On the Ranch...

Where a decade can take you....

2012-02-10T11:53:00.001-08:00

Moonshadow Alpaca Ranch from our first 5 in 2002 to
a herd of 45 in 2012~

In February 2002 we were on vacation in the San Juan Islands and talking about our future, where we were going, what did we want to do, what would we change in what we were doing then? As we were touring the island we saw these beautiful green rolling pastures, with white split rail fences and the coolest looking animals I had ever seen! This was my first look at an alpaca or having even heard the word alpaca. Deb, being much better read then I, said "I think those are alpacas". The timing of cruising past this beautiful ranch, and having the conversation we were having at the time, set a ball in motion that I could have never imagined that day.

Part of our herd of breeding females in 2012

It did not take us long to make the leap into raising alpacas. It was really an exciting time in those first few years. So many new people getting into the business, sale prices and auctions were breaking records, shows were growing in size and competition. In the meantime, Moonshadow Alpaca Ranch was growing, showing, selling and evolving. It truly has been a whirlwind now looking back at how much time has passed and all we've done. At a largest our herd grew to 50+ alpacas, we generally maintain our numbers in the low 40's just due to space limitations.

Snowmass Matrix Principe

It seems now is the time to be looking forward to the next 10 years and refine our business plans and goals for the future. It was very exciting to start off the new year with our newest Herdsire, Snowmass Matrix Principe. Principe adds a whole new level in elite fiber quality to make significant improvement on the great quality fleeces we are already producing. So our breeding program is on track, we are just limited in room to do all we want to do where we are currently located. I always love how things can unfold when you really identify what you want to do and keep your mind open for those opportunities to make it happen. Timing is everything sometimes and now we have the chance to move our operation to the Hahnel family farm in Bellingham, WA. The foothills of Mt. Baker along the Canadian border, gorgeous country and scenery surrounding 49 acres to work with! It really is like a dream coming true for Deb who has always wanted to get back to the family farm she grew up visiting.

The thought of rebuilding the ranch always scared me in the past. Especially when it seemed like the projects building it never ended! Now, we look ahead with great excitement at all the possibilities this move opens up in creating the fully sustainable ranch we have been working towards. We will be working over the next 6 months to set up the new farm for alpacas and prepare for the move. Will keep our progress posted here on the blog.

Hahnel family farm, established 1932

I have to say I am more excited now looking ahead to the next 10 years then I was 10 years ago when we bought our first 5 pregnant females. That initial wonder and excitement of stepping into the alpaca world has developed into a sustainable plan based on the evolution of the industry and all those wonderful lessons learned...the good, the bad and the ugly! The best part always in being part of the alpaca industry is the wonderful people you meet, network with, get to work with, support and learn from each other. It is truly a community that spreads beyond local geographic boundaries!

Winter's Wasteland

2012-01-21T15:35:00.000-08:00

This past week we have basically been snowed/iced in. A major snow storm blew down to the Pacific NW from AK, then temps dropped and everything froze. Since yesterday we've had an ice crust layer over about 6-8" of snow and everything else is encased in ice. Beautiful to see in most cases, but cause of major damage to much of what it touched also. We will have piles of limbs, branches and debris to clean up once this all clears, not to mention days of frozen poop that will melt into soup from the rain forecasted next, before we can get it all cleaned up. On the upside, everyone is doing good, no harm to alpacas, chickens, cats, dogs or us 2 leggers and no major property damage. We know we have some fences down, but at this point it is still frozen out and we cannot asses how bad sections of fence are under the fallen trees.

Our upper fenceline under all those sagging frozen limbs~

The alpacas are feeling as cooped up as we are. Not much to do, but hang out in the sheds and eat hay, which usually doesn't seem to bother most of them. After days and days even the happiest hay eaters want to get out and stretch their legs.

The alpacas don't generally get cold in this weather, but there isn't much
to do and they don't ever seem inclined to build a snowman!

We are now into our 3rd day of running on a generator. The thought of going to a hotel or to stay at a friends is so appealing, but the alpacas have no choice. They have no choice and we can't take 'em with ya. It is times like this really tests your stamina and commitment. Loving the alpacas and having a twisted sense of adventure, ya just got to roll with it. We still all have roofs over our head, fresh water and food and each other of course!

Looking for spring around the corner~

The snow and ice accumulation was something I have never seen here, it wreaked havoc all over the ranch, but also created some beautiful photo opportunities. If you would like to see more shots of Moonshadow encased in ice check out the Flickr set Snow & Ice Storm January 2012.

Saying Goodbye to 2011

2011-12-31T18:20:00.000-08:00

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 Bailey, our adopted pup ~

Bailey 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...

2011-11-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-11-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-10-24T19:17:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-10-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

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

2011-08-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-08-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

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!

Those other days...

2011-07-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

When we started the blog we had good intentions of posting once or twice a week. Seems like we are insanely busy every day with stuff going on, but is it really all noteworthy? Especially some of the routine and mundane. Then there is the stuff that is just not so nice. We wanted this to stay pretty upbeat and positive, but there are realities of raising any kind of animal that just aren't that way. So this ended up to be one of those weeks.

After struggling and fighting to survive, we lost one of our June cria on Tuesday. He made it to the 1 month mark, but he was never really out of the woods. We did all the intervention we could do to keep his strength up and get some consistent weight gain building. There were a couple bright and hopeful times we kept thinking we were almost there and then we would lose ground again. Tuesday morning we found him very shakey as he was losing his fight to continue.

He always wanted to hang with the other cria~

He had some of the most amazing fleece we have seen on a newborn.
In the scheme of alpaca cria cuteness, he was off the charts!

It's always hard to lose any. It is even sadder to see an alpaca mom display the distress for her lost cria. Anyone raising alpacas that has been through this knows what I'm talking about, they are amazing animals and some of the best moms nature has created. We will miss him too~

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London

The Name Game...

2011-07-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

We've had close to 90 cria born now since we started raising alpacas. We are always getting questions about how we come up with names for them all. Heck, this is a question I'm often asking or wondering of other alpaca breeders too! Some have definitely been more challenging then others. We have a few themes we like to use. Sometimes a name just pops in your head when you see that cria and it sticks. Sometimes one will go quite awhile with no official name and lots of little nicknames get attached, some that stick and are always used regardless of what that long official, sometimes stuffy name might be. And of course, they are all little punkin's!

One angle is to incorporate the Herd Sires name into the cria's name, especially when it's a superstar stud and you want to highlight that. With Snowmass Golden Victory we wanted to connect him to all his cria and have used Golden in the girls names and Victory in the boys name. Here's a few of the 2011 GV crop so far this year...

Moonshadow's Golden Treasure, purchasing her mom
set us on a very calculated path to result in this girl, plus
her aloofness suits this name~

Moonshadow's Victory's Klondike, this guy is built
like a brick and dense as can be, plus has some hidden
gold color in that fleece~

Moonshadow's Victory's Spirit, first off he is full of
spirit, not to mention he definitely shows off what we
hoped to see in Golden Victory offspring~

We actually have a running list of potential names. Sometimes it is useful and we find something we like that seems to suit the personality of the new cria. Just as often, it seems like the list grows longer then any of them get used. Then when it comes to boys we try to factor in something that could be "studly" with some fun marketing potential. Or do we just have a fun name that suits the personality of a boy who will be a wonderful fiber producer.

Moonshadow's Crockett, quite the character and adventurer, always seems
to be in the midst of everything and loves to be in front of the camera~

Sometimes we have that special female, like Moonshadow's Obsession aka MO, who we want to recognize in the naming of her cria. Our "MO line" that I've mentioned in past blogs. MO's cria are some of those very few that might actually have a name picked out before they are born. This could be tricky sometimes not knowing whether you are having a boy or a girl, so far we've lucked out and had a gender appropriate name picked out. I will admit when the power of positive thinking fails us, we do have a back up plan.

Moonshadow's Monique, my son threw this name out in
March for MO's cria, we were certainly counting on a girl,
luckily that worked out! Even though the name came before
the girl it seems to suit her quite well~

For those who always wonder how do we keep track of them all, we keep lists of course! All of our cria are registered, so we do have the ARI database record. We also use a herd management database to manage our herd. To keep things simple, we have recorded birth dates and names of every cria born at Moonshadow on the nursery barn wall. Always impressive when the vet or company asks about a specific DOB and we can quickly come up with it. ;-) For us, it's just a nice visual on how far we've come since we started in 2002.

Destination Moonshadow

2011-07-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

Active Moms & Tots from Kent

We have had such a variety of ranch visits lately it has kept us too busy to write a new post, so here I'll have to cover the past week's schedule.

It started last week with the sweetest couple, Gloria and Richard, who came in their RV on a road trip from CA. We are a host destination for Harvest Hosts and have met some wonderful people. Richard is a retired finish carpenter and insisted on helping us turn our re-purposed building into a hen house.

What great timing for us to have a visit from someone with Richard's
skill and experience. He installed a window in our future hen house, more
on the story of our re-purposed building conversion later~

As Gloria and Richard were leaving we had another van load of senior citizens showing up for a ranch tour from another local assisted living center. We love seeing these folks staying active and getting out and about. There is nothing like a bunch of cute cria running around to put a smile on anyone's face!

Monday we had a group from Active Moms and Tots of Kent. This was a pretty large group all at once, but the kids were so well behaved, the alpacas were all willing to be quite social.

Nothing like a little willow leaves to entice the alpacas to come over
and say hi to the kids.

One of the moms, Kristen Jordan, took some wonderful photos of their visit with the kids interacting with the alpacas. To see them all click on her name to link to her photo album on SmugBug. This was one of my favorties. Thought it was so cute how this little guy appeared to know exactly how he should be looking at this little cria's fleece.

Future alpaca breeder in training~

Today we had a visitor from Maine whose son was so excited about alpacas visiting a ranch was something he wanted to do while in Auburn, WA. We learned they discovered where we were by coming up as one of the top things to do while visiting Auburn....got to love Google! For us, we are thrilled with the range of people that are interested in visiting and learning about alpacas and are happy to have the opportunity to share what we are doing at Moonshadow.

Today's Ranch Visit

2011-06-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today we had a group of seniors visit from an assisted living center in Kent. We've had several of these kind of group tours and it is always fun to see the smiles and how fascinated they are with alpacas. With lots of moms and cria to see there is no end to the oohs and ahhs.

All the moms were very cooperative in showing off their beautiful
new cria~

This is Moonshadow's October Sky and her new cria saying hi to everyone~

Sky is teaching them all about alpacas~

Everyone had a good time. Some got off the van a little apprehensive about what we were going to show them at the barn. Once the alpacas showed up and started interacting their faces lit up and the feeling seemed unanimous it was well worth the trip. We had lots of questions and lots of comments on how new alpacas were to many of them. The woman in yellow thought the alpacas were so fascinating and encouraged us to invite more people out and share what alpacas are all about. We will certainly continue to follow her advice!

June's Six Pack

2011-06-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

So you just never know with alpaca due dates, but this year we had 6 due in June and we actually ended up with a 6 pack of new cria in June. Final count 4 boys and 2 girls. We ranged in gestation days from 336 to 363 days, Deb was home for every birth, I actually got to see 3. Overall, 2 of those seemed to be ones I needed to be here to give Deb an extra set of hands to assist. The 3rd one was a perfect, text book delivery with one of our great proven dams, Moonshadow's Obsession.

Here is MO with her new cria Monique,
just hours old~

Monique is MO's 3rd cria in the "MO" line, she is
very exotic looking with those eyes~

Saturday, Moonshadow's October Sky, gave birth to her first cria. Sometimes those first births can be difficult or have certain challenges. Sky had trouble getting the cria out and needed our assistance. Which often then is hard on the newborn and they start out a little slow. Sometimes first time moms don't have any or little milk and are not too sure about the whole nursing routine. Sky was being very attentive to her new cria the first day, but she wasn't letting him nurse, so we had to supplement. First 24 hours for this guy were touch and go, by Saturday evening we thought he was crashing. So we checked on him and tube fed him every few hours throughout the night. By morning, we were not out of the woods, but a very positive sign was seeing him up and nursing! As the morning progressed, he appeared to be moving around more and Sky was standing perfectly for him to nurse.

Sky was being a great mom in all the protective and nurturing ways
we expect alpaca moms to be~

Sunday was a warm sunny day, great for newborns to soak up the vitamin D and gain strength. This little guy was still pretty sedentary and got a little over heated so was not up and nursing as often as he should. So by Sunday evening, it seemed our upswing of the morning had headed back down again. So we went through another night of supplementing his feed to keep what strength he had up. Starting his 3rd day now and things are looking good again. He put a little weight back on that he had lost the day before and seems to be working at mom to nurse more often. To assess the health and progress of a new cria, we will weigh them ever day to ensure they are gaining, if we have an at risk cria we will weigh twice a day. A thriving cria is also easy to guage just through observation of their energy and strength in getting up, running and keeping it with mom.

This guy is so adorable and just has an amazing amount of
bright silky soft fleece~

The outcome for one of our youngest is looking promising. As for the rest of June's cria, they are all thriving and tearing around the fields playing. It is so much fun to have all the new cria together and watching them interact. Now we have a little break before the next group of cria are due to arrive. Next wave of cria watch begins the end of July.

How Quickly They Grow up

2011-06-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

Any of us who have raised kids or watched them grow up knows how fast they do grow up. With alpaca cria it seems just exponentially quicker. They are trying to stand and nurse almost immediately after they are born and are generally standing, walking, nursing and keeping up with mom within their first 45 minutes of life.

Within moments after they are born a newborn cria will
be sitting up right.

Since shearing, the most exciting events on the ranch have definitely been the arrival of new cria. Monday we had our 4th of the year, a beautiful female out of SHRA Zephyr and Snowmass Golden Victory. After 3 boys in a row, we were definitely excited to have a girl! Also, this has been a greatly anticipated cria since Zephyr was the last alpaca we purchased to infuse some new genetics into our breeding program. Adding a female with her production record to our program and combining with Golden Victory was a very calculated move to produce something special. We have waited almost 2 years to see the first results of that plan. First step finally accomplished, cria on the ground.

About 15 minutes old

Zephyr's cria was born Monday morning, a rather cool and cloudy day. It is always to a newborn's advantage to have a nice, sunny, moderately warm day to start life outside the womb, but clearly they don't get to choose. We were both there to witness the entire labor and delivery....not so unusual for Deb, she stays close to home during cria watches, but seems like I miss most of the births anymore still having a job away from the ranch. I love being there for those first steps, watching the moms be so encouraging and watching the newborn so quickly kick into survival mode of being mobile and finding nourishment. After lots of towelling to dry her off and warm her up, she was fighting to get up on her feet and stand.

Things start out a little wobbly on those long legs!

Alpaca moms are very protective and rarely will leave the side of their newborn cria. They hum to them encouragingly and are very protective. Zephyr was one of those extremely protective moms who really did not like us too close to her cria at all and worked very hard at letting us know she had everything handled! If we weren't home a healthy thriving cria doesn't need our assistance. Since we are there, it's hard to resist the urge to help a new cria get those long legs underneath them and stabilized to take those first steps. Those first steps are usually aimed towards finding the milk wagon and re-nourish that spent energy it takes getting this far in life. Watching how quickly this all transpires compared to other species, and even humans, is truly amazing.

Zephyr and her new little girl~

Everyone always wants to great the new little cria. Zephyr doesn't necessarily
look happy about having to share her newborn, but it is the alpaca way~

After just 2 days Zephyr's cria is out and about with the rest of the group. She has "fluffed" up and we can see and feel a little more what her fiber is like. As far as looks wise, she is gorgeous! She still stays very close to her mom, even though the other cria want her to join in their games. She will be running and tearing around with them soon enough in the next day or two.

This is about as close as they are most of the time

Even when it's time for a nap, Zephyr grazes nearby
to keep watch.

And we're out~

New Arrivals

2011-06-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

We've been waiting with great anticipation for the first cria of 2011 to arrive. They're finally here! At least the first few. So if you've been following and read any of the Due Soonests or Who'll Go First blog posts you know a few of the moms we've been waiting on. Knock Out delivered first on Tuesday, June 14th and then apparently inspired one of our maidens, Moonshadow's Late Nite Out, to deliver also.

Knock Out's new cria, a very bright white handsome boy~

Late Nite Out's new cria, a cute fawn boy~

People are always asking us how we come up with names for all the new cria, we have had around 90 cria born since we started with our first 5 pregnant females. Sometimes it is amazingly easy and a name just pops and suits them. Sometimes it is more challenging, we have some themes we use, sometimes we like to incorporate the name of the Sire or Dam, some times it's just kind of random or from something significant that happened in the beginning of the cria's life. So to explain Late Nite Out, which my son came up with, she was the first cria we ever had born after dark. She is just under 3 years old, so at the time we had still had a lot of babies born within common parameters. Statistically, close to 90% of cria will be born between 6 am and 2 pm, and for us this has pretty much held true. Just felt the need to clarify she was not a party girl staying out late that earned her the name. ;-)

To follow up the excitement of the two new cria on Tuesday, Moonshadow's Evening Staar went into labor on Wednesday and delivered her cria. So going back to the 2 blog posts talking about our impending new cria I highlighted 4 of the 6 moms that were due this month. I won't admit that was intended as a guess in who would deliver first, we know they stick to their own schedule. A couple of the other moms we are waiting on are now over 350 days pregnant!

Here is Evening Staar with her new white, extremely dense fleeced little boy~

Evening Staar's boy and Knock Out's boy are half brothers from our Herdsire, Snowmass Golden Victory

We love seeing the babies begin to arrive after months of waiting to see what the pairing of Sire and Dam produces. Color is often a surprise, but our primary focus is on high quality fiber regardless of the color. Some ranches specialize in particular colors, we truly love them all and appreciate having a range of colored fleeces. Have to admit we generally would prefer girls over boys, but producing boys with stud potential is always a top consideration in selecting breeding pairs. In the end, we are always thrilled to have easy deliveries, good moms with plenty of milk and motherly instincts and strong healthy cria. New cria arrivals is definitely one of the most exciting times of the year!

To see more photos of the new cria, check out our Flickr set on 2011 Cria.

Shearing is done

2011-06-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Waiting and watching.....

With the crazy weather we've had this spring it seemed really okay to have a late shearing date set. Then all the sudden it seemed like the weather was changing and we had all these full fleeced, miserably hot alpacas with a week of warmer weather and high humidity. Then the week before shearing the weather changed again and we were watching the forecast every day hoping to not be rained out! Saturday morning was cloudy and overcast threatening of rain, in the end we may have gotten a little misting, but nothing to stop our plans and then Sunday was warm and beautiful to finish things up.

First passes with the shears to take off the blanket

Blanket shorn off, our blanket fleeces typically weigh 3-5 pounds of prime fleece

The hand off to roll over and shear the other side

This is one of our rather pregnant females. She is taken down gently in the ropes onto soft foam mats. With a pillow for her head, most alpacas handle this method of shearing rather stress free.

This is a good shot to see one half of the blanket shorn off, you get a good idea of how long of a staple length they grow in a year.

By shearing time our white alpacas just don't look so clean after a long winter. It never ceases to amaze me how bright white they are underneath. You can also see in the unshorn fleece side the "dirt line" showing the dirt you see on the outside from getting in mud and sand really doesn't penetrate their dense blankets very deep.

Outside of the hard work and sense of accomplishment at harvest time, I love shearing! It is the best time to really get your hands all over the animals for a thorough check up, get a good toenail trim done and see what beautiful fleece they have all produced. Not that we don't do some of this throughout the year, there is just a big difference in holding an alpaca still on your own to do these things as opposed to having them secured down in shearing ropes.

Every year we shear I am still amazed how different the alpacas look after they get all that fleece shorn off, they look so much like they've shrunk. As we bring in groups of alpacas for their turn getting a hair cut, the others watch with great curiousity and maybe a little anticipation. Then as each one goes back in with the group they are greated as a total stranger who has to be thoroughly checked out and I believe, even teased a bit. It is always entertaining and fascinating watching the alpacas interact as anything new or unusual happens within their routine.

The alpacas are definitely happy to have those big alpaca coats off. We are happy to have shearing done. Next it is deciding what to do with all that fiber!

Moonshadow's Symphony displaying her new haircut.

Moonshadow's Special T getting her final touches on her new haircut.

Meet The Killdeer

2011-06-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

We have had some resident Killdeer here at our ranch that every year we try to protect their nests from their own poor planning. For anyone who doesn't know about Killdeer, they build their nests in the ground at risk from being trampled by animals and too easily accessible to predators.

Killdeer

Every morning when I left for work a Killdeer was carrying on as they do in front of my car so we knew there must be a nest nearby. So last weekend we went looking for it around the driveway and found it in a very precarious spot in the gravel in the middle of the driveway. Amazing I hadn't driven over it!
To protect their nests Killdeer will try to draw any prey away from the eggs by skuawking, carrying on, running away from the nest and acting like they are wounded.

Killdeer guarding nest

Killdeer broken wing routine

Both parents work to take care of the nest and ward off any predators.

Killdeer parents drawing attention away from the nest

We've tried many things over the years finding their nests in dangerous spots to try to help them survive. When they build them in the paddocks with the alpacas we have put stakes around them so they are not accidently trampled. With it in the middle of our driveway this year we have put a big rock by it so we don't accidently drive over it. You can see in the pictures the Killdeer blend into the environment very well. So do their eggs, especially when they are laying in gravel.

Killdeer on nest next to protective rock

Killdeer eggs blending very well in the gravel

Four eggs is usually the max. When we discovered the nest there was only one, making us feel pretty good we discovered it before it got crushed by a vehicle coming in or out. Then we watched them accumulate 1 egg per day. Now we wait for the hatchlings. Stay tuned....

Killdeer wanting us to follow and stay away from those precious eggs!

Spring Fling Alpaca Style

2011-05-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here in the NW it's been hard to tell it's actually spring much of the time. When the sun comes out it has been glorious and the grass and plants and weeds grow like crazy with no lack of water. Looking at the calendar is our real reminder that it is truly spring. Cria watch is in full attention mode for every little twitch our due soons make. Planning for this year's breeding line up goes hand in hand with the cria watch. So not wanting to get such a late start for new cria next year and having a weekend of dry weather predicted, we did our final review of our pairings. For those that don't know, it's not really about likability towards each other for the alpacas, we go through a rather rigorous selection process to put together the best combination of qualities to produce our desired goal of significant improvement in the next generation.

With our decisions made we head out to round up the boys, somehow they know the words "want a date?" and stand perfectly still for us to put a halter on them and walk them over to meet the girls. Ideally, we have a separate area for them to have a little privacy away from the big group when they breeding, but it is spring in the NW and pasture conditions are far from ideal from the endless amount of rain it seems we have had for months! So the advantage of breeding in the pasture with all the girls around is to see who else is receptive, get some spit checks done to verify those we expected to be pregnant in the fall held over winter and help the young first timers get an idea of what is supposed to be happening. The down side to this is it can be incredibly chaotic! Especially if you are the one supposed to be helping, but would rather take pictures of all the theatrics and acrobatics. :-)

A good alpaca Herdsire, not distracted from his mission assuring the other girls they'll get their turn!

This would have been far more entertaining for the reader if we had been able to video all the antics going on, but in the end we got 3 breedings accomplished out of the 9 open females we have waiting.

The girls weren't all ready for Fury to go back to his paddock yet or were helping to escort him out?

And so it begins for 2011 in our cycle of pregnancies and deliveries. We are always excited about impending cria, since it is close to a year we are waiting on results of decisions we made in pairing them. Then we are looking ahead to what the next crop holds. It is constant learning, anticipation, reviewing and moving forward. Never a dull day living with alpacas!

Who'll Go First...

2011-05-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

As cria watch continues, we are seeing signs of impending moms and thinking they are getting close. However, over the years we have learned alpaca moms can be very sneaky and seem to prefer having their cria when you aren't looking. Then there is the gestation period, we estimate due dates at 340 days, but have had a range from around 310 days to 370! We have even tried to look for trends in individual moms we've had for a long time, but even if we think we see one, she'll prove us wrong with the next birth. We have gone to the barn to check on a due soon mom, seen no suspecting signs and then turn around a half hour later and there she is with her new cria. So we watch and we wait and we continue to anticipate and speculate.....who'll go first this year?

We have 6 that are due within days and weeks of each other. Here are a couple others that could be due any day or any week now:

SHRA Zephyr

This is Zephyr, we purchased her from a ranch in Ohio in 2009, she arrived here in October of that year so we chose not to breed her that late in the year and waited till the following spring. So we have been waiting a long time to get this cria from Zephyr and can't wait to see what she produces. She is bred to Snowmass Golden Victory and we have no doubt this cria will be heavily covered in beautiful fleece. Zephyr has an amazing track record of gorgeous offspring to include a pretty amazing high end Herdsire, CAR Supernova's Quattro. At this point, I have my money on Zephyr having the first cria of the year.....we'll see.

Moonshadow's Obsession (MO)

Our MO, what a character and a fiber machine! MO has always been one of our favorites since she was born here. This will be her 3rd cria and her first 2 were definitely as cute and full of personality as their mom. We call this our MO line, so far we have had MOJO and MOJITA. We are counting on the next one being Monique, named contributed by my son and we sure hope it is a girl! MO is bred to APEX a magnificent Andrajo son owned by our good friend Kelli Cronn of Four Seasons Farm. MO is one of the last due with this first group of due soons, but she sure is acting like she wants to be done with it. These few days of warm spring weather she has not appreciated, but who would at 10 months pregnant with a huge, heavy, dark alpaca coat on?

Our due soonests....

2011-05-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

We are anxiously anticipating our first cria of the year. As we prepare here on the ranch, we wanted to take the opportunity to introduce our impending new moms to be:

Evander's Knock Out

Admittedly not one of my best alpaca photos, but Knock Out has always been a little camera shy. Knock Out is bred to our premier Herd Sire, Snowmass Golden Victory. Knock Out has produced some of our most beautiful alpacas to include one of our main marketing faces, Knock Out's Sugar N Spice, a beautiful multiple blue ribbon winning girl. We held Knock Out open after her fall 2009 cria to get her on a more favorable breeding cycle, so we've been waiting a long time for this baby! Serious cria watch begins for her on May 26th. Things we love about Knock Out is her sweet disposition, the insane amount of fine fleece she has always produced and the adorable phenotype she consistently throws. Expect this cria to be an adorable fiber blind fleece machine!

Next and right behind Knock Out is Moonshadow's October Sky. They were both bred to Snowmass Golden Victory a day apart. This will be Sky's first cria and 2nd maternal generation from our top original foundation dams, Madonna la Boliviana.

Moonshadow's October Sky

Sky has a blue ribbon winning, gorgeous fleece. Her dam, Madonna, has consistently passed on a very soft handling fleece. Madonna still at 11 years old produces a fleece when spun into yarn will be the first to sell out of our store. All of her offspring have produced a high quality fleece that makes into our fastest selling yarns. Sky's Sire is CCNF Andean Fury, he is still a major fleece producer after several years of breeding and passing on his outstanding qualities. So waiting on Sky's cria is quite exciting too. Not only are we excited to cross the Fury and Golden Victory lines, this should be an extraodinarily fleeced cria and will be the first offspring born at Moonshadow out of a Madonna daughter! This may not sound like that big of a deal, but considering we purchased Madonna in 2002, this has been a long time coming! Beyond all this, last year Madonna produced an offspring from Golden Victory we think is one of the best we've produced here. How can you not get excited wondering what a step up from that will be like!

More introductions to come in our blog and updates on when the cria hit the ground. It's hard not to be repetitive, but we are excited for different reasons for every cria due. We carefully select each breeding pair and then wait so long to find out the results. Oh the anticipation, stay tuned!

Lawn Mowing Moonshadow Style

2011-05-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here in the great wet state of Washington mowing the lawn in the spring can be quite a challenge! Our lawn loves all the rain, unfortunately too much of a good thing means the riding mower is going to sink like a rock. Our girls stepped up to the challenge and took care of the knee high grass in just a few days. We're hoping that since we can now find the raised garden beds that planting some vegetables might be an option in the near future. Please sun come out and play!

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all who are to 2 leggers or 4 leggers! My son is currently serving in the Army in Iraq and I miss him. My mom has been gone for several years and I miss her. I love them both and have them with me always. To fill any nurturing void without them here, we have over 40 alpacas, 3 cats, 2 dogs and some hens, it is never a dull moment! I love having all the animals and am always amazed at how they interact with each other and us 2 leggers who care for them.

One of my favorite things about raising alpacas is the new cria born every year. We have had over 80 born here on our ranch now and it never gets old. We can wait up to 12 months or more for a cria to be born, there is always so much anticipation waiting to find out whether it's a boy or a girl, what color, what's the fiber like. Like all babies, it is a miracle of life to see one born, stand up for the first time and take steps to find it's mom and food source. For anyone who has never seen an alpaca mom with their cria it is amazing. Alpaca moms are very attentive, nurturing and protective of their cria. There are just some great moments watching them together that I never get tired of seeing. Here are a few of my favorite alpaca moms and cria photos.

For 2011 cria watch officially begins in a couple of weeks. Yesterday we moved 6 of our due soonests to the barn area where we can keep the best watch on them and be close to supplies when the cria arrives. We base our projected due dates on an average of 340 days gestation, but really start watching when they are getting close to the 11 month mark. We have had cria born from around 310 days to 370! Good times, stay tuned for impending cria announcements!

NW Alpaca Showcase 2011

2011-04-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

The NW Alpaca Showcase is held at the TRAC Center in Pasco, WA and hosted by the Pacific NW Alpaca Association. It is always one of my favorite shows because of the warm weather and great RV site right outside the alpaca barn. It was our 2nd show so our juvenile alpacas had a little more experience riding in the trailer and being in such a strange environment. With the dry weather and cold breezy barn, it was ideal conditions to show off beautiful fine alpaca fleeces. We again were entered in Halter classes, Production class and the fleece show. Hard to not smile when you start out the show with a Blue Ribbon in Bred and Owned Yearling Female, our girl Moonshadow's Just Too Cute (JT) walked in the ring and strutted her stuff well for the judge! JT went on to take a 3rd Place in her halter class and another Blue Ribbon in her fleece class, as well as receiving the "Best Hand" award for the softness of her fleece. Nice haul for one alpaca!

All our alpacas placed well in very competitive classes, we were really thrilled with the outcome. One of the other big highlights for us was our Moonshadow's Special T being awarded a Blue Ribbon in the dark brown juvenile female class. She is not only special to us because she is out of our home grown Herd Sire, Moonshadow's Gunslinger, but she had such a difficult birth we almost lost her at birth. She spent her first night in the house with us to try and keep her alive until she was strong enough to stand. She will always be a special girl to us!

Moonshadow's Special T

As always, the shows are full of excitement. Surrounded by people who are as excited about raising alpacas as we are and never get tired of talking about their special alpacas and impending cria due this year. Show season is over for us now this spring, onto planning for shearing and then watching for our first cria of the year. Oh the anticipation!

Alpacapalooza 2011

2011-04-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend we participated in our first alpaca show of the year, Alpacapalooza, hosted by the Alpaca Association of Western Washington at the Clark County Event Center in Ridgefield, WA. It seemed like the rain would never stop for the week prior to attending the show. We did our best to try to keep them under cover, but we don't have a barn. By Friday when we loaded up to head to the show our show string was like wet sponges. A little bit of a disheartening way to start the show season, but it is the first weekend in April in the NW....rain happens!

Alpaca shows are always a fun time and it's great to get to see all our friends and other breeders we don't get to see throughout the year. So no matter what the results in the show ring it is a fun and exciting time. This year we had entries in Halter classes, Production classes and the Fleece Show. We also had a few offspring being shown from other ranches out of a couple of our Herd Sires.

Here's a picture of our friend Kelli from Four Seasons Alpaca Ranch taking a Blue Ribbon with her CCNF Andean Fury daughter, Four Season Farms Jasmine. Photo courtesy of our friend Janice Ngan.

Who doesn't like a good challenge?

2011-03-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Raising alpacas is not all we do here at Moonshadow. We also started raising chicks last year and have some laying hens. We'd like to do more and have more options, but space was always limiting and we didn't have a hen house. So it's always good to have friends in odd places and Deb had an ongoing friendship with someone who wanted all the chicks we could provide at a variety of life stages. From 4 weeks on up to egg laying age. For anyone who doesn't know about raising chickens, you can't have all different stages of age living under the same roof. Hens can get rather aggressive and bullish and really aren't healthy for the young ones to be around. In fact, they won't survive it. So we built a brooder box for the hatchlings that has been in our garage, which works well, but creates an amazing dust mess and we would like it outside. Our laying hens have been living in a converted dog run since last summer, which worked very well for stage 2 and 3 of a hens life. The problem now is we have no rotation ability to have stage 1 and 2 going simultaneously.

So back to friends in odd places. Deb's friend ended up having this building she was willing to provide that could be perfect. It was an 8'x12' wood building, they would even deliver it! All we had to do was get it off the truck once it got to our place. No worries! This is not the first time we've moved a building. So for anyone interested in seeing how we did this, we documented it in photos. We have a great neighbor, Roger, who must have grown up solving puzzles, but is amazing at tackling unique challenges. Click on the link below the picture if you are interested in seeing the slide show off getting the building off the truck.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonshadowalpacas/sets/72157626186560023/show/

Okay, so it's not pretty now, but it made it off the truck and has tons of potential. Stay tuned as we turn this little shed into a little haven for our hens!

The First Day of Halter Training

2011-02-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

The first day of halter training is always an adventure. We generally wait to get started on this after cria have been weaned. We will let them get the feel of the halter on their heads a couple times before attaching a lead rope. So we've done that and today was the first attempt at getting them to trust us and maybe even walk with us. For those who have never witnessed this or participated in halter training before. Alpacas can perform many acrobatic leaps, flips, etc. before settling down and realize going out with us on a lead can be a good thing! Sometimes we make some assumptions on behaviors to expect from individual alpacas just based on the personality traits they have displayed growing up. From that sweet curious cria who likes to give kisses, to those firey attitudes and extreme aloofness. The first day with the lead attached is all about learning trust. We started working with the 7 oldest today and tried a couple new techniques with a few. Overall, it turned out a pretty successful first day. We even had a couple walking with us, admittedly timidly walking, but this is huge for the first day!

Class of 2010

2011-02-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

This was the first year I was able to get some group shots that contained all of our mom's with their cria. It's been fun as a photographer to have some assistance in making this happen. Deb doesn't care for it so much, but if our little toy Aussie Sheppard comes out with me they group up nicely and perk their ears up. Great for photos, but I will admit the truth is they are showing signs of alert because they know dogs don't belong in our fields. This photo was taken before the routine weaning began, never one of the happier events at Moonshadow.

Welcome!

2011-02-04T18:05:00.000-08:00

We have been encouraged for quite some time now to share our stories of life on the ranch. Well, here we go getting our feet wet with our opening post. For us, literally getting our feet wet, as well as the alpacas, is a typical winter experience in the NW, so it seems as good a time as ever to get started.

2011 has already blown through it's first month. Somehow, beginning a new year makes me want to kick things into gear and start planning for all the activities of the year. Before I know it, January is over and we are on our way to another whirwind year with alpacas. As crazy, wet and most of the time just nasty as this time of year can be, there has been lots of activity and interest from people wanting to learn about raising alpacas. This is always exciting to see! As dreary and alarming as world events, economy and winter weather conditions can be, there is little I can think of more calming and satisfying as living with alpacas.

For the alpaca business this is a time we are planning for our spring shows, weaning last year's cria, halter training and looking forward to this year's crop of cria! More to come on all of that.....