A sad day...

Today is that day that we knew had to come sometime...

After nearly three years, we lost our first Alpaca.

Choco was only just two years old, an occasional member of the show team (second place ribbons in three shows) and only recently certified and DNA tested for stud work.

Monday he was fine, right as rain, playing in the boys' paddock with the others. Tuesday morning, he was on his own, couldn't get up and really lethargic. We called the vet out, he clearly had a heart problem and we moved him up to the house. Tuesday night, before I went to bed I sat with him for a while, he was very quiet but had his head up and seemed to be showing signs of recovery but sadly, he was gone by morning.

It had to happen sometime, but this was really unexpected, we've nursed a few animals back now that were touch and go for a while, but this was so sudden with no clue that there was a problem.

Unfortunately it's the reality of any type of livestock raising, but it's still pretty miserable....

A surprise in the paddock

I can't believe it is nearly a month since I returned from the UK. Firstly I need to apologise to Mark from Patou Alpacas for not thanking him sooner for the lovely time I spent at his property.

Glad to see that Columbus has the idea now! Minstrel looks like she is growing out nicely as well.

I arrived back to winter weather lots of rain and wind in fact one of the trees had blown down right across the gate. I thought Perry and James were trying to keep me out! So the only way in to the property was over the fence and through the paddock.

Trees or branches falling seem to a problem at the moment as soon as we get one lot sorted another drops. We are not going to replace them the gum trees make to much mess and insist on falling over!

Perry who thought he had got his last few modules for his masters sorted to have a lighter work load has found the opposite, he is getting frustrated at the amount of time it is taking particularly as he would like to be outside 'doing stuff'. He is currently trying to work out what he is going to do for his dissertation with computing and alpacas. You can just picture it alpacas learning to use a mouse!

Last week we had a surprise, we don't have cria at this time of year, too cold, but last Wednesday morning in the sleet when I went out to feed the girls there was a cria sitting shivering in the paddock.

Now our next drop is not due until November, all the girls looked at me to say "He's not mine". So I picked him and took inside as he was not looking too good. Tucked him up in the bathroom (underfloor heating and over head heating). Then took off to find mum. It had to be a girl that we had brought pregnant so after rounding them up and lifting their tails I found mum.

Poor little chap was deteriorating so off to the vet he went, had a plasma transfusion (needless to say he was a little prem) then tube feeding. He is back home with us now and feeding from mum well. We did milk her from the beginning, long job with little to show for it. But it has been worth while.

He has been named Bill and he might even be called Big Bill as that,s what the vets bill will be. The vet was back today as Bill has pastern problems in his left leg so he is now splinted up and we hope it will right itself.

Sarah

Gypsy does it again!

Alpacafest 2009

First the bad news, Puck didn't have a good show, he got really hot and sweaty and every trace of character in his fleece dropped out. He wasn't having fun and it showed. But we learn... Next time he gets his own fan!

After that though the little team did good.

Double first for Goldie (herself and her last fleece)
Second best coloured suri fleece for Colin
First for Lulu
Lulu and Gypsy took third in sires progeny
Gypsy again got first in her class and best brown in show, beating 44 others - she's one special animal.

Sarah and Lulu with James and Gypsy

There's no way that we were expecting a year like this.

So, where from here?

Colour Classic and possibly Bendigo in August
The Royal Adelaide and Strathalbyn in September
Then, possibly, the Nationals finishing off with Clare Show, then shearing and a break.

Who knows, we may even sell an animal or two...

AlpacaFest

Well, James, Alice and I (Sarah) leave early tomorrow (Friday) for AlpacaFest in Werribee just outside Melbourne. We will be off about 7am and expect to arrive about 6pm. This will be the largest show we have entered so we are not sure what to expect. Rounding up and loading in the dark is always fun but a least we have no rain due so they will be traveling dry this time.

We are taking Puck, Lulu and Gypsy who have been a very successful part of our show team. This time Goldie is having her first outing. She is a full older sister to Gypsy and half sister of Lulu. So fingers crossed.

Drifter is saving himself for later in the show season and Chorus Girl has now been retired from the showteam, she did not really like playing showgirl.

Puck has had a difficult decision to make. What part of the float does he have, front window or back of the float. He decided on the back of the float in the end with a coat as he doesn't like the draft (he usually gets Drifter to sit on the door side). His reasoning is every time we stop he can stick his head out the window and attract the attention of passers-by. Plus get titbits to eat.

Perry will be holding the fort. Amealia still requires feeding at least twice a day and Perry is in the middle of one of his study modules so he has decided to stay behind.

A busy weekend

We have had a rather busy weekend. The rains arrived a couple of weeks back now so we have walkways turning to mud. So there was nothing else for it but to have 5 tons of pathway rubble delivered and shovels, wheelbarrows and rakes at the ready. We were pleased with the results but need another 5 tons to complete the job!

Then there were the injections, we give a supplementary 5in1 and ADE around about this time of year 100 injections takes some time but we got it done. We didn't have to many problems with them spiting either.

Next weekend sees us head of to the outskirts of Melbourne for Alpaca Fest more about that after the event. I think we will be leaving Perry at home but we will see how his studying is going. We also have a bottle top up cria. She is a pretty little thing called Amealia, but she can be a bit picky as to whether she is going to take a bottle so no really suitable to let our lovely neighbors look after over the weekend.

Sarah

Suri vs. Bramble Patch

We just had to share this...

At the back of our plot of land is an old marble quarry. Overgrown with gorse and brambles it's been on the to-do list for a major clean-up exercise since we moved here just over three years ago.

While Sarah and I were away at the weekend on the show course, James and Alice started the makeover with machete and shredder...

They worked hard and cleared a lot of the overgrown mess. Of course, that means that it's now accessible to curious alpacas.

Specifically, to Lysander, the curious suri...


If you've never tried getting blackberries out of suri fleece, let me take this opportunity to advise against trying it out for yourself. It's certainly the end of his show career for this year. Iwouldn't mind so much if he didn't look so proud of himself

Show Course

Last weekend saw the Prados elders head up to Somadale Alpacas on the edge of the Barossa Valley to take the show convener and stewards course. Two days with a senior judge (Ron Reid) brushing up on skills needed for running and organising Alpaca shows.

A mixture of class and practical work covering fleece and halter shows, working through all the latest rules and regulations and being entertained by Ron's limitless range of stories about shows that he has organised or officiated at.


Day one was primarily theory based with day two spent on conformation and ringcraft with a mock show, complete with a range of typical show-day problems to sort out.

Then, horror of horrors, a written examination!

Now we wait for the results to see if we really are certifiable...