What we've been up to ....
We periodically update this page with events related to our farm.
January 2011
We have applied for an EQIP grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services (click here for more information) which will allow us to do a few things like expand our pastures, build a compost station, and install gutters on the barn. We've also applied for additional funds to install a wetland on our property. Needless to say, we are excited about the posibilities and look forward to getting all the new projects started just as soon as we learn the status of our application and (hopeful) award monies.
We are also making plans to bring the rest of the AG Herd home from Virginia! Soon to arrive: ELK Tressa, ELK Magnus, Nova's Pilar, My Gingersnap, Sweet Amelia, Miguel, Carlita's Brown Sugar, Travis, and Juanita-Marie.
December 2010
The girls have arrived! We brought Melody and Chocolate Truffles from R' AlpacapaLand and then they were joined by Black Ember and her cria, Marti-Elizabeth, Zimberly and her cria Consiglia, and Charmelita and her cria Carlos. Altogether we have 13 lovely alpacas. We have been fortunate to not have really cold or snowy weather yet. But we know it's coming, so we are preparing with heated water buckets, and lots of feed and hay. Everyone is healthy and doing fine. And, we look forward to the soltice to bring longer days!
November 2010
We first welcomed home the 'big boys' - Matrix and Horashio. And a week later, the 'teenaged' boys, Nicodemus, Blaze, and Top Gun who were staying at A & R Alpacas. All the boys are doing well together and it's wonderful to look out and see them in our pastures. We are getting down the ritual of chores (feeding, watering and scooping poop) in the AM before going to work and at night we come home. But we long for the solstice when daylight hours will increase.
Equally important to us, we welcomed home Angel, an 18 month old female Great Pyrenees who had been in 'training' as a Livestock Guardian Dog at A & R Alpacas for the past year. She was soon joined by Gideon, an 18 month old male Great Pyrenees mix with 1/8 Maremma (an Italian Sheep Dog), who had been living with llamas and sheep since he was born. They get along famously and are great at their jobs. They 'share' the duties of guarding the pastures and the barn throughout the night, then rest most of the day. We are grateful for their hard work and are fortunate to have them.
The Great Pyrenees is a wonderful and well-respected Livestock Guardian Dog for alpacas. Their instincts are to protect their charges from predators such as coyotes or stray dogs, while being mellow, laid-back, and very friendly around adults and children.
GIDEON ANGEL
October 31, 2010
The pastures have been designed and fenced! I'm not sure which was more intense - designing the pastures or installing the fences!
August 2010
We attended the annual Double "O" Good Alpaca Auction. Although we did not purchase any animals this year, we did win a breeding to Snowmass Invincible, one of their elite Herdsire Hall of Fame members! He's a beautiful boy and we look forward to breeding one of our girls to him next spring.
Snowmass Invincible:
So what kind of costume is a winner? Well, we created "Splash Colour Galour", a very tall (and well-endowed, anatomically correct) Huacaya alpaca, made of paper mache' and alpaca fiber we scooped up from other farms' "throw-away" pile during their shearing. Although Splash was mostly dark fiber, there were 'splashes' of other colors! He sported full fleece coverage, right down to his manicured toes. And, because he was attending a Mardi Gras party,i he insisted on wearing a dinner jacket, eye mask, mardi gras hat & beads, not to mention long, gold eyelashes! Mary was held captive in Splash's barn for a few hours before her release.
Splash Colour Galour
March 2010
Our NEW and not quite finished Barn!
December 29, 2009
We closed on our new property in Orient, OH. We have many plans for our 20 acres of land. Our immediate plan is to build a barn, pastures, etc and do some major renovations on the house. A little longer term plan is to put in a big pond, install a geothermal system, and add some solar panels and windmills. Stay tuned!
June 30, 2009
We learned to shear! It took all day, a lot of patience from our instructor, Mary Jane Fox, and a gentle gelding. We need to practice our new skills and get ready for next year's season. Click here for pictures: Mary and Susan Learn to Shear, June 2009
June 29, 2009
We are officially an LLC!
June 27, 2009