1. And there's not even any eggplant involved! 2. She's really strong, too. We did a LOT of lifting and carrying. If you divide the distance from the alpaca paddock to the shed by the 3m length of the panels, you get a number so scary we agreed not to calculate it. 3. I'm really pleased with how sleek and elegant they all look! I thought I'd miss the fluff, but this isn't the season for it and it's great to get rid of the thick coating of Veggie Fault that Sherry, Zac and Zareena were carrying. 4. Glad you like it! The green is really nice and won't be around much longer.
It was Mom's idea, actually. It was what was left after culling:
1. Put up temporary wire or plastic fencing for the whole distance (my initial idea, but not secure enough and turned out to be too expensive for something I didn't really want to have)
2. Put up permanent, reasonably attractive fencing forming a laneway down my driveway (Mom's preference, but WAY too expensive and I'm not sure I want to change the look of the front that much)
3. Bring them across in groups in the horse float (hard to back float up to alpaca yards thanks to lack of driveway and inconveniently positioned ditch, and hard to prevent alpaca spillage off ramp as the float is configured for horses not alpacas. In retrospect I'd be inclined to try this anyway.)
4. Apparate the alpacas (did not work).
Had we not needed to start at 5 a.m. on a weekday morning, we might have put out a call in your and Cricket's direction for heavy lifting assistance! :)
6th option: Set up the fences as you did, then either: a) carry the fence down intact with the alpacas inside (assumes you have enough people to lift it all at once), or b) get yourself some wheels - something like the bottom right example in this pic. I'd have to have a closer look at how the fence sections link together, but I reckon you could do it with 4 wheels if you can convince the alpacas to walk with it.
...cos a paddock's not a paddock unless it's got wheels. :D
We hardly had the energy left to even look at the fleece! A job for another day.
Mom started to learn how to spin, but hasn't mastered it yet. I think we'll sell most of it - the white fleeces to the national fleece marketing body, and the brown and black ones to the local craft market.
Forgive the probably silly question, but couldn't you and your mum have led the alpacas one by one across the road? Or do they object to being separated?
Perhaps a herding dog would work? Just what you need, another critter, right? :-)
PS I will get photos of the farm taken and sent to you sometime. Really, I will :-)
The problem is that they're not all halter trained. The initial three pregnant females we bought came from a stud that only trains its show animals. Our initial plan was to halter train them right after we went on a handling course last November, but it proved to be harder than we expected. I spent hours and hours and hours over several months and only got to the point that I could touch their necks but not their heads. No doubt I wasn't doing a particularly good job of it! Then they were nearly due and we didn't want to stress them, then they had nursing cria at foot and we didn't want to stress them, then there was a window of opportunity I didn't take enough advantage of, then we were trying to get them pregnant again and didn't want to stress them, and suddenly it was shearing time
( ... )
They sure do. Most look really healthy, but a couple look skinnier than we'd like, so we're going to try to fatten them up. Without weighing equipment it's hard to monitor their condition well enough under all that fleece.
Comments 37
1. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.
2. Your mom is awesome.
3. Grevillea looks handsome shorn.
4. That fourth last piccie is gonna be my new desktop at work.
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2. She's really strong, too. We did a LOT of lifting and carrying. If you divide the distance from the alpaca paddock to the shed by the 3m length of the panels, you get a number so scary we agreed not to calculate it.
3. I'm really pleased with how sleek and elegant they all look! I thought I'd miss the fluff, but this isn't the season for it and it's great to get rid of the thick coating of Veggie Fault that Sherry, Zac and Zareena were carrying.
4. Glad you like it! The green is really nice and won't be around much longer.
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1. Put up temporary wire or plastic fencing for the whole distance (my initial idea, but not secure enough and turned out to be too expensive for something I didn't really want to have)
2. Put up permanent, reasonably attractive fencing forming a laneway down my driveway (Mom's preference, but WAY too expensive and I'm not sure I want to change the look of the front that much)
3. Bring them across in groups in the horse float (hard to back float up to alpaca yards thanks to lack of driveway and inconveniently positioned ditch, and hard to prevent alpaca spillage off ramp as the float is configured for horses not alpacas. In retrospect I'd be inclined to try this anyway.)
4. Apparate the alpacas (did not work).
Had we not needed to start at 5 a.m. on a weekday morning, we might have put out a call in your and Cricket's direction for heavy lifting assistance! :)
Reply
a) carry the fence down intact with the alpacas inside (assumes you have enough people to lift it all at once), or
b) get yourself some wheels - something like the bottom right example in this pic. I'd have to have a closer look at how the fence sections link together, but I reckon you could do it with 4 wheels if you can convince the alpacas to walk with it.
...cos a paddock's not a paddock unless it's got wheels. :D
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(The comment has been removed)
Mom started to learn how to spin, but hasn't mastered it yet. I think we'll sell most of it - the white fleeces to the national fleece marketing body, and the brown and black ones to the local craft market.
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Perhaps a herding dog would work? Just what you need, another critter, right? :-)
PS I will get photos of the farm taken and sent to you sometime. Really, I will :-)
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Thanks for the pix. Fascinating.
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