Alpacas in California

Thursday, July 3, 2008 7:01 AM
Yesterday was just another typical day in the life of an alpaca farmer. Put hay out, hose bellies, and the usual alpaca stuff. It was followed by a typical evening, we popped open a bottle of Dom Perignon and had Maine lobster for dinner. Okay, not all that typical, we were celebrating the fact that Pati has managed to put up with me for a quarter of a century.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 6:34 AM
Oops, forgot to upload the update yesterday. 20 lashes with a wet noodle. It got pretty hot yesterday and we're planning on the same thing for the next few days.The kids are starting to investigate the sprinkler, it won't be long until they're hogging the water.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 6:54 AM
Wow, it's July already! It seems like just yesterday it was June. It's been pretty hot, not the scorcher we had last month though. Wrong Way is meeting the herd this morning, it's looking like he's enjoying it, but Toni isn't too sure. We should have a couple of weeks off from births, then we'll start up again.

Monday, June 30, 2008 6:44 AM
It was quite a warm day yesterday, the girls really appreciated the sprinklers. At about 1:00, Toni decided to go into labor. Not wanting to make it easy on us (or Toni), he decided to face the wrong direction. Yep, a full on breech birth. Dr Thacher did a great job of getting him out. His front legs are a little weak right now due to his position, but he's getting around much better than yesterday. Toni is a bit sore and grumpy, so I made my picture taking fast. I guess we'll just call him "Wrong Way."

Sunday, June 29, 2008 6:10 AM
Brandi got to do lots of running yesterday, and so did Cantana as she chased after her. I think both of them really needed it after being couped up for a week. The "big kids" showed her around and tried to teach her the correct play route. She got a bit tuckered out and never really learned it. That's okay, she has plenty of time.

Saturday, June 28, 2008 6:10 AM
Yesterday Brandi finally got back to her birth weight. With everything going on, she lost weight at first, but she gained a full pound the day before yesterday and 6/10ths yesterday, so ge's now at 19.1. She'll likely get quite a bit of exercise today when she gets paroled to the join society.

Friday, June 27, 2008 8:38 AM
We had hoped that someone would have a cria so that Cantana and Brandi would have company upstairs. That didn't happen, so grandma Prissy volunteered for the job. I'm sure the extra treats that are served upstairs never entered her mind. They get to join the herd tomorrow, it will be fun to watch.

Thursday, June 26, 2008 6:11 AM
That premie cria that was upstairs has been replaced by a cria that runs, jumps, and kicks up her heels. Yep, it's still Brandi up here, she's just turned the corner and is doing great. Because we're doing precautionary antibiotics on her, she'll need to stay up here until Saturday morning. We're really hoping that someone else will have a cria, so that they get some company. Cantana has been very good about the whole thing, but I'd imagine her patience is wearing thin.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:57 AM
I left yesterday morning at 3:30 AM, and took Penelope and Getty to Cedar City Utah. They have a big grass paddock with one tiny dirt area. Where do they roll? Yep, on the dirt. I do think they'll be happy there.
I ended up driving all the way home last night, and after 922 miles, rolled in at about 10:00PM. Brandi showed me twice how good she is at nursing. She wouldn't take a bottle all day. I guess we'll have to find another job, Cantana is now executive in charge of nutrition, and cutbacks have eliminated the position of supplemental feeding assistant. Yee-haw.

Monday, June 23, 2008 9:23 PM
Late update because I'll be doing a day trip to Utah tomorrow.
I've been demoted from executive in charge of nutrition to part time supplemental feeding assistant. My guess is that I should be looking for another job. Yep, we're going the right direction. Her teeth have erupted, the ears are straightening, and the legs are getting stronger. Because of the navel bleed, we have her on penicillin as a precaution, but my guess is she'll be paroled within the next couple of days.

Monday, June 23, 2008 5:59 AM
Brandi arrived at about noon yesterday, and as you can guess, we wouldn't name a boy Brandi. It's not all fun and games though, even though she's 18.8 lbs, she is dysmature, floppy ears, lax tendons, and lacking coordination. Cantana's other crias have been between 21 and 26 lbs. Her respiration was 4 times the normal rate until about 7:00 last night, now, it's normal. She had plasma tubed yesterday, followed by milk from a bottle. She had quite a bit of bleeding from her navel when she passed her meconium at about 11:00 last night, but it's stopped this morning, and she took 5 ounces after unsuccessful attempts to find milk from mom. We'll say we have guarded optimism on this one.

Sunday, June 22, 2008 6:59 AM
We didn't see any temperatures above 113 yesterday, we quit looking at the thermometer at that point. Today is supposed to just be "seasonably hot." The kids don't much seem to mind, they still run around and play.

Saturday, June 21, 2008 6:44 AM
It is HOT as a firecracker here but if I say it got up to 45 celsius, it doesn't sound quite as bad. The alpacas are all handling it okay, their human keeps hosing their bellies. Here we go again...

Friday, June 20, 2008 6:25 AM
Gwen delivered a little boy yesterday with very little fanfare. Nothing was going on at 12:15, when I checked at 12:30, there he was, doing the floppy thing. No, his name won't be Biff.
I get the weather advisories emailed to me, I think there were six yesterday and there are already three this morning. They tell me it's really hot. Gee, I'm glad they told me, I never would have guessed.

Thursday, June 19, 2008 6:03 AM
We're having record heat here, and the wind is not picking up as early as normal. Yep, everyone is pretty miserable. In addition to the sprinklers, they've been getting belly hosed throughout the day. It's looking like we have a few more days to come.
We looked at the names of the newest crias, Michele, Gabrielle, Vanessa and Tiffany. If that doesn't sound like a bunch of Valley girls, I don't know what does. Maybe the next one could be Buffy, or if a boy, Biff.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 5:52 AM
Tiffany. Yep, the new girl has a name. Pati gets credit for this one, she came up with it yesterday afternoon. We think she's pretty special, and when she has a cria a couple of years, her cria will get to have "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Okay, I get credit (blame) for the breakfast part.
It's still toasty warm out there, but I'd expect another cria any day.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 6:58 AM
No crias yesterday, I don't blame them, it was just too hot. It's looking like it will be staying hot for the next few days, I doubt that everyone can hold out until it cools back down. I'm just as glad that we didn't have any babies yesterday, we had two "rival" bee swarms set up nests in the shed, and they were a bit angry when the bee guy came out.

Monday, June 16, 2008 5:52 AM
It was a toasty one yesterday, and today is supposed to be the same. Little "what's her name" is doing and looking great, but I think they're ready to get out of the nursery. Pati thinks we'll have another cria today, she just may be right. I add two more to the baby watch list tomorrow, Cantana and Carmella. Bring on the girls!

Sunday, June 15, 2008 6:31 AM
It was very apparent yesterday morning that it was show time for Nala. Up and down, on her side, to the poop pile, etc. Just before 10:30, I checked on her, two minutes later, Pati saw a head. It took 60 seconds to get over there, and she was on the ground. Yeehaw!

Saturday, June 14, 2008 6:05 AM
I never did update on Dewdrop. She died on Monday. The necropsy results were lymphoma, in other words, cancer. She was always one of our favorites. She didn't gripe when we kept her upstairs for a month with Percy. She gave us a lot. Rest in peace Dewdrop. Here's to you.

Friday, June 13, 2008 7:17 AM
I got some pictures up from when I was on the road. Summer's cria is also there, so it doesn't look like a travelogue. It's Friday the 13th, a great day to have a couple of crias. Just for extra good luck, after my two black cats run in front of me, I'll walk under a ladder and run with scissors.

Thursday, June 12, 2008 7:11 AM
I'm back, it was a long trip, it's good to be home. No babies yesterday, I guess I'll need to show Pati how it's done. I'll rest up today, then have two tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 10:001 PM
A couple of days ago, I was in flooding, thunderstorms, and tornadoes. Tonight, I'm just south of Sacramento, with wildfires. I feel like a storm chaser.
I covered just over 900 miles today, and have just about 400 miles until I'm back home. I think I'm ready for my own bed. Pati said that Nala was acting up yesterday, but acting normal today. Maybe she's waiting to see my headlights. Oops, no, I have that backwards.

Sunday, June 8, 2008 7:37 PM
Last night, I shut down in Indiana pretty late. There were storms off and on during the night, a couple of severe thunderstorms, some flooding, and a tornado here and there. I got up early, and started driving. I did need to shut down a time or two due to nasty storms, but managed to make it into Nebraska. I put my sights on an RV park and pulled in about 8:00 local time. Oops, there were some RV's, lots of spaces available, but I didn't bring my water wings so I could get out there. There was an insurance adjuster here, and he had another insurance adjuster meeting him here. The one onsite was for damage to the motel and RV park, the one on the way was to check out the hail damage to the adjuster's Hummer. One more storm and we'll have a convention here. Me? I'll head back to California before this place is overrun with insurance guys.

Friday, June 6, 2008 9:50 PM
Believe it or not, I'm in Riply New York. I dropped Chewbacca off in Pennsylvania, and headed east. I think they're happy to have me out of their state, as each time I bought gas in PA, 10 minutes later a bug would commit suicide right in the center of my windshield.
I'm hooked up In an RV park right on Lake Erie. I'll admit, it's kinda cool.
So much for the travelogue channel, back at the ranch, there was a bit of a scare with Summer. After her ordeal, she got dehydrated, the rumen pretty much shut down, not a good thing. Pati and Dr Thacher fixed it with tubing and good drugs. I understand that she's back to nearly 100% today. Cool!
Dewdrop is another story though, she has a bacterial infection that attacks the lymph nodes. It's normally fatal. We're going to see what we can do, but there's not much of a chance. We did get her daughter (Percy) through tough times, but that was uncharted territory. We'll try, but don't have the warm fuzzies.
I'll be picking up in New York tomorrow, then heading back west.

Thursday, June 5, 2008 9:06 PM
Texarkana. Texoma. Delmarva. Why is it that on this side of the country, if two states touch, they combine the names and call the area that? Three states touch, and the poetic license flows.
I'm currently in Michiana. Where that comes from is beyond me, I'm in Indiana, just outside of Illinois. I guess that Illanoya didn't work for the locals. I'm on the I-80 turnpike, AKA the Ohio turnpike, heading to Pennsylvania. Why is it a turnpike? It's pretty straight, and there are no fish.
Imagine if we did out west what they do here?
We'd have Texico. New Coloutzona. Of course, New Mexico wanted to stay safe to the south, hence the name. There would be Calivada, Calgon, (take me away.) Calizona has a nice ring to it though. We cant 't leave our northern neighbors out, we'd have Canington and Caniho.
I'll be heading two more places on this side of the country before I get to head back to Cheers. Where's Cheers? Where everyplace know's it's name.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 7:27 PM
I'm in Big Canyon, Oklahoma tonight, dinner is in the oven. I didn't cover as much ground today as I wanted to. I dropped Sumatra at her new home this morning, then got lost a bit on the Texas farm roads. Once I was back on track, I headed north, and blew a tire out just south of Denton. it was 30 minutes to change the tire, 3 1/2 hours to get a replacement. Because of the new route, I did get to go through Checotah, home of Carrie Underwood, and Muskogee, home of (who sang that song?)
Not many can say they've had that experience.
Pati tells me that "Snow White" is stellar, even Dr Thacher noticed. I'm looking forward to seeing her.
Pati also said I had a typo in yesterday's update, gee, I couldn't find it

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 3:46 AM
Hello from Navasota, TX!. Coffee's brewing, so an update.
Pati had a relaxing day yesterday at the ranch. It started out with her seeing one leg sticking out of Summer. After no nose followed, she called Dr Thacher. Dr Thacher found the dhead lodged down in the pelvis, but using both hands, she repositioned the cria and got HER out. What a great start to a day!
Then, she loaded up Aerosmith and Sonny and took them for shearing. They didn't get shorn at Nationals, there was a six hour wait for a six dollar haircut.
On the road, I had planned to stay at "Happy Time" RV park just off of the freeway last night, but it was no longer there. I ended up driving and looking for a spot to park. I had to pass on my first choice, because I didn't have an AK47 or Guido with me. I finally found a Walmart to park in. I'll drop Sumatra off this morning, then head up towards Chicago.

Monday, June 2, 2008 9:53 PM
Yep, it does say PM, while I'm on the road, if I do an update, it'll probably be after shutting down. No telling when I'll get to upload it though.
I'm currently in Lordsburg, NM. It was an uneventful drive, which is all I can ask for. I happened to look over at about mile post 267 in Arizona,near Wilcox, and there, right next to the freeway was an alpaca farm. It looked like there were 20-30 alpacas there. Oh, I can't upload a picture of the new cria, because she hasn't been born yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Monday, June 2, 2008 4:58 AM
I'll be hitting the road today, might as well, no babies coming while I'm here. I'd imagine they're waiting for my tail lights. It'll be up to Pati to enjoy the crias. I'll update on the road if and when I can.

Sunday, June 1, 2008 8:12 AM
This one I'm doing on my new laptop as a test, hopefully I'll be able to do updates on the road.

Sunday, June 1, 2008 7:01 AM
Okay, I won't write about the weather. I won't talk about the bird that pooped on my clean truck. I won't complain about the lack of a new cria. I won't complain about fat alpacas driving me crazy.
I guess I really don't have anything to say this morning. Sorry, the daily update has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

Saturday, May 31, 2008 6:53 AM
It's a June gloom morning, cool, overcast, and slightly foggy. There's just enough moisture in the air to mess up the truck that I had washed yesterday. We have all of these pregnant girls and I'm writing about weather and a truck. Pretty sad eh? Nope, no cria.

Friday, May 30, 2008 7:20 AM
I've heard a few stories of long gestations this year, one farm in Iowa has had every girl go over 360 days. I don't know if it's just coincidence, or if there is a nationwide effort by the alpacas to make all of the owners go crazy. What's next, will they go on strike for more treats and belly hosing?

Thursday, May 29, 2008 6:15 AM
Fat pacas got no reason
Fat pacas got no reason
Fat pacas got no reason to live
They got big old bellies
And great big teats
If they don't deliver soon
They won't get no treats
Cause I
Don't want no fat Pacas
Don't want no fat Pacas
Don't want no fat Pacas 'round here

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 7:16 AM
Nope, no babies. Based on what we saw at shearing, I'm really surprised that Koko hasn't popped yet. Toni and Nala are the ones that look closest to delivery, but neither of them are near their due dates. They just carry high and back. Summer is now at day 360, is very uncomfortable at times, and acts completely normal at times. She's not very keen on allowing me to lift her tail for a peek at treat time.
Aria never really adjusted to north field, so I let her back into the main field. Of course, Manda came with her. They immediately ran up to the nursery to chow down. I guess they'll join the ranks of permanent residents.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 7:08 AM
I'm back from Nationals, and had a great time. The trip was uneventful, though the weather was kinda lousy for most of the time. Paris was the only one to come home with a ribbon, Tonto was the youngest in his class of 15 really nice alpacas, we'll let him try again in the fall. It was Pati's first time going to Nationals, it was fun having her there.
Here at the ranch, Susan watched over the animals. Thanks Susan! She did a great job of catching Michelle and Gabby to put cria coats on them, but really failed at the number one job of ranch manager. She didn't pick up the new cria, bring it up and weigh it, dip the umbilical cord, call the vet for post partum exam, or get an IgG run. Oops, I guess I forgot to tell her she was supposed to get one of the girls to deliver. Nope, no babies, maybe today? I have a ton of work to do, more tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 5:43 AM
What a difference a day makes! It was hot again yesterday, but it's cool and foggy this morning, and it's going to stay cool the next few days. I'm sure Gabrielle will enjoy that. Yep, she has a name, Gabby for short.
I'll be hopping in the truck heading for Utah in about an hour, so Pati will probably get a new cria this morning. I'll be back Monday.

Monday, May 19, 2008 6:39 AM
We at least had some wind yesterday, it was much more bearable. We have the show kids up in the show pen, the suris are getting a good hosing down to get the dust out of their fiber. Of course they'll probably drop and roll on the way to the trailer tomorrow.

Sunday, May 18, 2008 6:02 AM
It was really hot again yesterday, but supposed to cool off today and even more this week. No one really felt like having a cria yesterday, can't say that I blame them. They were much happier playing in the sprinkler, I was tempted to join them.
While it's cool this morning, I'll get some stuff ready for Nationals, I head out Tuesday.

Saturday, May 17, 2008 6:06 AM
Darnit! So yesterday, I go to register Priscilla's cria. Turns out there's a girl that works at ARI named Moonshine Starmonkey! She says I can't use that name. Yikes, I guess we're back to the drawing board.
It was really toasty yesterday, just shy of 100º. We're expecting the same today. It's Saturday, so it's time for a new cria. Who's next?

Friday, May 16, 2008 6:32 AM
Houston, we have a name for the new cria. (Drum Roll Please) From this day forward, she shall be addressed as ALLAA Moonshine Starmonkey. Sshhh, don't tell Pati, she'll hide the FTA card so I cant get her registered.
10 girls moved over to north field yesterday without a fuss. To avoid all of the excitement, I put all of the north field into northeast and northwest. Then I moved the girls into north field. After letting them look around and eat for an hour, I turned on the sprinkler and let them all in together. The sprinkler was more important than anything else, so no one noticed the new arrivals. Pretty clever eh? Now if I could just be clever enough to come up with a real name...

Thursday, May 15, 2008 6:16 AM
No new crias, and no name for the "old" one yet. Tolfan is sounding better all the time. Maybe we'll get lucky and have a cria today, the oven will be turned up. It's going to be really warm today, the sprinklers will be running quite a bit. Here comes summer.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 5:57 AM
Babynames.com has likely seen a big increase of traffic, we still don't have a name for Priscilla's cria. As much as she nurses, Miss Piggy comes to mind, but Pati likely wouldn't go for that. Maybe I should just let the Skinker's from West Virginia name her? Naw, I think we'll keep working on it.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:28 AM
I did forget to mention something yesterday, the new girl is the first on the ranch to be fourth generation. We have her mom, grandma (Cantana), and great grandma (Prissy). We also have her dad (Blade) and her grandpa (Shogun). Now all we need is a name for her and we'll be set.

Monday, May 12, 2008 6:51 AM
We had a few people say that Priscilla was waiting for Mother's Day to deliver her cria. It looks like they were right.
Yesterday at about 9:00, we could see that she was starting labor. At 10:00 we had a nose, soon followed by a couple of legs. Then the fun began, I wish I'd brought the video camera. When she realized it was an alpaca back there, she started chasing her tail like a cat, and spitting at the cria. She was spinning so fast we were afraid she'd get dizzy. I started to have concerns about what kind of mother she'd be. Once the cria was out though, she was great, attentive and clucking. SHE ended up weighing 20.1 lbs, and was up and nursing in no time. Way to go Priscilla!

Of course, we must not forget the contest we were having on cria prediction, and we do have a winner!
The winners are Sheldon Lyman Skinker JR and his lovely wife Thelma. Sheldon and Thelma are natives of Hackeysack, West Virginia, They'll be enjoying an all expense paid trip to Las Vegas.
We sent our prize patrol out yesterday and were able to photograph the look of surprise and joy on their faces.
We've put that photo Here.
Congratulations Mr & Mrs Skinker!

Sunday, May 11, 2008 8:16 AM
Early yesterday, we saw that Priscilla was really acting up, and wouldn't get up to enjoy the branches from the California pepper trees that Pati threw in the paddock. Just to make things easier when I'd carry the new cria up, when I put hay into the field, I kept Priscilla and a couple others separate. Sure enough, while we were watching Priscilla, Smokey snuck out a 21 lb girl. Gotta quit having black crias, It's too hard to get a good picture.

Saturday, May 10, 2008 6:25 AM
It's the May grey weather pattern here, cool, humid and foggy in the morning, sunny and about 75º in the afternoon. It's the kind of weather that makes the alpacas love to pronk.
I have a busy day today, some boys to halter train, maybe some microchips to insert, a navel to dip, new cria to weigh, and pictures to take. Of course that last part is wishful thinking.

Friday, May 9, 2008 6:54 AM
It's day 343 for Priscilla, her mom and grandma both average about 340 day pregnancies. I can take all of mom's and grandma's gestation length, enter them in a spreadsheet, add them all up and divide by the number of pregnancies. I could then extrapolate the results. I still wouldn't have a clue when Priscilla would deliver, but it would keep me busy for a while.

Thursday, May 8, 2008 7:01 AM
Sonny and Tonto aren't really enjoying enjoying being weanlings, and both of their moms had a bit of a problem with it also. Mora is not having a hard time, and Sumatra never gave it a thought. Funny how each one is different.
I'm getting the trailer ready for Nationals, just a couple more weeks.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 6:58 AM
It was a fun day yesterday!. First thing, we got alpacas rounded up and in the show pen for travel certificates. We had everyone in there except Majik, the gate was closed up, and I went down to get Majik. As I walked down, we discovered something about Sumatra. Like her mom, she is very adept at opening gates. Yep, down they went! Having Swirl and Paris in the main field group excited everyone, so it was a fiasco for a while. Of course, a bucket full of treats and a small enclosure full of fresh weeds soon became more important, so finally we were able to get them rounded back up. Bringing Majik up was a piece of cake.
Swirl didn't ever settle back down, so the vet had to introduce her to "better living through pharmaceuticals" so that she could get the blood drawn for the Brucellosis test and do the TB test.
I got back from FedEx at about 5:00. I'm glad we didn't have a baby yesterday!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 6:07 AM
I guess the crias didn't like the possible names, so they hid out for another day. It's still 13 days until Priscilla's "official" due date, but I doubt she'll go all the way to 350, as her mom and grandma both average just under 340.

Monday, May 5, 2008 6:24 AM
¡Feliz el 5 de Mayo! No worries, I'm not going to do the whole update in another language. It would be cool to have a cria today though, we could name her Felicia, Jovianne, Macaria or Elata. Yep, sounds good, if Pati will let me, I'll go chase Priscilla around the paddocks for a while.

Sunday, May 4, 2008 7:21 AM
It was a great day yesterday, the weather was perfect, the seminar went well, and everyone had a good time. When we brought the north field up for hands on tubing, we thought we were going to get the added bonus of watching a cria born, Priscilla was really bulging. No such luck, but I'd bet it will be today.
One of the trunks on the north field pepper tree broke yesterday, so I'll need to go chop it up today. The alpacas are getting a nice treat this morning, cleaning the leaves off of it for me.

Saturday, May 3, 2008 5:47 AM
There was an alpaca quite fat
That really bulged out when she sat
You'd think she'd give birth
To reduce her large girth
But it seems she wants no part of that!

Friday, May 2, 2008 7:09 AM
Not a lot to report here, the alpacas, llama and koi are all still pregnant. Priscilla seems to be the most uncomfortable of the bunch. I don't have an accurate breeding date on Koko, Smokey, or the koi, so I'll just be patient for them. Me patient? Yeah, right!

Thursday, May 1, 2008 6:54 AM
Happy May Day! The cool thing about the start of this month is that I don't come up with some silly hoax like I did for April. It's an absolutely perfect day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the alpacas are happy.
The other evening, the kids in main field started pronking. Pretty soon some of the older ones started, and even Armana, who's nine years old joined in. Of course Aria, Manda and Princess couldn't be bothered with such childish behavior, and took the opportunity to have the feeders to themselves. Prissy was at the feeder upstairs oblivious to what was going on below.

Click here for past updates

Heat index for alpacas
Formula: Temperature (F) + Humidity = Heat Index
Source: Llama*alpaca field manual
C Norman Evans DVM
Note: We're 5-20 degrees cooler in the summer than Murrieta and have a constant 10-15 MPH wind

How it relates to alpacas, the "Rick Heat Index" based on feel:

Back to top