A few resources for alpaca information...

I guess everyone's pretty tired of hearing about how cold it is so I'll try to change the topic this time!

It's that time of year when we have to renew our membership in AOBA (Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association) and Suri Network. If you are interested in alpacas, these are great organizations to check out for more information and to find farms in your area. Alpacas Magazine (published by AOBA) and Purely Suri magazine (published by Suri Network) provide a lot of helpful information and news about alpacas including marketing tips, health topics, alpaca fiber crafts and stories about other alpaca farms. If you haven't read these publications before and want to find out more about the wonderful world of alpacas, visit the links above to find out how to get copies of these magazines.

Another good source of information is the alpacasite on Yahoo Groups. You first need to register for the group before accessing it. This is a truly wonderful resource because there are so many people on the alpacasite 24/7. Whenever you need help with a particular issue on raising your alpacas, you can just check out the archives to see what information is available or you can post your question on the site. Not only are there experienced alpaca breeders on the site, but also veterinarians who own alpacas who can provide helpful advice. It's a really nice feeling knowing you're not alone out there.

We've also recently joined AlpacaStreet.com. Their website also has a wealth of information including a listing of farms and ranches in your area (Market Street), fiber information (Mill Street), and plenty of advertising opportunities.

Of course there are a lot more resources online than I can ever list here, but these are some of my personal favorites.

One cold week!

Well we brought Misty home last weekend and everyone was excited to see her. We're happy to have her back and she settled in very nicely.

This week was incredibly cold! Temperatures were down to -15 degrees and that wasn't even the windchill! It's supposed to be warmer this weekend...I was expecting temps in the 20's but so far it's been around 8-10 degrees these last two days. It does feel more comfortable though then it was. We had about 3-4 inches of snow yesterday.

The animals have been handling the cold, cold weather really well. We make sure they have water to drink, a little extra straw to lay on, plus we give them a little more feed and/or hay on those really cold days to keep their energy up and keep them warm.

Nothing new to report today. I'm just waiting for warmer weather!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has had a safe and happy New Year so far. Here's a photo of what 2009, and actually the last month of 2008, has looked like for us. This is the road to our farm and I thought I'd take some pictures to remember how pretty it looks with all the snow and ice on the tree branches.

Monday morning on my drive to work it was -4 degrees and today it was in the 20s. We had more snow today and expect more later this week. We're hoping to drive down to southern Wisconsin to pick Misty up from another farm. After she lost her pregnancy this summer, we needed to rebreed her. I'm praying for good weather for our drive because it's no fun towing a livestock trailer on slippery roads, especially with a pregnant alpaca in the back!

I received an update from the American Alpaca Fiber Federation recently about the denim show in Paris. It sounds like there was a tremendous interest in the alpaca denim product with over 70 mills, manufacturers, retailers and designers interested in samples of the new Alpaca Fiber - Cotton Denim! Stay tuned on this one... there is sure to be more good news as the AAFF follows up with all of these leads over the next few months. Did I mention that some of those interested in the product were top designers like Salvatore Ferragamo and Versace as well as Gap, Levi, Tommy Hilfiger, Old Navy and more? Very cool!

That's all for tonight. I'll plan to post again this weekend. Stay warm!