Everything from the first cutting was bailed by lunchtime yesterday and in the evening the rising moon made for a dramatic sight ..

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Today I drilled a dozen or so bales of hay to collect samples and mail them off to A & L labs for an analysis of the first hay cutting. One of the key things to check is the nitrates level....its a subject that at best I would describe as controversial but there does appear to be growing evidence that alpacas do not tolerate high nitrate levels in their feed.

Once I get the results back I will post them onto the web site for comparison with last year.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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Still no sign of our first cria of the year and I will soon be running out of finger nails....

We started bailing the hay at about 8 am today and it was all bailed by noon which is quite a result.



I will go down shortly and drill some of the bale sto gather samples to send off for analysis. We haven't taken a first cutting so early before so it will be interesting to see what the analysis comes back like.

I also made another great discovery although I am sure some of you will already be aware of. I am hopeless at backing up my PC which has hundreds of documents and thousands of pictures on the disk. The other day I read about www.mozy.com which if you have broadband or DSL is an absolute blessing you can use the free service or if you have more than 2GB of data the $% per month service. The system then automatically keeps your PC permanently backed up.....isn't that amazing?

The first back up takes a few days and happens in the background while you are working after that it just backs up the changes which takes a few minutes.

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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Well we were all back into the swing of things at 6am this morning on the alpaca farm..the weather was kind to us over the weekend and despite some dark clouds it stayed warm and dry so the hay field was ready to be turned and rowed for bailing.



I guess we took a small gamble on the weather but it has paid off now and I am keen to get it bailed and take some hay samples for analysis.

Still no sign of our new arrival but I must pop out there and check again soon.

Thank you to all those who sent Gifford birthday wishes he had a great day and has now recovered from his experience with the tic...see yesterdays entry for more details...

A lovely couple who have visited the ranch twice now sent an e-mail this morning to say which of the two fibre boys they would like to buy. They will come to see them again on Saturday and between now and then we will keep training them on lead ropes.

Well better go check those females and see if anyone is ready to unpack a cria.... see you all again tomorrow.

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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Today our Australian shepherd dog Gifford is three years old (or 21 in dog years). He celebrated in his own way by wandering through the newly mown hay field....



On the way he picked up a tic which was a real treat!

The rest of day was spent relaxing and doing some halter training of the male alpacas which went quite well I think..... time will tell.

Hope you enjoyed your memorial day as much as we did. Back to some serious farming tomorrow.

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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Its a busy Sunday on the alpaca farm today. I have a slight addiction to motor sport so started the day watching the need of the F1 Monaco Grand Prix and have just watched the start of the Indy 500.

Anyway its now back to reality and I need to get the irrigation going and check out the alpaca females that are close to delivery.



I guess I may be tempting fate but it looks like the irrigation system has now settled down and we have resolved all the start of season teething troubles.

The schedule shows we should be irrigating the hay field on Monday Tuesday but as we have cut the hay and it is lying in the field we will obviously skip the next cycle.

One day I would really like to get a watering wheel for the hay field. I put most of the plumbing in place when we set up the irrigation system so it would be no big deal I just need to buy a used wheel from someplace and get it shipped here and working......if you know of one or have any ideas....I would really like to hear from you.

The climate in this part of the US is just about perfect for roses and Although I struggle to get fruit trees to grow I have no problems with roses.



Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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We are looking at a great weather window so have decided to take a first cutting of hay get that bailed and off the field then get some water down and with luck we might just get a second and third cutting this year.






Still no sign of our first cria and as usual in my experience the alpaca concerned doesn't even look pregnant but then they never do to my eye...
I have high hopes for tomorrow being "C" day.... C for cria of course.
Now not many people know this but in New Zealand and Australia they call it unpacking....which I must admit I quite like.

As usual the irrigation is calling for my attention and with it being Memorial weekend Macrio has taken holiday. Or as they say over here vacation.
Its one of the inverse laws of alpaca farming that holidays mean you get less time off and work more...because your staff are on holiday....which reminds me about an idea I had to start a registry of certified farm sitters for owners of alpaca ranches.

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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Later today we will mow the hay field and take our first cutting of hay for the winter . This whole hay making business is just so full of very happy childhood memories...I love it.

The moon is visible during the day right now and looks spectacular set against the blue sky.



I recently discovered a set of marketing materials specifically designed for alpaca farmers by a lady called Julie Wassom. I have just started to read through and see whats in there. It might well be that SOJAA has a marketing conference later this year and we are trying to decide which speakers to bring in for the event.

Or maybe I will just rewrite the book on alpaca marketing...now that would be an interesting project.

Watching out for the new alpaca babies..known in the trade as cria watch continues and I am hoping to have anew arrival sometime this weekend....

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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This morning Mac and I finally started to clear the very last alpaca pasture of rocks....yes that right your eyes are not deceiving you. After three years of blood sweat and tears we are now almost done picking rocks.

The most interesting rock we have found so far is one that turned up today, on the top side it looked nothing special but the bottom is just a mass of fossilized sea shells maybe some sort of oyster who knows. The shells are set into what was obviously a sandy sea shore many years ago. Which all goes to prove that we are not that there was previous life on the alpaca farm.



Now if any of you out there know what these shells are (or perhaps I should say were) and maybe how old they might be then we would really like to hear from you.

Meanwhile the irrigation system and cria watch dictate that I get back to the task in hand!

Thank you for coming by to see whats happening and please call back whenever you want to discover what we have been up to.

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
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Or National Alpaca Farm Day as it is sometimes called. Both of the AOBA web sites are up and running and I have to say they are a breath of fresh air. Well designed and full of useful functions plus sound and movement.... When I joined the site there were about 5 alpaca farms up there yesterday about 10 alpaca farms and when I looked just now there were fully fifty alpaca farms registered on the site.

All very impressive from a standing start. So congratulations to the AOBA marketing committee for thinking up Alpaca Farm Day or National Alpaca Farm Day whichever you prefer.

If you haven't registered then I suggest you do so at the earliest opportunity. just go to www.nationalalpacafarmday.com or www.alpacafarmday.com and spend your $25.

The weather looks like its set fair for the summer now and Mac has almost completed the topping of the alpaca pastures and the irrigation is working fine.

Still no sign of our first alpaca cria but she is now on her due date so it won't be very long.

The vegetable garden is bounding into life and everything is shooting up including the weed...the tomato plants outside my office are almost three feet tall and in the afternoon smell just delicious...as a child one of our friends grew tomatoes commercially and the smell always brings back happy memories of wandering in his ancient green house among the tomato plants.

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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The weather is great and all is well....the irrigation is going gang busters and Mac is out there topping yet another alpaca pasture. You may recall I explained what topping was in a previous Blog....

Of course we had the usual up and downs before we got started today not least of which was sericing the mower deck which is slowly but surely shaking itself to death....no surprise really it is a very brutal piece of kit.

A few people e-mailed over night to say how much they liked the shearing pictures but that maybe they weren't all of the same alpaca and upon closer examination I have to agree I think there are at least two alpacs in yesterdays photo sequence.

Below is a self portrait of Ann-Britt yesterdays photographer with my wife Jo..



Well better go check the pastures as I am on cria watch so don't want to miss any births...in fact I think I will go check my "cria kit" and make sure we are prepared.

I will give you a break down on my cria kit tomorrow.

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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Well the days are now just flashing by ...can you believe there are only 11 days left in May ?

When we did shearing the other week one of our good friends Ann-Britt came along to help and apart from being a natural with the alpacas, she took some great pictures...some of which I would like to share with you.







Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I did.

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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At this quite nerve wracking time of year most alpaca farms will be on what is known in the trade as "cria watch".

Basically this means making sure your expectant alpacas are in a pasture where you can easily see them throughout the day and keep a watchful eye out for any signs of birthing...

You may well remember all those cliched scenes in older movies where the father paces up and down, waiting for news of his pregnant wife from the delivery room.....well this is essentially the livestock equivalent of that little routine, I am sure you get the picture.....

Now when we started out in alpaca farming our land was about one mile from the house...as the crow flies. So we were on to our second cria before we even saw one being born.
Therefore we grew up in this business not really getting too concerned about what happens...of course over the months we have changed since arriving in Oregon and now we pace about looking in the neonatal books and trying very hard not to assist with the birthing process....but after paying out all that money to attend the neonatal courses and hands on workshops it feels like a waste not to at least do something.



Well for now we sit and we wait and we watch.......

a href="http://www.mulberryalpacas.com">Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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Today was the bi-monthly meeting of SoJAA the State of Jefferson Alpaca Association.

The venue was Adorabella Alpacas the home of Larry and Paula Vellozzi.

There was a reasonable turnout but at this time of year when the cria are coming thick and fast its difficult to get alpaca breeders off their farms for love or money......

The meeting was really useful and we discussed many of the new initiatives that we will be putting in place for our show AlpacaMania which has grown in popularity and is without doubt still the friendliest alpaca show in the world....

a href="http://www.mulberryalpacas.com">Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

Good news Pietro who hurt his back on Wednesday is now walking quite well and has returned to be with the rest of the males....much to his relief.

Meanwhile in Louisville, Kentucky the National Conference, show and auction are underway. Our friends Al and Jude are there with a string of their show animals so lets hope they come away with a good collection of ribbons.

Meanwhile the insurance claim for Felina is dragging on and the whole process used to verify the necropsy and work with the loss adjuster is just so out of date its unreal.

To claim you have to complete a badly photocopied form that is clearly designed for equine deaths then the whole system relies on posting or at best faxing documentation.





Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
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Yesterday did not end well when one of our fiber alpacas jumped out of the barn and somehow injured his back. The good news was that the vet was already here and she administered torb. and a steroid. By the following morning he was much better. But last night he was almost walking entirely on his front legs quite amazing to see and so stoic never once crying out with the pain.

Alpacas never cease to amaze me.

This morning the results of the fiber samples were returned and there were some real surprises in there I can tell you.
A new male cria which I didn't rate too highly has a sub 20 micron fleece while a very nice looking female who won a blue ribbon at AWE a couple of years back now has an average fiber diameter of 33.8 microns !!!
Which is up almost 7 microns on last year.....now something like that really warrants further investigation.

Currently she is bred to a male with a 17 micron fleece so we will have to wait and see what she produces from that breeding.

This alpaca breeding game can be very cruel when you have a small herd and the percentages run against you. This is one of the key advantages of a larger herd in that you are much more likely to generate enough good alpacas in order to win blue ribbons.

Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.