Wednesday, August 13. 2008
No sign of the cougar around the alpacas but I know they have huge territories so he could be anywhere and might return at any time.
The only vulnerability appears to be the wooden posts at the corners where the 8 foot tall no climb fence is supported so today I will make these a little bit more daunting and install some cheap and cheerful solar powered lights which will hopefully act as an additional deterrent.
I really must stop staying up until the early hours to watch the Olympics it is totally exhausting the next day.... but only myself to blame. Good news for Phelps not so good for the US ladies gymnastics team. But there is no shame in silver.
We will be breeding Minne the female alpaca with Conman again today for the third time so lets hope she is having none of it and spits him off in great style.
Yesterday Mac did an excellent job of weeding the vegetable garden under my expert guidance...however it turns out I had let him loose in an area freshly planted with seeds..whoops! I am now banned from the vegetable garden...until winter.
Time to mow the lawns and get the irrigation running so better go enjoy your day and thanks for visiting my alpaca farming blog.
Tuesday, August 12. 2008
Each year we fibre test every alpaca on the farm. What happens is that just before Alan Godsiff our New Zealand shearer makes his first cut along the alpacas back he takes a "sample" from the midsection of the alpaca.
As Angus McColl puts it:
The integrity of sampling, the careful and proper selection of a sample, is the most critical factor involved in measurement of fiber diameter in individual animals. The samples must be taken at the middle of the side in the blanket location. The sample should be uniformly cut at the skin level, which is the base of the staple, and should be no smaller than a two-inch square in size. The sample should be kept in the staple configuration, which is its natural growth state. It should not be brushed out, cleaned up, or folded. Flat bladed shears or clippers are recommended as the safest tools to use in the taking of samples.
This sample of alpaca fibre is then sent to Angus McColl at Yocom McColl fibre laboratory who sends you back the following report ( and an invoice ). To be accurate this is the report you receive if you are members of the Ideal Alpaca Community - the IAC report is more comprehensive than the standard Yocom McColl report.
Histograms are quite useful when it comes to looking at an alpacas fibre and making breeding decisions. To take this information to the next level is the work of the IAC and its quest to produce EPDs or Estimated Progeny Differences to give them their full title, for alpacas.
The work has been underway for some time now to calcu;ate EPDs and you can read more about what EPDs are the Mulberry Alpacas Library
Monday, August 11. 2008
Last night I put the female alpacas and the cria into the barn paddock which has 8 foot high no climb fences and two hot wires one at 4 feet and one at 7 feet.
Of course the no climb aspect relates to horses not cougars!
I also left the the radio on in the barn all night tuned to National Public Radio - all that talking will hopefully scare off the cougar from my property and if not - well at least all the alpacas will be good Democrats by next month.
The alpacas were peaceful as far as I know and one neighbor reported that her dogs barked all night long which is something we don't normally hear. So she was convinced that something was stalking about.
There was a cougar (mountain lion) in the area about 5 years ago and the local cougar hunter was brought in to kill it and did so the very first night...maybe that is what we will have to do again this time.
Being English we don't have any firearms on the farm either to scare off a cougar with noise or to actually try and kill it. Right now I am sort of wishing we did have something...far be it for me to encourage gun fire and have high velocity bullets flying all over the place I would certainly feel safer than I do right now with just my trust Leatherman by my side....
The weather has been very clear today and we have been spared the smoke of the forest fires in California but the forecast says that smoke from California will be blowing our way very soon.... and will be here in force by the weekend...
Sadly the firefighting helicopter that crashed last week contained several people from this area and included some of my sons school friends - very tragic and our thoughts go out to the eleven families who lost loved ones.
Sunday, August 10. 2008
This morning while giving out various flyers to neighbors who have livestovk and/or small children warning about the cougar sighting. I discovered a few people have seen the cougar about.
Cougars can cause severe economic hardship if your income depends on livestock. During the early years of ranching in the USA, cougars were considered as bad as wolves in terms of their destructiveness.
As recently as 1990 in Texas for example, 86 calves, 253 Mohair goats, 302 Mohair kids, 445 sheep and 562 lambs were confirmed to have been killed by cougars that year.
In Nevada in 1992, cougars were confirmed to have killed 9 calves, 1 horse, 4 colts, 5 goats, 318 sheep and 400 lambs.
In both cases, sheep were the most frequently attacked.
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Some instances of surplus killing have resulting in the deaths of 20 sheep in one attack. Cougars frequently kill calves, sheep and goats by biting the top of the neck or head, differing greatly from the throat bite used by coyotes and indiscriminate mutilation by feral dogs. The size of the tooth puncture marks also helps distinguish kills made by cougars from those made by smaller predators.
Attacks on humans
Due to the growth of towns and cities, cougar ranges increasingly overlap with areas inhabited by humans. Apparently attacks on humans are rare, as cougar prey recognition is a learned behavior and they do not generally recognize humans as prey.
Attacks on people, livestock, and pets may occur when the cat habituates to humans or is in a condition of severe starvation. Between 1890 and 1990, in North America there were 53 reported and confirmed attacks on humans, resulting in 48 nonfatal injuries and 10 deaths of humans (the total is greater than 53 because some attacks had more than one victim). By 2004, that count had climbed to 88 attacks and 20 deaths.
As with many predators, a cougar may attack if cornered, if a fleeing human stimulates their instinct to chase, or if a person "plays dead". Exaggerating the threat to the animal through intense eye contact, loud but calm shouting, and any other action to appear larger and more menacing, may make the animal retreat. Fighting back with sticks and rocks, or even bare hands, is often effective in persuading an attacking cougar to disengage.
When cougars do attack, they usually employ their characteristic neck bite, attempting to position their teeth between the vertebrae and into the spinal cord. Neck, head, and spinal injuries are common and sometimes fatal.Children are at greatest risk of attack, and least likely to survive an encounter. Detailed research into attacks prior to 1991 showed that 64% of all victims – and almost all fatalities – were children. The same study showed the highest proportion of attacks to have occurred in British Columbia, particularly on Vancouver Island where cougar populations are especially dense.
Saturday, August 9. 2008
Last night the female alpacas were putting off an alarm call and dashing hither and thither about the place in a complete flap I have never seen them so agitated. So i went out into the paddock and by now the sun had long since set and as I peered into the gloom I couldn't see anything. I probed the darkness with headlights from the Gator but nothing no reflection from eyes not a sight nor sound.
How odd I thought and went to bed.....
The next day I received an e-mail from a friend of ours who owns a vineyard just up the road.
This afternoon at about 3PM, I was sitting quietly in our kitchen reading the newspaper. The rest of our family was in Medford and our border collie and Akita were in their doghouses at the other side of our house. I looked out the window and was totally surprised to see what I believe was an adult cougar weighing perhaps 80 to 90 pounds, walking by about 10 feet away and parallel to the creek. The cougar was headed south along the creek towards Debra and David's.
By the time I had shoes on and had roused Sam to go check with me, the cougar was gone from sight.
I've called a report in to the Ashland Police, who will share it with other police agencies. They also suggested calling Fish and Wildlife to let them know, which I have done, and they advised notifying our neighbors.
I understand that hunters in our area, particularly up in our hills on the Jenkins property, etc., have reported fresh deer kills and the kill of a small elk by a cougar (or cougars). Willie reports that the usual small deer herd which visits his place is down from 12 or more to about 5. The others may have been downed, or just frightened off.
The Police dispatcher said that this cat has probably made our area its territory and it will patrol it looking for prey. Cougars are supposed to have large territories, but we don't know what pressures it is facing from other cougars, and these cats are quite smart and designed for stalking and killing their prey.
They will be attracted to small domesticated animals, cats, dogs, chickens, sheep, goats, and even to children and smaller humans. (We lost two goats to a cougar about 6 years ago. They were in a large pen with a 5 foot high fence to keep out coyotes. We hired a state authorized hunter who took down that cat, which weighed over 110 pounds, that night.) These smaller prey are generally easier to attack than chasing down deer. Also, the fact that this cat had no fear of coming close to our home, means that it has become used to human beings and is more dangerous than a people-shy wild animal would be.
Cougars are known as stalkers. They usually discover you before you see them. They live by their instincts and wits, and they need fresh kills to survive. They are very good at their work. They are beautiful animals, but very dangerous, so be careful.
I'm particularly concerned since I frequently have to go out in our vineyard at night to adjust watering. I have never done so before, but I will carry a sidearm now, if only as a noisemaker.
Please notify others that you know in our neighborhood, and please pass on any useful information which you may have.
Thanks.
Al
Friday, August 8. 2008
As regulars to my blog will know the annual alpaca show is on track for October 2008 on the Columbus weekend. The show is the usual AOBA level III alpaca show and a whole host of fibre arts events.
Last year and again this year we will be having a collection point for the AFCNA fibre collection. AFCNA for those of you who don't know is the national alpaca fibre cooperative over here in the USA.
This year we have also invited the AAFF which is a new private enterprise that is promising to pay I am aware.
The show organisers then wondered about also inviting to the show the company who use fibre to make rugs.
And so it was that the thought popped into my head as well as being:
AlpacaMania - the friendliest alpaca show in the world.
AlpacaMania could also be and Alpaca Harvest Festival with a huge concentration on the use of alpaca fibre to produce desirable consumer products. So there we have it. What do you think? Does the idea of a fall Alpaca Harvest festival sound good to you ? Drop me a line and let me know what you think.
Thursday, August 7. 2008
No one was more surprised than I was when I heard that the 2008 Monterey Pronk Alpaca Show had been cancelled. Always billed as the premier fall show I thought it was here to stay.
I guess that not only can we describe Alpacamania as the friendliest alpaca show in the world but we can also say "never cancelled"....
Quite how you come back from this I don't know it must really shake confidence in the show and people must wonder even if it comes back next year, whether they will plan to attend on the basis it could be cancelled again.....it almost becomes a self fulfilling prophecy....
The message on the Pronk website...
We are sorry to announce that the
2008 Monterey Pronk
has been canceled
A combination of circumstances came together, including timing of the show, poor economy, gas prices, and other factors.
Calpaca would like to extend a huge Thank You to Naomi Flam and Dianna Jordan, the Pronk co-event managers, for all of the time and effort they put into this event.
A sad day for CALPACA the organising AOBA affiliate and a sad day for AOBA who will lose a large slice of their show income.
Wednesday, August 6. 2008
I wrote about this new initiative yesterday and today I wanted to say a few more words about this enterprising venture.
AAFF has been searching the world for a major end user for our Alpaca fiber. That search ended with AAFF entering into a joint venture agreement in May of this year with GFM Telas Parras. Telas Parras is one of the largest denim manufacturers in the world, having been in business for almost 110 years. Telas Parras has 5 textile mills in both Mexico and Italy.
Basically they offer to the world market fashion denims you may even have heard of: CDI Limited Edition, The Collection, Diffution and The Essentials. Major international customers of Telas Parras include Levis, Dickies, Wranglers, Liz Clayborne, Kohls and Wal-Mart .
Part of the pitch here is an eco angle and that is something I have been pushing for quite a while now and there is an article in the library about organic alpaca that may well interest you.
Imported jeans are big in the USA and despite sales being down in the first quarter of this year the numbers are huge.
In the first quarter of 2008 there 42.74 million pairs of women's jeans imported and 43.94 million pairs of men's jeans imported. Giving a total of about 86.60 million pairs of jeans which is about 9% less than the same quarter last year. So simple math tells me that there must be about 346 million pairs of jeans imported into the USA each year. WOW ! Believe it or not the average price of these jeans is about $6 imported. The real upmarket jeans cost more to make and have big marketing budgets and retail for over $60 per pair.....but the market for jeans over $60 is tiny.... which is just as well because I figure that even if by some miracle AAFF collects 250,000 lbs of fleece (say 50,000 alpacas at 5lbs each) then with an 80:20 cotton blend that is about 6ozs of alpaca fibre per pair of jeans which means about 600,000 pairs which is not many given the different styles and sizes that are needed....in fact it represents about one fifth of one percent of the total US import market for jeans........
Still I wish them every success and I will be selling them some of my fibre and will probably be inviting their truck to our alpaca show. I might even buy the jeans....
Tuesday, August 5. 2008
The Time Has Come…Cash For Your Alpaca Fiber. After much talk and a little doubt on the part of some including yours truly it looks as if there is action on the alpaca fibre front...
As they promised, the American Alpaca Fiber Federation LLC, will start on September 1, 2008.
Their plan is to travel the length and breadth of the USA purchasing alpaca fibre.
If you want to become a member of the American Alpaca Fiber Federation LLC and have them come to your area to purchase your fiber, simply look here for details of pricing and membership information.
At the time of writing the Blog prices were as follows;
Note listed prices on web site are in US dollars per kg. One kg is equal to 2.2046 lbs.
Current Pricing for the week of July 31, 2008.
Adult Top Pricing - $4.54 per pound
Adult Neck/Leg Pricing - $2.00 per pound.
Note: Price deductions (docs) will be applied to but not limited to fiber that is extremely dirty or very heavy in vegetable matter.
This is a great new initiative and the collected wool will be shipped to Mexico where it will be blended with cotton to create a new brand of denim jeans available by August of this year !
I will be writing more about this exciting development tomorrow.
mail@americanalpacafiberfederation.com
215 W. Bandera Rd,
Ste 114-459, Boerne,
TX 78006
Telephone 210-792-3442
Monday, August 4. 2008
Our annual alpaca show AlpacaMania is now creeping over the planning horizon and bookings are looking good, although the overall future of some alpaca shows is going to be in question with gas prices now double where they were only two years ago.
We are still short of volunteers so if you have any interest in helping out at AlpacaMania - the friendliest alpaca show in the world - then now is a great time to drop me a line adrian at mulberryalpacas dotcom.
We currently still have openings in the silent auction, spin-off, vet check, the fibre arts show and emptying the poop bins..... if you are busy that weekend you can just show up for the Thursday to help set up or the Friday to help with vet check.
Get those dates in your calendars October 10th to 12th 2008 for AlpacaMania
Sunday, August 3. 2008
Each year Ashland is host to a gruelling race up Mount Ashland.
Our event begins at the bottom of Lithia Park near the plaza in downtown Ashland and proceeds on pavement through Lithia park, joining Granite St, which becomes a dirt road and wraps left around a small reservoir A few hundred yards later, you turn steeply right onto the Ashland Loop.
This is a long and demanding run: 13.3 miles with more than a mile of elevation gain.
2008 Results
Competitive Runners (8am starters) (age is year.months)
Finish Order Number Name Age Sex Elapsed Time
1 137 Skaggs, Erik 26 M 1:53:01
2 136 Violett, Zachary 26 M 1:57:23
3 162 Bolt, Richard 37.11 M 2:00:29
Saturday, August 2. 2008
I have been preparing a presentation on alpacas and alpaca EPDs for a web based seminar on Wednesday evening. In updating the numbers I discovered that there are now 20,000 alpacas in the UK. Many more than when I left back in 2004.
Then I started to play around with the numbers:
UK human population 60.5 million
USA human population 303 million
UK alpaca population 20,000
USA alpaca population 120,000
UK density = 3025 people per alpaca
USA density = 2525 people per alpaca
UK land area 251,490 SQ Kilometers
USA land area 9,161,923 SQ Kilometers
USA land area less Alaska 7,684,646 SQ Kilometers
UK density = 12.6 SQ Kilometers per alpaca
USA density = 76.3 SQ Kilometers per alpaca
USA (less Alaska) = 64 SQ Kilometers per alpaca
I haven't really concluded what this means but its sort of thought provoking don't you think?
Friday, August 1. 2008
Well its now the first of the month and..........
National Alpaca Farm Days is less than 2 months away, September 27 & 28!
National advertising begins September 1st. can start your own local promotion for your farm right now.
National Alpaca Farm Days posters can be customized with your farm name. Go to www.AlpacaOwners.com. Sign in to the AOBA membership website with your email address and password.
Then select on "Farm Days Sign up " in the left hand menu where you will find all sorts of goodies:
Down loadable posters
sample press release
proclamation samples
National Alpaca Farm Days planning outline
Key to success for National Alpaca Farm Days is to be selective with your invites. If you cast your marketing net too wide you will just turn your farm into a petting zoo for two days and sell nothing. Much better to invite a select few prospects and get the opportunity to talk with each individually. Unless your business plan is to sell alpaca socks and keep fibre animals in which case "go large" with radio advertising and mass invitations.....
Thursday, July 31. 2008
I read today that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said that it had launched an emergency operation to save 18,000 Peruvian alpacas at risk of dying and endangering local livelihoods.
The organisation's branch in Peru has doled out 36,800 doses of treatment to alpacas owned by poor farmers in the country's highlands, where livestock are suffering due to a severe cold spell.
"Forced to go without food, perhaps for days at a time, their alpacas have become weak and susceptible to disease," said Marc Vandersmissen, FAO's Emergency Coordinator in Peru.
Cold weather arrived three months earlier than expected in the Peruvian highlands this year, preventing farmers from harvesting crops and from feeding the alpaca upon which many derive their entire livelihood.
The national government of Peru declared a state of emergency in 11 of Peru's 25 provinces in response to the situation. Funded by the government of Belgium, FAO's emergency relief came in the form of anti-parasitic medication, antibiotics and vitamins delivered between July 14 and 19 in coordination with Peru's National agricultural safety service.
Practical Action have been working with alpaca farmers in Peru for some years now. Practical Action technical staff teach locals about alpaca husbandry and farming techniques such as irrigation.
The training is delivered in Quecha the local language , the topics include general animal health as well as specific training for alpaca herders. This training takes one year and participants are given a certificate. Once trained, then they join the Association of Kamayoqs, which meets 6 times a year for 'revision classes'. About 240 Kamayoqs have been trained (approx. 20 -25 a year) since 1996.
Wednesday, July 30. 2008
Having discovered on Friday that Minne is open we started to breed her again today.
We will repeat this every week now until we get a spit off from Minne which should be a good indication that she is pregnant. She did spit off two weeks ago so I was fearing that she may have a retained CL which was fooling her into thinking she is pregnant. But the fact she went down so easily today makes me certain she is open.
A breeding each week is just about right as alpaca breeding causes some trauma to the female alpaca internally. What you want to avoid is breeding so frequently that you get bleeding. This is to be avoided for two reasons; firstly bleeding can lead to infection but also because blood is fatal for sperm...so even a good breeding can prove unsuccessful if blood is present in the uterus.
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