While I was hauling a few large rocks around I started to think that selling rocks to landscape companies is a bit like selling raw alpaca fleece.

You don't get very much for it ......

We all know that by processing the raw fleece into a finished product then you can charge much more because you are adding value ..simple right?

So how was I going to add value to the rocks....

Well here is my answer.



This beautiful example of Rock Art was assembled with my own bare hands (and the John Deere Tractor) it stands about 7 feet tall and is now for sale at the very reasonable price of $5,000. Which includes delivery and assembly within 50 miles of my home.....

okay so maybe I have spent too much time in the sun.

I will get back to serious alpaca business tomorrow... I promise.



Adrian Stewart
Click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas

The hay we cut only two days ago is now drying out very nicely and Jon came to turn it today and row it ready for bailing next week.



I was hoping to have the bees here by now but still no luck its proving to be a real challenge to get my hands on some colonies for the hives we built last winter.

I did collect my hay probe on the way to Crater Lake so will be taking samples from a couple of bales to show the contrast that can occur in just one field. When I take the hay samples I will also take some pictures and write up the process for the blog. Like most things its so simple if you have the right tools.

Adrian Stewart
Click here for Mulberry Alpacas

Well our female alpaca put on such an incredible performance it meant that the ultrasound was inconclusive.... Very frustrating for Dr Timpson and very frustrating for me.

We drew blood and will run a progesterone test to see what we can discover. Hopefully we will get something that is a strong indicator but even the blood test isn't always conclusive.

I was half hoping that the stress of the exam might induce some activity but not even that triggered any reaction...apart from copious spitting and alarm calls.

Needless to say the flying spit and kung fu leg action meant I didn't get any pictures for the Blog.

Meanwhile she shows no signs of delivering and two other alpacas mated at the same time and same location are in a similar condition.....so I am beginning to wonder if the breeding dates are wrong for some reason! Worth some double checking I feel.

We also took the stitches out of the female alpaca that had a subcutaneous cyst removed. I must confess they were long overdue and I had totally forgotten!

The two young male alpacas heading off to California passed their health check with flying colors. So now we just need to do a fecal in early August. The vet clinic have purchased a fecal centrifuge (slower than a blood centrifuge) so the results should be more meaningful...hopefully.

Adrian Stewart
click here to go to the Mulberry Alpacas web site.

Today we finished pulling rocks in another of the alpaca pastures and have been running the irrigation to soften the ground and stimulate whatever grass there is in there back into life.
There are many large holes to fill but before then I want to get plenty of water down and mow the field.

Its pretty bumpy so would no doubt benefit from the landscaping rake which I borrow from a neighbor's farm on these occasions.

The weather remains good and the hay is drying out very quickly given the sunshine and strong breeze on our side of the valley. This weather also stimulates the chickens who are producing 6 eggs a day at the moment which is keeping at least three families fully supplied.

I was hoping to have the bees installed in the new hives by now but still haven't got my hands on the new colonies called "nucs". They will need to be collected at dawn while still very sleepy and installed with a sugar solution to help them get going. Hopefully we will collect them early next week.

The vet is coming tomorrow to do an ultrasound scan on a pregnant female and health checks on two alpaca boys before they head off to a new home in California. So I need to get all the paperwork sorted out and ready then sort the alpacas out tomorrow.

Adrian Stewart click here to go to www.mulberryalpacas.com

We have a visitor over from the UK so after doing the usual alpaca chores we took a trip up to Crater Lake. The snow was so heavy up there this winter that the road around the rim is still blocked by snow.





Adrian Stewart click here for www.mulberryalpacas.com

Like the fleece of an alpaca there can be considerable variation between hay in different parts of the hay field. What this means is that you never buy hay without having it tested and that you take samples from several bales.

Take these two rows of hay in my own field no more than 10 feet apart.





Out of curiosity I will take samples from bales in both rows then have them analysed, it will be really interesting to see it makes any difference and if so how much.

Adrian Stewart

Much later than I would have liked the local contractor is here to cut our hay field. I spent quite a bit of time and money on soil analysis and fertilizer so I have high expectations in terms of both yield and quality.

Finding a reliable affordable contractor is not easy and the number out there that still have the equipment to make small bales (80lbs - 100lbs) is getting fewer each year. The big bales are just totally unusable on my size of operation.



A hay mower is much more sophisticated than the usual grass mower. The ideal is of course to cut each blade of grass only once and to then pile cut grass into rows to dry out before bailing.

Adrian Stewart

When we designed the farm layout "way back when" we put in a an access road which runs through the middle of the farm.

This road enables us to herd the alpaca from one pasture to another quickly and easily and was one of our best decisions. However, this wasn't always so.

I designed the original road road through property so that a tractor can U turn through 180 degrees without having to reverse. Trust me if you have the space its a great idea.

The problem this creates is that the pasture gates do not swing wide enough to block off the road.

So I invented the "pocket gate" a simple piece of expanding cord normally used to hold down loads in the back of trucks. A metal hook at each end and some fluorescent tape to make the cord more visible. Now I can put a gate/barrier across the road whenever and wherever I need one!







The idea works so well we keep one at every field entrance just in case. They are really useful when you are working alone as so many of us do. The ideal height is about three feet off the floor. Just too low to duck under and just too high to jump over (without an effort).
Obviously cria will walk under without a second thought so you need to bear this in mind and in that situation I will simply use a second Pocket Gate to create a two strand barrier - simple really.

Adrian Stewart




Adrian Stewart

Well I have finally cracked, the female we were expecting to give birth is still hanging on in there. So I have booked for Dr Timpson the vet to come out on Thursday and do an exam. Dr Timpson will bring the ultrasound scanner with her so we may even have to do a scan to see what is going on in there.

In my experience booking the vet to come and visit is usually the sure way to get things moving.....

The weather is holding fair and if this continues we will cut the hay field on Tuesday morning.

I have been busy putting insulation on all the pipe work to do with watering the alpacas this will obviously help in winter but I am also hoping it will help keep the drinking water fresh and palatable during the hot summer months.

Adrian Stewart

Mike Safely is strongly in favour of breed standards and has recently mailed every AOBA member with a small booklet outlining the case for adopting alpaca breed standards.



If you haven't received a copy of the booklet you can always read the story on the NWA web site.

Regardless of your position on this issue it is well worth reading his booklet and understanding the arguments for and against.

Next year will see the all member vote on alpaca breed standards and between now and then we all need to do some research and attend one of the many AOBA type conferences being organised throughout the USA.

Its good to be open minded about breed standards but it makes no sense to be empty headed.

Adrian Stewart

The last time Dr Timpson was here she removed some fighting teeth from a couple of male alpacas.



Fighting teeth must be dealt with if your alpaca male is going to live with other alpacas and since many intact males do some ear biting as they breed it is really the prudent approach even for breeding males that live alone. There are a few different approaches to fighting teeth. They can be removed totally including the root which involves major surgery and is more risk, effort and expense than most people are willing to deal with. Cutting the tips off of the teeth is by far the easier and safer route and offers most of the same benefits. There are a couple of different approaches to removing the tips of the teeth:

Trim the tips of the teeth as they first erupt when the males are between a year and a half and two and a half years old. At this point, the very pointed tiny tips are removed ideally when the male is being shorn without sedation. These tiny tips can be nipped off with a variety of tools most commonly the same nippers one uses for trimming nails.

Larger and longer teeth in older males can be removed with OB wire ideally when the male is restrained or sedated. Longer teeth require more time and care to remove and sedation makes the job easier for the handler as well as the alpaca. With the alpaca sedated, the job can be done carefully and the tips of the teeth can be filed off and made smooth.

Adrian Stewart

Well after the fun of yesterday it was back to the farming chores today. Our dark brown female is still waiting to "unpack" so I have double checked dates and still can't see what the delay might be.

She scanned pregnant using ultrasound at 139 days.

As of today there are no signs that she is about to give birth, not even a remote hint!

Dr Tara Timpson our alpaca vet is aware of the delay but has had several alpacas deliver up to 3 weeks late. Apparently this is not unusual with spring births which can apparently have slightly longer gestation periods. Something I did read about once but hadn't experienced myself.

Temperature a bit cooler today but I am almost certain I will put up a couple of three sided shelters this year. Almost like mini barns in a way although they will not have electrical power. I am working on some designs right now and want them to be as inexpensive as possible so whatever I learn I will share via this Blog.

Well time to move the irrigation on to another pasture so better get going.

Adrian Stewart

Wishing Everyone a Happy July the 4th 2006.

Adrian Stewart

The 4th of July is now upon us and in alpaca land, which means the Parade of Champions Auction near Portland in Oregon. The four sponsoring farms are Pacific Crest Accoyo America, Crescent Moon Ranch, Alpacas de la Patagonia and Latah Creek Alpacas. Between them, these breeders have won over 180 colour and reserve colour championships in 2005 and 2006.

This year the auction saw 77 alpacas go under the hammer for a grand total of $3.27 million giving an average price of $42,468 . The highest selling male was Accoyo America Sinbad at $205,000 purchased by a partnership of Michele and Stuart Ray of Catalpa Creek Alpacas, and Lindy and Paul Huber of Seldom Scene Farm and the highest selling female Accoyo America Amity at $125,000 purchased by Nancy Wright of Always Accoyo Farm .

Friends of ours Donna and Carol purchased Crescent Moons Krypton. He is the first male out of Kryptonite and won first at the AWE show this year.



No new world records were established but its true to say that the high-end alpaca market is very much alive and well here in North America. The next big event is the Breeders Choice Sale at Magical Farms on October 7th.

Adrian Stewart

The other day I had a really enjoyable farm visit from a breeder currently agisting animals and starting to explore the possibilities of having their very own alpaca ranch.

We spent a really interesting couple of hours talking about every single aspect of farm design and construction. Barns, barn floors, barn lighting, gates and gate latches, watering troughs and feeding troughs, predator fencing and trailer layout, installing weighing scales and giving injections, feed rations, seed types, irrigation and neonatal care......there was very little we didn't discuss.

You might imagine that once you have been farming/breeding alpacas for a while you would get tired of talking to people who are about to embark on the great alpaca adventure (as I call it).

But that's never the case, I really enjoy sharing all we have learnt and talking through alternatives. Because so often there are no right answers to many of the choices we make in this business.

There are simply alternatives and at any point in time we make the very best decision we can with the information we have at that time.

I guess I am in the business of helping new alpaca breeders make well informed decisions for themselves.

I like the sound of that.

Adrian Stewart