Cindy’s Alpaca Blog

Every alpaca farmer knows that poop is a part of life.  In the summer it seems like a BIG part of life - the never ending poop scoop chore that frames the alpaca farm day.  I have developed what I call the “zen of poop-scooping”.  I view this daily chore as an opportunity to slow down my mind, and re-connect with the basics of life.  There are many small miracles that one can observe when cleaning up after animals.  First - many creatures find a gold mine of benefit in the poop that we just scoop up and dump somewhere else.  Butterflies consistently hover over the poop piles - I guess because nutrients are still present there for them.  Another curious creature is the small beetle that burrows in the dirt underneath the pile.  I’ve seen a beetle carrying a poop pellet that is larger than itself into it’s hole to digest, and then regurgitate into the richest soil that can be imagined. Entire poop piles are often turned into dark rich soil within hours by these amazing creatures- what a miracle!  I marvel at the way that nature refuses to waste anything that could be put toward nurturing life in some way.

When it’s hot outside I have to really discipline myself to go out and do the chores when I’d rather be sitting inside reading a book and keeping cool in the AC.  But once I’m out with the animals - poop scooping becomes an opportunity to interact with them as well.  Alpacas are such creatures of routine.  This daily chore is one way that we become part of their daily world.   There are a couple of animals that will always come up and greet me during this time - their way of connecting with me and including me in their herd.

I can’t recommend poop-scooping as a motivating factor in alpaca ownership, but I have learned that even this chore can yield opportunities to appreciate the alpaca lifestyle.

“What do you do with alpacas?  What are they for?”  How many times have people asked me that question when inquiring about our farm, or visiting the animals.  Alpaca fleece makes a variety of quality products, and we have two products on our farm that are made out of the fleece that is sheared off of our own animals.

First, we have 100% suri yarn, and 80%suri/20% bamboo yarn for sale.  The yarn is processed in skeins that weigh 3.5 oz, and costs $25.00/skein.Alpaca yarn

The yarn averages 210 yards/skein, varying by the fineness of the strand.

We also have woven 2′x3′ rugs for sale that are made of suri fiber wrapped around a cotton core.  These rugs are washable, and will last for a lifetime. They cost $95.00 each.

We have many more designs as well - but here is a sample.  At just $95.00 you’ll have a rug that will be in your family for a lifetime.  Call or email if you are interested in more information, or purchasing a rug or some yarn.  We can ship anywhere in the USA.

We have some wonderful herdsires to choose from on the farm right now.  Our top herdsire for  this season is Notorious - a gorgeous rose grey who has a fantastic show record, winning every show that he has been entered in, including the 2008 AOBA Nationals:

If you want to add black genetics to your herd, then Shaka is your man.  Shaka has produced three true black female cria for us, one medium brown, and one bay black male.  He is the most consistent producer of black genetics that we’ve encountered.

Shaka                            Stardust                 Shadow

Saladin                   Newest cria              Patience

We also have two heavily decorated white males on the farm that could add density, fineness and luster to the offspring of your female.  Storm has certainly proven himself in the show ring with four blue ribbons, a color champion, and three red ribbons.  We sheared over 7 lbs of fleece off of him last year.

Jackpot’s Legend is a new resident on our farm.  He has also distinguished himself in the show ring with a blue ribbon and color championship.  Legend has extremely fine fleece with a micron count of 19.  He would certainly add that Accoyo luster and density to his offspring.

We want to work with other alpaca breeders to add superior genetics to their herd.  If you see a herdsire that you would like to use with one of your females, call us and we’ll work out a price that works for both of us.

Sure enough, two more cria have been born on the farm within the last week.  Lady Sadie gave birth to a beautiful 18.6 lb female on December 30, and Kalaya followed with her cria born on January 1st.  Both cria are in the brown family - Lady Sadie’s is a bit lighter in hue than Kalaya’s.

Lady Sadie’s cria, born 12-30;

Kalaya’s cria, born 1-1-2011

It’s great to have new life on the farm with two more healthy female crias in this birthing season.  Lisa Marie is next - she is due January 10, so stay tuned!

Our first cria of the 2010/11 season has arrived - a beautiful true black female that we named Stardust, since she has a splash of white around one eye and cheekbone.  Her dam is Sadie Ann, and her sire is true Black Shaka.

Stardust is a healthy and vibrant cria - running all over the pasture within days of her birth on December 8.  We have two dams that are well within their due range now - so stay tuned!  Hopefully we will have more cria pictures to post over the next few days.

A couple of weeks ago a tornado zigzagged its way through our property taking down about a dozen large trees and snapping several more off half way up.  It has created a real mess in the pastures and damaged our fences in several places.

We were very fortunate that only the fences were damaged.  Although several large limbs landed just a few feet away from the alpaca stalls no animals were hurt and the barn was unscathed.  We try to remind ourselves of this good news as we are chainsawing tree trunks and hauling loads of tree branches out of the pastures.

The animals were huddled in the barn that night, cushing very close to one another for protection.  But by the next day - they were unperturbed, even though there was still lots of standing water in their pastures.

The little ones thought it was quite fun to run at full speed through the ankle high water and splash each other - or try to jump on one another while wading through puddles.

Mother Nature is one of the big unpredictable factors of any kind of farm life.  I try to be thankful of her many moods instead of resentful.  Right now I’m thankful that we are still experiencing unseasonably cool weather for a Floridian late March.  It is still in the low 40’s every morning, and has not made it out of the low 70’s during the day yet.  The alpacas are very comfortable, even though they are in full fleece.  I will really appreciate the memory of these cool and comfortable mornings in June and July when the temperature soars to the 90’s during the day and the humidity is 80%.  Such is the life of a Florida farmer.

After saving three preemies this year our next two planned for births did not materialize at all.  In December Lurissa was due to give birth right around Christmas time, and she did - on December 23rd she delivered her cria, but it died before the birth sac was disturbed.  We found the little one in the morning during chore time - already stiff and cold, and perfectly encased in its birth membrane.  We’ll never know if this cria was stillborn, or died shortly after birth due to some trauma during its birthing process.  It was a huge disappointment.

The next expected cria was to come the first weekend in February - the weekend we planned to be at the Florida Expo.  I was so worried that Ripple would give birth and encounter some kind of problem while we were away that I called my son every few hours from Jacksonville to check on her.  She did not give birth.  All was well.  February came and went.  Ripple still had not given birth.  Two weeks into March Ripple still had not produced the looked for cria.  We finally confirmed what we had begun to suspect weeks earlier - she had re-absorbed that pregnancy months earlier, and was open.  Another disappointment!  Ripple bred quite readily (what were they waiting for? in her mind!) this weekend, so we’ll have to wait another year (!) for this one.

We have two more expected births to come in April of this year.  Hopefully these two will go as smoothly as all of the births went last year.  Nothing is ever predictable when working with live animals, and alpacas seem to be more unpredictable than most!

This fall has been the season for preemies at our farm.  We never had a premature birth before, but now we have had two preemies in a row, and a third cria that was technically full term, but small and weak.  The weather has been unusually hot this year, with a record breaking heat wave in October.  Temperatures that would normally top out at 80 degrees, soared to 95 or higher, with 80-90% humidity.  Two of our pregant dams with November due dates gave birth in October due to heat induced labor.

Shadow was born on Sunday, October 4, a full four weeks before her November 7 due date.    When my husband Steve found her in the pasture he thought that the cria had already died - it was just a black bundle that couldn’t even hold up its head.  When he discovered that the cria was breathing, we sprang into action.  She was given some powdered colostrum that we mixed with warm water and fed through a medicine dropper.  Then we took her to our vet for a plasma transfusion.  Dr. Davenport gave her a 50/50 chance of surviving, depending on how much nutrition we could get into her.  That night Shadow stayed on a little porch right outside our bedroom so that I could feed her every two hours with slightly diluted whole cow’s milk.  It took three days of these regular feedings before she was strong enough to stand and nurse on her own from her mother.  Fortunately her dam Lady Sadie did not reject her daughter, and Shadow began to thrive.  Today Shadow is a lively and inquisitive youngster that is gaining steadily and racing all over the pasture.

Just when we thought we were out of the woods with Shadow, Idlewyld, one of our first time mothers, gave birth to a 2 & 1/2 week premature male that we named Saladin.  Saladin was further along than Shadow had been when she was born, so he was a little stronger.  However he only weighed in at 10 pounds, and his birth was a very high pressure one, so he had trouble holding his neck straight and balancing himself.  Once again we took him to Dr. Davenport for a plasma transfusion and began the round the clock feeding.  Since his dam was an inexperienced mother, it took a little time for her to accept this new addition to her life.  We worked with him steadily for that first week, and finally he was able to nurse on his own and began to run and play with Shadow.  Saladin is a very precocious young male now - running and jumping on everything that sits still for a moment, including me!  I am happy to report that his neck is fine now - as evidenced in the picture, and he is gaining and growing at a remarkable rate, considering his rough start.

Our third cria this fall was born on November 15, well into his due date range, but weighed in at just 11 pounds.  He was also weak and wobbily - taking a full six days of assistance before he could stand on his own to nurse. We are calling this little one Eli.  Today he was able to stand by his dam, another first time mother named Lisa Marie, and nurse unaided.  Hopefully he will take off like the other two did after they could access the milk bar whenever they wanted it.

Our biggest lesson from this season of premature and weak cria, is to postpone our breeding season until we can be sure that the dam’s final three months of gestation are in cooler weather.  Last year we had several fall cria who were large at birth and thrived from day one without assistance.  But, we also had an unusually cool September and October in 2008, with two near freezes.  The late heat wave that we experienced this year pushed two dams into early labor, and robbed a third from allowing her cria to gain as much as he should have during his last month in utero.

We have also stepped up our feeding routine.  We are feeding the females their supplement twice a day and have doubled the hay that is offered.  We had been advised against over feeding in Florida to avoid over conditioning the animals, but we are finding that under feeding them causes more problems, especially with females giving birth to underweight cria.

Hopefully our experience will help other alpaca farmers in Florida to have more successful birthing seasons.  We know of several other farms who have had premature births this year due to the October heat wave.  Breeding alpacas in Florida has some unique challenges that change the way that we care for our animals.  However, we are coming into perfect alpaca weather - cool nights and breezy perfect days.  I look forward now to six months of lovely outdoor weather - and I’ll be thankful that I’m not shoveling snow and busting ice off of feed and water troughs!

The first hint of coolness (a relative term in Florida!) is beginning to appear in the early morning hours and in the evening before sunset.  After the sauna of July and August, I am greeted now with a fresh cool breeze at 7:00am when I go out to the barn for morning chores.  There is a mist rising off the lake, and the animals are quite comfortable resting in their stalls.  I no longer come in from the chores dripping with sweat.  September and October are still warm months in Florida - but on a farm we notice the subtle changes in temperature that begin at this time of year.  Although the temperature still climbs to the low 90’s by early afternoon, the mornings and evenings begin to give some relief from the constant heat of summer days.  Early Fall is a pleasant time of enjoying the promise of the nearly perfect weather that is just a couple of months away.

Our female alpacas are beginning to look very round with pregnancies that are coming into their last couple of months.  We have four females due in November or early December.  If you stand and watch them for awhile you can see movement in their bellies.  Their unborn crias are now large enough to be kicking and turning noticably inside their mothers.

The weanlings are growing fat and tall as they approach yearling status.  We only have one cria that still needs to be weaned - and his turn will come in October.

The males are fractious and irritated with each other after several hot months of no breeding activity.  We have been playing musical stalls with them, to keep them from picking too many fights over the stall walls.  Two of our young males are just coming into maturity.  Their first breeding season could begin in November.  Our true black herdsire, Shaka, is very territorial with “his” females, and takes great offense when another male animal - llamas and geldings included - are allowed to occupy an adjacent pasture to the female pasture.  Finding satisfactory and peaceful accomodations for breeding male alpacas can be quite a challenge for the alpaca breeder!

Overall, we are entering my favorite time of year.  Fall in Florida is a time of renewed energy and great beauty.  It is just one more reason that I am so grateful to be a Florida Alpaca Farmer.

It was Sunday afternoon.  I was inside resting on the couch and watching a movie.  I had undergone major surgery two weeks prior to that afternoon, so I felt justified in my sloth - allowing my body to recuperate and mend.  My husband Steve was out in the pasture getting ready to mow an outlying pasture that we intended to fence for  future alpaca residence.  Fortunately, Steve decided to put out hay before mowing, and noticed a small black figure in the female pasture.  As he approached the cria, he was almost sure that it was already dead - lying so still on its side.  But - on closer inspection he could see that the cria was breathing.  So he carried it into a stall and ran into the house to call me.  I sprang into action, nervously checking the cria and searching for the bottle that we had purchased last year - where was that !@#&@#! bottle!  Our vet, Doug Davenport, was not on call - drats!  I got ahold of his emergency answering service, and after a few false starts spoke with his associate.  She got ahold of Doug, and he agreed to examine the cria at his home/clinic in Brooksville.  So we bundled the little thing up and made the hour drive to Doug’s house.  I had some powderered colostrum that I had mixed up and was carefully squirting down the cria’s throat with a small syringe.  The cria, a true black female, was too weak to suck and laid limply in my lap.

Doug gave our little one a plasma transfusion at his office and examined her.  Although dehydrated, she still put up some resistance to the catheter being injected into her side - a very good sign.  Doug advised us to give the little one whole cow’s milk every 2 hours around the clock.  Her survival would depend on getting enough nourishment to prevent dehydration and allow her to grow and develop enough to stand and nurse on her own.  At the same time we needed to milk her dam, Lady Sadie,  so that her milk would come in, and not dry up before the cria was strong enough to nurse.

I forgot all about recovering from my own surgery, and invested myself in saving this little cria’s life.  We checked on her dam, and allowed the dam to sniff and lick her cria - encouraging as much bonding as possible.  At fist Lady was not very interested - this little one did not appear viable to her.  I took the cria inside for her first night - we have a screened porch off of our bedroom that became the nursery for those first 3 crucial days.  Then began the 2 hour vigil of squirting milk slowly down the cria’s throat with a syringe, little by little, waiting for the cria to swallow between each small squirt.  It is a very tedious process that requires much patience on the part of the owner.  If you squirt too much it just comes back up.  I slept very little for those first two days.

Miraculously the cria tried to stand up on Monday.  Her little legs were so wobbly that they wouldn’t sustain her at first.  She could get up on her knees - but not to her feet.  We helped to steady her, and then just kept getting milk into her as best we could.  She developed diarreha by the second evening, so I had to begin diluting the milk.

By Tuesday another miracle occured - our cria stood on her own!  We kept Lady, her dam, in a stall with her during the day for bonding purposes.  As soon as the cria could stand, we noticed a difference in Lady’s behavior.  She began to encourage the cria and nose it up - like she would a full term and healthy cria.  With help, the cria could lift her head up to Lady’s teats - although she was still too weak to actually suckle.

On Wednesday, the cria took her first steps - and actually sucked her mother’s teats for the first time.  I still had to help her balance and hold her up long enough to find the milk - but she was on her way to success with nursing.

By Thursday we had a name for the cria - Shaka’s Shadow - and she was able to nurse on her own.  I still supplemented her with milk, but she was definitely getting some of her mom’s milk.  We began giving Lady some domperidone to boost her milk supply so that our little one would gain and thrive on mother’s milk alone.

Today is Sunday - Shadow is one week old.  She is now obtaining all of her nutrition from her mother, and following her around from stall to pasture.  I have seen her run a few steps after her mother in her effort to keep up.  Her bottom two teeth have fully errupted, and her ears are no longer floppy - two tell-tale signs of her premature birth.  I now fullyexpect Shadow to not only live, but thrive.  Stay tuned as we move into Shadow’s second week of life.