Alpacapedia

Paul Hetherington -31 January 2023

Mud and pregnacy testing

Cumbria has had more than average rainfall over the last month so, like many people, the ‘choke points’ where the alpacas come into their shelters were getting a bit muddy. After talking to a couple of friends who already use them we decided to invest in some mud control mats. Craig put his 20 years of civil engineering training to good use and laid out a couple of pathways into the shed. At the first sight of our efforts the alpacas did what they normally do when they first see something new; stop dead, stare, work out if it’ safe to continue, then run past just in case. For the first couple of days most of them ignored their new road and continued to squelch through the mud ( except when they need to pooh of course when the mats were very useful ! ). Now the ground has dried out they have started using their new path!

Routine husbandry has been the order of the day for the last couple of weeks. The cria have been transitioned from Lambivac to Bravoxin 10 to make sure they are better covered for Clostridial disease. They still get weighed every week to make sure no-one is going backwards. All the adults had their monthly weigh and were given a multivitamin and mineral drench. The girls we mated last summer were scanned and all those we thought were pregnant seemed to be which is good news. We use both ultrasound and Pregtone for pregnancy testing, if we don’t get a positive result on one we try the other and combined they give pretty accurate result overall. We only had one girl this year that didn’t give a definite indication on both systems but she looks pregnant so we’ll see!

All the cria are now weaned. We only had one mother who got a little vocal this year and interestingly she is not pregnant. All the other mothers seemed quite happy to forget last years cria to concentrate on growing this years.

The favourite cria this year is Mighty Mo. He was born in June weighing 6.5kg and has this week just tipped the scales at 14kg. He’s never been ill, has a massive appetite, and pushes the adults out of the way to get to the feed trough.

Can you spot Mighty Mo?

Elaine Clarke-  1 November 2022

This Autumn, I had the most amazing opportunity to travel to Australia as Roger was invited to judge the prestigious Melbourne Royal Show.

Following two long days of judging, we were able to kick back and spend some time enjoying many of the sights and experiences that Australia had to offer.

Of course our travels were not going to be ‘Alpaca Free’ and we took the opportunity to visit a good number of alpaca farms en route and get hands on with some of the country’s best alpacas. This included both the 2022 Australian National Supreme Huacaya and Suri.

We also had the chance to attend another local alpaca show and this time, I even got roped into exhibiting some alpacas.

Having enjoyed the fruits of Australia’s springtime, the worst part of our return was the typical autumnal Irish weather; rain, rain and yes, you’ve guessed it, more rain! Having had a taste of springtime on the other side of the world, I just can’t wait to welcome that season’s arrival here too.

Sue Loach   – 14th October 2022

Poo

As alpaca owners we are constantly being told that the biggest issue we face is the risk of parasites in our herds.

I have to confess to having had occasional problems with the dreaded Barbers Pole and Emac , costing time, money and sometimes heartache.

I’ve learnt to run faecal samples, I spend ages body scoring and checking membranes in order to head these things off but still occasionally I get thrown a massive curve ball.  If any of you are like me, when something goes wrong, I blame myself.

I have to confess to never having been a great poo picker however following a sudden loss of a Cria last year with Barbers Pole I decided I needed to get a grip.  So being the lazy soul I am, I advertised for help, well despite a reasonable hourly rate, flexible working conditions and the odd cup of tea, I just couldn’t find anyone who could stick at it.  I tried a machine, hated it, tried to get John to help me (selling it as a chance for us to spend time together).  That ended badly on day 1 when he informed me, he couldn’t do it as he wasn’t enjoying himself (as if I was enjoying it !!!!) he nearly ended up with a pan over his head.

I’ve finally resigned myself to going solo with my plastic pan and barrow and now I’ve recovered from the aches and pains of the extra work I have to confess I quite enjoy myself, there’s nothing more satisfying than looking at all that poo in the barrow and at my beautiful clean paddocks, until they all poo again.

And the best thing is that if the parasite fairy visits again, I will know I did my best to avoid her.
And it’s a great way to avoid housework.

Elaine Clarke – 15 August 2022

Like many others at this time of year, farm life is very busy! Births and matings can be time consuming, yet filled with excitement and anticipation.

Last weekend we were honoured to have Mary-Jo Smith visit Northern Ireland to tutor delegates from all over Ireland (and even England!).  I had the easy job of making sure everyone was kept fed and watered (and tried to keep them cool!), while Mary-Jo, Roger and the delegates made every minute count in the classroom!

The course was the British Alpaca Society’s ‘Introduction to Alpaca Assessment’, consisting of an overview on conformation followed by a detailed discussion about huacaya and Suri fleece traits.  This was then consolidated by the delegates assessing a series of fleece samples.

Many of the delegates are eager to complete the next stage of the series of BAS courses.  If you are interested in learning in a relaxed group environment, I would encourage you to contact BAS and reserve a place for future courses all over the UK!

Elaine Clarke – 30 May 2022

Spring is my most favourite time of the year. The weather typically gets better, the grass is growing, the garden is coming alive but the most exciting thing of all, is that new life will be appearing on the farm! Not only is our peahen sitting on eggs but we have been blessed with the arrival of two beautiful cria.

Trying to keep an eye on pregnant females, whilst holding down a full time job can be quite stressful, yet the high of seeing healthy and happy cria makes it all worthwhile. I will thoroughly enjoy taking a few minutes over the Jubilee Holiday to sit back and watch our heavily pregnant females munch their way through the spring grass, whilst I will no doubt be being nibbled, by our super friendly first born cria.

Be mindful to pay a little more attention to your alpacas over the celebratory long weekend, as there may be some fireworks. I hope each and every one of you are getting some time off to enjoy the festivities and no doubt there will be many cria named with the Jubilee in mind!

Best wishes for a healthy and happy birthing season!

Paul Hetherington – 16th May 2022

This week I saw something I’d never seen before. I went out at 9pm to do the last check of the birthing paddock and caught some movement at the edge of the wood. First thought was rabbits – about the same size – but as I kept watching whatever it was wasn’t moving like a rabbit. As I got closer I realised there were four fox cubs playing in the late evening sunshine. The yearling boys were all standing on their fence line 20 feet away watching intently.

The cubs were completely unfazed by me walking towards them until the vixen put her head above the bank, gave one short bark, and they all disappeared under the fence.

At first you first think that was cool then you start to think should I be worried about a foxes’ den 50 yards from the birthing paddock? In reality it probably doesn’t matter if it’s 50 yards or 500 yards, the foxes will still be roaming about at night, so there is no point worrying too much about it. You have to hope the mothers do what is natural and protect their cria. Mind you – just in case – we’ll be keeping the cria closer to the house at night for a while!

On the plus side there are definitely less rabbits about this year. All they do is dig ankle breaking holes in the middle of the paddocks so I’m happy to see less of them!

I’ll let you decide if the cubs are cute or deadly by watching the video on the link below.

Video link  https://youtu.be/dFBU3aGC3jU 

Ken Freivokh – 14 April 2022

A Fishy Tale

When I first met Liz at the Royal College of Art, I was finishing my master’s degree, which happened to involve a revolutionary hi-fi project with a ground-breaking transcription turntable unit (remember, this was 1972!) and a very unusual pair of transparent horn loaded loudspeakers.    Only reason I mention this is that it may have led Liz to think that I would be able to fix her hi-fi at home, so I was invited over.  I promptly accepted.  I never fixed Liz’s hi-fi.  I also never left….

‘You’ll never walk alone’ is the song and, sure enough, it was not only me but also my large tropical fish tank with a beautiful collection of discus.   The tank somehow made it up to Liz’s fourth floor flat in Maida Vale and found it’s place over a low bookcase – the centrepiece of the small living room, and the beginning of many embarrassing episodes.   I will not go into details of how syphoning the bottom of such large tank could possibly end up on the living room carpet but…. I can’t go on without sharing the curious story of the upside-down catfish.

I had purchased said fish at Selfridges Oxford Street fish department thinking that it would be a great addition to the collection, if nothing else to help keep the inside of the glass clean and hoovering leftovers on the sand.

This was not to be….   When I came back to see if the catfish was doing what he was supposed to do, he was nowhere to be seen.     Days, even weeks went by without a single sighting of the famous catfish.  What we did notice, however, was that some of the discus were showing frayed fins, and not looking their happy self any more.   Something was clearly very wrong so, one night, I left the room dark, waited a bit, and then promptly switched the tank lights on.    There was the blinking catfish, very much larger and terrorising the tank inhabitants!!  He promptly disappeared, but not before I worked out what he was up to, namely spending time hiding upside down in a hollow log which was an integral part of the tank landscaping!

It was clear that Mr Catfish could not stay.  I contacted Selfridges, and they confirmed they would be more than happy to take the now larger catfish back.

A very stout polybag was prepared, the log was lifted, and after much chasing, the catfish was caught and placed inside the stiff polybag.    As I was about to place the bag on the floor of my Bond Bug (no comment please), the blasted thing started to pierce the bag with his sharp spines!!!  I rushed back upstairs, placed the bag in the sink and emptied a large Nescafe jar to transplant the catfish.   That catfish was going crazy, those spines were VERY long and VERY sharp and, as I tried to cut the bag with the kitchen scissors, the catfish fell onto the floor and slid under the kitchen units.   That would have been the end of the sad story, except behind such unit was the unused back door to the flat – found the key, opened the door, catfish slid out to the landing and we somehow managed to get him into the large jar.

I did get my money back at Selfridges.

I did not learn my lesson, and would love to share more stories about the koi carp on our current ponds, but have ran out of time and space for this issue…………..!

Elaine  Clarke – 21st March 2022

So much has happened on our farm since my last blog. I don’t even know where to start… so I will keep it short and very sweet.
I had the pleasure of travelling to the Netherlands last weekend to attend the Alpaca Association Benelux Spring Show!
It is always exciting to meet old friends and new at alpaca shows and this show was no different!
The organisation was impeccable and the atmosphere was electric after such a long break from showing.
I spent two days ring side deliberating which alpacas I wanted to have a quick look at before I left for the airport.  I didn’t get a chance to get hands on with everything I would have liked, but what I did see, definitely didn’t disappoint.
The weekend has got me even more excited to visit the BAS National Show, where I look forward to catching up with more old friends… and new ones!
It takes a huge effort to get shows organised. All volunteers should get well deserved gratitude. The hard work they put in, allows show goers to have a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Judith Newman  –  14^th December 2021

It will soon be Christmas followed quickly in its footsteps by the New Year 2022. I find that when you look after livestock you are constantly looking forward and as you get older time passes so quickly that the future is never far from today. It seems only a brief time ago that we were waiting for this year’s cria to be born and yet here we are looking forward to next year’s.

Weaning is imminent here and our 9 cria are doing well and I think that their mothers will be glad to have a rest from them. Once weaned they do still get to see other as each group have their own space in the barn when the weather is bad and can also see each other out in the fields. We usually find that the cria take it all in their stride, as do most of the mothers, but we do get a couple of mothers each year who take a day or two before settling down properly. We have a couple of cria who have mothers that are not pregnant for 2022 and these mothers will stay with the weanlings for a while to help them adjust and they are also useful during halter training in leading the youngsters out until they gain confidence enough to do it on their own.

Gary and I went to watch the 2021 Midlands Championships in October and thoroughly enjoyed catching up with people and seeing all the beautiful alpacas on display. It was interesting to see the progress breeders had made in the two years we had been without any halter shows. We have missed the Shows and look forward to getting back into competition next year.

In early December I was a volunteer handler for the BAS Advanced Alpaca Assessment course held at CS Alpacas in Oxfordshire. It was a very enjoyable experience, and I learnt a lot through listening to the Tutors and the attendees as they assessed alpacas and shared their thoughts with the Tutors leading to a discussion on the points raised. I definitely recommend stepping forward as a volunteer as there is a huge amount to be gained from it and without volunteers there can be no courses.

I am now into my second year as a Board Member. It has been a largely enjoyable experience and the positives far outweigh the negatives. Working with a great set of colleagues on initiatives designed to help our members meet the challenges ahead and endeavouring to continue to meet the founding principles of the society is a privilege and to have been elected by fellow members is an honour.

Much like any one of you I have a busy life looking after and developing my herd of alpacas in addition to making time to spend with family and doing all the usual household tasks. COVID has presented all of us with challenges and my own have included the death of my father at a time when I was unable to visit him in hospital and he had to have an unattended cremation. Nearly two years later we are still waiting for my brother to be able to travel from overseas so that we can get together and spread Dad’s ashes and celebrate his life. Through all of this I have found the friendship of members of the alpaca community to be a source of light with their funny stories and willingness to share experience and learning. My mother always told me that if I had nothing nice to say then say nothing at all, and I always try to do this but obviously no one is perfect and we all slip from time to time, and very occasionally I can still feel that clip around the ear from Mum! I believe that if we can all try to be kind to each other and offer positive feedback rather than negative then all our lives will be richer for it.

Happy Christmas to you all and wishing you the best, and kindest, of New Years!

Emma Taylor – 21 September 2021

We, like others, have had a prolonged birthing season which is finally over.

Our first dam, a well grown maiden, had clearly read the instructions & started labouring shortly before 5am & first check of the day. By 1pm she was in established labour & we watched from a distance, eagerly awaiting her first cria. By 3pm not much progress so I had a quiet word in her ear & said that I would give her an hour else she needed to pop herself into the catch pen so I could see what was, or was not in her case, happening. At 3.50pm she wandered into the catch pen of her own accord & looked at me as if saying ‘please can you do something’.

A quick internal found a fully closed cervix – known as ring womb – which was gently manipulated & opened without too much persuasion. We then left mum to continue. Sadly, progress was not made despite mum’s vigorous attempts & much ‘hokey cokey’ with either or both forelimbs, so we reinvestigated to find the crown of the cria’s head presenting with the nose firmly stuck behind the pelvis. At this point & wishing to avoid an out of hours call out, I balanced my phone on the dam & called the vet! Our vet arrived swiftly & thankfully delivered a bright, strong mid fawn female who we have aptly called Kerfuffle. The dam bonded with her immediately & has been a natural super mum.

Our next cria needed the shoulders ‘displacing’ by gently easing one or other foreleg further forward than the other to reduce the overall size of the combined shoulders, to aid delivery & again another bouncing female who is super charged! Kiss Chase, known as KC on the farm, is the friendliest cria who is a very sweet fawn with definite tuxedo. Both KC & Kerfuffle will join our grey breeding programme in due course. Both sired by AEA Avante (light fawn).

The next cria had the least ‘interested to feed’ mother of all! Another maiden who took one look at her cria & said – no thanks! The dam was clearly not willing to feed her cria voluntarily, so we spent several days catching the dam & holding her while her cria fed. Thank fully after several days Holly got to grips with motherhood & has continued to be a very good mum with an abundance of milk. Her cria, Kwizzical, has caught up in size with the other two & today, stands tall, chunky & proud. We wonder if mum is as surprised as us of the colour of her cria given her daughter is a rich brown – dam is grey, sire is rose grey (who usually produces grey or rose grey to a grey female) – oh the fun of alpaca genetics! That all said Kwizzicle is stunning, huge & beautiful.

As breeders, we first glimpse a nose with a possible indication of colour; then thoughts turn to hopes for a healthy cria, swiftly followed by ‘girl or boy’ which for us, adds to the pleasure & excitement of breeding these extraordinary creatures who join the herd to add to our fibre producers. We are now waiting on the arrival of the remaining few girls who are at 380 days plus! On checking one dam’s records I noted she held on until day 400 for her last cria (off one mating) so we will just be patiently impatient!

On a final note, we recently held a clue for BBC Norfolk Treasure Quest – the ‘runner’ Jules is live on the radio in a car & listeners have to solve the most cryptic clues. Clues are placed around particular areas of the county, usually at events or businesses, & they have to be recovered by Jules to access the next clue which requires further solving. They got to us in the end but neither Jules nor Deb (who have only a paper map) are not familiar with this part of Norfolk.

Thoughts now turn to the impending winter chores with advanced preparation being key.

Sue Loach – 13 September 2021

Last weekend saw the first National Alpaca Farm Day for us all.  I have to say I agreed to take part with some degree of trepidation, and I spent as much time worrying about whether anyone would turn up as I did about being overrun.

We decided that we would offer mini walks , just around our fields , opportunities to hand feed and to offer refreshments, coffee, cake and cold drinks.  I must confess to being hopeful that we didn’t sell too much cake so I had an excuse to eat it myself, after all it’s a shame to waste it!  I also had some hand knitted hats and headbands on sale that I had knitted last winter which virtually sold out.

Well, the Sunday of Farm Day dawned (we only did 1 day) and we were all up, organised and ready for our 11am start , when at 10-30, all these cars appeared, literally 20 in a row, accompanied by my anguished wails of “ You can’t arrive yet, I’m not ready”.

Once we had overcome the shock of how many people flooded in, I have to say we had a brilliant day, I don’t think I realised how much people love Alpacas and how much joy being with them gives. One lady told me that walking an Alpaca was on her top 10 list of things she really wanted to do and that we had made her day.

In all we had around 600 visitors, so many saying they hadn’t a clue we were here and that they thought they would have to travel miles to spend time with Alpacas.  Until Farm Day I had always been amazed at how many farms opened up to the public for walks, picnics, yoga etc, but having seen the pleasure on people’s faces last weekend I can understand why they do.  I’m having lots of enquiries from people wanting to visit again and from those who didn’t know it was on, so we are already planning for next year’s Farm Day.   From the feedback I have seen it seems other farms have had similar success and over 11,000 people attended the event countrywide so a big well done to everyone who participated.

What amazing animals Alpacas are, they produce us all this lovely fibre we can use, they promote themselves via shows all over the country and the general public love spending time with them, I wonder how many other species can say the same?

Kate Brookes – 6 September 2021

As I write this I am preparing for a large Camelid Dynamics course to be run on my farm, with a trainer coming from the USA and learning is at the forefront of my mind. It is exciting to feel we can get back to face to face learning. Useful as Zoom has been, for me it does not replace the benefits gained from interacting with others, getting hands on with alpacas and practicing skills for real.

I have always been keen on learning, but I have realised over the years, that after my initial steep learning curve when I first got alpacas in the 1990s, I had more or less drifted along, picking up an extra bit here and there, for years. About eight years ago I decided it was time to learn more and, of course, the more I learn the more I realise how little I know. I have also realised that many things I initially learnt are no longer appropriate (we started with a ‘breeding pair’, common and acceptable at the time). I now realise that my alpacas are probably healthier, calmer, in better body condition and the cria are growing better than ever before, by applying what I am learning.

Recently I read the newly published Alpaca Teeth book by Alison Quagliani, I’d definitely recommend it; Several articles on nutrition and trace elements (I am a real beginner here!); and Vicunas: Survival of the Finest, with its breathtaking pictures and lots of history, another book I’m pleased I own.

The new BAS webinars are starting again in the autumn, the topics sound exciting and I’m already looking forward to learning something else new. Don’t forget to send in requests if there is a topic you really want covered, it may not be this year, but could be next. Every day is a school day!

Clara Boulton – 1st September 2021

It has been a lovely Summer down at the farm, with our small group of cria. I dare say we have had a relatively easy year.

However, our biggest success hasn’t been related to one of our own cria, it has been helping a special little alpaca called Prince! Prince’s mum wasn’t producing much, if any, milk, and bottles desperately weren’t agreeing with him. We are very very fortunate to have a wet nurse, who produces milk on seeing the first cria of the season, and will happily be a top up bar for any nosey cria!

When our friends told us about Prince, we decided to make use of the asset that (thank goodness) we weren’t using. It was a risk, uprooting a cria, placing them in our concrete barn and hoping they would bond. But things weren’t looking good for Prince, through no fault of his own or his owners. We had never attempted to bond Lucy to a cria, so there was no guarantee she would go beyond allowing cria to top up. 

It is safe to say it is one of the best decisions we have ever made. As soon as lovely Lucy heard the sound of a humming cria she immediately rushed to him and the bond was instant. We left them to it and went for a walk around the farm and watched them on the camera that covers the barn. Within minutes he was feeding, and the rest is history! 

After quarantine Prince was let out into a paddock with Lucy and some friends. This was the next milestone! Would the bond continue with the other cria about, who would happily steal a snack? Would he be distracted by other lactating dams? Would going from being kept calm and indoors to outside with lots to see and do sap his energy? Would that bond hold? 

Luckily, it couldn’t have gone better! Our cheeky cria still do steal the odd snack, as shown here by naughty Dollar. But Lucy is happy to oblige! 

Prince is now back on track, and is a totally normal (naughty) cria. He will return to his home farm after weaning, we will be very sad to see him go but we are just delighted that we have been able to help.

Ron Mackintosh – 9th August 2021

A few days in the life of an alpaca farmer………

As we neared the end of our birthing season and after ten days of 30°C degree heat, when thankfully we had no births and the mums-to- be seemed to be holding on, the weather broke. Temperatures were much more pleasant and with a few girls around 350 days the births were bound to come, first was Fire Cracker a 10.5 kg girl to Miss Strez having her 6^th birth. All her previous births had been easy but Fire Cracker was stuck with a leg back and Miss Strez pushing strongly.  It must have taken 45 minutes or so until Fire Cracker was freed and this strong girl was on the ground, after a challenging birth there was no sitting around to rest for Fire Cracker and she was up and trying to suckle within 15 minutes.

Now we are approaching 250 births we have had quite a few challenging presentations and while Fire Cracker was not particularly difficult her size made it more difficult so it was quite a relief to see her safely on the ground and so determined to thrive.

Next came Fudge with a textbook normal birth, but he was only 223 days and really premature. Again, Pearl is an experienced mother and an early birth is unusual for her. We immediately knew Fudge was going to be a challenge as he lay quite still after birthing with none of the normal wriggling around. It seemed ages before he started breathing as we rubbed his body and tried to get him going. Sometimes they pick up after an hour or so but Fudge had no energy even after we gave him quick start and B1.

After a couple of hours we managed to milk Pearl of some lovely colostrum and managed to get Fudge to take 50mls from a 5ml syringe. Pearl did not like being handled and it need two of us to hold and milk her. By four to five hours after birth it was clear that Fudge was going to be very slow and we moved them into the barn so we could give as much support as possible over what turned out to be a long night.

Pearl could see Fudge was not doing well and realised we were trying to keep him going so she stood quietly while one of us milked her and fed it by syringe to Fudge. We wrapped up Fudge as warmly as possible and leaving the lights on in the barn prepared for a long night.

Milking mum was not giving us as much as Fudge needed so at 10pm we manged to get him to drink 80ml of goats milk. Coming back to the barn every two hours we got him drinking either goats milk or mums colostrum but, while he was still holding on it was not going well, and we wondered if he would make it through the night.

After the 4am feed we were worried that he was not warm enough and brought him into the house and I slept with him beside out AGA cooker. By 8am he had perked up a bit and we took him back to the barn where mum was delighted to see him, and we called the vet to arrange a plasma transfer for later that morning.

When the vet examined Fudge she felt he was strong enough to accept plasma with a strong heartbeat and good breathing although very flat. He wriggled a bit as the plasma was given but remained very flat and we took him into our lab with the heater on and after an hour or so he lifted his head and we began to feel he could make it. For the next 24 hours he gradually grew stronger sitting with his head up and taking a bottle every two to three hours.

By the time he was 48 hours old he was able to stand on his wobbly legs and try and suckle from mum. Amazingly he was able to get up on his own after 72 hours and suckle from mum. We continued to supplement with goats milk for the next 24 hours and at 4 days old he was able to walk around and he no longer needed a bottle, so we let Fudge and mum out in the paddock with the others. We brought Fudge and mum into the barn over the next few nights and put a coat on him while in the barn. Fudge is now 10 days old having put on over a kilo and weighing about 7kg and he is playing with the other cria and proving he can be one of the fastest in the cria races.

Luckily, we have had two more normal births both 9kg black girls and are left with just three to complete our birthing season.

Elaine Clarke – 26th July 2021

The last few weeks have been wall to wall sunshine…a very welcome treat and something that we don’t frequently experience in Northern Ireland!

That being said, it has caused a shift in the day-to-day happenings on the farm. With midday temperatures soaring, we’ve been splitting the daily chores between the very early morning and late evening, in order to avoid the hottest part of the day.

Matings in particular have had to be scheduled for the very coolest part of the day as has my ‘daily dance’ with the poover! Although, with the drying heat of the sun, the paddocks are proving much easier to clean.

Whilst the persistent sunny weather receives no complaints from me, it does give us a timely reminder of the importance of making sure we make adequate provisions for the alpacas. Whether it be natural, or man-made, access to shade is imperative during periods of prolonged heat and sun, as is access to fresh, cool water. In many cases people also provide a sprinkler or shallow pool for their animals to cool their extremities in, I know our alpacas thoroughly enjoy the opportunity of a good cooling down.

With last year’s hay resources pretty much depleted, this spell of good weather has also allowed us to get plenty of hay in the barn. As a farmer’s daughter, I must confess that we are never short of a good bale or two, but it is always a relief to get it cut, baled and housed without it seeing as much as a drop of rain.

As we wait for the remainder of our cria to arrive and progress with our matings, we begin the annual process of ‘looking forward’ in anticipation to next year’s births, whilst continuing to appreciate and enjoy this year’s crop, as they continue to develop and grow.

Like me, I hope that you’ve enjoyed the good weather and that you’ve all, “made hay whilst the sun shines!”

Judith Newman – 12th July 2021

Hi everyone, I hope that all is well with you and your alpacas and that those of you who breed are getting some beautiful healthy cria on the ground. We are expecting nine cria this year with, as I write, two having been delivered and seven left to go. We have had two lovely fawn females one of which was birthed by the Dam while we were still in bed in the morning and a lovely surprise when I looked out of the window at 6 am. The other was a breech delivery undertaken by our vet with both Dam and cria in good shape afterwards with the cria up and feeding within the hour and Mum passing the placenta soon after. Rather stressful at the time but a great relief to have them both healthy and bonded to each other.

I find that waiting for cria to be born can be both exciting and frustrating at the same time. We currently have one girl 3 weeks overdue, one two weeks overdue and two more that were due a few days ago. My family often ask me if it’s a problem when they are very overdue and can’t the vet do something about it. Every year I tell them the same that the cria will come when its ready and you cannot interfere with nature. There is of course an exception if you have a female at any stage of her pregnancy that is behaving out of character, looking very uncomfortable, maybe rolling and showing signs of labour that then stop. Unless you are sufficiently competent and have the experience to investigate what is going on you have to get a vet to come and check them over to make sure there isn’t a problem such as torsion or an incorrectly positioned cria that can’t be birthed naturally by the female. I am fine dealing with the more straightforward things but a breech baby was beyond my capability and we would have lost her if the vet hadn’t been called. Hopefully the next seven cria will be of the, “look out of the window and there it is”, variety!

Hay making is another waiting game as we have yet to see sufficient consecutive dry sunny days for it to happen here in Somerset. The earliest we have made hay is May and the latest is September and the early hay is definitely the best although the September hay was good and our animals all munched on it quite happily. It’s looking promising from the end of this week and so hopefully all will be gathered in by the end of July – wish us luck and good luck to you if you have yet to make your hay!

Now that most of us have completed shearing for 2021 some of you may be wondering what to do with your lovely fleeces. One option is to pick out your best fleeces skirt them really well and enter them into a fleece show. It’s a great way to get an independent assessment by a qualified BAS Judge of the range of qualities that we should all be aiming for with our breeding/buying programmes. Below is a copy of the Huacaya scorecard and below that Suri scorecard.

The Fleece Judging manual can be found in the Members Area of the BAS Website in the Shows section and provides lots of information underpinning the way that points are awarded under each heading of the scorecard. All of the fleeces entered into a show are anonymised and the Judge has no knowledge of which herd or alpaca the fleece comes from and you can be assured of an objective assessment of your fleece(s). The BAS Newsletter carries details of forthcoming fleece shows so have a look and dip your toe in the water.

Paul Hetherington – 5th July 2021

Birthing is slowing down now after the boom in May and June – we have 57 cria on the ground already with only 10 left to birth. Gestation times were overall a bit longer than expected this year perhaps due to the winter weather? We also broke our own record with one female going 386 days and producing a perfectly healthy 7kg cria. Girls outnumber boys this year which is always a bonus.

We’ve already cria sheared the first batch.  We haven’t had many mothers rejecting their cria after shearing (and have always managed to reunite them) but this year we decided to try something different. We put a coat on each cria the night before shearing, and then the same coat was put back on right after shearing, with the hope that the mother would recognise the smell of the cria on the coat. No rejections this time!

However, early cria shearing has meant that we’ve ear tagged the cria sooner than normal this year as it was getting difficult to work out who was who, especially when split from their mothers for weighing. The cria get weighed daily for the first two weeks then twice a week as a minimum after that. Weight loss or even lack of weight gain is a good early indicator of an impending problem.

My 45-year-old Massey Ferguson was getting difficult to start, and I was getting tired of being cold and wet and breathing in exhaust fumes, so I decided an upgrade was in order. Having looked at second-hand tractors it turned out that a 2-year-old Zetor with 120 hours was only marginally more expensive than a 30 year old Massey with 6000 hours. No brainer – I went for the Zetor.

Out with the old

In with the new.

The weather gods have been kind to Cumbria this year and we managed to make some hay at the end of June – the earliest ever and the first time for years the crop wasn’t rained on between cutting and baling. I like to have a couple of backup hay fields just in case I get the decision to mow wrong – which tends to happen when the weather forecast changes from a sunny week ahead to a rainy week ahead as soon as the grass is cut!  The backup hay fields will go to make round bale haylage for winter feeding. Last year we were getting through 2½ big bales a week so it’s almost a full-time job keeping the hay racks full.

A wonderful sight!

We’ve been trying to train the alpacas in the new barn to poo in a controlled area. Sometimes they get confused and put their noses over the poo area but leave their bottoms outside and miss the target. So far though they haven’t started pooing anywhere else in the barn so I guess the system is working. For anyone interested in the technicalities we use biomass boiler wood pellets with a sprinkling of dry powder disinfectant inside the frame and top up with both when necessary.

Poo training

Kate Brookes – 22 June 2021 

Embers, the cria with a kink

One Sunday tea time I went to feed my mums and cria and noticed that Embers, a 5 week old cria, had a very obvious kink in her neck. When the vet took x- rays it was clear that this was a significant subluxation. It was not causing any neurological signs at all, but needed action to be taken as, in a growing cria, it was likely to cause issues as she grew. Although my vet has plenty of alpaca expertise this was not something she had come across before. She sought advice from others with more experience. It is at times like this that I realise how fantastic our alpaca experts are. Advice was freely given to her from those with experience in the UK and beyond.

Our first plan of sedation and traction with manipulation has not improved the neck. Next we are getting advice from a specialist chiropractic, with experience of similar injuries in alpaca necks. I so hope it works. Embers is a very special girl and becoming more so as she stays calmly in the barn with her mum and a friend.

Whatever the outcome I just want to offer thanks to all those who offer their time and expertise to help us do the best for our alpacas. I don’t have the names or details of all who help me, but they all played their part, thank you! We are part of a wonderful community. And here’s hoping Embers makes a full recovery.

Sue Loach – 15 June 2021

Crikey I can’t believe how quickly this year is passing, Summer seemed so far away last time I wrote my blog.  Most of us are in the midst of the busiest time of year, birthing and doing matings for next year’s cria and I’m sure we have had our fair share of ups and downs.  I’ve waited 375 days for my most recent arrival, yet had another arrive after 320 days both fit and well, just different sizes!!

Yet it is the arrival of Patience, born at textbook 340 days, in the middle of the day, to an experienced mother that has caused me the most issues.  She was called Patience because she certainly tried my patience for the first few days of her life.  She had no idea how to feed from her mum, kept getting stuck behind the hedges, and found the wall more appealing to feed from than her mum who tried everything to persuade her to feed.  She was given over a litre of Bovine colostrum, then powdered Colostrum replacer which she took readily from the bottle, yet bang on 24 hours after she was born, she crashed, flat out and unresponsive.  I strongly suspected she had sepsis, her membranes were turning purple and her temperature was low.

Off we trotted (well actually raced!!) to the vets clutching Patience and a freezer bag of Plasma. Her IgG levels were very low and her bloods indicated an infection, so plasma was administered. Halfway through her transfusion Patience decided she felt better and tried to run out of the surgery and, with the help of antibiotics and plenty of TLC she is now a normal 3-week-old cria who feeds off her mum (and poaches off anyone who will let her).

Plasma saved her life. When a cria is born it only has a few hours to absorb the antibodies from its mothers milk which is what helps the cria to develop an immune system, protecting it from infection.  When that doesn’t happen, as with Patience, we can boost the immune system by giving plasma and in many cases it saves the cria’s life.

It is important that breeders know that powdered colostrum supplements do not contain antibodies, they are designed to give the cria energy to feed, colostrum replacers do contain antibodies and can certainly improve a cria’s chances.  Fresh goat colostrum is also helpful as long as you know where it has come from but in an emergency life threatening situation, a bag of Plasma can, and does, save lives.

Most experienced breeders keep a supply of plasma for these circumstances, in my opinion it should be part of every breeder’s birthing kit.  Once collected it keeps for up to 5 years in the freezer.  My own vets, and several other practices, have offered plasma drives so that breeders can collect plasma from their own herd at a discounted rate for the impending breeding season, yet most have been cancelled because of low uptakes. How can we tell more breeders what a potential life saver Plasma can be?

Breeders spend large sums of money on stud fees and spend almost a year waiting for their cria to arrive only to lose them because they have failed to get sufficient antibodies from their mothers. Time after time we see people on social media asking for plasma for a vulnerable cria.  The irony of Patience is that I had no plasma in my freezer, my vets Plasma Drive having had to be cancelled because of low numbers and having last year given away my last 2 bags to owners whose animals needed it.  It was only the kindness of a friend who had given up breeding and given me her supply that saved Patience’s life. That kindness has also saved the life of a friends cria.

Legally you cannot offer for sale, or purchase plasma, as it is a blood product.  We need to collect plasma from our own herd and we can’t depend on others to give it to us and risk losing one of their animals because they have run out.  For me, plasma should be collected in the same way we harvest hay, we would never go into winter without having arranged food for our animals, why do we go into the breeding season without Plasma??

Here’s hoping for a successful breeding season for us all and lots of cute cria pics for Alpaca magazine’s photo competition.

Duncan Pullar  – 8 June 2021

What next when the phone rings?

You never know quite what the next phone call will bring to the BAS office.  This is both a joy and a terror, depending on how things go.  A recent example illustrates how some events develop in unexpected ways……

I took a call from the Latin TV production office along the lines of, “We are making a documentary to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the declaration of independence in Peru and want to feature the influence of Peru around the world, can you help us find some alpacas in the UK?”  (28th July 2021 if you are interested).

There were some fairly narrow dates of availability and some fairly tight geography for the venue, along with a plea to meet a “typical” UK alpaca owner.  After some phoning around I found a willing host on the route of the camera crew and a date and time was fixed.

The farm host, for the filming, then asked if it would be OK to see if the local news team would be interested in reporting on the Peruvians filming alpacas in sunny Bedfordshire.   Two takers appeared in the form of BBC TV South Today and BBC Three Counties Radio.

The radio interview turned out to be a preview of the event and a general chat about alpacas – which went well. You can find the interview here if you are interested.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09k1jgc   start at 2:16:55 runs to 2:23:

On the day of filming the BBC chap turned up at the appointed time and explained that his “story” was the Peruvian team coming to the UK to film alpacas. So, when the Peruvian team turned up (a little late but not too bad) we had the slightly surreal scene of the BBC reporter filming Latin TV filming me and the farm host talking about alpacas in the UK.  I am not sure when this will be used but I can update when I know.

Just when we thought we had seen everything one of the Peruvian production team appeared in Peruvian National Costume to pose for pictures with everyone and the resident alpacas too……

Clara Boulton -1 June 2021

Like most, our favourite ‘alpaca seasons’ are in full swing, shearing and birthing! I adore looking at the fleeces as they come off, and we are already starting to plan all the crafty things we can get up to with them.

My other favourite thing about this time of year is looking at my paddocks. We have our normal grazing paddocks, but we also graze approximately 12 acres of stewardship scheme land which is kept with ground nesting birds in mind. Something we are very happy to accommodate! But this does mean we do have to allow some natural growth in those fields.

Some of my favourite regular plant finds are meadowsweet, pineapple weed, willowherb, yarrow and cow parsley.

I know the alpacas will love having a good graze! My older girls regularly spend more time in those paddocks, reaping all the natural benefits of the multitude of amazing plants in there. Having a sit on the grass in the sun (what a hardship) is also a good excuse to start looking for the ‘scary plants’, plants like horsetail can easily sneak up on you if you have lush grazing where it can blend in. Not to mention our old friend mr ragwort. It doesn’t hurt to just spend a moment checking out what is going on in your paddocks. We try to manage all of our paddocks, stewardship scheme or not, as naturally as possibly. Which usually involves me going ‘whose idea was this!’ a few weeks into charging into my paddocks armed with a ragfork and a wheel barrow with aching arms every evening in spring and summer. However it is always nice to have an excuse to spend some more time in the paddocks with the alpacas, even if there is always one who insists on standing in the way.

I have also been reminded these past few weeks why I am not allowed lovely nice things! I was so excited to receive one of the BAS caps, so I decided to wear it on one of the hottest days we have had so far to try it out. It was certainly ‘alpaca approved’, however I forgot to take it off to go and milk the cows…. Oops! The hat is now clean and my lesson has firmly been learnt. I think the cows were just jealous.

“

Ron Mackintosh  – 14th  May 2021

As I write this blog the 86^th edition of the Alpaca Magazine is going to print to be mailed out to you shortly. This is the 24^th edition of the magazine I have been responsible for since joining the BAS board in 2015.

It has been both fascinating, challenging and only possible through the brilliant work of our editor Liz Mason who does all the hard work in sourcing and writing articles. Liz is the third editor I have worked with and I think she has made a great contribution in getting the magazine to where it is with a broad range of articles that reflect the breadth and depth of the alpaca community in the UK today.

Liz and I, along with Duncan and now Elaine, work together to plan the current year’s magazine editions and the features we would like to see in the various issues. Then as we get to a couple of months before publication we have an in-depth call or Zoom meeting to go through all the content Liz has managed to source and articles that still need writing. It is always a challenge to work out where we can source interesting articles and after a lot of discussion, by the end of that meeting, we usually have a plan and know where we think they will come from. We are so grateful to all the alpaca owners and other contributors who send Liz the articles, or are willing to do interviews etc, so Liz can work on writing and editing the magazine to get it ready to go to the studio where Jo Legg does the design and turns the articles, pictures and adverts into the edition you all see. I proofread the edition and share it with my board colleagues before we finally approve it to go to print. It is a great team effort and I am really proud of what we produce for you every two months.

The way the magazine is produced went through a major change about 6 years ago when Nigel Beckwith of Herts Alpacas and a then board member rethought the whole way the magazine was funded and after a lot of work and negotiation brought in Evegate, now Kelsey, to produce and publish the magazine. Nigel agreed a new concept for BAS where the publisher would produce and edit the magazine at no charge to the society in return for receiving the advertising revenue from selling advertising space in the magazine. Previously BAS paid quite a bit of money each year to get the magazine to you. This change has resulted in the magazine we have today and want to say a big thank you to Nigel conceiving and negotiating that deal with Evegate.

Apart from my BAS activities of working on the Magazine, a board meeting, and a TB meeting with DEFRA/APHA, my time over the last couple of months has been spent on the normal activities for our alpaca herd. I have been preparing the fields for Spring, getting ready to shear 130 alpacas, doing pre-birthing husbandry, planning this year’s matings and helping Linda with alpaca sales and supporting our customers with any health or husbandry issues, as well as trying to understand our EBV data and thinking or how to use it in our breeding programme.

My biggest worry has been grass, or lack of it, caused by the unusual cold and dry spring so I was not able to get fertiliser on the ground when it was too wet, and then not spreading it until I could see rain on the way!  Eventually I was able to fertilize and spread 3 tonnes of fertilizer pellets a couple of weeks ago just before we got some rain and at last our fields have greened up and the grass is growing strongly.

Can’t wait for birthing to begin and new life to start while feeling optimistic now we have been vaccinated and it looks like life is beginning to return to a new normal with alpaca shows this Autumn.

Elaine Clarke – 10th may 2021

At this time of year, our focus is usually centred around the seasonal triad of shearing, births and matings. With our shearing all complete, we have now been fortunate enough to welcome the first of our cria into the world.

To date, three of our females have unpacked but to say the weather has been less than favourable is quite the understatement. With Roger away at the BAS Judges’ Calibration and despite usually preferring to work behind the scenes, you may have spotted me on BBC’s Countryfile a couple of weeks ago.

As part of the feature, the programme showed the first of our cria, a little premature and dysmature female who was quite wobbly on her feet.

This little female was born three weeks early and arrived out in the pasture, in the midst of a snow flurry.  As a consequence, the little one was quite hypothermic and needed both veterinary intervention and a lot of tender loving care to get her on her feet and feeding.

It took 48 hours of round the clock care, before the little one was able to stand and feed independently. Despite her shaky start, I could tell she was a fighter and with lots of intervention, including a plasma transfusion under her belt, I could see her growing stronger by the day.

I’m delighted to report that little Subzero as we decided she should be called, is now not so little and is thriving well, in fact, she has never looked back. All signs of dysmaturity have gone and she has blossomed into an elegant, upstanding young cria, full of both fun and mischief alike.

Having not had to intervene so greatly in years, this experience really brought home; the importance of being ‘birthing ready’. By this, I don’t just mean having the birthing kit stocked up, but also being prepared for the unforeseen and the unexpected by having all of your interventions in place. I’m incredibly thankful that we were able to act without delay and had everything ready and at hand.

As we move into the summer season, we look forward to the arrival of better weather and of course, more precious cria. I absolutely love seeing everyone’s posts on social media and sharing in people’s excitement as the new batch ‘hit the deck’. Keep sharing!

No sooner have the cria arrived, than planning begins for the next stage; the matings! I don’t know about you but this usually causes a lot of ‘spirited debate’ in our house and regardless of who’s choice comes out on top, we immediately begin to look forward in expectation of the outcome. Please tell me that I’m not the only one to wish their life away like this!?!

In the meantime, I hope you all have a safe and prosperous birthing season and I look forward to seeing all of your new arrivals as you post online.

(birthing  webinar is available here   https://youtu.be/WcTeACCBsZI )

Judith Newman – 26th April 2021

In my previous blog I complained about the rain and now I’m complaining about the lack of it! The weather has been glorious and we have been able to get a lot of outside work done but now I would like some rain please. Not floods of it, but enough to keep the grass growing and to ensure we get a good cut of hay in June. Well, I wouldn’t be British if I didn’t moan about the weather 😊

It’s the most exciting time of the year when shearing takes place, the cria start to appear and the matings for next year’s cria happen. So much to look forward to and so much to be happy about. Of course, the planning for the pairings can take place years ahead of the births as we strive for continuous improvement and the future plan for each cria starts as soon as it hits the ground. Of course, we all experience setbacks and some of these can be heart breaking but thankfully they are few and far between and the successes make it all worth while and keep us moving forwards.

I have a cria birthing kit that is checked and prepared well in advance of our first due date. Here is a photo of what’s in my bag in addition to which I place a clean towel and a cria coat in case it is needed.

My little ABC book is always close by in birthing season. It’s a great source of information and reassurance. Most of the time births are wonderful and straightforward but occasionally there can be a problem. I have been on 2 birthing courses plus a couple of webinars and the most useful thing I have learned is to only attempt something I am absolutely confident that I can finish otherwise call the vet.  Better to call the vet and then cancel them if the cria comes before they arrive or if they arrive and the cria is safe on the ground they will be as happy as you are. Good luck to us all for a great cria season.

Choosing the stud to cover your females is one of the most important decisions you will make. He contributes 50% of the potential genetic gain from the pairing and is critical to improving your herd. We made mistakes in the early years with our stud choices and it slowed us down considerably in our efforts to breed quality alpacas. On reflection we just didn’t know enough to make the right choices and had to learn from our mistakes and educate ourselves through literature research and talking to other people.

The help of knowledgeable breeders who were happy to let us look at their alpacas and share their knowledge with us has been invaluable and we are very grateful to them. In more recent years we have made better choices and the payback in terms of the quality of our herd has been wonderful. Our primary motivation is the desire to breed healthy happy alpacas that others will love and want to own and also that we love to see in our fields and which give us great pleasure. Using good studs on your females is essential for this and it is a serious decision requiring research and education.

Just a quick note about feed costs. I have always used Camelibra as my primary source of nutrition for my alpacas as do my neighbouring breeders. Last year when reviewing our outgoings, I contacted my local breeder colleagues and asked if they would be interested in bulk purchasing from the manufacturer. The proposal was that I would order and store the feed and they would come and collect as many bags as they needed when they needed it. Everyone joined in and we all now make a saving of 40% on every bag. The feed is freshly made and bagged on order and therefore also has an excellent shelf life so there is no risk of wastage on out-of-date bags. The feed is delivered 35 bags at a time on a pallet and they have a pallet truck to place it where you want it. Definitely worth considering.

Paul Hetherington – 19th April 2021

It’s been a busy couple of weeks.

Back in January we put in a planning application for a new shed after coming to the conclusion that, with around 70 births due this year, we wouldn’t have enough indoor space to comfortably fit in all the mothers and cria. Then we agreed to host a judges calibration in the new shed before any of the work had actually started. Nerves were getting tested as the date of the calibration loomed and the shed wasn’t finished. Thankfully everything came together in the end, the electrics were finished two days before and our shed builder was here at 7am on the morning of the calibration tidying up so everyone had somewhere to park their cars!

Calibration is an event where the judges get together to judge the same animals or fleeces then compare their results with each other. It’s not a pass or fail test – the purpose is to try and ensure judging is consistent whoever judges a show. If there is a difference in the placings between judges then they can discuss their reasoning. There will always be some variation between judges but the results should be generally in the right order with the better animals coming at the top of the order and the lesser towards the bottom.

A lot of work went on before the event to choose classes that would test the judges a little bit. We used a mixture of our own animals, and some from other herds, to put together classes that were representative of those likely to be seen at a show. Both Huacaya and Suri classes were put forward. Most of the classes were juniors or intermediates as the highest proportion of animals entered in halter shows come from these two age groups. Some single animal classes were put forward, the question being whether that animal should be awarded a first place or not and, if deemed worthy of a first place, whether a champion or not. Shorn fleeces were also judged and the scores compared. Any differences in the scores for each trait were discussed.

The calibration went well with some good discussion between the judges about the classes and individual animals and fleeces.

After the calibration we had a ‘day off’ and then we spent two days shearing. We used to shear around the end of May, just after the Northumberland show. Last year however, due the uncertainties of getting a shearer, we took an opportunity to shear in April and decided that was actually a much better time. Getting sheared before the birthing and mating season makes life so much easier. How many times previously did we have to crawl around trying to see if a cria was actually suckling on a fully fleeced dam or trying to see if the male had hit the target when mating – never mind the heat stress on the male when mating in full fleece.

When we booked the shearing date a few months ago we didn’t anticipate half an inch of snow and night time temperatures of minus three degrees on shearing day! Luckily we have enough field shelter space so everyone was locked in overnight with plenty of straw bedding and extra feed rations.

After a couple of days everyone had acclimatised. It’s quite amazing really to adjust from fully fleeced to shorn in such a short time.

So, it’s on to the birthing season, with 70 cria due over the summer, and 40 due in May alone, there’s going to be some busy days ahead!

Emma Taylor  – 15 April 2021

Shearing time is upon us!

I am no doubt preaching to the converted and now is hardly early, but please ensure you book or ideally re-book your shearer early. Many a time I see posts on both the BAS Chat Forum & Alpaca Chat UK asking for shearers in June, July or even later.

Think ahead – what are you planning to do with your fleeces? Sell, show, stash, process…? Answering this question for each fleece -if only in your head, will help you after shearing.

For new owners, I hope those breeders/owners who have sold to you have furnished you with shearers details or indeed helped you book. If not, Duncan (BAS CEO) has a list of shearers (none endorsed by BAS) who you may like to contact. If this will be your first experience of shearing then it may be prudent to contact a breeder locally to you and ask to attend their shearing so you know what to expect on your shearing day. Most breeders will accommodate but will have limited time on the day to answer questions – shearing day is hard work for all involved. Get stuck in if you are willing & able!

How to prepare.

Diatomaceous Earth in dust baths should be stopped 4 weeks ahead of shearing. DE is drying so blunts shears and can neutralise scouring agents (when processing.)

Remove as much vegetation from your fleeces in the weeks ahead of shearing. If you have topped or sprayed paddocks then keep the alpacas out – they will manage to find the dead weeds and cuttings and you will create work for yourselves. Ideal time to pick the detritus out is during monthly herd health but do not disturb the organisation of the fleece if you intend to show it.

Also, an ideal time to take your fleece samples; yes, ahead of shearing. Far easier to be taking samples from mid-sides consistently rather than just plucking a sample from a shorn fleece. Fibre sampling will give you important information not only for future breeding decisions but also for the best use of your fibre. There is no point in spending valuable time either at shearing time or after, skirting a 40-micron fleece. Fibre results might to offer up surprises – we have an older brown girl who is very much nothing to write home about in fleece style but she does have a very low SD which she has maintained for over 10 years.

Plan your shearing day layout & risk assess.

Start to gather your shearing day equipment early enough to source replacements if needed – we have a laminated check list which we use year after year to make sure we don’t forget anything on the day. Being prepared in advance will keep your stress levels low on the day and in turn ensure a smooth-running event.

Bags, pens (biro & permanent marker for bags), paper, paper towels, vaccine, needles and syringes, antiseptic spray, clean t-shirt (in case!), skirting table, bonnet/hand shears, toe nail clippers, knee pads, basic first aid for humans (plasters & steri-strips etc), mobile phone with vet number handy, know your exact location (what3words) for emergency services, ruler (staple length measurement), fleece sample bags (if not already taken or for your own records), fresh drinking water, light refreshments for during shearing, check & prepare any alpaca coats in case you need to use them, scissors, broom, waste bin or bag, power ( generator / mains) etc etc ps don’t forget to rally troops to help!

Shearing damp or even wet alpacas is not ideal – keep them in the night before if you possibly can. Then move them to a holding pen close to the shearing station in time for the shearer’s arrival. Once shorn return to their group.

Ensure everything is in working order & clean; vitally important to ensure you clean the bristles of your broom between animals – so easy to contaminate the shearing mat with ‘invisible to the eye’ fibres; have you got sufficient bags for blanket fibre and decided what to do with the rest? We bag all leg fibre of the same colour together; we bag neck fibre with more than 3” of growth in a separate bag to the blanket but leave it with the blanket for weighing in. We do still vaccinate on shearing day because of the ease and time factor but do your research and do what works for you. All toenails and bonnets are trimmed and teeth inspected – especially fighting teeth for the boys. Teeth should not be trimmed for cosmetic purposes. Do ask your shearer to point out any issues with your alpacas – note them for treatment at a later date. A full MOT for alpacas! Note anything which requires addressing after shearing.

Best practice is to skirt fleeces at the time of shearing; keep your shearing area clean & free of fibre & debris to avoid cross contamination; if you are not able to skirt at shearing time then place fleeces carefully into named bags cut side out or noodle them (google ‘noodling fleeces’) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7xErmSrRt8. Short neck & leg fibre should be bagged separately. Let damp fleeces dry naturally where possible. As soon as you can, skirt those fleeces!

Be vigilant post shearing for chilly alpacas and be prepared to house &/or coat the most vulnerable if the weather is poor. Remember to weigh and record your fleece information.

Every farm will have a slightly different way of doing things and you just need to find ‘your’ way. Don’t be afraid to ask your shearer for help but remember they are there to shear not skirt nor chase your alpacas round a 10-acre field to get them in. Shearing is a team effort between shearer and owners, do what you can to make your experience as relaxed and stress free as possible for alpacas and humas alike.

More detailed info on skirting fleeces post shearing is available via the BAS Webinar series – free to BAS members & a small charge for non-BAS members – on Tuesday 27^th April at 7.30pm. Please contact Duncan (ceo@bas-uk.com) for details of how to join the zoom presentation.

A freshly sheared fleece, cut side up ready to be turned over & skirted.

All weighed, recorded & ready for processing.

Kate Brookes  – 29 March 2021

As I sit here writing this, with the sun streaming in the window, I’m wishing my life away, well about two weeks of it anyway. That’s how long it is until the first cria is due on the farm. We mate from the start of May until early July, meaning our cria are expected from Mid April until the end of June.

My knowledge says this is the best thing to do, so that the richest, fastest growing grass is available for the heavily pregnant mums-to-be and then for the early weeks of lactation. I know that cria arriving in mid or late march are likely to need much more owner support and the risks are higher if bad weather arrives in late March. But my cria envy is there, as the first UK cria start being born and the willpower it takes, not to start matings before May, is really considerable.

My other problem is also one of patience. Every slight sign of possible labour (from around 320 days gestation onwards) I am sure is the real thing. That girl lying on her side must be in labour. My cries of “ooh look she’s got some udder, it must be coming soon” go on for weeks and weeks. Am I the only one?

I hope you all have a happy, healthy, fulfilling cria birthing season.

Crikey I can’t believe how quickly this year is passing, Summer seemed so far away last time I wrote my last blog Most of us are in the midst of the busiest time of year, birthing and doing matings for next years cria and Im sure we have had a our fair share of ups and downs I’ve waited 375 days for my most recent arrival, yet had another arrive after 320 days both fit and well, just different sizes !!

Yet it is the arrival of Patience , born at text book 340 days, in the middle of the day, to an experienced mother that has caused me the most issues She was called Patience because she certainly tried my Patience for the first few days of her life She had no idea how to feed from her mum, kept getting stuck behind the hedges and found the wall more appealing to feed from than her mum who tried everything to persuade her to feed She was given over a litre of Bovine colostrum , then powdered Colostrum replacer which she took readily from the bottle, yet, bang on 24 hours after she was born, she crashed, flat out and unresponsive I strongly suspected she had sepsis, her membranes were turning purple and her temperature was low Off we trotted (well actually raced !!) to the vets clutching Patience and a freezer bag of Plasma Her igg levels were very low and her bloods indicated an infection, so plasma was administered, halfway through her transfusion, Patience decided she felt better and tried to run out of the surgery and , with the help of antibiotics and plenty of TLC she is now a normal 3 week old cria who feeds off her mum (and poaches off anyone who will let her) Plasma saved her life When a cria is born it only has a few hours to absorb the antibodies from its mothers milk which is what helps the cria to develop an immune system, protecting it from infection , when that doesn’t happen, as it did with Patience, we can boost the immune system by giving plasma and in many cases it saves the crias life It is important that breeders know that powdered colostrum supplements do not contain antibodies, they are designed to give the cria energy to feed, colostrum replacers do contain antibodies and can certainly improve a crias chances, fresh goats colostrum is also helpful as long as you know where it has come from but in an emergency life threatening situation , a bag of Plasma can and does save lives Most experienced breeders keep a supply of plasma for these circumstances, in my opinion it should be part of every breeders birthing kit Once collected it keeps for up to 5 years in the freezer My own vets and several other practices have offered plasma drives so that breeders can collect plasma from their own herd at a discounted rate for the impending breeding season, yet most have been cancelled because of low uptakes How can we tell breeders what a potential life saver Plasma can be?

Breeders spend large sums of money on stud fees and spend almost a year waiting for their cria to arrive only to lose them because they have failed to get sufficient antibodies from their mothers, time after time we see people on social media asking for Plasma for a vulnerable cria The irony of Patience is that I had no Plasma in my freezer, my vets Plasma Drive having had to be cancelled because of low numbers and having last year given away my last 2 bags to owners whose animals needed it, it was only the kindness of a friend who had given up breeding and given me her supply that saved Patiences life , that kindness has also saved the life of a friends cria. We cannot purchase Plasma as it is a blood product so can’t be sold so we need to collect from our own herd and we can’t depend on others to give it to us and risk losing one of their animals because they have run out For me Plasma should be collected in the same way we harvest hay, we would never go in to winter without having arranged food for our animals, why do we go into the breeding season without Plasma ??

Heres hoping for a successful breeding season for us all and lots of cute cria pics for Duncans photo competition

Crikey when I wrote my last blog it seemed to be ages before Spring, when it was time for my next contribution, but time has flown by and here we are.  Lighter evenings, sunny days, and the promise of new life everywhere.

Those of you who attended the AGM at my house will know, from the veterinary talk, that I have a habit of having weird and wonderful issues with my animals. So, I thought I’d share with you the story of Ganache.  Now, Ganache is a relatively young female who has always been robust and healthy. One day I noticed her doing a very good impression of Wurzel Gummidge, hay stuck in her mouth, that she appeared to be struggling to chew.

Over the next few days this continued in much the same vein, hay getting stuck and me pulling it out, to the extent that she would stand and wait for me to do it!   She was still eating hard food but then she started to get grass stuck in her teeth, so I called the vet.  She had her back teeth rasped as they were a bit sharp, and her gums looked sore.  After a day or two normality resumed.

Then it started again so vet was called, and teeth checked with a tiny sharp bit being removed.

The third time it happened the vet could find no sharpness to her teeth and it was decided to x-ray her before referring her to Liverpool as she was now losing weight and struggling to feed her cria who was also losing weight.

On every occasion the vet visited she had a full clinical exam. It was arranged for 2 vets to come to x-ray so that she could be safely sedated and monitored throughout the process, however during the clinical exam the vet noticed her third eyelid was very pale, in fact it was white, 3 days previously it had been pink, so the vet immediately took blood, and I ran a faecal.  Imagine our horror when she had a pcv of 8 and a Strongyle count of over 3000 epg.  She was dangerously anaemic.

This animal had never been ill, stopped eating or been at all slow, she was to all intents and purposes normal except for the (non) chewing hay issue.   She was immediately wormed and given weekly doses of iron and within days was chewing her hay properly and has never looked back.

Incidentally, her previous egg count 6 weeks earlier had been clear.   I thank my lucky stars that we decided to x-ray that day otherwise the chances are she would have died.

The vet thinks the inability to chew was purely weakness from the parasite burden.

Nothing is ever as it seems in my world.

Duncan Pullar  – 15 March 2021

Very few new technologies are revolutionary in that they do not wipe away everything that went before. They tend to be rather more gentle in the way they “take over”.  Motor cars overlapped with horses for 50 years, petrol cars will overlap with electric models for 30 years, and so on.

In society there are “early adopters” and “laggards” when it comes to new technology and it is not always clear who is making the right decision in the short term or the long term.  If you look at mainstream agriculture early adopters of high input systems using fertilizer and sprays gained an early advantage but now the age of “fossil fuel” is coming to an end there is a resurgence in interest in organic practices remarkably like the ones that were abandoned.

Essentially there is no such thing as good or bad technology. It is really about the way we apply it and manage it and crucially whether it makes a difference in a positive and sustainable way.  Very often new technologies that work with existing knowledge and systems make the most sense and the take over is gradual.  Mobile phones are an example of the take over that has grown.  Early mobiles were huge, but they tapped into an existing system – the phone network – and added the freedom to roam.  Thirty years on the mobile has developed so much it means many homes do not have a land line and phoning people on a mobile is almost a minor use when you think of texting, tweeting and games!!

Good examples of technologies applied to animal breeding clearly include genetic evaluations and most recently the adoption of genomics.  These technologies are now widely used in cattle, pigs, sheep, and poultry breeding. The technologies of estimated breeding values evaluation and DNA analysis have allowed more rapid and accurate assessments of breeding stock to be made which allows the animals to be bred which function best.

The introduction of Estimated Breeding Values to alpacas is an opportunity to adopt a proven technology that will make a significant difference to the breeding progress for objectively measurable traits. The BAS EBV project is now in a development stage and is open to all members if they are interested.   The EBV project will not replace any of the skills that alpaca breeders have accumulated over the years, but it will add an extra layer of information that should help alpaca breeders make better breeding decisions.

A webinar is on this week, 15 March 2021 at 7.30pm. If you want to lean more email for link ceo@bas-uk.com or get the YouTube link later

Clara Boulton – 8 March 2021

Since joining the board, it has somehow seemed extremely busy ‘at home’ despite the lockdown. From being elected, I really enjoyed the first meeting, which was on my 25th birthday. It was so exciting to have an excuse to properly have to think and brainstorm for a good while.

Over the various lockdowns from March 2020 onwards, I took to hand spinning and processing my own alpaca’s fleeces. I started off with a cheap spindle and some spare dog slicker brushes to card it (I have learnt NOT to invest in relatively sporadic hobbies the hard way!). After getting hooked I quickly convinced myself it’s worth splashing out on a few bits and bobs. I will tell you that is took me about 5 hours to ‘splash out’, but at least I attempted to practice self restraint. My main purchase was a lovely pair of hand carders which made my spinning adventures all the more pleasant. It is so incredibly rewarding and relaxing.

I had never been more grateful for my exploration into the world of spinning as when myself and Shaun tested positive for coronavirus just days after my birthday (a birthday with no celebrations I hastened to add). Unfortunately I became very unwell, and it was several weeks before I could do much more than drive down to the field gates to try and catch a glimpse of the alpacas. My poor partner Shaun had to battle the horrible West Lancashire weather on his own. His sympathy for me moaning about ‘being stuck in the house’ (with my camomile tea, blankets, and chocolate I might add. But it was torture really, as I couldn’t taste anything!) quickly diminished as he returned shivering and soaking one time too many.

By the New Year, I was able to just about able to go off to milk the cows in the afternoon, and maybe do a few of the alpaca jobs on top. I have pretty much plateaued and I am still suffering from long-Covid. However, on a slightly comedic note, my hair started falling out last week (not the funny bit, although not uncommon 2-3 months after being poorly with coronavirus). So I reached out to the GP who said the best thing I can do is “keep calm, as that could make it a lot worse, and try not to look at the hairbrush/comb”. Have you ever tried telling someone who’s hair is falling out to keep calm, otherwise more will fall out? Funnily enough- it doesn’t work, but it did still tickle me at least.

I think I speak for most of us, when I say how relieved I am to see a light at the end of the tunnel. We have slowly started tidying things up ready to reopen in April; there are rumblings of shows; and I think we can all safely be optimistic about the National Alpaca Farm Day going ahead the first weekend of September. I have been filling my calendar with all the alpaca related things I can.  Now let’s hope for some lovely weather to get that grass growing!

Ken Freivokh  – 1 March 2021

Some 12 years ago, Liz and I were offered the opportunity to purchase land adjoining our cottage.    With an offer accepted, we looked at each other, and the question was – what would be the best use of such fields?   We both love animals, it clearly was an opportunity to look after some, yet my comment to Liz was: ‘I would prefer not to have to eat them, ride them or milk them!’………  Having lived in Peru for over 20 years, alpacas won the day!

Whilst familiar with the look of them, we certainly were not feeling up to speed with how to look after them!   We visited our nearest breeder, and returned having bought a grey, a white, a brown, a fawn, a black and a full day one-to-one course……….    We had no idea what we had started!   It did not take long before we developed more definite ideas regarding what we liked.    Jude Anderson, a highly experienced International Judge, invited me two years running to join her in checking all entries for the top US Show, the Kansas Futurity.     An amazing experience and, of course, the opportunity to see the top US alpacas and to crystalise our preferences.

We eventually joined a syndicate bringing nine Snowmass alpacas from Idaho and, some years later, we set about importing a further 9 Snowmass champions.   It took us well over a year to bring them over via New Zealand.   I flew down under for two days, and managed to mate two of the males to a pair of females in the group– the two female offspring took part in their first UK show at barely 6 months, and each won their respective colour championship!   They went on to win championships, including two Supremes and a Judge’s Choice.

Over the years, we have formed our own opinion regarding how we prefer to look after our alpacas.  Rather than closed barns, they all have unhindered access to handsome shelters, very popular when the sun is beating down or during long spells of heavy rain.   We can feed them under cover with dry troughs, yet they can go out to graze at will.

After ten very rewarding years with alpacas, I was pleased to join the BAS Board.   A task of particular interest was to help put together a Breed Standard which could guide breeding goals, screening imports, etc.    I am pleased that this process is now nearing completion following careful research and extensive exchanges with judges and other Board members.    The expectation is for such document to undergo regular reviews as breeding techniques reach higher levels of sophistication with the help of EBVs alongside fleece improvements year-on-year.

Ron Mackintosh – 22 February 2021

In my experience alpacas are addictive, Linda and I started our breeding with four Black female alpacas in 2009 and now have around 150. I am fascinated by genetics and trying to improve the quality of our black alpacas and am very pleased with the progress we have made. To improve we have invested in some good black males and females and have taken a few risks by introducing fawn genetics into the herd and  must say I am rather pleased with where we have got to.

Of course, having this number of alpacas has become a full-time job and means I am doing all sorts of work around the farm from mucking out the barn to all the regular husbandry and caring for sick animals.  Trying to understand how to keep alpacas healthy and being ready to treat the inevitable illnesses that come along, often discussing and agreeing treatments with our vets is both fascinating and worrying..

Having retired from full time work I have had the time to get involved with our alpacas much more than I ever expected and find the lifestyle we have created very absorbing. Alpacas have become much more than a hobby and have made this last year of COVID and lockdowns bearable.

After 6 years as Chair of the BAS Board I am planning to retire from the chair’s role at this year’s AGM (2021) and may stay on for a while to ensure there is an effective handover if fellow Board members feel it useful. It has been an interesting and challenging few years working with the other board members and seeing the changes to the society over that time, where our membership has grown from 1276 to 1576 members.

I have found my board colleagues to have worked hard on behalf of the membership even though there seems to be some level of mistrust in the board from a few members no matter who the board members are. I do find this strange, as all I have seen is board members working in the best interests of the society and not themselves.

COVID has meant the Board has had to use Zoom for its meeting and in the course of the last year I feel we have become more focussed and efficient in part because of that medium.   Zoom has been a wonderful innovation and has led to new thinking of how BAS can deliver more value to its members through Zoom education, improved participation with online voting and the of course the BAS Chat forum on Facebook. In my view Zoom and Chat have enabled us to become much more of an inclusive society reaching our members  across the UK.

Linda and I are looking forward to meeting our friends again as we return to showing and hopefully lockdown becomes a distant memory.

Elaine Clarke  – 15 Feb 2021

Thanks to covid regulations my hair is as grey and dull as the weekend just passed! 🙈 Due to the heavy snowfall we abandoned the halter training this  weekend and instead, concentrated on our alpacas’ ‘top-knots’…Covid doesn’t affect our alpacas’ hair dos, just mine!

On the farm we have been lucky enough to finally get the builder in to start our new barn! We had strong winds throughout the week which slowed progress, but we will get there in the end! When asked “what is the purpose of this barn?”, I have a long list of answers: storage for a tractor and trailer; a new ‘weighing in room’ for alpacas (not humans); an area for bespoke mating pens; a shearing shed…the list goes on, it sounds like it will be a busy spot!!! 🤣

All in all, the best thing about snow days is the opportunity for me to work with yarn, guilt free. Thankfully we have some loyal outlets for our alpaca products and the arctic weather has given me the time to get some stock boxed up and ready for delivery.  I also couldn’t resist a different kind of artistic outlet when I had the chance…. do you think he deserves a first place?!?! 😉

Judith Newman – 1st February 2021

There has been no let-up in the weather and the rain seems to go on and on. I live on the Somerset Levels and we don’t generally see a lot of snow here but we even had some of that this past week. Waterproofs from head to foot and a good pair of wellies are essential in this weather.

The levels are often linked to serious flooding but we are lucky in that we live to the north of the A39 which forms a high ridge where on one side it can flood badly and the other, where we live, it doesn’t. The rain can sit for a while but thanks to a very good drainage system that was first built in the 17^th century the ditches around every field take the water away to the rhynes leaving the fields once again dry if a little soggy.

Land that is subject to lying wet in the winter creates a great environment for the tiny mud snails Galba (Lymnaea) truncatula that carry liver fluke eggs to thrive and pass those eggs on to the alpacas when they graze. One snail can produce 100,000 offspring in 3 to 4 months and so the parasite load on the ground can be huge and risk liver damage to infected livestock. On the levels we are advised by our vets to treat our herd with Fasinex in the Autumn and again in the Spring to ensure that they are not carrying harmful fluke. We have never had a sick alpaca due to liver fluke. You can send off a faecal sample to a suitably qualified lab where they will carry out a sediment test to look for fluke.

Of course, all the other intestinal parasites can be present all year and particularly love damp warm places to lay their eggs just waiting for a host to come along and munch them up with a mouthful of grass. I did a course some years back on the various parasites that affect Camelids and the best anthelmintics to dose an infected alpaca with and that has been invaluable. A few years ago I added to this by doing a one-day hands on course on how to carry out faecal testing on my alpacas. I came away with a shopping list of required equipment and an enthusiasm to get stuck in. I introduced a rolling testing programme across the herd that enables me to keep track of each alpacas parasite status and to only treat when evidence based and necessary. Anthelmintic resistance is a huge problem in livestock mainly caused by overuse and underdosing and so it is very important to only treat when you need to and give the correct dose. It also saves a lot of money on drugs! Time in the lab was also a respite from the rain 😊

We currently have our females in the barns as the wet and ensuing mud is not a lot of fun for them or me when I have to get up to feed them etc and I’m sliding around all over the place. We can’t get the big or even the little tractor out on the grass as it would churn it into mud in an instant so everything has to be carried. All of our paddocks have very good spacious shelters in them and our alpacas run for their shelter at the first drop of rain but given the chance they still gallop down to the big barns. We muck out twice a day and use cardboard for their toilet area which rots down really quickly and doesn’t introduce any mites to the barns. First thing in the morning is my favourite part of the day when we go out and put up the Camelibra for the alpacas and then we sit on a bench in the barn having a lovely hot mug of tea discussing the relative merits of each alpaca and get excited about this years birthing season and the mating plan for next years cria.

Despite the difficult times that all of us and our loved ones are going through at the moment there is much to be happy about. Sitting in a barn surrounded by alpacas discussing the future over a mug of tea is high on that list 😊

Paul Hetherington – 25 January 2021

So how do you go about halter training 51 cria – that was the big question at Beck Brow this week. Turns out the answer is 3 at a time.

Training starts in the barn where we put a head collar on the cria and let them wear it for a little while. This lets them get used to the feel of the collar and the process of putting it on.

When we first started halter training many years ago we used to take one cria per handler, but after some good advice from more experienced breeders, we now take them in groups. The cria definitely walk better with friends.

We see all sorts of personalities during training. There are cria that take to walking straight away, there are the ones that sit down and refuse to get up, and there are the ones that throw themselves down and play dead. The cria that are most friendly in the barn, and get the most attention, are often the most challenging to train – I guess they have a high opinion of themselves. It’s also interesting that the cria from a particular sire will often have the same personality and hence be leaders or followers.

Once we’ve worked out which cria like walking they become the trainers and get to team up with the reluctant walkers. The trainers are often the first in the queue when the head collar box comes out. Despite their progress on the first attempt, or otherwise, invariably all of the cria will walk to the lane end by their third outing.

In previous years we have always had plenty of willing volunteers to help with the training but Covid has put a spanner in the works – thankfully we don’t have too many reluctant walkers this year and hopefully the Cumbrian winter won’t be too inhibiting.

We’ve got 4 more cria to wean then it’s time to start thinking about this year’s birthing. The pregnant females will be split into two or three groups depending on their due date. Females in the last trimester get an increased food ration to help with the unborn cria’s development.

As well as training the cria we’re also training the next generation of alpaca lovers and farm workers! We are fortunate that our grandchildren are in our Covid bubble.

Emma Taylor – 18 January 2021

2020 has been an extraordinary year in many ways for us in terms of mill, herd & shop as well as personal & social lives not just with C-19 but Brexit too!!

Lots of changes have had to be implemented not just in daily life but in our working life too. But with that came positives – fresh appraisal of the work/life balance, time to catch up on the never-ending list of jobs which have previously had a low priority but are now completed albeit with more jobs added to the list as a result! Sadly, no time to machine knit & be creative – designs will have to remain in the grey matter for a bit longer! Meanwhile the alpacas graze on oblivious to the troubles of the world & continue to be my calming influence & escape place to go for de-stressing. Thankful to have the alpacas & sufficient space to wander with the dogs without actually having to leave home.

Part of my daily life is dog rescue, specifically spaniels but when a plea for help came in for two German Shepherds during the initial lockdown, our fantastic team could not refuse. So, we have acquired an honorary ‘Second Chance’ golden oldie girlie who is living out her days with us. Zeena (13) has rekindled my love for GSD’s. Her younger fur brother acquired a fab home with a fellow alpaca breeder too.

Another task that we have needed to be very aware of is that of a visiting fox – I keep birds of prey & said fox has been a damn nuisance trying to dig into flights & aviaries. Work in progress!

As for other aspects of daily life, COVID-19 has kept me away from my children, grandchildren & mother for more than a year now & is causing ongoing anxiety for their welfare & what the future will hold longer term for them; the Board has discovered the value of Zoom meetings (so much easier & more productive & at no cost to the membership) as have some regional groups; I’ve not missed the freedom to go out at will (yet) – probably serves as a reminder that working 80+ hours a week is what keeps me er, sane!

The strain of maintaining C-19 compliance for our staff is onerous yet necessary (actually fed up of cleaning multiple times a day!) but latest regulations mean that 2 of 3 income sources remain closed though the online shop sales continue to grow but has allowed me more time in the mill than prior to C-19. Never thought I would be doing virtual shopping with customers to the shop! Meanwhile the initial lockdown also allowed for time to plan upgrades to the mill one of which is at the point of completion as I type. We have a fully automated scouring system at long last!

Paddock breeding became a necessity for us in 2020 to ensure the absolute safety of our stock hand, with one slipped pregnancy to date which was revealed on Alpaca Chat UK with photos of a tiny yet formed foetus being the low point but added to our understanding of alpacas further.

I am hugely grateful that we live in the middle of nowhere in Norfolk, that we are fit(ish) & healthy, that we have a fantastic team here with great friends to keep us connected to outside life. Here is hoping that the Beast from the East 2 does not materialise! Hoping you all stay safe & can appreciate the positive aspects that this awful pandemic has brought – they are there!

Emma

Kate Brookes – 11 January 2020.

Last autumn I tuned in to a webinar by nutritionist Jane Vaughan in Australia and amongst much other useful information, she was suggesting weaning cria at 4 months of age. I have always weaned at 6 months of age, unless there was a specific reason for a cria to be separated from its mum earlier. At the time of the webinar my 21 cria were between 4 and 6 months of age. There was just one under 25kg, two between 25 – 33kg and the others all heavier, the heaviest being nearly 50kg at 5.5 months. The three smallest were all just over 4 months of age.

The cria were all used to entering a creep feeder and eating ‘hard feed’ consisting of GWF Hembre and Cria concentrate, dried flaked peas, young stock creep pellets and speedibeet. I kept daily weights as I weaned the cria, ready to return them to their mums if I felt concerned at the impact of such early weaning. The mothers were always within sight of the cria, in an adjacent pasture, neither mums or cria seemed stressed at the separation, with only two cria still grazing close to the fence line by day 3 of weaning.

I found that the three smallest cria all did better, in terms of growth rate, without their mums. The ones over 5 months had almost no slowing in growth. There were several at under 5 months who had a noticeable flat line for around a week at the start of the weaning period.

So, would I wean cria at 4 months again? For those cria where growth has slowed significantly, yes. For most cria I think I would wean at 5 months onwards if possible. Weaning the whole group together did seem to minimise the stress on them, so I would wait until I had a group that were ready to wean together.  The return to condition of some of the mums feeding greedy youngsters was very quick, and for already pregnant females this is probably good.

Sue Loach –  4 January 2021

Well as one year ends and another begins, I find myself reflecting on what a strange year 2020 has been, more ins and outs and ups and downs than doing the Hokey Cokey on a rollercoaster!!

It started off so well and I had the privilege of judging one of the few dog-shows that went ahead last year, we all had plans made, shows and holidays arranged and then Covid struck.  Little did any of us know the massive impact it would have on all our lives, anyone who enjoys showing their animals whether Alpacas, dogs or other livestock will have missed meeting up with like-minded folk, admiring their animals and sharing a laugh, a cup of tea or something stronger.

The Covid Fairy visited my whole family, me and my daughters only showing mild symptoms, but my partner ended up in hospital with Covid related pneumonia, scary times, and we feel very fortunate to have all recovered, so many lives will have been changed forever.

We have all learnt how socially distance, wear masks and to chat via zoom (and yes Duncan, rain does affect the signal, I have it on good authority), so our Board Meetings have gone ahead, together with the noise of barking dogs, postman’s visits and gate-crashing children and I have discovered Amazon Prime!! What a revelation.

I think I had the most stressful and disastrous birthing season ever (more of that another day) but I was very glad when it was all over.  We finally moved into our long-awaited barn conversion which is still work in progress but feeling more like home every day, how stupid of us to decide to have a new driveway dug out just before a “Noah’s Arks” amount of rain decided to come down. Wouldn’t you just guess that I managed to fall over into one of the tracks whilst going to bottle feed my cria one night, to cap it off she refused to take her bottle off someone resembling a scary bog monster, ungrateful animal.

The year has ended with plenty of snow for us and I suddenly realised that somehow, I have become a farmer, instead of admiring the views, planning snowball fights, and building snowmen, I have become excited that the frost and cold will kill off parasite eggs and my dogs won’t get muddy!!!

Here’s hoping that 2021 will eventually show us the good times we all want, let’s hope we can get out and about and do the things we all enjoy, whatever they may be and above all let us all be healthy and happy.

Sue

Duncan Pullar  – 23 December 2020

To start this Blog  I thought I would look back at 2020.  The whole year has been rather difficult.  It started for me with lots of preparation for the National Show that never was.  Having spent a couple of months getting ready for the Show I spent the next month undoing what I had done.  It is worth say that everyone associated with the Show, BAS member, Supplier or trade stand holder were very accommodating and the “undoing” was all done in a good spirit.  At that stage no one new the whole showing season would be lost.

Its surprising what you have to learn about when a national crisis beckons.  I invested a fair amount of time discovering if shearers would be allowed to work this year and what travel they could undertake.  Having got the rules clear BAS issued a letter for shearers to use as confirmation that they were on legitimate business.  Despite the problems shearing was completed albeit over an extended season.  Well done shearers!

As the year progressed we all got more used to the restriction and the BAS Board became familiar with the joys of Zoom calling.  I think we have had the full range of Zoom errors, from trying to talk while on mute through to freezing in mid-sentence and then disappearance.  One Board member is convinced the presence or absence of rain in their area makes a huge difference to the quality of connection.  Talking of Zoom, many regional groups embraced its use to stay connected, and it was great for me to have a little chat with organisers around the country to see what they were up to, and how they felt about the world.

Thanks BAS members for making my job, in a difficult year, do-able.  Your generosity in time and effort is appreciated,

Duncan