Shearing Time

Well we are all ready to start the 2013 shearing season, BUT the weather just is not cooperating. April 20th we are scheduled to start shearing at a few farms north of our place. The high is suppose to be 39 or 40 degrees. Those poor Alpacas will be freezing. I think we will be putting them off and working longer days once the weather does brake.

Shearing for our farm is set for May 4, 2013. We will be shearing at a small farm in Morley in the morning and should be back for our Alpaca shearing by 1 o'clock in the afternoon. We are not having a big to do for shearing day this year but people are more then welcome to come help with the harvest. Please call or email if interested.  It's also a great time to get your hands on any of our Alpacas that you may be interested in purchasing or purchasing fleece right off the animal. We have a list of several good mills that you can send the fiber off to, to be processed into roving, yarn or made into socks, clothing, etc.

Maple Syrup: The weather may not be good for shearing but it's been a great year for making maple syrup

 Here are a few pictures of our evaporator. It takes about 38 to 40 gallons of sap from the maple trees to make up 1 gallon of syrup. It takes us a full day of boiling to make about 1 1/2 gallons of syrup. We like to refer to it as liquid gold. Unfortunately our day jobs don't allow for syrup making during the week. We hope to someday be able to make enough for more sales but right now we are just having fun making our own supply and a few extra for gifts and sales.

Gardening Season is also just around the corner: We love to garden and have grown our own veggies since marrying almost 31 yrs ago . We seem to expand our garden by a little every year and have also planted many fruit trees. We always have more then enough for ourselves, our family and a few outside veggie sales. We also hope to have enough for more sales in the future.
Since purchasing our 1st Alpacas 11 yrs ago this coming summer, we have ONLY used Alpaca dung to fertilize the garden. It is by far the best fertilizer we have ever used.
We bag and sell the Alpaca dung $8.00 a bag if we bag it. If you are interested in purchasing some and would like to bag it yourself or bring your pickup truck out to the field, we have reduced pricing.  Check out our blog from March 2012 for fiber analysis compared to other animals.

Stop by our store-The Alpaca Corner, located in This Old House Antiques. Downtown Newaygo and pick up some fiber for the birds.It's the fiber from Alpaca neck & legs. Not soft for clothing but it has great uses.  The birds love it for their nests. You can put some in a bird cake holder and watch the birds take it away. a small bag full free with any purchase.

Winter Clothing Sale

   The Alpaca Corner located in This Old House Antiques, downtown Newaygo is offering 20% Off all capes, wraps, shawls and sweaters through the end of February.


Also, watch for new merchandise coming in. The Alpaca Wool blend blankets are sure to keep you warm and cozy throughout the winter months!

Thanks Giving

I started to write this blog at Thanks Giving. Yikes, where does the time go! Well to catch you up on what's been happening on the farm-

We took Cole to the nursing home for a visit in November. His curious nature and gentle demeanor is always loved by the people there. I usually take a few Alpacas but this time we were in a bit of a hurry and didn't want to run late. I also took my mini van instead of the cargo van they usually travel in and I didn't want the boys to start arguing on the way there and leave spit behind! They usually never spit but under close conditions they can be like kids fighting in the back seat over who has more room.

Several people at the nursing home asked where the other Alpaca was. I'll make sure to bring 2 Alpacas on the next visit.
On our way out we met a couple in their 90's. They were great, very sharp minded and young in heart. They commented that they had never seen an Alpaca before that day and are still learning new things. Wow, how inspirational!

                                                                                                                               That same day, in the morning, our 3 little piggies went bye bye. Oh so sad but we knew the day would come and we prepared knowing that they had the best and most normal life a pig in captivity could have. Being heritage pigs (mule foot) just a few short years ago they were on the extinction list. Very popular 100 yrs ago for being disease resistant and VERY flavorful and easy to raise. Now a days pigs are mostly raised indoors in small singular quarters and pumped with antibiotics so they don't have to worry about disease, they are also raising a different type of pig these days. Less fatty, (the other white meat). Many great Chefs say we gave up flavor and taste, I just know that by raising these pigs for meat it helps to keep the breed alive. If there is no one to purchase the meat, breeders will quite raising them. I also like knowing that the pork I'm eating is natural and doesn't have antibiotics in them. I recently read an article that up to 70% of the antibiotics used in the U.S. are used needlessly for the animals that we eat. Scary if you ask me.OK enough ranting about that.

Next

We  spent some time cleaning up and getting ready for winter. We put the Alpaca pools away, changed the water buckets to our winter heated buckets. We also partially close of the openings that the Alpacas freely enter and exit the barn into the pasture. We have most off the winter supply of hay stored at our neighbors barn but we fill up all extra space in our barn with hay to keep it warmer.

Then came the day in November that I walked out to the barn to see a new Cria! A beautiful little girl and what a surprise she was. Born Nov. 7th (election day), she has been named Little Ms. Patriot.

After 10 yrs of breeding Alpacas you would think I we would know and be watching for an impending birth. Well we just attempted breeding Maria once late in the year. We checked her a few times after that and she showed no signs of being pregnant. When spring came, we decided to hold off on breeding for a year. With Maria's fiber growing in for the winter, it's not as easy to see a cria moving within. Especially if your not watching. I even did a body score on her about a week before and thought to myself, she's getting that older lady frame at a young age. Good thing I keep good records. Now I just have to remember to look at them more often.

December was a quieter month at the farm. The Alpacas stayed warm and comfy with plenty of hay & straw. The snow held off for the most part and they were able to graze in the pasture for most of the month. We sold 4 of our chickens and had a few farm visits.

The Alpaca Corner continues to do great. We had a record breaking season and are purchasing new items all the time. We also have some nice locally made Alpaca/ Wool items for sale.  We were playing with the idea of expanding again. We just don't seem to have the time to keep up with everything know and I'm often wishing that there were more hours in the day so we are holding off at least until summer. However I am researching more sources to purchase from. Mostly local.

I'll blog soon about upcoming events and the happenings of January & February

Our Open House Last weekend-Oct.6, 2012

 Thanks to everyone that braved the cold & rain to come out to our Open House last weekend. We had a great time dispite the cold

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This was the 1st year that we teamed up with the Old Farm Girl & Friends Fiber Event and I think it was a big hit. The joining of wonderful fibers and Animals was a great thing.

 The kids enjoyed walking Llama Red around. Our grandson James at the ripe old age of 2 yrs old, enjoys showing other kids how to walk Red & the Alpacas and makes sure they do it right:)

 The food was great and the Hot Chocolate, Chili & Gumbo helped to keep people warm.

 Thanks Also to Evelyn, "The Old Farm Girl" and the other Fiber Arts ladies for making the day great. I know that people were loving all the different fibers and Evelyn sold 1 of her beautiful spinning wheels. 

 What great colors

The heating lamp helped keep the inside of the tent warm so the ladies could spin.

and such a great face

Norm, as always, was a big hit. He is just so friendly & curious

These are pictures of Dolli Llama and his goat friend. We took them in a week before our Open House and are happy to say they have been re-homed!  They went to their new home the day of the Open House. We are so happy for all

a few of our chickens. The one on the left is our little bani hen and the other is one of our meat birds that got away. 

Jelly Bean farm was nice enough to bring along a few of their Angora Bunnies for all to enjoy

Wow these ladies have talent

Our pigs were just laying back watching all the excitement

Venus and Jasmin were great helps at the Open House. They would make great farm hands if I could only convince them that poop patrol really isn't that bad

Some pictures of our temporary clothing & more store. " The Alpaca Corner"
Everything that didn't sell has been put back at our store in This Old House Antiques & Resale, Newaygo.

We have more clothing on the way. Some great new items will be in just in time for Christmas and the extra cold weather.

 White Cloud Alpacas had a drawing for a $30. gift certificate. Congratulations Wendy Muir, this years winner.


Don't feel like you need to wait for our next open house to come visit. Just give us a call. Now that fall is hear, things have slowed down a bit and we have time to enjoy the animals and they are much more active now that it's not 90 plus degrees out

We will be updating our events page soon so please check back for future events. Thanks

Evening at the Farm

We have been busy picking fall veggies today. We will have the veggies along with mum's, chickens, Alpacas and a very special Llama & goat for sale at the Open House next Saturday Oct. 6th.

                                                                              Here are 3 chickens born at our farm early this summer. They should be starting to lay eggs any day know. They are for sale along with some others.

We usually do not take in every stray and sad story animal we hear about. Well, I would like to but Paul is sometimes the reason to my sanity. Soooo why did we take in this Llama & it's goat friend in today?
Well it could have been the full moon OR the fact that Paul answered the phone, said you want to find homes for a Llama & goat? Let me give my wife the phone, I'm sure she could better help you!
Silly husband. He should know after 30 years of marriage that I'm week when it comes to animals and hard ship stories. So YES I'm blaming him but we now have the Llama & goat.
The Llama is actually very friendly. Let me pet him, does not spit, kick or threaten to hurt us or the other animals in any way. The goat is a little shy but is also not a threat in any way to anyone.
We do need to find a permanent good home for these 2 ASAP, so if you are interested or know someone that is, please give us a call or make sure you come to our Open House next Saturday Oct. 6th and check them out.

 We also have a few of our Alpacas for sale. Above are a few girls at dinner time. Loving that fresh hay!
To the right it Captain Bill. A gorgeous male Suri with outstanding fiber, structure & bloodlines. He is being offered by himself or with his best friend Tony.

White Cloud Alpacas Open House

Well We are making our 7th Annual Open House even Better!

We have Teamed up with The Old Farm Girl to combine 2 fabulous events.
The Farm Girl & Friends Fall Event is now being held at the White Cloud Alpaca Farm.

 

When-October 6, 2012
Time- 10am to 4pm
Where-White Cloud Alpaca Farm

Hope you will join us for a Fabulous Frenzy of Fiber, Friends, Food, Alpacas and so much more!

We have several vendors that will be displaying their Fantastic Fiber wares for sale.

For more info and a complete listing of Vendors please check out our Events page.

It's that time of year! We are gearing up for the upcoming fall events.

We will be taking some of our Alpacas to Farm Markets in September. Please check our events page for dates, times & locations. Also other fall events are listed along with our main event.

Our 7th Annual White Cloud Alpacas Open House

The date is set for October 6, 2012 from 10am to 4pm

We always look forward to our Open House. Seeing old friends & meeting new ones.
Hope you can come and enjoy the day with us. Lots of munchies, beverages, Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Shopping & more.

Here are a few pictures from last years Open House

 

The big tent will be set up so the party is on rain or shine.