Jo's best friend from her school days, Susan Dobson, has come to visit from the UK with her three children. Known affectionately by everyone as "Dobbie".


A few random shots of the parade:













By Adrian Stewart

Still trying to schedule a handfull of late alpaca breedings in the calendar before the middle of November. I can see I will be heading North next week with a trailer of alpaca females to drop off at a variety of points between here and Portland.

Trying to schedule all these breedings always raises the same questions about getting an alpaca herdsire of our own. Which is always attractive but never solves all the problems. As members of IAC (the Ideal Alpaca Community) we like using Studmaster males and the females bred to Studmasters really are much easier to sell...so if it ain't broke don't fix it!

I believe we will use the Studmasters whenever possible and fill the gaps with breedings to other studs that catch our attention.

The key is to plan ahead and accept that your new cria and females will be off the farm for part of the year. We all miss having those little bundles of alpaca joy around the place but business comes first ...sometimes.

By Adrian Stewart

Today we had the wrap up meeting for Alpacamania, the annual alpaca show in this part of the world. It runs for two days on Columbus weekend and was a huge success. Its always a pleasure to be involved with an event that is well received and this was a big hit with all the attendees.

There are always things we can learn and the checking of microchips in animals prior to vet inspection is certainly something SOJAA (State of Jefferson Alpaca Association) the shows organisers will be looking to improve for 2006. SOJAA is a very friendly group of alpaca breeders from Southern Oregon and Northern California we meet once a month more or less and organise Alpacamania each year. If you are interested check out our web site www.sojaa.org




By Adrian Stewart

Woke up this morning to find a complete lack of e-mails and no web site! Some screw up with billing meant the payment hand't gone through! Anyway after an angry phone call from Jo and and an hours wait the site is now back up and working. Not quite sure where the e-mails that usually come in over night have gone! So if you are reading this and sent and e-mail in the last 24 hours please send it again...

We had our first frost last night so it was good to know the new alpaca cria were all in the barn with their mothers. It does make me wonder about breeding this late in the year.....I really don't want to find a frozen cria one morning. By 10am the sun was shining and the temperature was up to 55 degres F.

By Adrian Stewart

Today April Agnotti from Benevenuti http://www.benvenutifarm.com called by with her friend.
Its always great to show an experienced alpaca farmer around your place, share common issues and hear what they do differently on some fronts. We have so much we can learn from each other its a shame really that we don't take more time to visit each others place.

We try to keep the place organised and as clean and presentable as possible. We work on the basis we should be able to handle a farm visit at 30 minutes notice. Now thats a goal which we don't always achieve but it does help us from sliding into bad habits.

In the afternoon I laid DG down the central road between the pastures which will make a big difference once the winter weather arrives, once again the trusty John Deeere did its stuff, if only my back box skills were better...oh well practice makes perfect..almost.

Its very late in the year but we need to fix up some breedings for some of our open females. We have already purchased two breedings, one from Jan at Derwydd http://www.derwyddalpacas.com and one from Al and Jan at Happy Valley http://www.happyvalleyalpacas.com/ we bought the breedings at the AlpacaMania silent auction so I will be reporting back on progress.

By Adrian Stewart

Today I went up to the OSU vet college at Corvallis, I took the trouble to download the directions from the OSU web site and went straight to the vet college I recommend it !http://www.vet.orst.edu

Bettina and alpaca cria were doing fine when we arrived and after signing the discharge papers and paying the bill it was time to show me how to change the pessaries that she would need for the next six days or so. It turns out the tear was very small and her fertility will not be affected which is excellent news.

We did the whole journey in about 9 hours which is pretty good going and if you ever find yourself hungry at junction 86 on I-5 then I recommend Heaven on Earth...a real treat in the middle of nowhere. Heaven on Earth Restaurant & Bakery Home of Oregon?s Biggest & Best Cinnamon Rolls!

When we weighed in the cria was 20 lbs as we checked out he was 25 lbs...5lbs in 5 days is pretty good going for an alpaca cria just shows what happens when they are in a small stall and can feed off mum all day long.....

By Adrian Stewart

Ah! The roller coaster ride continues. Good news from Dr Waitt at OSU they have located the tear, which is small and on the wall of Bettina?s vagina. It has stopped bleeding and they are happy with how she is looking. Alpacas are very susceptible to adhesions from such cuts and the adhesions can compromise future fertility. They have packed her with fresh dressings each one coated in a broad spectrum anti-biotic. This is good news and they just want to keep her for a few days.

The not so good news is that of the two new alpaca cria we drew blood from on the 18th one has a very low Igg and we decide to give a plasma transfer. For a variety of reasons, the earliest we can schedule this is Saturday morning.

By Adrian Stewart

We load our low Igg alpaca cria Mr Tambourine Man and his dam Navidad into the trailer and head off to Crater Animal Clinic. This is a great facility just outside Medford in Central Point.
After we arrive it takes a while to get a line into the little cria but eventually we get a good line and transfuse the plasma. After the transfusion Dr Tara Timpson gives a shot of BOSE and another of vitamins A and D.
Its a short story but it took the thick end of three hours. The staff at the this place are amazing and I can't speak highly enough of their great attitude and professionalism together with their commitment and enthusiasm about camelids and alpacas in particular.
Our deepest thanks to Dr Tara Timpson DVM and all the staff at Crater Animal Clinic.
What an amazing resource only 30 minutes from our farm.
Mom and cria are glad to be home and back in the herd, so are we.

By Adrian Stewart

A alpaca farm like most living things is a work in progress improving all the time under our stewardship but never complete. Once the irrigation canal is turned off in early October all manner of work can be undertaken on the land. This year we are reseeding five of our six pastures. Improving the central access through the farm and building a bigger better poop collecting facility! We started out with raised "compost heaps" which work well but are hard to fill. So today with the help of Al Harris and his trusty back hoe we built a poop place where we can drive to the edge tip in the poop and drive away...when our customers come to buy poop we can easily shovel it into their truck...this will make life much easier.
Macario Ramirez (Mac) and I put a fence through the hay field so we can put the female alpacas on there to graze. We aren't going to get a second cutting of hay this year which is a great shame.

By Adrian Stewart

Not quite sure what that translates to in America but in England we always used to talk about "leading in the hay". A group of local alpaca farmers all members of SOJAA (State Of Jefferson Alpaca Association) have sourced some very decent third curtting hay from up near Bend in central Oregon. The hay is being delivered today to Suri Haven Alpacas the home of Dean and Dorothy Otten in Eagle Point.
I head out with Jamie my eldest son to collect our share. As we arrive, Deans place is littered with trailers and trucks as everyone loads up their share of the bounty. I wish I had my camera as it makes a great picture.
It doesn't take long to load the 58 bales that make up our share and which we will use with our own hay to ensure that optimum nutrition is maintaned through the winter months. I think we all wish we had the time to stay and talk but we are all keen to load up and head off home. Once we get home we unload into our ancient barn and the hay looks and smells just wonderful. A short time later we put some out for the alpacas and they agree. I then drill a dozen bales with the hay probe and mail off the sample for analysis..my nose and hands tell me it will be good but it will be interesting to see the lab results. We will be using the lab results of the hay analysis to help formulate feed pellets and achieve a balanced diet for the alpacas. This is a project Dr Tara Timpson is helping us with, I will keep you posted on our progress.

By Adrian Stewart

Ah! The roller coaster ride continues. Good news from Dr Waitt at OSU they have located the tear, which is small and on the wall of Bettina?s vagina. It has stopped bleeding and they are happy with how she is looking. Alpacas are very susceptible to adhesions from such cuts and the adhesions can compromise future fertility. They pack her with fresh dressings each one coated in a broad spectrum anti-biotic. This is good news and they just want to keep her for a few days.

The not so good news is that Tara Timpson has called to say that of the two new cria we drew blood from on the 18th one has a very low Igg and so we decide to give a plasma transfusion. For a variety of reasons, the earliest we can schedule this is Saturday morning.

By Adrian Stewart

Our new little boy is now two days old and has a name he is Mr Bo Jangles. We have this plan to name all our animals after songs?You may well ask why? Well the answer is we wanted a theme of sorts and wanted the names to sound familiar as soon as you heard it?so we decided on popular songs. Hence, Mr Bo Jangles. Anyway, he is doing fine but there is fresh blood on mums back legs not much but even a small amount is too much! When I decided to look around in the straw bedding and then I see more blood on the stall floor. Now I am worried about her. As it happens, Tara Timpkins DVM is coming in this morning to do some ultra sound scans on a group of females. Some we hope are pregnant and some we hope are still open! Tara is concerned too and we decided to keep a close eye on her while we start the ultrasound scans. As Bettina stands up from cushing, she looses blood and a significant sized blood clot. We have a closer look at Bettina but still cannot see anything. Tara calls the team at OSU Vet College and they ask her to do take a look using the speculum before sending her up to OSU. We decide not to sedate her for the exam, as we do not want to interfere with anything in her blood system right now. The exam does not reveal the site of the tear just that blood is pooling in the vestibule. Tara decides she needs to go to OSU and creates a large dressing, which she inserts into Bettina for the four-hour journey to OSU. By one in the afternoon, we are on the road and safely at OSU by 5.15pm.
Laura Waitt the internal medicine resident and her team are brilliant, in no time have Bettina and Mr Bo inside, and have collected all they need in terms of background from both me and information Tara has phoned in. The OSU team decide to keep Bettina steady tonight and do a full work up in the morning once Dr Estill is in???..I drive home alone listening to am radio stations and get back around 11 pm?God I love this alpaca lifestyle!

By Adrian Stewart

I visit the optician one week after the laser eye surgery and am delighted to find that I am now blessed with 20/20 vision.

By Adrian Stewart

Just out mowing the lawn in "brain off" mode when Jo called to say we were about to have a new arrival..sure enough one of our younger females Bettina was already quite dilated.....not many minutes later the head and front legs appeared...much to Bettina?s surprise! Unlike most animals, that long neck enables you to take a good look at your rear end and it must be quite disconcerting in an alpaca sort of way to see another animal emerging from under your tail!

We left Bettina for a while but she did not look like she was making great progress. The head was out and the cria was breathing but it looked like it maybe needed a gentle hand. So I carefully eased one leg forward and one back to help the journey through the pelvis. In a few seconds the cold wet legs I was holding were followed by a warm lively body. The miracle of life never ceases to amaze and move me?.a quick check revealed that this was our second boy in a row?and after a twinge of disappointment we got down to the usual husbandry tasks?all looked well ?but as we were to find out that wasn?t the full story?.to be continued?.

By Adrian Stewart

Okay so this has nothing to do with alpacas..
Today I had laser eye surgery and can now see without glasses or contact lenses for the first time in 30 years...nothing short of a miracle....

Adrian Stewart