New life on the farm & more fun

 September ended with a new batch of Chickens. Yes they are in my bathtub and yes I have went a little should we say country/redneck?! Oh but the fun of it all.... It works out pretty good actually. We have a spare bathroom that is never used. The chickens stay in there, nice and warm for the first week and then outside they go and the tub can be cleaned.
Our barn cat, barney, likes to keep an eye on the chickens so they won't be harmed.

 25 chic's in all. Most will be meat but some will live on to be egg layers.

Did you know baby chicks like to cuddle:-)

Next we had a great field trip with 17 preschoolers, teachers & moms.

 All the kids got to take an alpaca for a walk & give them some grain

 They also felt different types of Alpaca fiber & sheep wool. That's about all the kids are interested in.

 Soon after the field trip and around the time of the full blood moon, the first of 2 fall cria's (baby alpacas) were born




This is a picture of Bella starting to deliver her little one

I think she's trying to figure out whats going on back there. We call this spin dry baby because mom keeps spinning around in a circle to check out what is happening.

And Elliot is born. He was very tiny and we were a bit worried at first

I probably should not be interfering but I just helped a little by drying him off

I think mom and anti were alright with that. The head it cut off in this pictures but our girl Bibb's played nurse maid with this one. While preparing for and delivering, there always seems to be 1 Alpaca that stays within a few feet of the soon to be mom throughout the delivery. Once baby is delivered they all come huddle around to meet the newest member of the family

Here's 2 more Aunts checking out the new guy. The lt. brown girl on the left, Grayce, was thought to be pregnant and due around the same time. Turns out she's just been eating really well!

The next day, I was pretty sure that Raine y was in labor with her first cria. I checked her for the last time at 11:30 at night and she was laying down so I thought maybe false labor. The next morning I went to the barn upon waking to find this pretty little girl had just been born. It was a cold morning and they were in the field, so I brought them into the barn and made sure they rested on fresh hay.

Here's a few pictures of the baby a short time later up, waling nursing. Big sigh of relief. 2 new baby's in 3 days both healthy & strong

We are still trying to come up with a name for this pretty girl born to Martini's Rain. Any ideas? More pictures to come soon

Fall 2014

There is a lot of excitement in the air around the farm this fall.

We have moved our store "The Alpaca Corner" in with Elizabeth Halsey, A unique Boutique, located on 48 Justice Street downtown Newaygo. (right behind the city buildings & Library)

Its a beautiful old brick Mansion. 

Next we are on baby watch. 3 of our females are due in the next week or so. Amazing how much time I can spend just watching for movement in their bellies.:-)

Also coming this fall is a new herd sire. He is a beautiful Suri. Pictures & more info on him to come soon. Hopefully we will be picking him up the beginning of October. 2014

Farm Markets
As we do every fall, we will be bringing a few of our Alpacas, along with clothing, roving, yarn & more to 3 farm markets in the next 2 weeks. You can look on our events page for dates, times & locations.

Fu Manchu extenders! Just 1 more thing you can do with the dread locks from Suri Alpacas

Did you know we also do Alpaca dentistry? We could help this boy look as sexy as he feels!

spring

Well it's been a great & busy week.

We planted 20 sweet cherry trees during the week. When I say we, I mean mostly Paul, planted 20 sweet cherry trees during the week. I did help once the holes were dug and the fertilizer (alpaca poop) was mixed in :-) Can't wait until they look like the picture and we are enjoying them.

Next we-I cleaned the barn. A few more hours and it will be complete. Well as complete as a barn with 14 Alpacas pooping daily, too many chickens to count & 1 friendly turkey can be. It was good enough for shearing.

We had a great day shearing all the Alpacas and had some great helpers! Thanks to our neighbor Kelly and our new found alpaca friends Eric & Lisa for all your help. I think they actually enjoyed the day. Usually we don't get repeat help

The picture is of a little guy named speedy. Wish we would have taken an after picture. He is adorable and is going to his new home with 1 of our other alpacas this week. I will miss seeing the little guys go they are so much fun to watch playing in the field.


So now we are on to a crazy schedule of  shearing Llamas & Alpacas around the state. Every weekend and some weekdays for the next 6 weeks.

BUT... We also have gardening on the mind

We always have a garden that's almost to big to handle and definitely more then we can eat so we have decided to have a community garden.
3 lovely lady friends of ours will be helping with the garden this year. We have lots of land and lots of fertilizer (alpaca, chicken, pig poop & we know where to get horse & cow poop if necessary)
Together we have great plans for the future & others that would like to join in. Sharing a garden for the 1st time we are going to start with just a small group and see how things go.

We did buy a new toy for the garden (Paul loves new toys) It's a 5 ft. rototiller for the back of our 1951 john deer tractor. We are hoping but not completely sure that the tractor will be strong enough for the tiller. We'll find out this week. Wish us luck

Spring 2014. Ahhh happy words

Finally the longest coldest, snowiest winter that I can remember has said good by and spring has sprung:-)
We have spent the past few months dreaming and planning and now it's time to get busy.

Alpaca & Llama Shearing Season starts this Saturday April 26, 2014 We are starting with our own Alpaca herd. If your interested in coming out to watch & help out with shearing and harvesting the fiber, please give us a call or email. We will have fiber for sale right off the animal and we also  have roving for sale.

Then we will be in full swing going throughout Michigan shearing at Alpaca & Llama farms with as few as 2 animals and as large as 60 plus Alpacas & 40 plus Llamas.  So excited to see all of our Alpaca & Llama friends and get our hands on that wonderful fiber.

Holiday Fair in Fremont MI.

The Alpaca Corner will be set up at the Holiday Fair in Fremont MI. tomorrow. November 9, 2013 from 9am to 3pm. It's located in the old Fremont High School. It's a huge event with about 150 exhibitors. Hope to see you there.