Saying Goodbye to 2011

Every year when we get to this last day of the year I feel a sense of relief and triumph.  Some years more then others, but getting to this day always gives me a feeling of success.  No matter what was thrown at us we kept going and worked together to find solutions and strength.  We learn over and over again to never give up hope and good things do keep happening.  This isn't intended to be too emotional, but 2011 did hit us with some unexpected events that we certainly would have been extremely satisfied to have not experienced.  However, sometimes these things show you the strength of your character, your relationships and determination.  Caring for each other, our alpacas, dogs, cats and chickens always pushes us to look ahead, there is no quitting or giving up.

We certainly had some highs.....

Our class of 2011 Moonshadow cria~

We had some lows with the loss of 2 of our most anxiously awaited cria from 2 of our Blue ribbon females bred to Snowmass Golden Victory.  Losing cria is a sad reality of raising livestock, some are just seriously more disappointing then others in the time lost and expected herd evolution.  Sometimes these are just hard lessons, you take your lumps, make notes to prevent ever happening again and move forward.  Sometimes there is just those random acts of nature and you have to accept what happens and look ahead.  Realities, lessons, whatever you call it, it never feels so good when it happens. 

A sad loss~

We said good bye to our sweet Abby.  It is so hard to prepare for how deeply a dog can touch your heart.  She was a great dog and we will always miss her.

Losing Abby, left us with 1 dog, B.A., and 1 cat, Oscar, in the house.  Our house was much too quiet with only   2 animals, we've always had 3 to 4 and that doesn't count when the barn cats used to like to spend their winter days in the house.  So for Christmas Eve we found a new little kitten we thought would keep the others company.  B.A. had such a good time with a visiting kitten, Raku Parker we thought he'd like a new friend to play with. 

Turns out Oscar is the one who got a nap buddy~

We also had room to rescue one of the many many dogs and puppies out there needing a good forever home.  Maybe taking on a puppy and a kitten at the same time was a little ambitious, but the house is full of playful life.  Now is the time of year we can dedicate more time to house pets before spring rolls around with alpaca shows, new cria, shearing and ranch projects.

This is Max, our adopted pup ~

Max wants to make friends with everyone~

So we say good bye to 2011 and are grateful to all the good things, friends and family we have in our lives.  We optimistically enter 2012 looking ahead for good things for all!  Happy New Year everyone, wishing you the best in 2012!

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice;
it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
- Winston Churchill

Spit Checks...

Here are some mom's cushing patiently waiting for a
date.  The cria are not so patiently waiting for their
mom's to get up!

Our sunny days and warmer weather are quickly fading a way.  It is time to wrap up our breedings for the year.  Even now, this is getting late in the year for us to be planning for October cria next year, which is really a bit later then we prefer.  Mainly due to the grey, dreary, wet weather, which starts here anytime after September.  The later in the year, the less dry, sunny days a cria has to stretch their legs, run, play and absorb all that nice vitamin D.  So no more breeding means no more receptivity checks...aka "spit checks".   This is where the anxious Herdsire, ready for his date, gets to go say hi to his potential girl for the day.  Alpaca Herdsires are generally ready to go with any opportunity.  Alpaca females will let you know when they are in cycle and ready to breed and when they are not very clearly.  We call this behavior testing or receptivity checking. 

Flirty young maidens~

This weekend will be the final spit checks of the year. Meaning, if all went according to plan, we have everyone pregnant that we hope to have pregnant.  If we have read the signs of receptivity correctly, we generally will obtain a positive pregnancy in one breeding.  Then we check for signs 7 days later, which we'll continue to do until we are confident the pregnancy is solid or we get an ultrasound done.  These are the days that poor unsuspecting Herdsire gets taken for a walk around the females, thinking he is there to do his business.  Their way of letting him know they no longer require his services is generally to run up and spit in his face.  Some of our females are more adamant in the message they send then others.  These girls don't like anyone near their hind end ever, which is tough in a crowded catch pen!  If a boy is around they will spit profusely at anyone in their way.  As long as you don't get in the direct line of fire, and do maintain some sympathy for the forsaken guy in the story, this can be rather humorous to watch.

Group of females all gathering around waiting for the Herdsire to get there~

We often have visitors new to alpacas ask us how do we tell one from another and remember all their names?  Spend any time around alpacas and you will quickly learn how individual they all are.  They are so animated and definite in their behavior you too can quickly tell them all apart.  So put me in the house looking out the window at a group of white alpacas, no I can't tell them apart just by looking at them.  However, there are definitely some nuances that are unique to some and I will be able to tell you who is who by those actions.  Knowing our herd as well as we do makes behavior testing even easier by noticing changing moods.  We do always confirm pregnancies by ultra sound, but by the time we have that done I can tell you we are pretty darn accurate and have very few surprises.
 
So at this point for 2011, who ever is pregnant is and if they aren't they'll be waiting until next spring to breed again.  Everyone is now spitting off that we expect to be pregnant, which is a positive sign.  This means we could have up to 14 cria born at Moonshadow in 2012, less any we sell before they deliver.  So there's been plenty of spitting over the breeding season to get to this claim, with less then half of those now confirmed by ultrasound. This is a pretty big crop for us in one year, 10-12 being more of our norm.  As much as we love each year's new cria, anticipating the next group is always just as exciting.  


A couple Golden Victory boys with future stud potential!



A couple other young guys hoping
to have a chance in the future!



It's amazing how quickly the birthing season comes and goes.  Doesn't seem that long ago that we were watching all the new cria arrive and have watched how fast they've grown.  From the first cria born in June to the last in September, you can see all the 2011 cria born at Moonshadow on this Flickr set.




















Repurposing at it's best on the ranch...

Our building arrives~

 When we first started our ranch we always said we were going to keep things tidey and not have "stuff" piling up around buildings and sheds like you see sometimes with farms and ranches.  Easy to be judgemental when you don't know what you are talking about!  Now after years of practical experience and too many times saying "I wish we still had that!", we have learned to appreciate repurposing items until there truly is no useful life left.  We have lots of great examples around now to show many items that have a new purpose far from the original intent.


Deb and Roger discussing "okay now what?"

One of our more recent projects has been the need for a good hen house.  Our hens spent last winter in a converted dog run covered in tarps, which was never expected to be used as long as it has, but it definitely has done the job.  So the new hen house started with a "free" 8'x12' shed.  All we had to do was get it off the truck in one piece.  The big buff guys who hefted it on the truck did not come with the delivery and getting it on the truck was much simpler then getting it off after its little trek through the country getting to our place.  With the help of some very good friends and ingenuity of our friend Roger, we did get if off the truck fairly intact.  You can read all about this little piece of the project here.   

alpaca fiber stuffed walls~

Once the building was safely off the truck and re-shored up so it sat as square as possible, we wanted to put some insulation in the walls.  We used 3rds from our alpaca shearing, which is the legs, belly and tail fiber that we don't normally use for anything and packed it in before adding our wall boards.  This worked amazingly well and you could feel the cooler difference inside over the summer and we expect the hens to be very comfortable on cold winter days. 

This is Richard, he and his wife Gloria
stopped by in their RV as Harvest Host
guests~

We wanted to install a window also, but weren't really sure how to do this the way this shed was put together...not to mention the fact that neither of us had ever done it.  We just happened to have an old window that we had picked up a few years back at an antique shop thinking we could use it for something in our little ranch store, but we never did.  As it also happens, the window dimensions fit perfectly between 2 studs....AND...as it had it, we had a ranch visitor who just happened to be a retired carpenter and wanted to help. 

In all, we have had some help with the work or donation to the project from many many good friends.  It has taken much longer then we ever anticipated, but only spending an afternoon a weekend and not even on a steady weekly basis does tend to drag out a project that grows with new things to add as fast as things get completed.  Plus we had a season of cria birthing, breeding, summer ranch routine, etc.  Winter is looming in on us quickly, the weather is cooling and rain is becoming too prevalent way too soon.  So with a final push a long weekend to dedicate to completing this it is finally finished.  I think I could write a book on every little thing we ended up doing to this little shed, but that might get boring to most.  I am more of a visual person and have documented our progress as best as possible through photos and uploaded them in this set.  It is amazing to see the transformation and seasonal changes since the shed was first delivered.  I love that we were able to utilize so many items that were scraps, salvage or donations to the cause.

The hens are now in their new home just in time for our first flurries of snow and cold cold frozen temps.  We also learned that though the hens loved coming down to check on what we were doing while we were working on it, they weren't too keen on being rehomed themselves.  After a week they are settling in and we no longer have to go on a daily egg hunt to find out where they've hidden their eggs for us!

Before & After....in the beginning I admittedly had some doubt of
what we would end up with....in the end, I couldn't be happier with
the results!

The Milk Thief...

Our first breech baby, this is Tulio, doing
very well at about 6 wks old here~

Most alpacas moms are excellent mothers and produce plenty of milk to sustain their cria.  Seems like there always has to be one in every crowd that needs to be different.  We have one mom whose milk is a little slow to come in and we have always supplemented her cria with a little bottle feeding for the first few weeks.  This year, that mom also happened to have our first breech delivery ever.  Her little guy started out additionally challenged from the start coming out backwards his rear legs were a little weak and he was a bit wobbly.  We were prepared to supplement feeding again, but he would have nothing to do with a bottle.  There is a point where forcing this can do more harm then good and he was getting some milk from mom so we decided to let nature take its course.  For the first week he gained about .2 lbs per day, typically we like to see a half to a full pound weight gain.  This little guy seemed to be a fighter from the moment he was born and when it came to getting enough nourishment he took matters into his own hands so to speak.

A fuzzy phone pic, but best proof of our
dual nursing dam~

Our next cria was born about a week later to a first time mom.  Sometimes new moms will do things other more experienced moms won't tolerate.  She was a great mom to her new cria from the start, let her nurse, had plenty of milk and was very nurturing.  Our little breech boy bonded with her new cria immediately.  He also learned if he could sidle up next to the new girl when she was nursing he could sneak in and get a little for himself!  It is extremely rare for an alpaca mom to let any other cria nurse.  Some don't even like other cria around when theirs is nursing.  So to watch our little milk thief get away with it was rather humorous, plus we were thrilled to see him getting a little extra to drink.  We didn't think this would last, but instead the new mom seemed to start accepting him and just let it continue.  Her cria didn't seem to be lacking, it didn't seem to be taking too much of a toll on her so it was truly all good. 

Well we all know good things don't always last.  After a couple weeks something clicked and she seemed to realize none of the other moms were sharing their milk with other cria.  We had been hoping we might have one of those gems who tolerate being surrogate moms, but no, she started to kick him off.  Knowing where the milk bar is isn't an easy habit to break.  He is constantly at the side of this mom's cria and she seems to help him sneak a drink whenever possible.  It still makes us smile when we see him get away with it, his sneakiness and persistence is a marvel. 

The dam is Patience, the black cria is her cria, Trinity.  Here is Trinity on
the lookout while her buddy Tulio sneaks a drink.

Trinity warning Tulio, drink fast she's catching on!

Busted!

Out of luck~

One more try~

Game over!

A Working Ranch...

 

These little faces are great motivation in keeping everything
on a working ranch moving forward!


I have really always liked the sound of being a "working ranch".  It never occurred to me when we started just what exactly that meant and that what it really meant to me would change over the years.  By next spring we will have owned alpacas for 10 years and there have certainly been a lot of changes that have influenced what that does mean to us.  What it really means is that YOU are working all the time!  Whether we see the signs in the weather and scenery telling us the seasons are changing, we always have our seasonal events to care for the alpacas and keep the ranch working.  Fall seems like the biggest scramble in preparation for winters, which seem to be more unpredictable in harshness and length every year.  So for the ranch to keep working through winter we need to bring in hay, for our herd we like to put 12 tons, which we need to creatively fit into our space only designed for 3!  This is also the final push to have all the shelters prepared, fields mowed and any other required pasture maintenance.  For the house, this is also the time we bring in firewood, our preferred heating method over the oil furnaces in our old house.  This is typically about 8 or more cords per year.  We have evolved our methods of dealing with this daunting task every year.  The cost of split wood has risen so drastically, we now have logs delivered.  Luckily we have good friends that like to come over and work with us, and a wonderful neighbor with a super duty splitter he lets us use!

Last year's log pile, this year's was just delivered yesterday.  Never thought
looking at a pile of logs in my driveway would make me so happy!

Then there are all those other ongoing projects that need to get done, though fortunately, they don't happen every year.  This year one of those has been to clear out some really over grown trees at the front of our house.  We assume these were all planted when the house was built, now going on 40 yrs ago.  We hadn't quite intended to do as much, but sometimes once you get started the project just seems to grow as you go.

View from the field.  The hen house is in progress, as well as the garden, you
can barely see much of the house from the field...until now~

Our growing mountain of debris, still more to add before the chipper comes, the
pile is growing to a daunting size! We'll use what we can for firewood and
 chip up the rest for ground cover.  It's great to be able to see out to the
fields from the front of the house!

We finally got our garden boxes planted this year with 3 years worth of alpaca poo compost.  It was a little experimental to see what responded best in such rich soil.  We learned radishes don't like a high nitrogen soil and they grew like crazy into trees on top and very little radish below, which were like tree bark.  It also seemed a little rich for the lettuce we planted, or we just need to learn to stagger planting so it's not ready to harvest all at once and then goes to seed before you can use it.  Sugar snap peas, green beans, cucumbers, green onions, tomatoes and strawberries grew like crazy.  So crazy we realized we really need to allow more room and be prepared for such a huge harvest!

Our garden boxes September 2011

Hunter, one of the barn cats, will be very happy when the
new hen house is completed.  He is really getting tired of the
hens invading his napping perch in the hay~

I could go on and on because the work truly does never end!  However, there is great return for the work that is done.  Our goal is to be a sustainable farm, where we can support our herd, ourselves and this lifestyle we love.  We are constantly trying to stretch our imagination in re purposing items and having multi-purposes for our fields, what we raise and how we can keep the cycle moving forward to sustain us, our herd and our ranch in the future.  Though it's not for the faint of heart, there are tough times and hard lessons to learn sometimes that happen regardless of preparation.  With all that we learn it just helps us for the next step forward.  I can't think of any better ways to be rewarded by the work and effort put out!

As the summer days come to an end

Okay, so it's been a few weeks since my last post.  Seems like the more there is going on the less time there is to sit down and write about it.  Since the last update we have had 4 more cria, taken down 7 trees around the front of our house, trying not to bury ourselves in tree debris in the process and made some major effort on getting the new hen house ready for winter.  We were already seeing the summer days wrapping up and looking around at all that needed to be done in preparation for winter so we've definitely been on a major push.

The exciting events, of course are always the birth of a new addition to the herd.  These last 4 that were born are the final 4 of the 2011 crop.  The start of this final push was this little guy...


Tough beginning, but he's not phased at all!

 We've had around 90 cria born now and we had our first breech baby.  He was not only aimed with his rear headed out, but also had his legs positioned forward.  We have an amazing friend, Gina Martin of Mak-Ky Corral Alpacas, who prides herself in resolving challenging deliveries and was close by.  We knew we had a female in labor who wasn't progressing, but we couldn't tell exactly what the problem was.  We also had our friends J&J over who had never seen an alpaca delivery.  So with all this help, as well as Gina's son Kyler and his girlfriend, we managed to get the mom up over a bail of hay so Gina had the best angle and helping getting this cria out.  The biggest concern with a breech is getting that baby out quickly once the umbilical breaks so they don't suffocate.  I won't go into all the graphic details, but I know we were all feeling very sympathetic for the mom, Serenade, that the amount of stretching she was having to endure was beyond any expectation of motherhood!  Gina was definitely the hero of the day and we so appreciate everyone else that was there to help.  So after a majorly stressful start to life, the picture above is after almost 2 weeks.  He is doing great and getting stronger every day!

We've definitely had some of our firsts, and with all luck, our only experiences in some extreme birthing challenges this year.  So having those normal, no worries, typical alpaca births are always appreciated.  Monday we had a double header.  Deb hadn't gotten all the last due soons moved into the same field yet and got her work out with 2 moms, in 2 fields, go into labor back to back.  Fortunately, they timed it nicely so the first to hit the ground was thriving, sitting up and working at getting on her feet, while Deb ran to check on the mom in the next field.

This is Patience with her new girl.  She is just adorable and is certainly worth
the long wait it's been for her to finally arrive~

Beautiful medium rose grey, this guy is already quite macho!
Over 20 lbs @ birth and gaining over a lb a day~

Then to cap off the 2011 birthing season, the final cria was born Thursday.  No one was even home for this birth from one of our tried and true moms, Whitney.  She is the example of those proven moms who have their cria on their own and they are up and nursing before anyone knows they are here.  So far this last guy born is the only one with a name yet, for some reason Black Bart has been in my head if Whitney were to have a black boy....I know I should have been thinking girl names!  Though he is cute as a button and sweet as ever.



Moonshadow's Black Bart



We have the final 4 separated from the other cria just until they are ready to run and play with the big guys.  They are the friendliest little group we've had together, not minding saying hi and giving little cria kisses.  So this concludes the new additions and cria watch is officially over for 2011.  This year has definitely had some ups and downs, but we focus on those beautiful cria that we have with us and start looking ahead to next year's show season and the next crop of cria, while we watch these grow up and fill out with all that gorgeous baby alpaca fiber. 

Cria Shearing

Friday we got our first crop of cria sheared.  They ranged in age from just over 2 months old to just shy of 3 weeks old.  We like to do this around 3-4 weeks old, but then waiting for a group to all get done together some do get older then the ideal.  The purpose of shearing the cria is to get the tips of the fiber that have been touched by amniotic fluid off.  These tips tend to get a bit like split ends and will end up collecting bits of hay like Velcro.  If we wait until the following year for the first shearing to be done with the rest of the herd, it is not unusual for a not "tip sheared" alpaca to become rather hay encrusted.  This virtually ruins that first fleece from an alpaca, which is generally the softest and finest of their fleeces.

Cria are shorn using a table and are very gently restrained~

This is Monique, she may not be too sure about what is happening, but she
is safely secured to minimize any risk of getting hurt during her haircut~

Getting these tips shorn off will help their fleece remain relatively vegetation matter free as adults.  Most hay or leaves or grass will easily dust off the cut ends of alpaca fleece.  It also ensures a much nicer product when processing the shorn fleece from next year's shearing.  This first fleece is so fine and soft, it is the fineness that will be referred to as royal baby fine and is the most exquisite to wear next to your skin.

This is Klondike, he handled his haircut with ease~

For final touches and trimming up chest hairs, they need
to be up on all fours to make sure everything is even and
no wild hairs are left behind~

During cria shearing is also when we'll insert microchips for identification and take blood draws for DNA testing for registration into the Alpaca Registry, Inc.

Monique, Golden Treasure & Klondike all showing off their
new haircuts~

We sheared 5 cria and they all handled it wonderfully.  Our friends Gina Martin from Mak-Ky Corral Alpacas and Kelli Cronn from Four Seasons Farm Alpacas do a awesome job!  You wouldn't think these young cria would have that much fleece, but some are born with an amazing amount of fiber.  During this warm weather they have been pretty warm in their alpaca coats and I think very much appreciative of feeling the cool breeze once it was cut off.

Vacation in Paradise

As much as we love the alpacas, I have to say it is all too rare that we get an opportunity to "get away from it all".  It's been a bit long since I've posted because we've been in Northern Idaho paradise with no internet or cell coverage.  It might make me a bit antsy to be so disconnected, but getting over that initial "hmmm, how can I handle this?" it was absolutely glorious!

Our view from the motor home for a week~

Seems like most of the time we get away from the ranch it is somehow still alpaca related.  It was wonderful to get away and visit a good friend who lives on a 150+ acre ranch, surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery where ever you look.  Of course, we don't ever seem to get too far away from alpacas.  Our friend also has a herd of fiber boys that get to graze peacefully and roam as free as alpacas can get in the US on this open land.  There are also horses, llamas, sheep, goats, cows and a yak.  So in addition to our getaway vacation, we also brought a few boys to add to her fiber herd and deliver some females to another farm in Idaho to add to Eden Criations breeding program.

Alpacas coming across the field to say hi~

We had a great time and as vacations tend to go, the time flew by way too fast.  We have some great memories, thoroughly enjoyed our down time of walks in the woods, fishing in the lake and enjoying great company.

One of the llamas that was out for a walk on his own one afternoon~

Our dog, B.A. out to greet the horses, they weren't too interested in
the small visitor~

I don't know how anyone could ever tire of the peacefulness and
beauty of this landscape~

We saw lots of little fish along the shore and Deb got an opportunity to fish and catch several, we don't have any of those "you can't believe how big" fish stories to share.  Catch and release small mouth bass and let them grow bigger for next year.  Maybe then we'll get a big fish fry to cap off one of the best week's of the year!


 This may not be what everyone thinks of paradise, but we certainly do.  A week away from work, technology, chores and activities of running a ranch in this gorgeous setting will always be a paradise for us. 

To see more pictures check out the Northern Idaho set on Flickr.

This week's high...

Tuesday we had another new cria.  This was a rather exciting cria being 100% Moonshadow, from Moonshadow's Olivia and Moonshadow's Revolution's Patriot.  It is also the first cria born here for our good friends Janice and Jeremy.

Alpaca mom's are always so nurturing, nuzzling and encouraging their cria~

Not only are the moms always so loving and attentive with their cria, but it seems like the dads are just as interested.  We have noticed that if the Sire of a newborn is onsite, they seem to know the new addition is one of theirs.  Seems like the Herdsire of the newest born is always the one spending the most time trying to look across fence lines as if to check out what they've produced.

That dark guy behind the fence and tall grass is Patriot checking out
his newest offspring~

I have to say this new young cria is the spitting image of his dad, just in a luscious shade of brown instead of black.  He is strong, healthy and thriving from the moment he came out.  It is always great to have a proven mom deliver and take care of her cria with no worries or intervention from us.  Definitely a great way to pick up spirits from events of the previous week.  Looking ahead to each new cria is absolutely the high side of raising alpacas!