I managed to finish cleaning and cutting the girls resting field today so once Paul got home this evening he whizzed round with the harrow. We have some rain forecast for tomorrow so if it arrives at least the field is ready for it!
Mum and I popped over to see Carol this afternoon, I took her some of the black yarn I have spun following Dave's carding sessions. We found her busy knitting in her summer house, I think Dave probably thought she would be doing a spot of weeding, but I won't tell if you don't.
She has been super busy with the knitting needles, I bought some lovely new pieces home with me. Mum has also been knitting whilst she has been here and I've told her she can't leave tomorrow until she's finished the pair of gloves she's currently working on.
The three youngest cria continue to gain weight nicely, Mimimus has now passed the birth weight of our 'normal sized' cria which feels good. He still looks really small though.
Oonagh now has a bag full of milk, she is at 327 days and is looking like she won't reach 347 which is when she birthed last year. The only other girl we have left to birth is Katia who is at 350 and not looking like she is in any rush.
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Monday, 2 August 2010
Walking disinfectant bottle
I seem to smell like a walking disinfectant bottle today. After it's trip out at the weekend I had to clean out the trailer, so out came the mats and dividing gate and in went the disinfectant and pressure washer.
Bio security is something we are very strict with, so cleaning the trailer inside and out after after use is a must. As it was bin day I thought I'd do that too whilst I was at it!
Next on the list was to finish off cleaning and cutting the girls previous field so mum and I set about it. It took us ages but my dad did come out with a cup of tea and a biscuit for us, although he wouldn't let us have five minutes rest to drink it. Carol (my knitting friend) has been witness to my dad's slave driving so she will vouch for me.
We haven't actually finished the job off as we ran out of petrol so I will have to finish off once I have filled the patrol cans - all very annoying as the sooner it is cut and clean the sooner it will begin to recover.
It is Chiquita's 3rd birthday today. I can't believe it is three years since Willow (her mum) and I were in a panic in the field. Willow couldn't work out what on earth was poking out her back end and I was worrying it was taking far too long. Chiquita now has a baby of her own, little Minimus.
Bio security is something we are very strict with, so cleaning the trailer inside and out after after use is a must. As it was bin day I thought I'd do that too whilst I was at it!
Next on the list was to finish off cleaning and cutting the girls previous field so mum and I set about it. It took us ages but my dad did come out with a cup of tea and a biscuit for us, although he wouldn't let us have five minutes rest to drink it. Carol (my knitting friend) has been witness to my dad's slave driving so she will vouch for me.
We haven't actually finished the job off as we ran out of petrol so I will have to finish off once I have filled the patrol cans - all very annoying as the sooner it is cut and clean the sooner it will begin to recover.
It is Chiquita's 3rd birthday today. I can't believe it is three years since Willow (her mum) and I were in a panic in the field. Willow couldn't work out what on earth was poking out her back end and I was worrying it was taking far too long. Chiquita now has a baby of her own, little Minimus.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
A treat for the girls and Mr Guinea
Well that is the end of another weekend and it's now August, can you believe it.
We have been busy moving animals on to fresh grass today, the rain we had last week has really helped to green things up and get the grass moving again. This morning after we had spat off Star, who spat off at poor Loki very convincing the recently mated maidens moved over the fence to the very lush looking fresh grass. This afternoon it was the turn of the main herd to get fresh grass.
As a treat for Mr Guinea being such a good boy at the show yesterday he got to mate Chiquita. Not until he had done four spit offs though, In true LMI style she went mad and proceeded to cover everything in a 3 or 4 meter radius green, including Paul, my mum and I!
Gabby our oldest girl doesn't believe she should have to do spit offs and glared at Guinea before he had got anywhere near letting us know that she had ovulated, as had Ursula and Veruschka.
Whilst Guinea and Chiquita were getting intimate Geena sat there hopefully. She only gave birth on Wednesday so she has a little wait yet but that didn't stop her asking.
Paul managed to get two of the resting fields cut in the hope they will thicken up as we had rain showers forecast. Unfortunately we had a very heavy down pout whilst I was cleaning the girls field and ended up soaked to the skin and didn't get it finished.
Paul was following me with the mover cutting the tall wispy bits of grass that they had left behind. I will have to finish that job off tomorrow assuming it's dry.
All the cria have been weighed today, with being at Kelso the last couple of days we hadn't done it. Everyone is growing nicely which is good, little Minimus has reached 7kg, that is a 75% weight gain in 2 weeks.
We have been busy moving animals on to fresh grass today, the rain we had last week has really helped to green things up and get the grass moving again. This morning after we had spat off Star, who spat off at poor Loki very convincing the recently mated maidens moved over the fence to the very lush looking fresh grass. This afternoon it was the turn of the main herd to get fresh grass.
As a treat for Mr Guinea being such a good boy at the show yesterday he got to mate Chiquita. Not until he had done four spit offs though, In true LMI style she went mad and proceeded to cover everything in a 3 or 4 meter radius green, including Paul, my mum and I!
Gabby our oldest girl doesn't believe she should have to do spit offs and glared at Guinea before he had got anywhere near letting us know that she had ovulated, as had Ursula and Veruschka.
Whilst Guinea and Chiquita were getting intimate Geena sat there hopefully. She only gave birth on Wednesday so she has a little wait yet but that didn't stop her asking.
Paul managed to get two of the resting fields cut in the hope they will thicken up as we had rain showers forecast. Unfortunately we had a very heavy down pout whilst I was cleaning the girls field and ended up soaked to the skin and didn't get it finished.
Paul was following me with the mover cutting the tall wispy bits of grass that they had left behind. I will have to finish that job off tomorrow assuming it's dry.
All the cria have been weighed today, with being at Kelso the last couple of days we hadn't done it. Everyone is growing nicely which is good, little Minimus has reached 7kg, that is a 75% weight gain in 2 weeks.
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Kelso Border Union Show
We have had a couple of busy days up at the Border Union Show at Kelso. It is a composite so the fleeces were judged yesterday and the animals on halters today and then the two scores amalgamated.
It all gets very complicated, but numbers were reduced due to the very strict bio-security requirements of the show committee, the show was only open to animals from a 3 or 4 year TB testing area which had had no direct or indirect contact with animals from a 1 or 2 year testing area. This basically meant that anyone that had been to another show this year could not enter.
Sandstorm, our junior fawn male came 1st which was great news as we have high hopes for him, and so did our stud Golden Guinea in the senior brown class. Loki (Adult Black) and Hughie (Gelding) both came 2nd. Tenzing came 4th in the junior white class - he did better than we expected, once he is a little older and his second testicle drops he will be castrated and sold as a very nice pet boy.
We met some very nice members of the public over the two days, shows are always a great excuse to talk alpaca.
After all the preparation for the show this weekend I am ready for an early night so please forgive me for this short but sweet update!
It all gets very complicated, but numbers were reduced due to the very strict bio-security requirements of the show committee, the show was only open to animals from a 3 or 4 year TB testing area which had had no direct or indirect contact with animals from a 1 or 2 year testing area. This basically meant that anyone that had been to another show this year could not enter.
Sandstorm, our junior fawn male came 1st which was great news as we have high hopes for him, and so did our stud Golden Guinea in the senior brown class. Loki (Adult Black) and Hughie (Gelding) both came 2nd. Tenzing came 4th in the junior white class - he did better than we expected, once he is a little older and his second testicle drops he will be castrated and sold as a very nice pet boy.
We met some very nice members of the public over the two days, shows are always a great excuse to talk alpaca.
After all the preparation for the show this weekend I am ready for an early night so please forgive me for this short but sweet update!
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Topped the grass and the scales
I have had another busy day which started off with a trip to the dentist for a routine check up, thankfully I got off lightly and needed no treatment - phew, I hate the dentist!
The first job on the list when I got back was to top the back field, so I'd got Paul to help me attach the flail before he went to work. It is far too heavy even for me to lift who can usually manage most things Paul can.
The girls decided to take advantage of an open gate whilst I was feeding Geena's baby, I'd obviously not shut the gate properly and someone spotted it and were straight through on to the the grass I was about to top. After well over half an hour of trying to shepperd them back with no success what so ever I managed to get some help from my neighbour.
After making a poo brick from the deposit I was left I got the field topped just in time for my parents arrival. They are here to keep an eye on things whilst we are at Kelso show tomorrow and Saturday.
The car is loaded with all the fleeces, score cards, manuals and everything else for the fleece judging is ready so hopefully Nick Harrington-Smith's plane will be on time and all will go according to plan.
The babies are continuing to gain weight nicely, in fact Layla (Willow's baby) is positively rotund at 19.34kg. It took Willow's first cria, Chiquita, nine months to get to that weight and Layla has made it in 8 weeks, which is great news.
The first job on the list when I got back was to top the back field, so I'd got Paul to help me attach the flail before he went to work. It is far too heavy even for me to lift who can usually manage most things Paul can.
The girls decided to take advantage of an open gate whilst I was feeding Geena's baby, I'd obviously not shut the gate properly and someone spotted it and were straight through on to the the grass I was about to top. After well over half an hour of trying to shepperd them back with no success what so ever I managed to get some help from my neighbour.
After making a poo brick from the deposit I was left I got the field topped just in time for my parents arrival. They are here to keep an eye on things whilst we are at Kelso show tomorrow and Saturday.
The car is loaded with all the fleeces, score cards, manuals and everything else for the fleece judging is ready so hopefully Nick Harrington-Smith's plane will be on time and all will go according to plan.
The babies are continuing to gain weight nicely, in fact Layla (Willow's baby) is positively rotund at 19.34kg. It took Willow's first cria, Chiquita, nine months to get to that weight and Layla has made it in 8 weeks, which is great news.
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Weight gains and buttons
Well, as I suspected giving Geena the Oxytocin has had no effect on her milk production. It was worth a try though, we are pretty sure that her mammary glands are not formed properly, as she has never managed to feed a cria fully herself.
She gets milk in her front two teats but the back ones are empty, so at least she has some milk for her baby. Despite mum's lack of milk her baby has gained weight on day one which is a first for Geena, it usually takes me a few days before I can get her cria gaining weight.
He has had four bottles from me today, Genna gets so stressed when you are trying to feed her baby it makes things rather difficult but by this evening she was slightly more relaxed. Hopefully this little chap will be easier to feed than Guassian Geena's previous cria, he never liked the bottle.
Minimus has now outgrown his coat I made last week so I have made him a new one today, hopefully after this one he will fit into the ones I already have, he is 6.3kg now.
Carol and Dave popped round this evening to bring some knitting, collect some poo, see the new babies and bring me some buttons a local woodworker has made. The are fabulous, I love them. We are now thinking very hard what we can use these prototypes for. I will keep you in suspense, you will have to weight until we have used them to see them!
She gets milk in her front two teats but the back ones are empty, so at least she has some milk for her baby. Despite mum's lack of milk her baby has gained weight on day one which is a first for Geena, it usually takes me a few days before I can get her cria gaining weight.
He has had four bottles from me today, Genna gets so stressed when you are trying to feed her baby it makes things rather difficult but by this evening she was slightly more relaxed. Hopefully this little chap will be easier to feed than Guassian Geena's previous cria, he never liked the bottle.
Minimus has now outgrown his coat I made last week so I have made him a new one today, hopefully after this one he will fit into the ones I already have, he is 6.3kg now.
Carol and Dave popped round this evening to bring some knitting, collect some poo, see the new babies and bring me some buttons a local woodworker has made. The are fabulous, I love them. We are now thinking very hard what we can use these prototypes for. I will keep you in suspense, you will have to weight until we have used them to see them!
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
White out of black, was that supposed to happen?!
Well what a day I have had today, so busy this is the first time I've actually sat down - still not stopped though.
I had to finish off my final bit of skirting for Kelso this morning as we were all gathering to weigh the fleeces today. Nick Harrington-Smith is flying up to, a hopefully sunny Scotland, on Friday so us weighing the fleeces will help speed things up slightly.
Kelso is a composite show so the fleeces get judged on the Friday with the animals getting judged for conformation on Saturday and the two marks combined to give the overall position. All very complicated but hopefully as numbers are low it will all be done in plenty of time this year.
I had been checking on Geena on a regular basis as she was looking likely to produce anytime soon and at 11am she was happy munching showing no signs what so ever. After making one phone call I took my fleeces out to my workroom and look out the window to see the cria all gathered round looking at something behind the hay manger - that can only mean one thing.
Back down the stairs, jumped the fence (don't tell Paul he complains if I don't use the gate) and in to the field to be greeted by a big white cria running round with Geena panicking in hot pursuit.
Geena is a real worrier so birthing time is always very stressful for her. She is humming constantly to him, yes it's another boy and he's white which we weren't really expecting. Although she has produced a white once before when mated to a white so it was possible.
Geena doens't get much milk so this year I have decided to try her with Oxytocin to see if it helps so I will keep you posted. I did give her baby a little extra colostrum from the bottle to to make sure he got enough - Geena was not at all impressed by this!
We also had a house viewing this evening so I had to try and find time to clean the house; thankfully we have plenty of cupboards!!
Whilst I was out checking the babies I took a few bedtime shots.
Ursula and Pearson
Imala and Wynfor
Chiquita and Minimus
Little Miss Irraquoy and Niveous
Monday, 26 July 2010
Fleece skirting
I've been putting it off and putting it off but it had to be done today, fleece skirting for the Border Union show at Kelso this weekend.
I'm never too sure how much to skirt as so many points are given for weight, take too much out and you can lose lots of points but leave too much in and you lose marks for consistency of micron, character, staple length and contamination. I think the Great Weston Region Fleece & Fibre Show have the best idea.
Anyway after a lot of deliberation I decided that if I took out all the contamination in Tenzings fleece there would be nothing left! His fleece looks like it came off an animal in two halves, one relatively clean for a cria fleece and the other covered in all sorts. I wouldn't mind but I spend hours trying to keep the fields clean.
Denise, one of our stewards for the weekend popped round to see what was needed of her, thankfully she is looking forward to it! It was also a great excuse to go and have a look at the girls and their babies, many of which came straight over to say hello.
Minimus and Wynfor have gained weight again today, in fact Minimus has now almost out grown the coat I made him last weekend. That's another job to add to the list; make a new coat.
Paul asked me to thank you for sponsoring him Dave, very kind of you.
I'm never too sure how much to skirt as so many points are given for weight, take too much out and you can lose lots of points but leave too much in and you lose marks for consistency of micron, character, staple length and contamination. I think the Great Weston Region Fleece & Fibre Show have the best idea.
Anyway after a lot of deliberation I decided that if I took out all the contamination in Tenzings fleece there would be nothing left! His fleece looks like it came off an animal in two halves, one relatively clean for a cria fleece and the other covered in all sorts. I wouldn't mind but I spend hours trying to keep the fields clean.
Denise, one of our stewards for the weekend popped round to see what was needed of her, thankfully she is looking forward to it! It was also a great excuse to go and have a look at the girls and their babies, many of which came straight over to say hello.
Minimus and Wynfor have gained weight again today, in fact Minimus has now almost out grown the coat I made him last weekend. That's another job to add to the list; make a new coat.
Paul asked me to thank you for sponsoring him Dave, very kind of you.
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