THE PACHA STORY
The Adventure Begins
After nearly 20 years of working in Insurance or tax (or a combination of both) we decided enough was enough and an escape from the rat race was put in motion. We had been coming to Branscombe on a regular basis since 2016 and this was enough to convince us that this was the place to be.
The general idea was relocate to the country, to a house with a couple of acres and then begin our version of the good life. So house bought, conveniently with a sizeable paddock and still enough garden to grow things, down we came.
The question then was what do we put in the paddock? The answer was Donkeys – obviously. Ever since I was small, donkeys were on the hit list however sitting in our new garden one beautiful evening, commenting on the peace & quiet we interrupted by the donkeys talking from up the valley at the Donkey Sanctuary. It was then pointed out that if we could hear them from 1.5 miles away, could I imagine the sound from 150 meters away? OK so maybe not. Not to be deterred from filling the paddock with some sort of lawn mower I very swiftly diverted to the next best thing – Alpaca.
So how difficult can it be to look after Alpaca? As it turns out, not very. They really are quite durable. So I put together a simple plan of 1 maybe 2 alpacas wondering around the paddock, looking pretty and munching grass. So off I go to the Blackdown Hills on the search for my very own field furniture, and this is where it all starts going slightly awry.
The alpaca breeder that I visited invited me down to visit his paddock to visit the females and my first sensation of standing in a field of alpaca was calmness. The herd was about 40 strong going serenely about their business, various alpaca wondering up to say hello with one individual snuggling up for a head scratch. I was immediately smitten and decided this was the way forward only to be informed that Alpaca must be kept in packs of 3 as a minimum and boys and girls must be kept separately. Then to add another spanner we were then introduced to Summer, a newborn alpaca – technically know as a cria. Another tick for alpaca, she was adorable. 30 minutes later we left the paddock the proud owners of 2 pregnant females, Reeya and Imogen, and a 3rd adult companion, Polly.
It was agreed that it was a little late in the pregnancy to move the 2 pregnant females and so they remained, with visits every few days. A week or so later Coca arrived mid-afternoon, a beautiful girl, weighing 10.3kg with no assistance from anyone and was proudly bought up for breakfast by her mum Reeya the following day. Cusco, a very cute little boy, arrived a few weeks later very early in the morning, weighing 8.7kg to first time mum Imogen.
Now the set is complete 3 adults varying in colour from chestnut to white, and 2 cria, one dark & the other white. The sight of them coming out of the trailer into my paddock on a glorious end of summer morning was quite surreal and so my ownership of the Pacha posse began.
It is a very strange feeling to take charge of a living thing with no prior experience, the learning curve tends to be quite sharp and the fear of messing up is always present and yet I believe that most people rise to a challenge and besides what would life be without challenges. Now my job is to learn the ins and outs, pit falls and the shear joy of alpaca in the following months which I would like to share with you.
Christmas Trees
When I first took on the alpacas they came from a big herd, with little 1 on 1 attention, just the monthly checks and occasional necessaries. It has taken quite some time, an awful lot of apples and carrots, to get them to the point of hand feeding. Now we have the opposite problem of the little ones expecting a treat every time I step into the paddock, but they are so cute it is hard to say no.
I thought I would do a little bit about alpacas in general, they are actually a camelid but originating from the alto planos of South America, predominantly Chile & Peru. They are closely related to the vicuña, llama and guanaco (in fact probably a cross between the llama and vicuña) and were highly prized for their fleece. They have a much more docile nature than the llama, who tend to spit at you as soon as look at you, which made them perfect for domestication and now a great pet. That said they are more like a cat in that once they have had enough of you they will simply walk away – or in fact just totally ignore you if they are not in the mood!
Their fleece is known as fibre and is similar to wool, but that name belongs to sheep so can’t be used for alpaca. The main difference between wool & alpaca fibre is no lanolin which turns out to be a bit of a bonus. Lanolin in wool is generally the substance that can provoke a sensitivity or an allergy, so with no lanolin this makes alpaca fleece a happy alternative for those of us who love a woolly jumper but find them unbearably itchy. The other great thing about their fleece is that it is incredibly soft and it is believed that it used to be reserved for Incan royalty.
There are 2 different types of alpacas the Huacaya (which are my lot) and the Suri. It is the Suri that provide the best fibre and look a bit like one of mine crossed with an Afghan hound! Personally, I prefer the teddy bear look of mine.
So why the Pacha Posse? Each herd in the UK has in effect a surname, so when I bought my females they already had a herd name, and those will not change, however the 2 cria that were born after I bought the mums needed a different herd name. Pacha simply means “earth” in the Quechan language of Peru, with Pachamama meaning Mother Earth, it just seemed to fit.
Another odd thing I have discovered about alpacas is that they love Christmas trees, not only do they love a nibble of the needles, they then flop down onto the tree and have a good old roll about, the 2 cria find this a great game trying to see which one get right into the centre of the tree.
Rain
Here is a weird fact, my alpacas don’t like rain! Although to be fair I don’t particularly like rain when I have to be outside, and nor does the dog come to that. I seem to have created fair weather alpacas, which I was warned about. Alpacas are designed in a lovely thermal waterproof way to withstand pretty much anything that the South American Altiplano can throw at them, and there is absolutely no shelter on these bare landscapes. Temperatures can get down to -20 °C and the rain or snow when it happens comes in horizontally due to the wind that whips through these high grasslands. Which begs the question why do I feel the need to tuck my little woolly ones up every night in a shelter with a lovely bed of straw to snuggle down into? Probably because I am imposing my sensibilities onto them or maybe I am just a push over.
This morning, in the pouring rain, I wander up to the paddock to feed them breakfast and make sure they have fresh water and plenty of hay but they seem to be missing from the paddock. Usually in the morning they are standing at the gate impatiently wating for breakfast, today it is so miserable I find all 5 warm and dry, snuggled down in their bed of straw. Very reluctantly did they leave their shelter for breakfast and as soon as they had finished Reeya heads back into the dry as if to say “there is no way I am going out there today”, so against my better judgement the shelter has been left open today for them to come and go at will.
There are those who say they that there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, which I do sort of understand, but give me a choice of a beautiful clear day or torrential rain I am going to take the clear day every time and it appears the alpaca are with me on this one.
I have had my little herd for a few months now and I am starting to understand, just like most mammals, they each have their own personality. They aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed, however, their intelligence varies from one to the other.
Reeya as we have established, does not like rain. She is a beautiful looking alpaca with unusual coloration and the most beautiful eyes, clam, gentle and probably the cleverest of the bunch. Her daughter Coca is gorgeous, she has an excellent fleece and calm temperament like her mother. Polly is the oldest of the bunch, lovely colour and is very obsessed with food although she is also very gentle with both the youngsters and will share her food bowl with either of them. Imogen is the nervous one, she is the youngest of the adults but likes to throw her weight around and thinks she is the head of the herd – but in a new situation will always let Reeya check things out first. That leaves Cusco. My little man, the only male. He is cheeky, bold and curious. I am not too sure there is a lot going on in that woolly head of his but is so cute he can pretty much get away with anything including breaking into the food bin the other day and helping himself! But at the moment the best part of my day is watching Coca and Cusco having running races, they have an absolute blast tearing round the paddock while the adults look on (although occasionally it has been known for Imogen to join in – she is only 2 and a half after all). Maybe I ought to think about entering them into alpaca racing….although I think my money would be on Coca.
Story time
According to the ancient Andean Quechua and Aymara peoples, the world was divided into two parts – the upper world, containing a small amount of short-haired, inferior quality alpaca belonging to the mountain god ‘Apu’, and the lower world, full of enormous herds of plump, long-haired superior quality alpaca that were tended to by Apu’s daughter.
In order to assist the mountain god’s daughter tend to the large herds in the lower world, Apu allowed her to marry a young herdsman from the upper world. Together Apu’s daughter and the herdsman lived in the lower world, until one day the young herdsman became homesick. He wished to return to the upper world and enrich it with the alpacas from the lower world.
Apu agreed, under the strict condition that the herdsman was to always take good care of the herds, particularly of a tiny alpaca which the herdsman always had to carry.
The herdsman, however, proved to be lazy upon his return, and one day dropped the tiny alpaca on the ground, leaving it to fend for itself. When his wife saw this she took fright and immediately ran to the nearest spring, where she dove in and began swimming towards the lower world. The alpacas followed her, although a few were prevented from doing so by the herdsman in his failed attempt at stopping his wife from leaving.
Ever since, the alpacas of the upper world have remained near springs and lakes. There, they continue to yearn after their mistress who, as yet, has never returned.
The myth of the origin of alpacas contains a basic lesson that is still understood by Andean herders today. In the beginning life was difficult, but by the grace of the mountain gods, alpaca herds increased. The world became fertile, and life for a time became leisurely. Mankind then disobeyed the gods’ wishes, causing the herds to decline so that now they must be tended to continually.
The myth explains why life is difficult today, why the future is beset with uncertainties, and why both the alpacas and the mountain gods must be treated with great respect.
This also may explain why Polly is constantly trying to get into the water trough and when the sun is shining & it’s warm she will splash around so much that most of the water ends up surrounding the trough she will then lie down in the newly created puddle. That said she is also a great sun bather and has mastered the art of positioning herself for maximum sun exposure.
New Addition
It has been relatively exciting month in the alpaca diaries. When I took on the alpaca I understood the boys and girls do not live harmoniously and once at a certain age they need to be separated. This doesn’t bode well for little Cusco (being my only male) so the options are sell him or find him a little friend. The problem is with cria is that they are with you a long time before to can part with them, unlike a puppy, which is generally 8 to 12 weeks, a cria is with you for 8 months, by which time they have wormed their way into your heart. He is my smallest alpaca, and probably the daftest but has a big personality, very friendly and a little cheeky.
So obviously the only answer is to find a little friend for him when I need to split him off from the girls. Enter The Jester, a beautiful “modern grey” of the same age as Cusco. I seem to be amassing alpaca of every colour variation, the “modern grey” is an odd mix of grey and fawn whereas the tradition “grey” has a white face and throat. As it turns out our new playmate is not very little, he is tall and gangly and a little goofy looking, but he and Cusco get on like a house on fire and spend hours hurtling round the paddock and spronking which has turned out to be terrible waste of my time as it is so tempting just to stop and watch the spectacle.
In addition to my new arrival I have been trying to focus on halter training, and walking nicely with mixed success. As it turns out girls (or maybe just Coca) are a lot easier than boys. Coca took to the halter and going for a walk like a duck to water, once the halter is on she is extremely docile and loves to be scratched on the side of her neck. She walks calmly and with a great curiosity for where we are going even when we left the paddock for the first time, she just took it all in her stride and is very much like her mother.
Cusco however is another story. He is very happy with the halter and to stand and have a head scratch but trying to persuade him to walk anywhere was challenging. He acted like the proverbial donkey, he just dug his heels in and refused to move, however like the aforementioned donkey, it is amazing what a promise of a carrot can achieve. This is all it took, and with the exception of the occasional bucking bronco moments (as previously mentioned he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed) when he remembers where he is, he is content to follow Coca.
Then comes Jester, already halter trained, but not so keen on wearing his as the other 2, also he can’t be bribed with carrot so with him it is just patience and the potential dislocation of my shoulder as he shies from some imaginary threat, but they are getting better and practice make perfect. So now I have them walking it is just a case of extending the walks further and further, but they are still young so I will increase the distances over time.
Sunshine
It must be said as field furniture there is divided opinion. On one hand they do look lovely strolling around the paddock, occasionally doing daft things and generally being cute. On the other hand they are absolutely useless lawnmowers, to the point, despite having 6 alpaca the paddock needs to be mown as the grass is getting too long. This leads to another odd fact about alpaca – an alpaca can starve to death if left in a field of long grass. They rather like the short cropped green stuff, with new fresh shoots coming through. However, the advantage to this I have found is that there is so much grass that they don’t eat the stuff they shouldn’t such as birds foot trefoil (which can give them a tummy upset) which means that we are still seeing a large number of butterflies in the paddocks. Obviously not quite as many as seen on West Cliff, however I am quite happy with my little collection of butterflies.
This month has been a continuing effort with halter training, and I have had various volunteers to help with the process as its so much easier with 2 people. It is also great that they meet and are handled by as many people as possible to get them used to people in general. Cusco is still being a little sausage, some days will walk beautifully for about 30 minutes, other days he is still doing the donkey impression and will only take 1 step for every carrot treat given – this could be an expensive walk and I could end up with an alpaca so round I could just roll him home.
Jester is proving to be a very lovely little chap, easy to put the halter on, will walk nicely when encouraged (no carrots involved, just a little chat seems to do the trick). He is still a little jumpy and will seem to start at odd things, such as a rock half buried in grass or his reflection in a car door. He did have a face off with some sheep the other day and as it turns out alpaca are braver than sheep.
Coca is a delight, not too sure about putting the halter on to start with, but once on she will walk calmly for as far as you want to go. She is curious and often stops to looks at a bird or a bit of moving water, I think she is probably the cleverest of the bunch, which she gets from her mother who is also gentle, curious and quite switched on for an alpaca. I would like to point out that alpacas are not in the same league as pigs or dolphin but ahead of sheep for example.
On another note I am still waiting for a visit from the shearer as my poor woolley ones are starting to get very warm under all the floof. I was actually quite concerned about Cusco the other day as I looked out to see him lying down with his head in a bucket of water, when after 5 minutes he hadn’t moved I was convinced the daft creature had actually drowned himself, so after hurtling up the paddock, phone in hand ready to call the vet, up pops his very soggy head. I was very relieved. This, it seems, it the new default and in fact a couple of the others have deployed a very similar tactic. Imogen, my beautiful white alpaca has managed to locate an underground spring and has worked the ground so much she has made her own wallow so is now a two tone brown and white alpaca – but I’m sure it will wash off when it rains.
By the next edition I am hoping that my alpacas all have grade 1’s – which could be an interesting event in the life of an alpaca and more so for an inexperienced owner!
Pregnant?
Much as I enjoyed the beautiful weather we had last month I know my little woolly ones are rather happy about the reduced temperature as they are still waiting for their haircuts. Unfortunately as my little herd is so small I am last on the list for the local shearer, which is quite understandable. On the downside, although they are completely waterproof they still don’t like rain, and they are now constantly soggy. At every opportunity Cusco sneaks into the food shed just to keep dry!
This also means that they aren’t quite as nice to give a neck scratch to, but it can’t rain forever and the paddock is now very green again. So although they now have fresh green grass to munch on this also means that all the stinging nettles, brambles, goosegrass and other assorted weeds are also growing like fury, which is not good for my badger wire. It seems that I am clearing weeds away from the wire every week now, usually after a very heavy downpour and all the weeds fall over onto the wire if the grass is not coming up under it thereby reducing its conductivity. This will be my job this afternoon as soon as it stops raining. Much as I love badgers, they do have the potential to pass on bovine TB to alpacas and therefore I try and keep them out of the paddock, however there is access round the paddock and in fact through the garden if they so wish. This also means inadvertently it also keeps out the foxes creating a marvellous bunny sanctuary which keeps Cusco & Jester entertained chasing them around the paddock.
Before I took possession of my alpacas last year 2 of the mothers had been mated in the hope that I would have a couple of new cria this summer. They are quite fascinating creatures in pregnancy and so beautifully adapted for various reasons.
An alpaca is ready to mate within 2 weeks of giving birth to her cria. She is presented to a macho (a male alpaca) and if she lies down then she is ready for mating. A week later the same hembra (a female alpaca) is presented to a macho and if she spits at him then she is pregnant, which I think is a marvellous adaption, however if she lies down then she is not. This is called spitting off.
Both hembras spat, and therefore it is assumed they are pregnant, or maybe just very grumpy. Now we have to wait for approximately eleven and a half months for the cria to arrive. Most large alpaca breeders will have their alpacas scanned as cria numbers affect their business but a small pet herd like mine is not worth it. Alpacas show very little signs of pregnancy even towards the due date, and will reabsorb the potential cria if it is not viable.
The cria can then be born any time between 11 and 12 months gestation, but this depends on various factors. Alpacas are weather watchers, if the weather is unfavourable then they simply wait to give birth when the weather is right, generally warm and dry. They are also very fussy on time of day, they tend to birth between 11am to 4pm, this then gives the cria time to dry off before it gets cold at night. As a general rule they only have a single cria at a time, twins do occasionally happen but unfortunately are not likely to survive although it has been known.
A cria should then be up and about within an hour, and feeding shortly afterwards. Alpaca milk is very different from cows mile in that it is low in fat which means that a cria will need to suckle very frequently, they will also hum to each other as a form of reassurance.
Reeya was due around the 9th July, and although we thought we could see movement from underneath, it may just have been wind as sadly there is still no cria whereas Imogen is due around 5th August so fingers crossed for that one.
Cria
I don’t think that my alpaca read the manual. So much for cross their legs and wait for a dry day, although the time of day was right.
By 20th July I had finally given up on Reeya being pregnant, so focus now turns to Imogen who was due about 5th August. So on a very soggy Saturday 22nd July, I pulled on my waterproof and strolled up to the paddock in the pouring rain with pockets full of carrots just to check in on them only to find the girls huddled together all looking at some red and round on the ground. As I walk over to investigate, think it was a plastic lid from a large paint pot or something similar I notice that it is steaming gently and is rather squishy – it turns out to be the afterbirth. As I scan the area there is a saturated, dirty little pile lying about 10 yards away. This turns out to be a very cold, nearly dead cria. Imogen is not showing any interest, so I collect it up at which point it moves its head – so not yet dead. Imogen still showing no interest, so I move to the shelter, grab a towel from the tack room and start rubbing – still no Imogen. That’s when I start calling (please bear in mind that this is still all new to me), first the breeder, Mark, who gives me 2 instructions, bring it into the house, and warm it up – he’s on his way. The next was to Lynn, who although doesn’t have alpaca keeps sheep, cattle & horses so must have a better idea than me!
Lynn was here in 5 minutes, by which time I had evicted the dog from her bed, and had the hairdryer pointed at the cria, who still wasn’t moving much. Lynn then suggested hot waterbottles, so carried on with the blow dry while I warmed up water bottles and wrapped them around the little one topped by a cosy dog coat and continued with the towel drying. About an hour of hairdryer work Mark turns up bringing with him an amazing box of tricks.
The first thing is a thermometer – 32 degrees – which means either the thermometer is broken or she should be dead. Another thermal cria jacket is now put on and she tries to stand, she is now shivering, which I am informed is a good thing as this means she is fighting. The next thing from the box of tricks is some colostrum (albeit goat – its better than nothing). About 4:30 (2 hours after I found her) she is strolling round my lounge on very wobbly legs and temperature is now up to 37.5 (normally between 37.5 and 38.9) so it is about time she met mum for a drink.
It is still pouring down so up we go to round up Imogen who really isn’t convinced she wants to come in, 20 minutes of Mark, Lynn & I running around the paddock getting absolutely drenched we finally get all alpacas into the stable, Imogen then starts to show interest but the cria just lies down.
Now it is my job to feed her milk from a bottle every few hours until she is strong enough to feed herself. I have no idea how farmers do it – I only had the 1!
Sunday she is still not nursing so around comes Lynn again and between us we point the little one in the right direction while holding Imogen still, amazingly she gets the idea within minutes and my bottle offering is firmly rejected.
Monday brings the vet for a checkup and plasma transfusion as a she didn’t get the correct colostrum in time, although she can’t believe how feisty she is now from the original photo. 2 hours later we have a little bit of sun, no adverse reactions to the plasma and its time to meet the rest of the pack. She didn’t need any encouragement as soon as the door was open she was off like a dingbat – it is quite amazing really.
So all my thanks go to Lynn and Mark who were amazing and little Lucha would not have made it without all their help.
Bald Alpacas
At last, I have bald alpacas! The shearer (Colin) finally came to call and what a brutal process it is. First we need to round them up and put them into a stable, keeping boys and girls sperate of course, which seems to take forever as they seem to know if I am rounding them up in the afternoon something bad is about to happen. Next step is the shearer turns on his music (quite loud rock) and then he and mate physically lift an alpaca up into the air and place them side down onto a padded mat. The front and back legs are then pulled straight out forwards and backwards and fastened to something solid – in my case gate posts. Then a sandbag is placed on the neck to keep the head still and shearing commences. It was quite amazing to watch the speed and efficiency of Colin and the way his assistant turned them over and rearranged their position as Colin went. I also couldn’t quite believe how much floof comes off 1 alpaca.
The first was Imogen (new mum) who, despite being my grumpiest alpaca, was remarkably well behaved. Then incredibly they shaved little Lucha, apparently this gives the cria a much better coat in the long run and is less likely to collect debris. The price you can get for this fleece is also quite amazing, all the more as she is white, which means it can be dyed easily if required.
The rest of the girls progress smoothly, although I am absolutely amazed that they managed to take Polly off her feet as she really is as round as a barrel and must weigh in somewhere north of 70kgs. The girls are they released back into the paddock and onto the boys.
Cusco is the first victim, my lovely little friendly man now becomes a screaming spitting banshee. You would have thought he was being murdered – and that was before the shearing even started. We needed to cover his head with a towel as grass green alpaca spit was flying in every direction and he was still making so much noise one of our neighbours heard the racket from 200 meters away and came to check he wasn’t being attacked by dogs or something similar! In the meantime poor Jester, who is still in the stable, starts to panic as he also thinks his friend is being murdered and then tries to leap the stable door, but he was extracted before he made it over (or hurt himself trying) and settled down with a cuddle and a bit of carrot. Poor Cusco screamed on, but as it turns out has the best coat in my herd and managed to fill 3 bin bags of floof, where the others made 2 each. Jester was the easiest of them all and didn’t put up any fight and as such was the quickest.
I would like to say that within 5 minutes of the shearing being over all alpaca were contentedly munching grass as if nothing had happened – apart from the fact that they were about 2 stone lighter and not quite so hot.
They do look very odd now, but the following day I caught them all flat out in the paddock sunbathing instead of seeking the shade of the trees, so it was all worth it.
I am also happy to report that little Lucha is doing very well, Imogen is proving to be a very good mum and the only time she takes her eyes of her cria is when Coca has taken over watching or playing with her. Coca has turned out to be a very caring aunty come playmate for Lucha and it is lovely to watch them although every now and then Lucha sees me as a plaything too and will run with me round the paddock which must look completely ridiculous but that definitely beats mucking out!
Floof
There hasn’t been much happening in the world of my little herd. They are really appreciating the lack of floof, especially as the temperature increased at the beginning of October. I am gradually getting used to their new look, and they are incredibly soft at the moment, but I prefer the full coat. I now have the problem of many bags of alpaca fibre (apparently called a “blanket” as opposed to a sheep “fleece”). The idea was I send it off to a mill to have it processed however it appears that I don’t have the correct herd number or make up. Most mills that process alpaca fibre prefer a minimum of 20 blankets, and all the same colour – so I have got a lovely looking bunch but what makes them lovely is the fact that they are all different colours, although I now have 3 white. So the next step is DIY, how hard can it be?
Google is an amazing place for information and sure enough there are full instructions, including videos on skirting, cleaning, carding and spinning alpaca fibre. I think I may have to invest in a few bits and pieces of equipment, such as carding brushes and drop spindles. Neither of which are too expensive so if it all goes horribly wrong, I won’t have lost too much.
If it all goes right I will then have to work out what to do with my yarn as knitting is definitely beyond my skill set, but first things first and besides what else could I be doing when the evenings get dark and cold.
On the other point Lucha continues to grow and is a lovely, gentle little girl who is very happy to come and say hello and have a good scratch. She has also reached that age where, like human toddlers, everything goes into her mouth. She has taken to chewing on fence posts, leaves, the odd bit of string but more commonly seems to enjoy chewing on my shorts and untying my shoes laces when I’m not looking.
The boys on the other hand are now turning into teenage hooligans. They are both vying for position of dominant male and spend hours chasing each other round the paddock, play fighting, spitting at each other and neck wrestling. They will then spend a huge amount of time at the fence line looking into the girls paddock honking to attract attention. To be fair the girls generally just treat them as annoying teenage boys and completely ignore them. I think, despite being the shorter of the 2, Cusco is winning the dominance competition, but this doesn’t stop Jester from trying and I often find clumps of white fibre blowing round the paddock where Jester has bitten Cusco on the rump to start a game. Fortunately for Cusco he does have the best coat so I don’t think he will go bald anytime soon, and little do they know that before too long neither will have the capability to make baby alpacas, but I won’t break it to them just yet.
The other odd thing I have noticed is Cusco seems to somehow recognise Lucha, and the pair of them can often be seen lying next to each other next to the fence, Jester is not interested in the cria and only shows interest in the adults. I wonder if this is something to do with natures way of avoiding family members cross breeding, it wouldn’t surprise me but I don’t think I want to test the theory so I shall just leave girls in 1 paddock and boys in another.
Vitamin D
Another month of not a great deal going on in the alpaca world. They fortunately didn’t get blown away in the storm, and in fact didn’t venture outside the stable over the 24 hours.
I did have the joy of trying to get some vitamin D into them earlier this month. Alpacas descend from high altitude creatures so as a general rule they are exposed to a lot of vitamin D, in the UK they can obviously get the required amount during the summer but during our damp, dark winters they need a little boost, particularly the cria. The Vitamin D comes in paste form & smells delightfully of strawberries (not sure why as I am pretty sure that strawberries wouldn’t have been in their original diet) and the general idea is you have to squeeze a small amount into their mouths. An oddity about Alpaca is even though some like a scratch and fuss they do not like being held and tend to avoid capture, but as soon as you place your arm gently round their neck they give up and will stand quite nicely. The next bit they don’t like, however nice it might smell, is stuff being put into their mouths. This is definitely a 2-person job, 1 to hold the other to squeeze. The other odd thing about the paste is that it is bright red, so very easy to spot which alpaca has been done as they now look like they very badly applied red lipstick! This is Immy trying to get rid of the taste.
Fortunately it doesn’t matter how cold it gets as soon as there is a bit of sun out come the alpacas for a bit of sunbathing and as far as I am concerned it is one of the loveliest thing to see, my little herd of alpaca taking in the sun in my paddock.
Winter
I am so pleased that the weather is finally pretending to be winter, my poor alpacas were very bored with the rain and spent most of the time tucked up in a bed of straw in the field shelters. Although when you think about it an alpaca fleece can weigh up to 10kg on its own – could you imagine all that floof completely sodden, it must almost double their weight!
Anyway the weather is now cold & dry, absolutely perfect for alpacas. The grass, due to the mild wet weather, is still looking amazing and still plenty to be had and I have noticed that they are now not really get through the hay which is perfect. However, I have realised that they are great composters. Not only apples & carrots they also love most of the vegetable offcuts, so any broccoli and cauliflower stems and leaves are a real treat and we have also discovered that the adore squash.
This summer turned out to be a very good year for growing squash (probably the lovely warm patch followed by gallons of rain, and in fact we trialled a couple of pumpkins in a large dumpy bag of garden compost & alpaca poo – you wouldn’t believe how many we got. This is now their afternoon snack, they struggle a bit with the skin but the rest, including the seeds, are very well received.
This also works very well to my advantage, on the occasions where I have to lock them in the shelter, for example a vet visit or the hunt coming through, they will now coming running willingly to the hardstand – it makes life so much easier and a lot less stressful for the alpacas.
Of course we are also at the time of year when Christmas trees are being thrown out – the alpacas favourite time of year, they go absolutely loopy for it although it did take Jester a while to work out what to do with it as he wasn’t with us this time last year. Which does make me wonder how good is their memory? The original 5 obviously had a Christmas tree last year and the knew immediately how good they are whereas Jester was slightly baffled and jumped every time it moved as Cusco was rolling himself through it or leaping over the top – this is Cusco actually midair!
And now the weather is finally improving it will be haler training time for my little Lucha, the first attempt hasn’t gone quite to plan, but at least she is on the halter and hopefully she will watch Coca (who is an absolute angel) and get the general idea.
Rain
I think I spoke to soon about the weather – it has done nothing but rain since last month, back to soggy miserable looking alpaca. I am not sure if they actually feel miserable, but I have noticed in the mornings that there have been arguments overnight – probably about best position in the dry. Poor Polly seems to be on the receiving end at the moment, I am guessing the culprit is Imogen, and is often covered in green gunge (alpaca spit) when I go up in the morning, that said it never seems to stop her throwing her weight around at breakfast.
Lucha still hasn’t got the hang of the breakfast bowl and instead of eating the contents will instead throw herself into the food bowl upsetting both the breakfast and the hungry alpacas. She seems to be oblivious to the telling off she gets from the adults. Strangely she never rolls in her mums food bowl. It is now easier to leave the bowl out during the day in the hope she can get it out of her system.
Word has also got round and my lucky floofy ones has been the happy recipients of 6 Christmas trees, including the large one from the Fountain head which means all 5 girls can happily munch together without bickering.
However the boys seem to alternate between best friends and arch enemies. They are starting to get very feisty with each other and are now split between munching contentedly side by side and fighting. I even caught Jester chewing on Cuscos ear today, but they are that age and I’m afraid this only means 1 thing – the vet is booked! Hopefully they will calm down and return to be the lovely cuddly alpacas that any visiting friends and family love. We were also visited by some smaller children a week or so ago and the herd reacted in very odd ways. The girls seemed to be completely freaked by these small things that were trying to feed them and originally ran away, however were happy to take treats once the little ones were raised up to adult height. I also noticed however that the boys were really gentle with the children, whereas Cusco can be very snatchy with me was a real gentleman when it came to taking food from a child.
Halter training has recommenced for the boys, and they have been for a couple of strolls, I just now need to extend the distance. They seem to remember from last summer, Jester was always nice to walk however Cusco was a bit of a stubborn mule, but once he was out of the paddock really seemed to get the hang of it and was quite happy to go for a stroll down the lane. Lucha seems to be following in her brothers foot steps and is not playing ball, but persistence is the key and I have a feeling that she may develop into a very good alpaca, so I may even try and show her this year, so halter training is a must.
The Vet
Well the vet has been – poor lads. Both Cusco and Jester were actually very well behaved for the vet, although probably because they had no idea what she was doing to them. That was a few weeks ago and I have started noticing a difference in them. They still play fight and Cusco is still top dog, but they play is more about running around than actual fighting and we do occasionally get spit off’s where they just stand & spit at each other – I’m not sure what this achieves so I just stay out of the way.
The most marked difference is the walking, Cusco has turned into a lovely willing walker, although still doesn’t like the halter going on, is happy enough to pootle down the lane once its on, although he now has so much floof I have needed to use a larger halter.
The other challenge was Lucha as she is now over 6 months old she needed to be micro chipped and registered. As it turns out the easiest way to contain a cria is make her lie down and then kneel over the top, but again she was very good and didn’t put up too much resistance. She is also growing well and I have had to swap to the next size up halter. Walking is getting there and will actually remain on all 4’s now as opposed to lying down, but when on the halter you really can do pretty much anything to her. She loves a throat scratch and ear tickles and is happy to give kisses if asked.
Jester is really living up to his name and seems to enjoy fooling around although sometimes I’m not sure what the aim is – this is his favorite thing to do at the moment and I have 3 possible theories:
1 – He wants to be blonde
2 – He is hoping to disguise himself as a straw bale so I mistakenly put him in the girls bedding
3 – He smells better this way
We also did have a little exciting moment for the girls the other day, a stoat was chasing a rabbit in the paddock, only to have a buzzard come down and grab the bunny. The girls were very excited by the activity and tried to join in and managed to chase the buzzard away, the rabbit then shot off which prompted a game of chase as Coca, Imogen and Lucha ran around the paddock after the rabbit only to be disappointed & slightly baffled when the bunny finally made it through the stock fencing.
The only excitement the boys have is when I rolled out an old carpet offcut (which I am using to supress the weeds round the fence line) which is obviously very scary, the boys are not the sharpest tools in the shed, but it did make me smile.
Falling Trees
Great excitement in the world of a creature with very little brain power this month, very sadly a 300 year old oak tree came crashing through the fence early one morning, fortunately it was raining which of course meant that they were all snuggled up in the field shelter so no squashed or escaped alpaca. The tree not only blocked the road it also took out the top of the electricity pole in the paddock so we had a whole day of various vehicles coming in & out of the paddock, lots of machinery making a lot of noise and more people in the paddock than any of the alpaca have ever seen so I hade some very skittish alpaca for most of the day. By the end of the day the road was cleared and power was reconnected however the bulk of the tree is still in the paddock which does mean that they do have access to some lovely new buds, or rather they did until I fenced the area off as the tree is still precariously propped and the gentle but persistent tugging by hungry alpacas may well lead to alpaca pancake. I think they will need to get used to the sound of chainsaws as it may take a few days to sort that mess out.
On a completely different note March was the British Alpaca Society National Show, and although I didn’t make it to Telford, I was watching the live streaming of the event whilst painting my lounge and it did open my eyes the world of showing alpacas, I am starting to feel that my little Lucha has a bit of potential and was slightly inspired by the live stream as I noticed that there were a few winners that had lineages in common with Lucha (and Cusco – although Cusco is no longer a possibility to show as he is no longer intact and to be honest the only way I could have ever shown Jester was as a comedy entry). My 1 big question is how did all the alpacas look so immaculate? I think Lucha may need a bit of attention first – please bear in mind she is supposed to be white:
So the day following the show I was up with my floofy ones prodding, poking and parting their fibre to see if there was any similarity to those seen at the show. Sure enough, in my opinion, Lucha, and Coca to a lesser extent, do have very nice floof. The bonus is Lucha is very happy to be handled and rather likes human attention. So after getting vaguely excited by the prospect I discovered that I need a minimum of 3 to enter and the only other one that is even close to show level is Imogen (Lucha’s mum) and she hates me! So I think I will have to wait until next year, however I will have the opportunity to show alpaca at the Devon county show in May as I have asked to help out with another herd. This will hopefully not only give me a good insight into the basics of showing, what makes a good alpaca, the preparation required but also hands on presentation and maybe a lesson in how to keep alpacas clean!
Devon Show
So I now know what an alpaca is supposed to look like. Devon show gave me an introduction to the world of alpaca showing which was a lot easier than I expected. The first point is the alpaca needs to be natural, so no brushing, combing, washing, cutting or any other form of primping is required. The only 3 things that are needed are to ensure that eyes and tail area are clean and the toes are in order. The general idea is that when the judge looks at your alpaca and parts the coat it should look like it has not been previously touched – it is all about the natural perfection of the fibre, with points given for softness, length, crimp and all over body consistency.
Anyway the idea was to learn about showing by borrowing an alpaca from a herd big enough to enter at least 3. Mark, from Patou alpacas, suggested that I could show one of his boys to get the general idea. To be honest, not knowing what was expected, I was slightly terrified that I would get it all wrong and Mark would lose out on any potential medal. So Thursday morning bright and early I turn up at the alpaca tent at the Devon show – I still find it rather amusing that they are not with all the other animals, instead sandwiched between kiddy corner and the fun fair.
There are approximately 150 alpacas in the tent of all colours and both types haucaya (the teddy bear looking ones) and suri (which looks like a cross between an alpaca and an afghan hound) and there is a lovely chorus of gentle honking as they all talk to each other. It really is very charming and quite sweet.
At 9 am there is an introduction to the judge & all ring assistants and a run down of what is expected in the ring. Mark then introduces me to his boys that have been entered. We have 4. 1 black, 2 brown, and 1 fawn. I am showing one of the browns, a 23 month old called Comet, who turns out to be the half brother of Cusco and Lucha as they all share a sire called Snow Goose.
Once showing commences I watch from the sidelines to make sure I know what I am doing, only to notice that I am expected to show Comets teeth! Nobody had told me this detail, but apparently really easy & nothing to worry about – so in we pop for a quick lesson on how to make an alpaca smile. This could be interesting later on!
Anyway just after lunch the browns are up (they go in age order in separate classes). White coat is on, harness is set and we are off. The alpacas are slightly twitchy as there are a few too many dogs just outside the ring for their liking but there were no bolters, no kicking or any other type of bad behaviour. Comet did look stunning and behaved impeccably and I even managed to show his teeth when asked and as it turned out the judge agreed with me and we walked away with first prize in his colour and age group and then also awarded reserve best brown overall. It was very exciting and even though Comet is not mine I felt very proud and was really pleased for Mark (especially as I didn’t trip over my shoelaces, fall flat on my face leaving Comet to career round the ring as per my recurring fear).
It appears that Mark does have some lovely Alpaca, Saxon was 2nd in his class and reserve best black, Archer was placed 2nd adult brown, Comet 1st intermediate brown & reserve best brown, and little Rubin got 2nd intermediate fawn.
This has definitely inspired me to have a go next year with my own, I do believe Lucha has huge potential (but only if she can manage to stay clean) and I think Coca will do quite nicely too. Hopefully by the end of the summer my little herd will have increased and I will have 3 that I can take along to a show.
Weaning
My heart goes out to all those farmers with cattle that are affected by TB, not only for those animals that have been lost but also the stress of the retests to come. This has motivated me to make a major effort to clear the badger wire that runs round the paddocks and check all the fences, which appear to be OK. I appreciate that deer can also be carriers but unless I put a 6 foot fence round the entire property it is a risk I am going to have to take. So I spent a day in the gap between my fence & the undergrowth battling stinging nettles, brambles, goosegrass and horseflies – I have subsequently got through a tube of antihistamine cream. The wire is now completely clear, so should continue to give any inquisitive badger quite a shock if it gets too close and continue to deter them from trying to dig under my fence.
It also gave me the opportunity to prune back some of the trees that were over hanging, although Reeya does a very good job managing this currently. She is my tallest alpaca and as such can reach branches the others can only look longingly at, Polly has worked out that if she follows Reeya around she can grab a quick mouthful of leaves when Reeya pulls on the branch. All overhanging branches are beautifully pruned to a unform height.
Last month I decided that Lucha really needed to be separated from her mum, Imogen, as she was still trying to feed. I managed to split off Polly & Imogen into 1 field, with Reeya, Coca & Lucha in another. After a couple of days of honking to each other Lucha just attached herself to Reeya as her new mother figure and everywhere she went so did little Lucha. Poor Reeya was getting a little fed up as after 2 weeks Lucha was in her face most of the time, and Reeya, unlike most alpacas, likes her own company. Lucha however seems to be obviously to being told off alpaca style ie spat at and can often be seen sporting green sludge on her face where she has got in Reeya’s way. This went on for 4 weeks, which I was informed is the time required for the mother to stop producing milk, and the cria to stop demanding.
I think I may have to start writing my own rule book as neither Imogen nor Lucha followed the advice & as soon as they were reunited, Lucha was trying to feed again & Imogen was allowing her. So we are now back to separate paddocks, but this time Polly gets to look after Coca & Lucha – and I must say Polly is being an angel with Lucha so we may have to leave them like this for a while.
Anyway we are now approaching the time when I know if any of my woollies are pregnant, it never ceases to amaze me that these creatures are pregnant for up to 12 months and still don’t look pregnant to the day they pop. I am not sure how they do it as the cria are quite sizeable when they do appear, I’m sure there are many pregnant humans that wish this was the case for them! So I am still none the wiser as to whether I will be getting any cria or not this year, but I will remain on watch for the next month in hope and keep my fingers crossed.
And then there were 8
Quite an exciting moth this month, although not quite as exciting as hoped.
The shearer finally came and worked his magic, a little earlier than last year and just before the beautifully hot week we had so his timing was impeccable. I think I also got the order right this year, Jester first – because he tends to panic & then jumps out of the stable, which is quite impressive as his head only just appears over the top when standing. Fortunately for Jester as his floof isn’t as thick as the others he doesn’t tend to look quite as ridiculous when shorn and is still a handsome looking chap.
Cusco wasn’t quite as bad as last year (when a neighbour thought an alpaca was being mutilated from the screams), he did scream a little but didn’t spit at everyone & everything. Unfortunately, he was in such a bad mood at the indignity inflicted he spent the next 3 days taking it out on Jester by spitting at him & hogging the morning pellets and afternoon carrot treats.
The girls were so much easier, although Polly does take a bit of manoeuvring due to her weight but apparently not the fattest alpaca the shearer has come across.
Shearing did however present a problem, both Lucha & Cusco have really thick, crinkly good quality floof which means that they do tend to overheat, and their skin can’t breathe. This unfortunately leads to sore patches, which can’t be seen with the coat on, but as soon as its off both were left with some very sore patches. My poor alpacas were subsequently more purple than white (antibiotic spray) and smell very strongly of citronella (bug repellent). The sore patches are now drying out & clearing up with little ill effects.
The very next day, the warmest day of the year so far, Coca decides today is the day and goes into labour about 3:30. This is a start contrast from last year with Luchas birth & near death experience in the pouring rain. This is Coca’s first cria so I was a little nervous, but I was more prepared this year. Bags of colostrum to hand, plasma in the freezer, blankets & Iodine lined up, feeding bottles & milk at the ready. But I am happy to report absolutely none of it was necessary & at 4:10 in the afternoon out pops a little chocolate coloured cria weighing in at 8.1kg.
He was up and standing within 15 minutes and having a spot of supper within an hour. After a day or two I had noticed that the little fella was a bit of a sun worshipper, where all the adults would be in the shade (despite being sheared) he would be flat out in the sun, which is what inspired his name of Inti, Sun God of the Incas.
Rather sadly neither of my other 2 girls gave me a cria, despite Reeya looking pregnant & behaving pregnant, so unfortunately little Inti will just have to entertain himself as don’t have a little playmate for him. That said he has already discovered, much to my surprise, that Imogen (grumpy & bad tempered usually) will join his games & the pair can be seen having little running races round the paddock, so not all bad news.
No ear is safe
I am pleased to report that little Inti continues to thrive and grow, we had a small hiccup when he managed to get a case of Coccidia, which did upset his tummy for a while, although didn’t seem to stop him terrorising the rest of the herd. His favourite game appears to be hanging off some part of another alpaca – anyone will do, except mum. No alpaca is safe, poor Polly was having a nice little lie down in the sun and the next minute there is Inti with her ear in his mouth, but she just shakes her head like he is nothing more than an annoying fly.
Tails are also good and so far he has managed to bite everyone’s tail – except Cuscos. This includes Jester, in the adjoining paddock, who was happily munching away on breakfast with his bottom up against the dividing barrier when little Inti saw a very tempting tail just waiting to be bitten, poor Jester shot into the air, knocking the food bowl as he went and covering a very startled Cusco with breakfast. This then started an argument between Jester & Cusco, ending (as it usually does) with Cusco spitting at Jester and Jester gaping (a sign of a stressed alpaca) and looking very sorry for himself.
I have found it quite interesting that alpacas seem to be aware of family groups, so Lucha stays very close to mum Imogen and seems to know that Cusco is her brother so when she was smaller was often found lying next to him on either side of the fence. I also think poor Imogen is missing having a cria this year and every time Inti is feeding from Coca, Imogen is often seen encouraging Lucha to continue to “nurse” even though she does not have any milk, I almost feel sorry for her and more surprisingly, Imogen, the worlds grumpiest alpaca, seems to tolerate Inti, with him chewing her ear as she just continues to munch the grass.
Although his favourite to pester is Reeya (granny), Reeya is quite independent for an alpaca and will often wander off by herself, whereas the others will stay relatively close to each other. Little Inti, unless he is visiting the milk bar or chewing ears, tails or ankles is found following granny around, grazing side by side and she is very tolerant of him despite his antics.
I also managed to arrange a date for the girls just before the season ended, ideally you don’t want a cria after September as they won’t really have time to bulk up and grow the warm coat they will need for the winter. This year I have tried a different breeder who specialises in black alpaca so it could be an interesting outcome, especially from Imogen my white girl.
People spend a lot of time trying to achieve the perfect alpaca, which must have the right colour, posture, size and the coat must be consistent all over the body with a good length, crinkle and softness to the fibre. Apparently a black and white alpaca is the rarest colour and can sell for thousands, with white being the dominant colour in alpaca. Most breeders know the genetic makeup of their stud males and can usually predict what colour cria will be achieved by mating particular alpacas, in fact the breeder suggested which males would be best for each girl, but I will just be happy to get healthy cria.
However, as a bonus the breeder (who also happens to be an alpaca judge) did have a little look over Inti and seemed to think he had potential, so I might take him along to a show next year and see what happens.
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