Junuary 2012

Cria coats ~ each cria has a specific coat which has their scent
 on it.  Sometimes the moms don't really appreciate these things we
put on their cria and if it doesn't smell right it can't be good~

June wraps up how it began, grey, cloudy, wet and windy.  Felt as much like January as it did June, but regardless of the weather June always seems to be a month full of activity. Our first cria are born, everyone had to have their own coat to wear this month.  Shearing is done, breedings have begun and we've had lots of visitors this month.  Today, in between rain squals, we had a farm visit to see what raising alpacas is all about and Principe had another one of his arranged dates with 2 girls coming by to see him! 

Staar's new cria sporting her purple rain coat~

Last weekend we had cria born on both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday during winds that where swirling through our shelter and rain that came pouring down, Moonshadow's Evening Staar delivered our 3rd female cria of the year!  Big whopping 21 lb cria after 350 days gestation.  No wonder Staar couldn't wait for warmer weather to deliver her. 

Staar's friend MO must have been inspired and delivered her 2012 cria Sunday morning.  We didn't have quite the dramatic weather for the arrival of this little one, but with some needed assistance MO delivered a healthy 18.4 lb female!  Exciting to have girls back to back and now 4 in a row, but also, both these new girls happen to be 100% Moonshadow from home grown Moonshadow Sires and Dams.  Anyone following this blog may remember the MO-line from last year.  This is 3 girls in a row for MO and one of the first 2012 cria to get a name.  Let us introduce Moonshadow's Mohini.

MO grazing away with her new cria Mohini never far from her side~

It is always amazing how every alpaca on the ranch seems to know when there is a new arrival.  It is not at all unusual to see them lined up in any of the other fields trying to get a glimpse of the newest member of the herd.

Is Junuary the new start to summer month?  Let's hope not!  Hopefully our summer will begin in July, I'm sure there are many states east of us that would love and could use all this rain.

Shearing 2012

We still love seeing how they look after they've been shorn,
there always seems to be more fluff to them then we remember.

After a beautiful month of May the weather in the PNW turned wet, cold and windy.  So 2012 ended up to be another year of watching the weather, watching the calendar and hoping we'll get a break so we can get the herd sheared.  Our shearer was coming from Idaho and only had 12 days of shearing in this area, which we had already helped her book it full of shearing jobs.  Any rain out days for shearing really can wreak havoc in getting the job done for everyone. 


Here's a good picture of just how long of a staple length is grown.  This is a juvenile male who was shorn last August.  In 8 months his fleece has grown close to 5 inches.  He looks quite a bit smaller then the fluffy guy in the first photo!

Sometimes it takes a minute of getting used to feeling the cool
air after having all that fleece shorn off~

We had 45 to shear this year and scheduled ourselves 2 days of the 12 day schedule.  Generally, this is 2 full days of work, with no time built in for mishaps or bad weather.  As it got closer to our first day of shearing on June 9th it was still raining and it was questionable whether we'd have any break that weekend or not.  Saturday we went for it starting with the alpacas we could lock under cover and they were fairly dry.  This group is our due soon moms, new moms with cria and yearling females.

Final touches in the ropes~

The weather Saturday actually was holding out pretty well, grey cloudy skies with occasional misting of rain.  To add to the excitment of shearing, one of the due soon moms decided to have her cria.  Quite a distraction for everyone, Ann, our shearer, at least kept on shearing the alpaca that was down in the ropes, with Whit staying in his position on the head.  This was Whisper's 5th cria, she is a good proven dam and had a text book delivery.  It was a pretty cool day and with no sun, we needed to get the cria dry and make sure she was up and nursing.  Shortly after the arrival of the new cria we started having guests who arrived to watch the shearing being done.  They were pretty thrilled with the added bonus of seeing a newly born cria! 



Saturday's new arrival, sporting her
cria rain coat~

We managed to get 20 shorn on Saturday and another 17 on Sunday.  Then the weather blew in with some historic Junuary volumes of rain.  Looking ahead at the schedule it did not seem like it was possible to get every herd shorn that was scheduled, let alone finish up our last 8.  In the end, I don't know why I worry so much.  We are in the PNW, we seem to go through this weather drama every year and every year the job somehow manages to get done.  It took us 2 additional afternoons to wrap up those last 8.  

They always have to great each newly shorn one as a completely new alpaca~
Who are you?

 

A typical annual clip of prime fleece~

Another year of shearing is done.  Always such a relief and sense of accomplishment rolled into 1 annual milestone.  Next steps are preparing and sorting the fiber for processing.  We will be trying a few new mills this year and diversifying what we do with our fiber and end products.  More to come on this when we get our processed fiber back.  In the meantime, it is always a challenge in where to store all the bags of fiber while it is waiting to be sorted and prepared for shipping.





Happy Father's Day 2012

Annie with her 2012 Fury kid~

It really just didn't seem right to highlight our alpaca moms on Mother's Day and not mention the dads on Father's Day.  We do know they contribute 50% to the mix and we can't have good cria without good alpaca Sires.  We have worked hard to put the best combination of traits together in building our herd and have always taken pride in bringing in the best genetics, health, temperment and fleece qualities for our breeding program.  To start off 2012, we've now had our first 3 cria of the year from 3 wonderful alpaca dads.

Coming up with names doesn't seem to get much easier the more cria you have, so it's not unusual for new cria to just go by buddy, cutie or punkin for weeks.  If we need a name to actually keep track for any reason, they'll go by the dam's 2012 cria.  Our first cria was introduced last month and still has no name.  Here is Annie's 2012 cria, Sired by CCNF Andean Fury, who has been a wonderful dad for us and really out did himself with this stunning young male.



CCNF Andean Fury


 

We highlighted Fury in the 2012's 1st Arrival post.  He has definitely been a great Herdsire for us and has sired some of our best colored offspring.  Annie's little guy certainly has the potential to be his best yet!  We like this guy so well we are definitely considering repeating this combination.  Fury did what we were hoping, he brought in color and enhanced the fleece quality both these parents have.  Absolutely a WOW fleece on this little guy from the moment he was dry!



Snowmass Golden Victory

   

Next up this season was a repeat knock out combination of our Madonna and Snowmass Golden Victory.  On June 4th, Madonna delivered another female cria who appears to be just as nice as her multiple Blue Ribbon winning big sister, Moonshadow's Golden Mist.  Sometimes the names come a little easier, we have wanted all the Victory girls to have Golden in their name.  Getting another female out of this pair seems charmed from the start, so let us introduce Moonshadow's Golden Charm.  

 

Madonna looks white, but she really is a beige and  has been wonderful at
letting the color of the Sire come through in her cria~

 
Our 3rd cria of the season so far was born the first day of our shearing on June 9th.  This is also the 3rd time for this pairing and the dad is a home grown Herdsire of ours and another awesome, multiple show winning son of Madonna's, Moonshadow's Gunslinger.  Whisper and Gunslinger have now produced 3 beautiful females in a row.  Maybe we should call her Hat Trick or Triple Crown?  

Moonshadow's Gunslinger

 

 

So Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!  Alpaca dads aren't ever involved with their offspring, but we never under value their contribution to their kids!

Whisper & Gunslinger's 3rd girl on the left snuggled next to Golden Charm~





2012's 1st Arrival...

Dreamboat Annie saying hi to her new cria moments
after he hits the ground~

It always seems like we wait the longest for the first one to arrive to kick off each new year of cria.  Seems like the Spring cria take the longest, maybe it is nature's way of protecting those Spring cria from the cold, wet weather we tend to have in the Pacific NW.  After 355 days of waiting, the first cria was born last week on May 24th.  This Spring we have had some nice stretches of warm, sunny weather that would have been wonderful for a new cria to get their start.  Though we did miss that stretch, we did have some moments of sunshine and break in the rain the day of his arrival.

CCNF Andean Fury

Moonshadow's Dreamboat Annie is a proven mom, this is her 3rd cria.  Annie is a 2nd generation production dam out of one of our original females purchased.  This has been a very dominant white line, but we took a little bit of a chance last year and decided to try to bring out some color and bred her to our dark brown Herdsire, CCNF Andean Fury.  Fury has been our most color dominant Herdsire, and has produced 100% colored offspring.  More impressive when you know he's mainly been bred to white or light colored females.   Adding color to an elite white fleece has not been part of our breeding plans for several years now, but we thought if the cria inherited the best both these parents have to offer in fleece quality we could potentially have a real knock out. 



A few hours old~

Can you always tell with a newborn cria whether you hit a home run or not?  No, not necessarily, lots of things can happen before that cria grows up and matures.  However, it's really hard to ignore those first impressions where you go "Wow!" or "oh hum, didn't expect that?".  By the time this little guy was dry enough to get a good feel and look at his fleece, we were both saying Wow, this is definitely what we were shooting for!  His fleece is super dense, crimpy and blindingly bright.  Beautiful coppery color, with kind of a smokey brown head.  Since this is the 3rd boy in a row Annie has produced for us, it is good to see he appears to have stud potential right from the start.  Annie's first guy, Moonshadow's Bootlegger, is now down in Oregon as a Herdsire for Alpaca Alley, LLC.  Her second son, Moonshadow's Victory's Triumph, will be going to Idaho to be a Herdsire at Eden Criations.  They were both show winners in very competitive white male classes.  We know this new guy comes from 2 show winning parents, both proven to produce show winners too.  He comes from an impressive pedigree with generations of winners on both sides of his family tree.



Day 3, never far from mom~

 We have a couple more moms who are imminent and I thought certainly they would be inspired by Annie's delivery, but no, so far they are keeping us hangin'!  Madonna is now at 352 days, Whisper 345 days.  Every time we have a little break in the rain we are watching and hoping to see nose and toes to get those cria out in the open with some sunshine to help warm them up and dry them off.  Like all babies, we know they come when they are ready.  Cria season 2012 has begun at Moonshadow.  Yesterday we had the vet out to do ultrasounds to confirm a few of the Fall breedings we did and the first Spring breedings and the cycle continues.  Birthings and breedings all bring great hope and anticipation for the future!

Happy Mother's Day!

Due date schedule, maybe we should post it in the barn for the
mom's to see?

Happy Mother's Day to all our 2 legged and 4 legged friends!  We are on cria watch for our first new alpacas of the season to arrive.  It would be kind of special to have 1 or 2 born today.  We are having another gorgeous NW Spring weekend and could be perfect weather for a new little one to get their start on life.  From this list you can see we are already past our first due dates.  Wind Song was sold and now living at Snowmass Alpacas, we haven't heard whether she's had her cria yet or not.  Annie and Madonna are both looking VERY pregnant, but not so inclined to let go of that bun in the oven.  So it goes for cria watch, we base our due dates on an average of 340 days, but really there can be a 3 week swing before or after.  We have tried to track trends on individual alpaca gestation lengths, but in the end they come when they are ready.  For me, I am really just being selfish and like to be home for the births, which seems to happen less every year.  Deb is here for most of them, it is pretty rare anymore that we are both gone and come home to a newborn.  In our first couple years that was more of the norm and we look back now and realize how lucky we were that everything went so well.

Dreamboat Annie with her last cria on his first day~

Moonshadow's Dreamboat Annie is at 344 days today.  She has had 2 previous cria with an average of 345 days gestation.  Not a lot of data to determine any strong pattern, but we'll see.  Madonna la Boliviana is at 331 days today.  Her average is pretty close to Annie's, but this is her 8th cria and she has delivered her cria from 333 days to 370 gestation.  In her case, more data to just prove there is no predictable pattern.  Both these dams have been great moms, no birthing issues and know how to take car of their cria.  Sometimes I think they don't want us hanging around messing with their newborns and do all they can to wait and deliver when we are gone.   These dams also both had a year break in between cria so we've been waiting 2 years for them to give us another.  Annie comes from a very dominate white maternal line of alpacas, but we think she has some color potential from her Sire.  She is bred to our Herdsire, CCNF Andean Fury, who has done an amazing job of bringing out color from the lightest dams.  Fleece combination from these two parents has the potential to be phenomenal!

Madonna and her last Golden Victory cria,
Moonshadow's Golden Mist

Madonna la Boliviana is one of our first alpacas from the original 5 pregnant females we purchased when we started raising alpacas.  When choosing those first 5, I will admit she was not necessarily one of our first choices.  The things you learn and if only we knew then what we know now, we would have never hesitated and are so glad we did purchase her!  From her very first cria, Madonna has always produced something very special.  After 10 years with us, Madonna has really never failed to disappoint.  Her last cria was born in 2010 and if you are following our blog at all, would recognize the name Moonshadow's Golden Mist, our highly awarded show girl.  Golden Mist was one of the first cria from our Herdsire, Snowmass Golden Victory and we new she was a winner from the day she was born.  There was never any question that we would breed Madonna back to him.  Madonna is now getting up there in years and we are doing all we can to help her maintain, which included giving her a year off from pregnancy.    We are anxiously awaiting her latest Golden Victory cria and are certainly hoping for a repeat of the last one, whether it's a boy or a girl. 

Coming up quickly behind Annie and Madonna is Whisper.  Another mom that had a year break in between cria and bred to our rose grey Herdsire, Moonshadow's Gunslinger for the 3rd time around!  We've done several repeats, but this is the first 3x'r that we done.  This combination has produced such gorgeous fleece in a lavendar grey and a rich dark brown.  Whatever the color, the fleece quality, overall look and style of offspring and personality have been definite ranch favorites.  Oh, and worth mentioning, Gunslinger is one of Madonna's past show winning cria!

The combination of Gunslinger and Whisper has produced 2 show winners so far,
3rd time has to be a charmer also!

Well it doesn't appear any of our due soons are inclined to become new moms on Mother's Day this year.  As always, raising alpacas is a constant reminder in patience and recognizing not all things are in our control.  We are always excited when the new cria do arrive and we get to see the results of decisions and planning from months past.

Is Spring finally here in the NW?

Just enough sunny days have been scattered here and there this month to believe it might be.  We have had 3 beautiful weekends of sunshine in a row!  For April in the NW this can be rare.  Then we'll have days of rain during the week to remind us where we are.  It's been great to be able to get outside and start to clean up on some of the Winter storm damage and get prepared for what warmer weather means for herd management. 

Herd management this past weekend meant weaning our last four cria who were born in the Fall.  Our minimum age for weaning is generally around 6 months, most of the time it seems to push closer to 8 and we watch for signs of the moms to start doing their own weaning.  Some cria handle this better then others.  Some moms let go easier then others.  This particular group of moms and cria are all pretty tight and none of them took to the separation very well.  As you have read in previous posts, this is never one of our favorite times.  We were hoping with a nice sunny day and new fields of grass for distraction things would go a little smoother.  Eh, this was a pipe dream, we had some unhappy cria who were looking for any way through or around the gates keeping them from their moms. 

Here's Tulio, Black Bart, Trinity and Duke waiting at a gate to follow their
moms and just ignoring the nice big field of pasture they could be in.

To upset routines even further, we had a couple more "due soons" to bring over to the barn.  We bring all our due soons to this area where we are close to supplies in the barn and can monitor from the house with our barn cams.  Alpacas are very herd oriented and really don't always take well to moves, even from one field to another.  We try to move them in pairs at a minimum, the bigger the group often the easier it is to move them.  When you are talking late term pregnant alpacas they are going to let you know they are not happy with any disruption in their routine.  Again, we relied on the distraction of a sunny day and new pasture.  This worked better with the adults then it did the cria!

All the 2011 cria and the first mom's due for 2012.  In front is
Moonshadow's Evening Staar letting her cria from last year, Klondike,
know she is not there for him don't get any funny ideas!

These girls didn't mind getting out on a new field for the day!

Well regardless of the weather, Spring is here and all that goes with it.  We are officially on cria watch with the first of 2012 due any time.  Shearing will be here before we know it and then we'll be full swing into transitioning to our new location in Bellingham.  Got to get in some fun while we can, next weekend we are off to the NW Alpaca Showcase to wrap up show season.  Could we be hopeful enough for a repeat of 'Palooza?

Halter training....

Seems we are always hitting the age our cria should start halter training in the middle of the Winter.  Who wants to walk around in the pelting rain with a bouncing alpaca on the end of a lead?  If we don't, we don't expect the cria are going to like it much better.  January hits and we start making plans for Spring shows and then we have deadlines to aim for.  Then of course the rain continues here in the NW and we all continue to not want to walk around in cold and wet weather.  I should have kept count of the dry weekend days we've had since registering for our first show, which all of the sudden ends up to be next weekend!

First thing we do is just put a halter on their heads to get used to it.
First thing they do is whatever they can to rub that thing off their heads!

It seems like it has rained almost this entire month.  Fortunately, there have been a few dry days here and there and we've tried to take advantage of every one in trying to prepare our young juvenile alpacas ready for their first show.  Once we think they are a little comfortable with that halter thing on their head, we attach a lead.  To some, you would think we've secured a large boat anchor to their head.  Others can do some amazing acrobatics once they are connected to that lead line. 

Here is Tulio demonstrating the cush, "you can't make me
move" position~

This is Black Bart demonstrating the 4 point stance and showing
how flexible his head and neck are without moving his feet~

This is Tulio, who looks like he might be standing there peacefully, but
really this is the frozen in place maneuver!

This weekend we have had 2 beautiful Spring days to work with those going to the show next weekend.  We've taken long walks around the yard, visited with alpacas in other paddocks and have found exploring may have some side benefits like fresh new grass!  We are taking a couple older alpacas, one from our show string last year who is a pro and will help keep the little ones calm.  Plus our new guy Snowmass Matrix Principe, who gets one show season with us before he settles into his role as our newest Herdsire.

Here is Principe doing a fairly good job of following Deb towards the girls,
hopefully he'll strut his stuff walking into the show ring for the judge!

Today is our last anticipated dry day before show check in on Friday.  The trailer is loaded, everyone is walking around as well as we can hope and we are ready to go.  Our first show of the season is hosted by the Alpaca Association of Western WA, Alpacapalooza.  This is a halter show and a fleece show.  The halter show judges 50% based on conformation, 50% on fiber quality.  The fleece show is a scorecard based judging on the shorn blanket fleece.  We are entering 3 fleeces and 5 alpacas in the halter show.  If you want to learn about alpacas and meet lots of people raising alpacas, shows are the best place to go.  If you can or are planning to be at Alpacapalooza next weekend at the Clark County Event Center stop by and say hi!

We want them to walk in the show ring showing off their gait and form, if they'll
stand like this for the judge to get a closer look at their conformation it would be nice!

Where a decade can take you....

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

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.

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!