We have now started using the new Destron microchips in our alpacas which also display the temperature of the alpaca as well as the serial number which is very neat. The downside is that they have the new 15 digit serial number and that really does take some writing down particularly in heat of battle.....

Anyway as I was working through one of the drawers in the office I noticed we still had a good number of the old style chips and so I offered them on the SOJAA website. And within 24 hours all 20 of the old style chips had gone to a new alpaca home. The new owner was delighted with getting microchips at $2.50 and I was happy with $50. Win win as they say....

The alpaca fleeces from shearing are still sat in the barn and I can't decide whether I should donate them to AFCNA (the national fibre cooperative), sell them on eBay as I did last year or advertise them on the Yahoo fleece group of which I am now a member. Its mainly sheep fleeces but I do see the occasional alpaca fleece.

I used eBay last year and to be honest after packing the darn things up and shipping them off it really didn't feel like it was worth all the time and effort of taking pictures and loading them onto eBay in the first place.

Last week I advised one of my clients to use a mini mill in Northern California to process some of their alpaca fibre and was shocked (pleasantly) to discover that the Mini Mill is so busy they have stopped taking on new customers...now if that isn't a sign of the times in terms of alpaca fleece processing then I don't know what is.