As the breedings come to an end for another year it was very timely for an e-mail to arrive about the forthcoming conference at UC Davis in the New Year. Sorry I should say symposium not conference.

UC Davis is the vet school in California with a strong reputation for its work with camelids.

The 2007 UC Davis Camelid Owner & Veterinarian Symposium will be held on
January 6-7, 2007 at UC Davis Veterinary Large Animal Hospital.

This is the second year and the Symposium got rave reviews last year, so the sponsors CALPACA are expecting a larger turnout this year.

The list of speakers is pretty impressive and Chris Cebra from OSU will be there so that in itself usually makes it worth while to attend.

Which is all well and good if you are on the west coast but I know that's not much use to all you folks elsewhere in this vast country. Sorry about that.

Adrian Stewart

Our female that has suffered from toxoplasmosis is still in quarantine and after a great deal of quizzing the experts it appears that accepted wisdom says we should wait for the titer to stabilize then wait a further 30 days before putting her back into the herd.

So I had better add drawing blood to list of vet chores that Dr Richardson needs to do later this week or early next week.

Our ISP provider i- power has had some huge problem over the weekend so our alpaca database on the Mulberry Alpacas web site is now corrupted and I am not receiving any e-mails at my address adrian@mulberryalpacas.com....Words escape me

The rain came down by the bucket load all night long but today sun is shining again and this morning we completed the replacement of our rubber hoses with vinyl so now the alpaca drinking water is safe.

I have been looking at putting some portable field shelters into a couple of our paddocks and was considering the clearspan product.



The two snags with this plan are that apparently the ground anchors can be a real pain and to do the job properly requires quite a bit of additional spend. Secondly the supplier is on the east coast so shipping is almost $400 which is pretty expensive.

Still we need to make a decision soon, the advantage of being portable means that... well obviously they are portable so we can change their position between summer and winter and you don't need a building permit if its portable which is handy.

Well I can't waste this good weather so better head outside while the going is good and make some progress.

There is a good article in the current alpaca magazine about weather forecasting. Well worth reading if you prefer being dry to being wet...

Adrian Stewart

We all know that the design and structure of all web sites is really important if you want good rankings from the search engines (aka Google) and if you want visitors to stick around once they find your site. But I also think its important to have some fun as well....its amazing how much more we learn when we are having fun!

One small part of our site is an alpaca quiz for children and every now and again some bright spark finds the kids quiz and sends in their answers. This is really great as we then get to send them an alpaca coloring book and crayons together with a sample of Alpaca fleece.

Today we had a winning entry from Emily and later today I will be mailing off her goodies for doing great research and getting all the right answers. Well done Emily

Last night there were gales in Oregon so many of the trees have now lost their leaves.

Today it is still windy and cold but at least its dry. This morning we started to replace the rubber hoses that we have been using to connect the drinking troughs with vinyl hoses which are much more hygienic.

Sometimes called boat and camper hose?You may not know it, but not all hoses are considered safe for carrying drinking water. One exception is the model designed for recreational use. It features a nontoxic, FDA-approved core and comes in 25- and 50-ft. lengths, with a 1/2- or 5/8-in. diameter.
This type of hose is usually white in color and available from most hardware stores.

I replaced four out of the twelve watering hoses before the wind chill beat me into submission..

Adrian Stewart

Posting todays entry reminds me that the alpaca Blog has been going for just over one year now.

Which has inspired me to think about producing a calendar on the lines of " A Year in the Life of an Alpaca Farmer" with images and text for each month of the year.

Adrian Stewart

The first snow of the year arrived overnight coating the mountains with a beautiful dusting.



Out of interest this is the 500th image I have loaded onto my Blog.

As we are below the snow line we escaped the cold white stuff ourselves which is good news for our newly arrived alpaca youngsters who are still building their strength.

We did put some seed out for the wild birds which proved very popular.



Adrian Stewart

The local university is conducting a project into using alpacas in Animal Assisted Therapy. So today we had a visit from three students at the university who are working on the business plan for the project.

The project is considering using alpacas with juveniles who have behavioural problems. The youngsters will care for the alpacas and do some work on agility and some trekking using the alpacas to pack camping equipment. Finally, they are also hoping to use fibre artists to help them work with the fibre to produce finished goods.



I am interested in hearing from anyone who has heard about alpacas being used in animal assisted therapy and have posted questions on the AlpacaSite and on the Gelding Site.

If you know of anything that sounds relevant please let me know.

Adrian Stewart

Several times each year, we love to offer a competition with a small prize. This fall, the prize is a two year subscription to ALPACAS magazine.



To be considered for this prize, please email us with the answer to the simple question below:

On our website at MulberryAlpacas.com you will find details of the lovely BF Ottavia. Please tell us the name of her 2006 cria, with whom she is being offered for sale.

An email to prize@mulberryalpacas.com with the correct answer will put your name into our "winner's hat" and we will draw the name of the lucky winner at Thanksgiving.

Good Luck!

Adrian Stewart

Macario is 36 today



After our marathon session completing the fence yesterday he had threatened not to come in today if it was raining. Luckily for me the sun was shining and Mac was here as usual. Together we put up a temporary fence that enables the alpacas to graze in the hay field during winter if we need the additional grass.

Once we had completed the temporary fence we put the female alpacas and their cria in just to see the cria race around as they do in a wide open space. Then we went into town for coffee.

I heard today that the UK charity OXFAM is selling alpaca as Christmas presents for ?20.



"Pick up an alpaca package today! It helps farmers buy and look after these fluffy fellas, and make a living from their wool, with shears, shelter, food and fences."

Click here to see what else you can buy from Oxfam to help in the third world.

Adrian Stewart

Macario is staying all day today and between us we are going to complete the fencing.



Well, 11 hours later everything is now complete, its been a long day and the rain that arrived in late afternoon was not completely welcome.

The fence lines are straight and a couple of old timers stopped by to compliment us on our fencing...praise indeed. I don't think I have felt quite like that since I learnt to ride a two wheeler bike...

When I opened the post we had received a very thoughtful gift from some people who came on a farm visit last week, while they were vacationing in the area. They kindly sent via Fedex two bottles of our favourite wine which really is very generous. Sometimes the rewards come from an unexpected direction in this life and it makes them all the more enjoyable.


Tonight, I am totally bushed and will not need rocking to sleep

Adrian Stewart

Had a thoroughly enjoyable farm visit this morning from a couple in California who are moving up almost over the border into Oregon but not quite... Showing people around your farm is a great way to remind yourself exactly why you got into this business in the first place and what it is you are trying to achieve.

I know it sounds obvious because we all think about those those things pretty much all the time. But something happens when you say those thoughts out loud that just doesn't happen when you simply keep mulling them over in your head. Try it and see if it works for you.



The day got off to an inspirational start with the valley full of early morning mist and the clouds colored with the early morning sun.

At the end of the farm visit we said our farewells, having exchanged a bag of white fleece for a bag of eating grapes from central California, which were just delicious.

Adrian Stewart

A quiet day on the farm today and the only two items of interest.

Latte once again spat off Conman which is a good sign.

And Bandelier's hernia is now almost healed. Over the weeks I have become something of an expert at doing belly wraps...also a big customer of Elasti Con or whatever it is called....and $8 a roll it isn't cheap.



Still no news from the publishers about the book Living with Alpacas....the agent says no news is good news and just to be patient but it feels like its taking ages.....

Adrian Stewart

The analysis of our second cutting of hay arrived today and looks pretty good.
Crude protein is at about 12% and nitrate is very low which is what I had hoped for.

The next step is to go through the hay analysis and see what defficiencies there are, if any and ensure that the feed I am giving is going to bridge the gap.

Maybe I will pass it by our veterinarian Dr Richardson and see what she has to say about it.

Back in the UK they are holding their first ever Alpaca Futurity and Gaia our Italian friend is going over from Italy to help with the animal handling. Jude Andersen has gone over to do the judging.
November can be a very wet and bleak time of year in the UK so I am not sure what sort of turn out they will get.

Adrian Stewart

Two Australian-born alpacas and their creamy coloured fleece have proved major hits with Chinese fashionistas at Shanghai Fashion week.




Led by two male models, Qiangqiang and Lili strutted calmly down the catwalk before a thrilled crowd and a mass of photographers at the first ever showcase of Australian fashion in Shanghai.

The woolly pair were the star attractions in a parade of luxury items from the newly created Australian Alpaca Connections label.

In what was a fashion show with a twist, fine and softly coloured woollen blankets, throw rugs and quilts were draped, knotted or belted around models as skirts, tops and long trains trailed behind them.

The alpacas travelled 20 hours from a farm in China's northern Shanxi province, near Beijing, for the show, which also featured Australian fashions by Jayson Brunsdon, Alex Zabotto-Bentley's Fashionassasssin, High Tea with Mrs Woo and Ess Hoshika.

Alpaca blankets which have price tags of about $200 in Australia can sell for up to $1,000 in upmarket Chinese department stores with wealthy customer bases.

The owner of the farm where Lili and Qiangqiang have lived for the past four years, Wang Ying, is also keen to work with the Australian alpaca growers to expand his flock of 100 so he too can make fine woollen homewear and knitwear.

Adrian Stewart

Buttercup went on her trip to Alpacas of El Dorado today for her breeding to Providence a particularly fine studmaster male.

Delivering Buttercup and coming home the same day was a long slog and the 700 journey took about 16 hours door to door. It would have been more enjoyable if it hadn't rained just about all the way there and back.

Providence's sire is Accoyo Titan, who has sired multiple show winners. His grandsire and his dams sire is Accoyos Mr. President who sold in 2002 for $155,000 at 11 years of age. In other words, he has an outstanding pedigree. But what makes Providence stand out is his dam, Primadonna, who is also the dam of Proximation who was grand champion at the Breeders Choice in Butler Pennsylvania under Julio Sumar.
Another sibling, Running Late, took 1st Reserve Champion or Champion at the All American Futurity, the National AOBA show, the International Alpaca Odyssey and MAPACA. Providence's micron count at one year of age was 16.5 microns.
He took first at the Breeders Showcase and his fleece won 3rd at the AOBA National Show.




Many thanks to Laurie and Scott of Alpacas of El Dorado for letting me bring Buttercup down at such short notice.

Adrian Stewart

Halloween is a big event around here, I should say the Halloween Parade is a big event around here. It is a totally crazy opportunity to dress up in whatever takes your fancy.







Spending the morning catching up on paperwork and updating the Blog before heading over to the vet clinic to collect the health certificate for tomorrows journey to Alpacas of El Dorado in sunny California. I reckon its going to be about 6 hours each way.


Adrian Stewart