After a couple days of seemingly non-stop rain and wind, we have a nice dry breezy day. Temperatures are only in the 40's today, but at least it's not raining.
All of the alpacas and llamas are taking advantage of this opportunity to get out and graze. Most didn't like the rain and opted to stay inside and wait out the wet weather. I felt the same way, but I still had to endure the sloppy rain to get chores done. Not much planned for today, but we'll see what tomorrow holds.
Enjoy your weekend!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Protecting our investment
On Sunday, we gave Ivermectin shots to all of our female llamas and alpacas as well as a couple of boys who are inside the barn. This coming weekend, we'll finish up this round of shots with our group of older boys. We do this regularly to protect our herd from meningeal worm (sometimes called "brain worm").
Meningeal worm is a parasite that is carried by white tail deer and passed in their feces. It can be spread to alpacas and other animals by slugs that feed on the deer feces. An alpaca, llama or other animal that is grazing in the pasture may injest one of these infected slugs while eating grass. Once the parasite is inside the body, it can make its way to the brain stem and cause neurological damage to the animal. Signs to watch for are instability or wobbliness in the animal's back legs and difficulty standing up or laying down. If it isn't treated quickly, the animal will die. On the bright side, animals who are diagnosed and treated quickly can survive and be productive members of your herd. Preventive care is the best way to ensure that none of your animals will become infected.
Ivermectin is effective for about 30 to 45 days. We could also use Dectomax instead of the Ivermectin. The Dectomax is effective for 45 to 60 days. Both are given "Sub Q" which means we inject the needle just below the skin rather than into a muscle.
The main reason we use Ivermectin instead of Dectomax is that it is readily available at our local Tractor Supply Store and is usually more cost effective. However, it's easy to order Dectomax online and it's more convenient since we don't have to use it as often as the Ivermectin.
It's important to know the weight of each of your alpacas and llamas in order to give the proper dosage of any medications. We have a livestock scale in our barn and it is one of the most important tools we own as far as our animals are concerned. Be sure to consult your veterinarian for more information or for any questions regarding dosages for your animals. Also, an excellent resource that we refer to a lot is the Alpaca Field Manual from C. Norman Evans, DVM. This book has great photos and information that has been very helpful to us.
The internet has a wealth of information to help you properly care for your animals whether you are a new or experienced alpaca owner. Be sure to research all that is available to you to ensure that your animals stay healthy and productive!
Meningeal worm is a parasite that is carried by white tail deer and passed in their feces. It can be spread to alpacas and other animals by slugs that feed on the deer feces. An alpaca, llama or other animal that is grazing in the pasture may injest one of these infected slugs while eating grass. Once the parasite is inside the body, it can make its way to the brain stem and cause neurological damage to the animal. Signs to watch for are instability or wobbliness in the animal's back legs and difficulty standing up or laying down. If it isn't treated quickly, the animal will die. On the bright side, animals who are diagnosed and treated quickly can survive and be productive members of your herd. Preventive care is the best way to ensure that none of your animals will become infected.
Ivermectin is effective for about 30 to 45 days. We could also use Dectomax instead of the Ivermectin. The Dectomax is effective for 45 to 60 days. Both are given "Sub Q" which means we inject the needle just below the skin rather than into a muscle.
The main reason we use Ivermectin instead of Dectomax is that it is readily available at our local Tractor Supply Store and is usually more cost effective. However, it's easy to order Dectomax online and it's more convenient since we don't have to use it as often as the Ivermectin.
It's important to know the weight of each of your alpacas and llamas in order to give the proper dosage of any medications. We have a livestock scale in our barn and it is one of the most important tools we own as far as our animals are concerned. Be sure to consult your veterinarian for more information or for any questions regarding dosages for your animals. Also, an excellent resource that we refer to a lot is the Alpaca Field Manual from C. Norman Evans, DVM. This book has great photos and information that has been very helpful to us.
The internet has a wealth of information to help you properly care for your animals whether you are a new or experienced alpaca owner. Be sure to research all that is available to you to ensure that your animals stay healthy and productive!
Monday, October 19, 2009
What's in a name?
We recently named our newest cria, born nearly a month ago. I wanted to call him "Monster" because he's been gaining weight and growing like crazy, but I was voted down. About a week or so ago, we officially began calling him "Matthias" (pronounced muh-tee'-us). Here is the big guy above in the cria coat, hanging out with the ladies on this sunny morning in October.Any fans of 1980's-era rock music may sense a theme with the names of some of our boys. Matthias and Nuno are both names of guitarists that we admired "back in the day." I'm not sure if we will be keeping with this theme for future alpacas born at Hidden Pond Farm. We just sort of chose these names because we like them, not to intentionally name them after musicians.
Actually, Francis Bean is also a name I borrowed from the rock music world for our huacaya female born last year. (The real Francis Bean is the daughter of the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and musician/actress Courtney Love.) I liked the name because my grandmother's name was Francis and I thought "Bean" was cute because we alpaca farmers always refer to a natural alpaca byproduct as "alpaca beans." And since I'm on the subject... our suri male HPF Iggy was actually named after our grandfather Ignatius and not after musician Iggy Pop.
There really is no rhyme or reason as to what we name each alpaca born at our farm. I tried to be creative in the beginning, but now we all kind of brainstorm and try to find a name that everyone likes. If it takes three weeks or more to choose the name we all feel is right for that cria, then so be it. Each and every one of our alpacas is unique and their personalities are very different. We try to select a name that each one of them will be happy living with for the rest of their lives. They all seem to be very happy so far, so I guess we're doing alright.
Have a great day everyone!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
A snowy fall morning
So on Monday I wrote that we were getting some snow flurries. After I posted the blog, the weather started looking a lot more snowy and wet! Here is a photo of Rico and Nuno checking out the snow on the ground on Tuesday morning. In the background you can see that the leaves on the trees are still working on changing colors.Normal temperatures for us this time of year should be around the 60's, although last year at this time we had temps around 80 according to last night's weather report. This week, we've been waking up with temps in the 30's and then warming up to the 40's during the day. So much for global warming!
All the snow you see in the photo was melted by this afternoon, but there is more rain and snow forecasted for the rest of this week. The alpacas were busy grazing today to make sure they get their fill of green grass before winter sets in. There were sunbathers, too, taking advantage of the sunny afternoon now that the days are getting shorter.
Have a great day!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Winter preparation
We've started having snow flurries here in Marinette over the last few days. Not any "real snow" but just a few little snowflakes to let us know that winter is on it's way.
All of our alpaca and llama girls are in the barn so there's no big change for the winter except for spreading straw bedding around to keep them warmer on the barn's cement floor. The boys, however, are a different story. We have two pastures and shelters for our alpaca boys and the shelters need to be "winterized".
Winterizing the boys' shelters is not a very big deal. The older boys have wall panels that need to be put up. In the spring, we remove a couple panels on either side of the shelter to allow better air flow. Now it's time to put the panels back up to keep it cozy and warm inside.
The younger boys' shelter is a little different. We have an overhang that provides shade in the summer. In the winter, we hang tarps on two sides of the overhang to provide extra protection from the strong winter winds and all of the snow. This also creates an extra "room" for the shelter so the boys won't feel too crowded inside when it's cold and nobody will get left outside.
Fortunately, the alpacas are growing nice thick fiber to keep themselves warm in addition to the extra straw bedding and winter preparations that we do at the farm.
All of our alpaca and llama girls are in the barn so there's no big change for the winter except for spreading straw bedding around to keep them warmer on the barn's cement floor. The boys, however, are a different story. We have two pastures and shelters for our alpaca boys and the shelters need to be "winterized".
Winterizing the boys' shelters is not a very big deal. The older boys have wall panels that need to be put up. In the spring, we remove a couple panels on either side of the shelter to allow better air flow. Now it's time to put the panels back up to keep it cozy and warm inside.
The younger boys' shelter is a little different. We have an overhang that provides shade in the summer. In the winter, we hang tarps on two sides of the overhang to provide extra protection from the strong winter winds and all of the snow. This also creates an extra "room" for the shelter so the boys won't feel too crowded inside when it's cold and nobody will get left outside.
Fortunately, the alpacas are growing nice thick fiber to keep themselves warm in addition to the extra straw bedding and winter preparations that we do at the farm.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Mixing of the machos
We're starting to prepare for winter at the farm. One of the most difficult things about winter at our farm is keeping water from freezing and caring for animals in several pastures. Now that Leroy and Lucas are both over one year old, we decided to move them into a pasture with several older boys. This usually causes my motherly instincts to kick in and I worry about the safety of the little boys as they are introduced to the older boys' pasture. If you own alpacas, you'll understand what I'm talking about.
Male alpacas (called "machos") have to establish the pecking order in their pasture whenever a new male is introduced. We've seen over and over how the dominant males will clash and fight and the whole herd will chase the "new guy" around the pen. There is usually a lot of noise, including squealing and grunting, from several of the males involved in the chaos.
Fortunately, there was none of that at all this weekend. Leroy and Lucas have been living in the pasture adjoining the older boys' pasture for several months and they've all grown used to each other through the fence. As a matter of fact, Iggy, Rico and Nuno all stood together at one end of the pasture while Leroy and Lucas explored their new home. Later in the day, it started raining and all five boys laid down together inside their shelter and waited for dinner.
At feeding time, I was somewhat surprised to see that the youngest boys in the group took the first dinner dishes I put down while the oldest two boys waited patiently for me to set down the last two dishes for them to eat. This was the easiest transition we've ever had putting young males in with older males.
Prior to putting the males together on Sunday, we gave them all ivermectin shots. Although the weather is getting cooler, we'll still need to keep up our worming program to protect our alpacas and llamas from meningeal worm and other parasites. We'll complete our ivermectin shots on the rest of the herd next weekend.
In the meantime, we've been bundling up outside. Lots of rain and wind today! I miss the warmth of our short summer...
Male alpacas (called "machos") have to establish the pecking order in their pasture whenever a new male is introduced. We've seen over and over how the dominant males will clash and fight and the whole herd will chase the "new guy" around the pen. There is usually a lot of noise, including squealing and grunting, from several of the males involved in the chaos.
Fortunately, there was none of that at all this weekend. Leroy and Lucas have been living in the pasture adjoining the older boys' pasture for several months and they've all grown used to each other through the fence. As a matter of fact, Iggy, Rico and Nuno all stood together at one end of the pasture while Leroy and Lucas explored their new home. Later in the day, it started raining and all five boys laid down together inside their shelter and waited for dinner.
At feeding time, I was somewhat surprised to see that the youngest boys in the group took the first dinner dishes I put down while the oldest two boys waited patiently for me to set down the last two dishes for them to eat. This was the easiest transition we've ever had putting young males in with older males.
Prior to putting the males together on Sunday, we gave them all ivermectin shots. Although the weather is getting cooler, we'll still need to keep up our worming program to protect our alpacas and llamas from meningeal worm and other parasites. We'll complete our ivermectin shots on the rest of the herd next weekend.
In the meantime, we've been bundling up outside. Lots of rain and wind today! I miss the warmth of our short summer...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Misty's big baby!
It wasn't easy taking this photo of our newest cria this morning. The girls all crowded around him and protected him from the camera as soon as I took his jacket off for the pictures. We've haven't decided on a name yet -- last weekend we were calling him "Charlie" -- but I'm now thinking of calling him "Monster" because he's getting so big. I weighed him yesterday afternoon and he's gained FIVE POUNDS at only one week old. He was 14.8 pounds the day he was born and yesterday he weighed an even 20 pounds!
Our little monster is such a sweet, inquisitive and energetic cria and his suri fiber looks great so far.
This second photo shows all the alpaca and llama ladies crowding around "Monster" as I tried to take his picture. Seriously, he's in the middle of that crowd -- they even managed to hide his legs from me!While I was out taking pictures, I checked out a couple of the girls to see how long their fiber has grown since shearing them this spring. It's amazing to see how fast that fiber grows out. They are all ready for the cool temperatures of the fall and will have even longer fiber by the time winter sets in. Nature really does take care of these beautiful animals.
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