Alpacas in California

Friday, September 3, 2010 8:38 AM
We did blood draws on eight crias yesterday. We have names for everyone except for Lucy's cria, so we can get them registered.
I'm fighting a bit of a cold or flu or yucky bug, I'm going to try to take it easy today.

Thursday, September 2, 2010 7:13 AM
I'm back from my trip, it was a long one. I travelled just over 8,000 miles, and even got to experience the George Washington bridge at rush hour. The weather was good the entire trip.
The girls that came back from New York slimed the trailer more than I have ever seen. I'm not sure if I should wash it or just get green paint to complete the job.

Saturday, August 21, 2010 6:12 AM
I'll be jitting the road for transport this morning, and with limited internet access, can't update here much. I'll update my location on my Facebook page. With three stops to make today, I'll likely only make it to about the Nevada-Utah border tonight.

Friday, August 20, 2010 7:00 AM
Pati made great time getting home yesterday, she said she felt like a stable horse. I had a gin and tonic ready for her, we sat on the patio and enjoyed that, then she got to meet the new crias. Susan made us shrimp coctail, and I cooked up some cornish game hens.
Pati is out on poop patrol already, I'm heading out for my last day of scooping, tomorrow I hit the road.

Thursday, August 19, 2010 6:31 AM
Pati comes home today. I'm not quite sure who is more looking forward to it. It's going to be another warm one, off to work.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 6:41 AM
I started yesterday by being attacked by Africanized bees. I ran pretty fast, but still got stung eight times. Fortunately, the day improved from there. The exterminator was out yesterday, they'll be back next week to tear a wall out and do some cleanup.
It was warm and humid yesterday, looking at the same today. It's Pati's last day farm sitting, she'll be back tomorrow afternoon.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 6:05 AM
We almost hit 100º yesterday, but held it to 99º. July 15th through August 16th have the highest average temperature here, so officially it starts to cool off now. I'm going to grab my parka and get poop patrol done before that cold wind begins to blow.

Monday, August 16, 2010 6:50 AM
I think Pati is chomping at the bit to come home, it's week three for her. She'll be getting home on Thursday, and I'll hit the road on a transport on Saturday. At least Friday will be a team effort for poop patrol. Speaking of poop patrol, I'm heading out before it gets too hot.

Sunday, August 15, 2010 6:42 AM
It did get warm yesterday, but we managed to get Dusty bred while it was still cool enough. Today is going to be the same, so I'm heading out early to get poop patrol done.

Saturday, August 14, 2010 5:41 AM
It looks like summer is here for the next week or so. We'll only be in the 90's, so mild summer nonetheless. It does make me want to get out and get poop patrol done early though. While Pati is gone, I've been doing a quick evening run through, it does make the morning chores easier.

Friday, August 13, 2010 6:28 AM
It was a bit warmer yesterday, but still managed to get a bit of breeding done. I started my day with a black cat crossing my path, then went outside and stepped on a crack. Once I run with scissors under a ladder, my Friday the 13th will be complete.

Thursday, August 12, 2010 6:41 AM
Lilly Belle was looking pretty poofy in the back end yesterday, I don't think it's going to be much longer. She's only at day 329, but with first timers, it's hard to tell how long they'll go.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 6:42 AM
I was in Temecula yesterday, and saw some tiny miniature goats, barely bigger than a chihuaha. It was funny to seee them hanging out with the alpacas. It's foggy and 56º this morning, I guess they cancelled the heat. I guess we'll just wait another year for summer. That suits me just fine.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 6:38 AM
It didn't get as warm as expected yesterday, it stayed quite comfortable. It was warm enough that the girls really enjoyed playing in the sprinklers. Once I get my chores done, I'll be heading down to Temecula to trim some teeth on some alpacas.

Monday, August 9, 2010 7:09 AM
It hit a whopping 78º here yesterday, but we all survived it. It looks like we just have another day or two before summer hits. I think I'll get ahead a bit in outside chores before it heats up.

Sunday, August 8, 2010 7:04 AM
I had an interesting discussion with one of the preggos yesterday. Here is a reenactment:

Saturday, August 7, 2010 6:13 PM
Yep, an afternoon update. It was pointed out that I had forgotten to upload the updates page for two days. Click here for my response

Saturday, August 7, 2010 6:30 AM
Kearney is down to two bottle per day now, and the amounts are dropping fast. It's funny how soon they can grow up when they need to. He's just 3 2/12 months old, been an orphan since he was 47 days old, but he's doing great.
The other kids are starting to get their pronking organized, and I'm beginning to think that I should bring Kearney back over so he can play also.

Friday, August 6, 2010 6:42 AM
It was really nice for most of the day yesterday. It was foggy in the morning and there was a nice cool breeze in the afternoon. There were just a couple of hours with no wind and it got a bit warm. The new kids are all doing great, and it is fun having so many at the same time.

Thursday, August 5, 2010 6:31 AM
It was warm yesterday, but we have a full blown marine layer this morning. It's so foggy, I can't see any of the alpacas except for Luci and her cria. They came upstairs to hang out by themselves. I'm going to get the poop scooped while it's cool, and it should be a fun day for the boys.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010 6:39 AM
At 11:30 yesterday, Luci had her head under the feeder munching away. I raised her tail and figured she'd deliver within the next couple of days. At noon, she was rocking back and forth on her fat belly. 12:10 was the first push, 12:30 was touchdown.
I'm not at all disappointed that this one is a boy. I didn't really get any great pics yesterday, so went back out this morning for some.
He's doing great this morning.

 

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 7:17 AM
It was quite a bit warmer yesterday but surprisingly Luci didn't seem to mind the heat. She normally does not handle it well. All of her births have been on day 351 or 352. Today is 351, so hopefully we'll have a cria today or tomorrow. Then again, if she's been talking to the Derrow girls, it could be next month.

Monday, August 2, 2010 6:25 AM
Yep, Norma finally had her cria at about 4:00 yesterday. She's two hours old in the picture. It was a bit of a strange birth, just something I hadn't seen. She has really long legs, it took her a bit of time to master them, kind of like walking on stilts. This morning she's finally mastered the art of cushing, yesterday, it was more of a controlled crash.
Today is 350 for Luci, her average is 352. If she does deliver this morning, I'll be off of baby watch for the rest of the day.

Sunday, August 1, 2010 6:41 AM
August? Really? Wow, time flies when you're having fun. It looks like it's going to be a bit warmer today, so I'm heading out for poop patrol before it hits. I'd say August would be a good month for a new cria.

Saturday, July 31, 2010 5:14 AM
I kinda figured that with my silly name idea, there was no way Norma would consider delivering yesterday. As the old saying goes, "when the apple is ripe, it'll fall from the tree." I just want to jiggle the branches a bit.

Friday, July 30, 2010 6:08 AM
It was a good day again yesterday, it's been staying nice and cool, so the boys got to come up and play again. It looks like we'll continue to have nice weather through at least next week.
This is day 365 for Norma. If she does deliver today, it had better not be a boy. I'd have no choice but to name him "Jose Fleecy Año."

Thursday, July 29, 2010 4:50 AM
Nope, not a typo up there, it's really that early. I got up to see Pati off, she's farm sitting in Northern California for three weeks. While she's gone, I'll be chasing girls. I'd imagine that if I chase Norma far and fast enough, she's bound to give up that cria.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 6:21 AM
And yes, we have no new crias, we have no new crias today. So now, you're going to have that annoying banana song going through your head all day long. Hey, I figure if I'm going to be annoyed, everyone else should be also.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 7:39 AM
It's day 362 for Norma. It's day 345 for Luci. If they would both deliver today, I would not be on cria watch again until Monday. I'd say the chance of that happening is about as high as it is that we would have a marine layer this late in July. We beat the odds on the marine layer, maybe we'll be two for two?

Monday, July 26, 2010 7:49 AM
I figured it out. Norma doesn't want to have to deal with a pesky cria. She's decided that she's big enough to hang on to the cria until it's big enough to be weaned.
The marine layer is back, it's going to be a nice cool week.

Sunday, July 25, 2010 7:05 AM
Yesterday, Norma got tired of having me go down to look at her back end, so she took care of it. She told Dusty Rose to have her cria, and Dusty obliged.
Cool thing was, we weren't on official baby watch for Dusty. There was a discrepancy on her breeding records from last year, we had her due date as either August 2nd or September 2nd. After discussions and going over schedules, events and conversations from last year, we decided that it had to be September 2nd. I guess we forgot to tell Dusty. For now, his name is Fawn BonJovi or maybe FawnJovi.

Saturday, July 24, 2010 6:55 AM
We had a more traditional meal yesterday, Pati's good hamburgers. Yeah, I know you don't care about what I eat, you're here for alpaca stuff. Norma is at day 359, maybe she'll give me something to talk about today.

Friday, July 23, 2010 6:59 AM
Yesterday didn't start great. I was putting hay out and got caught in the crossfire, slimed right in the face. Susan chastised Princess for spitting, Princess let her know it was none of her business. Pati was smart enough to go play in the garden until they settled in with with the new hay.
It went uphill from there, the boys got to come up and all of them got to play. Afterwards, we began to celebrate Susan's birthday, though it was a few days late. We started with escargot. Pati made a garlic butter mix to cook them in, and they were huge. They almost made a meal by themselves, but we had some more good food that we needed to eat. After a break, we moved on to filet mignon and lobster. Of course, there was champagne in there too. For desert it was creme brule (not the alpaca). Oh yeah, I like birthdays!

Thursday, July 22, 2010 6:35 AM
Nope, Norma and Luci were just funnin' with me yesterday, trying to see if they could drive me crazy. It worked. Norma is at day 357, maybe she'll deliver a magnum or magnumette today?

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 6:42 AM
The big excitement for yesterday was when Penelope gave a warning call because there was a red water bucket outside the paddocks. Silly me, I should know that water buckets are supposed to be blue.
We have a nice marine layer this morning. Everyone is in main field except for Norma and Luci. Hmmm, I wonder?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 6:49 AM
It was an exciting day yesterday. First thing, I went and gave Kearney his bottle. Once the dogs were fed, It was on to poop patrol. While I was doing poop patrol, Meg helped me by taking the hose out of the water bucket I was filling. Oh, I guess yesterday wasn't all that exciting after all.
I just know today be an exciting day for Hank and Blue. Yep, it's trash day, time to chase those trucks going back and forth. Yipee!

Monday, July 19, 2010 6:46 AM
The cool breeze started up yesterday afternoon, it looks like we have a few days of nice weather. I got an email saying Indy Smith delivered an 18 pound boy yesterday. Indy was bred a few hours after Norma, so hopefully Norma won't be too far behind. I'll predict that I'll be smart enough today not to make a prediction.

Sunday, July 18, 2010 6:37 AM
It's still hot, but it looks like it'll be cooling off a bit over the next few days. I'm thinking that Norma doesn't want to be outdone by Pati Cake, so she'll probably go 369 days or more. That's okay, I'm not in a hurry. I have all the time in the world.

Saturday, July 17, 2010 6:16 AM
It was a hot one again yesterday, about 100º again. I'm really amazed at how well all of the girls are handling the heat. Last year, Luci would hang her head in a water bucket, this year she's fine. I think that shearing a month later really paid off.
We should be back into the 80's early next week, I'm ready for that.

Friday, July 16, 2010 6:46 AM
We hit 103º yesterday then at about 4:00, the temperature started to drop, and we got a few large drops of rain from a distant thunderstorm. It didn't stay distant for long, we ended up with a torrential downpour, wind, thunder and lightning. This morning it's really muggy, it's not going to be a comfortable day.

Thursday, July 15, 2010 5:52 AM
It was a hot one yesterday, up to 100º. I guess I could officially say that summer is here. It's Norma's official due date, so there is a zero percent chance of a new cria today.
I've killed three rattlesnakes in the last week, an all time record. I guess I'll be watching where I walk.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 5:29 AM
It got really warm yesterday, so the alpacas really enjoyed the sprinklers. Although Luci usually goes long, looking at her back end, I wouldn't be surprised if she cut in front of Norma. Today is 332 for her.
I'm going to make a prediction, but I won't tell anyone what my prediction is. I'll just report if I was right or wrong. I'm sure everyone will be really impressed with my new found accuracy.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 6:19 AM
It's going to be a warm one today, so I'll get out first thing and chase Norma around the paddocks. Norma is at day 348, which is the average gestation. Today is Susan's birthday, and I'm sure she'd love new cria.
Ride 'em cowboy (Norma) and Happy birthday Susan.

Monday, July 12, 2010 6:59 AM
No crias yesterday, but I did get a visit from a fairly large rattlesnake. It had eight rattles, so it had been around for a while. It was well hidden, so I had to work to get to it.
We actually had some rain yesterday, almost enough to get the sidewalks damp. It has been monsoon weather, but now it looks like summer is really going to start.

Sunday, July 11, 2010 7:00 AM
We had a real mix of weather yesterday. It got warm in the morning, then monsoon weather by noon. At 2:00 there was a cool breeze and by 5:00 it was back down to 70º. No cria yesterday, today would be a good day, 7-11. We could name her Lucky. It's probably a better choice than craps.

Saturday, July 10, 2010 6:06 AM
It looks like we're through with the marine layer for the year, so for us, this is the first day of summer. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Norma is now on day 345, but the way things are going, she'll hold out until labor day. I'm also on baby watch for Luci, and she always goes a bit long.

Friday, July 9, 2010 7:18 AM
The boys had a great time yesterday, Conquistador, Mo, and Rocky all got to come up twice. It's hard to believe that the little girl in the tubing video got to breed yesterday. How quickly they grow up.
We still have the marine layer, but it's supposed to warm up a bit for the weekend, maybe we'll have a new cria?

Thursday, July 8, 2010 6:14 AM
We had a strong earthquake yesterday, a 5.4 located about 50 miles from here. It really rattled the house. It got my attention, but the alpacas barely noticed it and the puppies only woke up for a minute.
This must be the coolest summer on record, and we have another day with the marine layer. I have a feeling that the boys will be enjoying their day.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010 6:47 AM
It ended up being quite a challenge to get the new guy downstairs yesterday. Pati Cake's support group left mid morning. Mom would get him by the shed, and he'd run back up, or just cush outside. There was no way he was going to walk on concrete. Finally, I carried him down, and everyone got to meet him. I thought everything was hunky dory, then at about 8:30, he got the nerve to walk on concrete. Yep, he was back upstairs, but in an area where Pati had no food or water. I carried him back down, and he's still down there this morning, running with the others.
This morning is the heaviest marine layer in a long time, the sidewalks are damp. I think summer has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 8:32 AM
At 2:00 yesterday, I got a look under Pati Cake's tail and said "nope, not today." At 2:30, it was like someone threw a switch, and she went into labor. It took some pulling and tugging, but we got him out okay, and mom is doing fine also. I'll get some better pics when the sun comes out.

Monday, July 5, 2010 6:42 AM
It's nice and cool again, it barely hit 80º yesterday. The marine layer is back, making perfect cria birthing weather. I'm sure we'll have one today, or maybe some other day. I looked in the dictionary and couldn't find the correct spelling for aaaarrrrgggghhhhh!

Sunday, July 4, 2010 7:59 AM
I've come up with names for today's cria(s). Firecrackette, Fourtha, or Liberty Belle. With names like that, here's no chance of having one arrive today. I'd say they probably crawled in deeper.

Saturday, July 3, 2010 6:50 AM
We do have names for all of the girls now, but we don't have a name for what we have this morning. It looks like May grey or June gloom, but it never happens in July. I did a good job not whining about the lack of crias, eh?
Have a safe 4th of July weekend!

Friday, July 2, 2010 7:41 AM
We hit 90º yesterday for the first time this year. You would have thought that would bring on a new cria but no, they're being stubborn. The average gestation for an elephant is 645 days. I think these girls may be alpacaphants.

Thursday, July 1, 2010 7:08 AM
Happy July! Over the next couple of days we'll be adding Luci and Dusty to the baby watch list. Luci tends to be about normal for gestation length, Dusty is usually two weeks short. At this point though, all bets are off who will be next.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 7:32 AM
No cria yet, I predict one for tomorrow though. Thursdays are a great day for crias, so I'll wear my lucky shirt. If that doesn't do it, nothing will.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 7:34 AM
My prediction was spot on yesterday, a nice day with no new crias. I heard of a new record long gestation yesterday, 438 days. Pati cake is at 361, if she can hold out 78 more days, she'll be famous. I'll just change her due date to September 15th. Cross your legs Pati Cake, it's going to be a long summer!

Monday, June 28, 2010 7:37 AM
Pati's prediction didn't come through yesterday. We had a chance to go to lunch with friends, something we rarely get to do. Brando also got to go to his new home yesterday.
Today's forecast: Marine layer in the morning becoming sunny and warm. High in the mid 80's, winds out of the south at 10 mph. Probability of a new cria 5%.

Sunday, June 27, 2010 7:21 AM
Last night, Pati predicted that we'd have a cria born today. Because she made a prediction, I figured I needed to make one also. I predicted that California would have at least a magnitude 2.5 earthquake today. One of us has been proven right so far, as you can see here. Next???

Saturday, June 26, 2010 6:54 AM
Kylynn is doing great, and starting to run around the field with the other kids. We have a June gloom morning, it's 56º here. The preggos are all just pigging out, I don't think I'll need my lucky cria carrying shirt today.

Friday, June 25, 2010 7:13 AM
Yesterday I decided to wear a special shirt. It's an old shirt from Skydive San Diego that I throw on to carry a cria upstairs. Sure enough, it worked, by 9:15 we had a new cria on the ground. Cher delivered a little girl. She even has a name already, it's Kylynn.
Pati Cake and Cher were bred on the same day. It's now day 358 for Pati Cake, I think she's going for the record. I wonder if she can hold out for 72 more days?

Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:12 AM
This is a test. This is only a test. This is a test of the daily updates page. Had there been an actual update, there would have been a picture on the right side and I would have written about it. I return you now to your regularly scheduled web browsing.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010 7:14 AM
We have numerous "groupings" here on the farm. We have the "grumpy plumpies", aka "the golden girls." We also have the "cheeseheads", a group we bought from Wisconsin many years ago. There have been numerous "dynamic duo's" and a couple of "mod squads."
We now have a new group I call the "post office girls." I don't know when they'll deliver, I just know it won't be on time.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6:35 AM
The good news is that it was cool and the boys got to come up to play yesterday.
The bad news is that "SoCal Solstice" stuck her head out yesterday. She didn't see her shadow due to the June gloom, so there will be six more weeks of pregnancy.

Monday, June 21, 2010 7:45 AM
Maybe it's Labor day they're waiting on. Or maybe it's just summer solstice, which is today. Yep, it's officially summer. We have June gloom this morning, 55º, what a way to kick of summer. Adding a cria would be a good thing also, it should be easy to name.

Sunday, June 20, 2010 6:43 AM
I guess Lost Springs, Wyoming will have to choose another hero. Nope, no cria yesterday. Maybe they were just waiting for Father's day. I guess I'll have the answer to that tomorrow.
Happy Father's Day!

Saturday, June 19, 2010 7:02 AM
Still no crias, but based on what I saw yesterday I'd bet dollars to donuts that Cher will deliver today. I predict a fawn female. If I'm correct, I'm sure I'll win the admiration of everyone in Lost Springs, Wyoming.

Friday, June 18, 2010 10:35 AM
We rejoined the fields yesterday so all of the kids could be together. It was a good idea, not a great one. Kearney found Guinevere again, so we had to separate it out again this morning. I think we'll need to keep the fields segregated for a while, especially with a couple of maidens due.
The boys had a good time yesterday, I think they're glad to be back to work.

Thursday, June 17, 2010 7:33 AM
Today is the official due date for Pati Cake and Cher, so there is absolutely no chance that either of them will deliver. Now that Kearney has us trained, we'll be able to join the fields back together and let all of the kids interact again. I feel sorry for the preggos, they're going to have double the annoyances.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 6:22 AM
Even though she couldn't really see, Prissy used to make her way up to the nursery for treats every evening. It seems that Kearney was paying attention. Three times a day, he walks up and asks for a bottle. He's only taking about 25 ounces per day, but he seems to be satisfied with it.
The June gloom is back this morning, it looks like we'll have some nice days this week.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 6:49 AM
We had a 5.7 earthquake last night, not enough to damage anything but enough to get our attention. There have also been a load of aftershocks, most of which we couldn't feel.
I use 350 days for a "due date", because it's an easy number to work with. The actual average is 348. Today is 348 for Pati Cake and Cher. I'm sure neither of them would want to be considered average.

Monday, June 14, 2010 7:17 AM
It warmed up for a while yesterday, then cooled off for a nice afternoon. It's really shaping up to be a nice week. I'm sure the boys will enjoy the week, breeding starts back up. In the meantime:
Manda and Aria under the tree,
S P I TT I N G
First comes spit, then comes slime,
I sure butchered this nursery rhyme.

Sunday, June 13, 2010 6:54 AM
We've had a few days of June gloom with temperatures in the low 70's. The sun is out this morning and we'll be hitting the 80's for a while. We're only on cria watch for three, adding Norma on Tuesday, then none added until the first of the month. There are a a gaggle of crias running around, we're ready to add a few more.

Saturday, June 12, 2010 10:36 AM
We had to do some rearranging yesterday, allowing Kearney to be in with the "milk cow" moms, not the ones with normal amounts of milk. He's not keen on the bottle idea, but he does eat hay and pellets well. He sure had to grow up quickly.

Friday, June 11, 2010 7:41 AM
I'm back from my trip, I got in Wednesday afternoon. The drive was uneventful, but Pati was busy as can be while I was gone. It started Monday, Carmel went into labor, but there was no progression. Pati called the vet out, and the cria was all cattywompus. She did manage to successfully deliver a healthy boy. I'll get pictures up, but suffice it to say his name is Ditto.
A couple of hours later, Pati found Prissy down. After tubing her and "throwing the kitchen sink" at her, Prissy was back up and eating like nothing had happened. The victory was short lived, and we decided Wednesday evening to call the vet to lay her to rest .We'll miss her, she's been here for eight years, getting special attention every day due to her blindness.
At 5:30 yesterday morning, we found a completely dry and active female cria out of Guinevere. More pics to take and names to come up with.

 

Sunday, June 6, 2010 6:41 AM
It's Pati's turn to see if she can talk someone into having a cria. I'm hitting the road again, heading to Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado this morning. I should be back Wednesday.

 

Saturday, June 5, 2010 5:57 AM
It wasn't as warm as expected yesterday, and they dropped the forecast temps for the weekend down to the upper 80's. Carmel Sunday is the next one due, she's actually a bit overdue now. The way things look, Guinevere should be next, but these girls are doing a great job of keeping me guessing this year.
"Brownie" now has a real name, it's Arabella, which means beautiful lion. Now we just need names for three more before the next cria arrives.

 

Friday, June 4, 2010 6:47 AM
We had a fun day yesterday. Pati and Susan wanted to try their hands at shearing a llama and an alpaca. I must admit, they did a really good job. Rose is a hoot, she stands patiently and loves the attention. When the shears pass over certain spots, her lip quivers because she's ticklish.
It's going to be a warm weekend, I'm glad everyone is shorn.

Thursday, June 3, 2010 7:28 AM
Maddy finally had her cria yesterday. According to our records, it was day 380. We figure we (I) probably wrote the wrong day on the breeding sheet. I may have marked it on the wrong month, or she may have bred again. Her gestation was somewhere between 349 and 380 days give or take a month or so.
Blackie, Whitey, Rosie and Brownie still don't have names, so I was going to call him "Fawnzie" but Pati wasn't too keen on the idea. Not wanting five without a name, I made an executive decision. I closed my eyes, opened the phone book and pointed. His name is Peyton.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 7:02 AM
It was nice and cool all day again yesterday, and we have the June gloom today. One would think that at least one of the preggos would have taken advantage of the day and gotten their labor done before the heat comes back. I'll be sure to let them know the forecast, maybe one or two crias today. Then again, we've never had three in a day, sounds like fun!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010 6:44 AM
It was nice and cool yesterday, and the crias took advantage of it by running and pronking. It should be another nice day, maybe someone will add a new cria to the mix?