at an outstanding price.

  What a beauty! 

Our first National Alpaca Farm Day open house happened a few weeks ago on September 27, 2008.  It was a wonderful experience!  Our local newspaper gave us some unexpected coverage - a great story with several pictures featuring the three participating farms in Polk County.  We had around 70 people visit our farm during the open house.

The barn was spic and span, and the animals were on their best behavior. We had several alpaca products displayed down the central aisle of the barn.  The most popular product was the 100% alpaca gloves and the small stuffed toy alpacas.  Next year we’ll know to stock many more of these items!

The animals crowded up to the stall fences to receive treats from our guests.  Several small children went in among the alpacas, happily feeding them out of their hands.  I talked about alpacas and the joys of raising them for seven hours!  Our guests seemed to thoroughly enjoy stroking the alpacas that came up to the fence and hearing all about our little herd.  Four visiting families were seriously interested in raising alpacas themselves.

Any of our Farm Day visitors are encouraged to call and arrange another visit in which we can spend more time telling you the ins and outs of raising alpacas on your own farm.  Steve and I would love to sit down with you and show you how to get started, and discuss starter herd choices.  We are offering several attractive package deals with financing options and free boarding for up to six months.

We could not have been more pleased with the wonderful day that we had showing off our farm and our wonderful alpacas!

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It is November of 2007 and Steve and I have embarked on the adventure of owning and breeding eleven alpacas and two llamas.  I am starting this blog to chronicle our experience for our friends and family and to give a realistic portrait of an alpaca farm to anyone who might be interested in starting one of their own.

After five months of agisting our animals on two other farms, we finally felt ready enough to bring them to their new home here in Polk City, Florida.  Many people agist (board) their first animals for several month while they prepare their land, build a barn, and get themselves ready for the experience of raising these unique animals.  Our biggest project so far has been building a barn and fencing our pastures.  We are still fencing pastures!  As of November 11 we still have three more pastures to complete.  The fence poles are installed in the girls’ new pasture, but the fence wire has yet to be stretched.  Fencing is back-breaking work, and very expensive. Be sure to budget for this necessary expense for an alpaca farm!

Now for a snapshot of our animals.  We own seven female alpacas and four males along with two gelded male llamas.  I’ll start with the females.  Lurissa is the oldest female on the farm at eleven.  She is expecting another cria (baby alpaca) for us in May.  Lurissa is a former beauty queen with some impressive blue ribbons to her name.  She won blue ribbons in two national shows in the late nineties, and her brother sold for the highest price ever recorded in the US at that time.  Lurissa is quite the queen bee of our herd.  She is a fiercely protective mother and is not afraid to spit at her fellow herdmates and occasionally at her human caretakers to get what she wants!

Idelwylde is Lurissa’s cria, born last December.  Idelwylde is still expceptionally close to her mother, even though she has been weaned for several months.  She is a beautiful solid white girl with a sweet disposition.  Idelwylde is always the first to come up and check out whatever I might have for her, sniffing my hands and looking inquisitively into my eyes.  She has definitely won my heart!

Champagne is another heart winner.  She is a two year old medium fawn colored alpaca that is mischieveously curious and very affectionate.  Champagne is always at the fence inquiring about whatever you might have in your hands as you enter her pasture.  Champagne will be bred for the first time this winter, and we are hoping for a beautiful cria from her next fall.

Lisa Marie is probably the most beautiful girl on our farm.  She is a white alpaca with dark ears and eyes and much color in her background.  Lisa’s fleece has grown back in beautiful ringlets and she has the classic peruvian face.  LisaMarie is two years old and will be bred this December with a champion herdsire.  We can’t wait to see what she will bring to us.

Dress Rehearsal came to us pregnant, but unfortunately lost her cria in September due to heat stress.  Dressy is a five year old light fawn who has produced two beautiful crias in past years.  She is a big girl - weighing almost 180 lbs, and she is anxious to be bred again.  We plan to mate her with a solid black herdsire, so she should have  beautiful cria next fall in cooler weather than this year.

Ripple is the most interesing looking animal on the farm.  She is a medium brown with white appaloosa legs and a white face.  Ripple has large and very expressive eyes.  She will be bred this December with a champion herdsire for a fall 2008 cria.

Sadie Ann is a one year old maiden that is also brown with a white and black face.  I love Sadie’s face - she is so inquisitive!  Sadie is a little sweetheart - and will wait another year before trying to breed.

We have two weanling boys who are the apple of our eye.  Crimson Tide is a beautiful medium brown boy with perfect conformation, and gorgeious fleece.  Crimson is just eight months old, but we are hoping for a fine herdsire in him.  His father, Gepetti, has already produced several champion quality offspring.

Heli Arc is just a month younger than Crimson is and is also from a champion bloodline.  Heli Arc is a shimmery gold color - very big for his age and gorgeous.  In two years we will be offering breedings to these two excellent future herdsires.

Wari is the gentleman in our farm.  Wari is a five year old fawn male with grey undertones.  HIs father was rose grey.  Wari is an exceptionally handsome guy with great manners - a lovely animal to work with.  He is the sire of Lurissa’s May 2008 cria.

Hubba Bubba is a fine white three year old male.  Hubba has an excellent lineage, being sired by the award winning Tuff Stuff.  Hubba will probably be a fixture in our breeding plan as well to pass on those excellent genes to future generations.

Two of the most interesting animals on our farm are our two guard llamas, Kody and Bandit.  Both are very large, and quite ugly - but they watch everything that occurs at Lake Liaho farm.  I don’t thing anything could get past Bandit - I often wish I knew what he was thinking.  He intently watches every activity on the farm.

So what is a day on an alpaca farm really like?  My day starts at 6:00 am with prayer and meditation.  Breakfast follows with scripture reading until 7:30.  Then it is out to the barn where twelve hungry animals are waiting for me (Heli Arc is not home with us yet).   All the animals will be clustered together in their respective stalls waiting for their morning grain.  I carefull measure out the feed in small plastic feeders and bring them into each stall.  I am so popular at this time of day!  All the animals want to be by my side when I enter their stall with feeders.  The next chore is poop pick-up.  Each pasture has to be cleaned of poop in the morning.  I rake it up into a small cart,  and then dump it out in the woods.  When I return to the barn I sweep out each stall and get rid of all the dirty hay that was left over from the night before.  The morning chores take about an hour and a half, depending on how much time I spend watching the animals and talking to them.  It’s easy to spend an entire morning just hanging out with them!

I usually have to be at one of my teaching positions or a meeting at mid-morning.  I try never to schedule lessons or meetings before 10:30 am.    When I return home from my “work” of the day, it is time to feed hay.  We usually feed hay at mid-day, or whenever the first person in the family arrives from from class or work.  The animals are sooooo happy to see whoever it is who brings hay into the stalls.  If it is a hot day this feeding is a good opportunity to wet down the animals with a hose.  They love to get their bellies wet, and will actually line up and take their turn at this mid day treat.

Later in the day, before sun-down, we feed hay again for the night, and clean up the daytime poop offerings.  I like to see the animals as they settle for the evening.  I watch everyone for awhile just to make sure that all are well and acting like their usual selves.

Once a month we weigh all the animals and give any medications that might be necessary.  We are new to this procedure, since we have only had the animals with us for right at a month.  We have a chute, but it still needs some modifications to be more user-friendly.  I’ll report on the success (or failure!) of this adventure shortly.

I record all expenses and animal records in a computer program designed for alpaca owners.  Computer recording does require some time and effort - it is definitely part of my business day.  Luckily I usually have a day or two at home each week in which I can get caught up with the “paper work” of the business.

I find working with animals to be one of the most enjoyable jobs that I have ever done.  Even scooping poop is not an onerous task, because it puts me right into the pasture where I can observe and interact with my herd.  Even though we have just begun our farm, and haven’t gotten into the business of selling the animals yet, I can truthfully say that owning alpacas has brought me a great deal of satisfaction and pure joy.  There have been moments when Steve and I questioned our sanity for getting into this business.  Especially before we brought the animals home, the work of barn building and fencing seemed overwhelming.  I worried about insignificant things, and Steve worried over finances.  But now that the animals are home, the joy of having them and working with them has over shadowed all the anxiety of preparing for them.  I am grateful that we could do this, and that I have the chance to experience raising these wonderful creatures.