Huarizo

Huarizo
Leonardo

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Shearing the herd

Here are some of the pictures from shearing 2015. It was great fun and the shearers were awesome! We have lots of fiber, in most colors, if anyone is interested in raw alpaca or llama fiber.


Frosty, Taylor and Leo, waiting to be sheared.


Waiting in line.


Vader goes first.


Vader


Vader, furry beast.


Vader - lots of fiber


Dark Vader, almost done.

 
Frosty before.


Frosty after.


Turbo


Turbo naked.

 
Patty's turn.


Star


Baby Star gets sheared.


Star, looking for Mama.


(From right to left) Rico and Tom  and John the shearers.


Rico



Thursday, April 9, 2015

Alpaca fun

We picked up our three male alpacas this past weekend. Aren't they cute?

new alpaca boys behind electric fence

We learned very quickly that a) they are not lead trained and will kush at every given opportunity when you are trying to get them from one place to another, b) they do not respect electric wire fence and will continue to climb through it until it is replaced with field fence, and c) they are as bothered by humans as llamas are are not afraid to spit when really threatened.

The first two days the boys were good and stayed where they belonged. But then one, Rico, the pure black boy got out to play with the female llamas, and he continued to get out after we continued to put him back in his paddock and refortify the fence with more wire. So we made him his own pen out of the cattle panels we previously used for the pigs. That made him mad and he tried to climb the fence, but eventually gave up and settled in to his new temporary home next door to our old white alpaca, Alonso. So then, the second alpaca, Manny, the whitish one got out to play with the girls and see what his buddy Rico was up to. The remaining alpaca, Sampson, the brown one, simply paced the fence line, but never got out. He did however spit when we caught him to tie him up so we could replace the fence.

And we did it! We took down the electric wire and unrolled 330 feet of field fence and tied it to the T-posts...all in blowing dust, dirt and 30 - 40 mph gusts of sand filled wind. And before Richard had to go to work in the evening.

In just a couple of days we will be shearing, which is an entirely different sort of camelid game.

Aren't they cute????

alpaca boys behind field fence

Babies - Huarizos Leo and Star

Llama congregation