This morning we stacked away all the second cutting hay into the main barn and around twenty bales into the alpaca barn ready for winter. Always best to cover up hay even if you stack it inside a barn in order to keep off brid droppings.

It always starts to feel like fall once the hay is put away even though we will take a third cutting of hay later this year.

Then i headed out to the Expo show grounds where we hold our annual alpaca show. A group of us were meeting up there to discusss layout and how various changes in the format might be accomodated into the buildings by moving a few things around.

We had one small panic when for a while we were under the impression that the show ring had to be 60 feet by 80 feet according to the AOBA show rules. but luckily this turned out to be a false alarm and the size mentioned is simple the "suggested" size.....which just goes to prove that it always pays to read the small print in these contracts.....

Meanwhile back in the UK the Foot and Mouth regulations are still in place. 97 cattle were culled from the first outbreak - 64 from infected premises, 33 from neighbouring premises.
102 were culled in the second outbreak.
Among farm stock, cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats are susceptible, as are llamas and alpacas. Some wild animals such as hedgehogs, coypu, and any wild cloven-footed animals such as deer and zoo animals including elephants can also contract it.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
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.