s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

We have been bad. It has been far too long since we put up a blog post.

First of all- no new babies. We are still waiting for Victoira and Cariboo to drop. At least we have since learned that 12.5-13 months is not unheard of. That coupled with the uncertain breeding date makes us feel a bit better.

Work on the shed progresses well. At this point I am fairly certain we have finished all the framing. Last week I finished putting up the girts (the horizontal pieces between the poles), and fixed some of the bolts where I had put on the wrong types of washers. Now all that remains is the cladding. Hopefully this weekend we will have at least one fine day, and then we can have another barn-raising party and get the thing finished!

This last weekend we were at the National Alpaca conference. Very educational. Tam attended the general conference, while I went to the Vet session. Now I know what to look for in both abdominal and rectal ultrasounds when checking for pregnancy (too bad those toys are $10K or more, even used). More importantly, I learned the secrets of doing blood draws from the lower portion of the jugular vein. Going to have to bring the wethers down and practice a bit. I also need to contact local blood banks to seee if I can get some expired human blood-bags. In the vet conerence I leanred about the miracle of plasma infusions to save “at risk” cria. Now I want to start bleeding the wethers to get myself a nice supply of plasma, so if something goes wrong we can try to save the little guys.

Tam also learned a great deal. Eric Hoffman was a guest of honor, and he is probably the most knowledgeable english-speaking camelid expert in the world. His book is the alpaca bible. He has personally seen or inspected most every llama and alpaca that was imported into the US. He has visited most every significant breeding farm in South America (Peru, Bolivia, Chile). And what made us feel really good? His stated ideal breeding goal is what we are doing! Nice to know that we through our own research we came to the same conclusions. Now the question is, did other peopole at the conference pick up that message? One the one hand it would be nice, as I think it would move the whole breed in a better direction. On the other hand, it would increase the competition for the little genetic niche we hope to carve out for ourselves. We shall see.

We also learned heaps of herd-management tips, and look forward to applying them to out own herd. Once the sun comes up this morning, the fun begins!