Alpaca BlogThe Alpaca Blog will keep you up-to-date with changes to this website.
To subscribe to my Alpaca Blog, simply right-click on the orange RSS button (see bottom buttons on the left) and then paste the URL into your RSS reader. Or click on the My Yahoo! button or My MSN or Add To Google button if you keep a personalized home page there. Death of an alpacaWhile we were away on an extended vacation our eldest alpaca Windsilk passed away. She will be missed by us and the herd as she was the lookout for danger. Someone else will assume the role now but we're not sure who will take the job, yet. Rest in peace Windsilk. Not So Happy Alpaca EndingIf only we could reach everyone buying alpacas and convince them that the one most important thing you can do for your animals is to protect them from dog attacks with proper fencing, there would be a lot less alpaca deaths. It's such a shame to have this type of death continue to happen when alpacas can be protected. We hope everyone considering buying alpacas will remember that one of the most important things to do is allow enough money in your budget to build a proper fence before you bring them home. If you can only afford the alpacas and not the fencing, either don't buy, yet, or leave them where they are until you can afford a proper fence to keep them safe. Dog attacks happen and alpacas always loose. Happy alpaca endingMartin was a neglected alpaca. Read about his happy ending. 7 Reasons to Buy Alpacas in Todays EconomyNobodys buying much these days. Everyone is being affected by the economic downturn. One Alpaca farm came up with seven reasons why purchasing Alpacas is actually a good thing to do during a slow economy. Sculpting noses with woolTutorial on sculpting noses with wool. Permalink -- click for full blog post Alpaca novelty productsWe have a new online store in which you can order notecards and other items. The items are made with our own alpaca photos. We will be adding more items, so check back often. You can see the items that are available now by following the link. Geriatric AlpacasLearn what it takes to keep geriatric alpacas healthy and happy. Permalink -- click for full blog post Felt celtic knot bracelet instructionsInstructions for creating a celtic knot bracelet with felted craft wire. Permalink -- click for full blog post Felting Craft Wireshow to felt craft wires to use in making bracelets or other jewelry. Permalink -- click for full blog post Alpaca fiber paintingFiber artist Pat Sparks does a really fabulous job of making watercolor looking type wool pictures. If you don't want to make 3D characters with needle felting, you can combine wet felting and needle felting your alpaca fiber to create watercolor wool pictures. You wet felt a blurry background using a photo for inspiration, and then needle felt shapes on the blurred background to define the objects. Works really well with flowers. If you click on the link, you will see what we are talking about. We are going to venture into this type of painting with wool soon and hope to provide a tutorial of the process. Alpaca fiber useDo You have alpaca fiber that you are storing at your home. Here is a possible use for all that fiber. Elderberry Creek Alpacas are working with Pendleton Woolen Mill to create 100% alpaca fiber woolen blankets. Right now you must donate the fiber for which you will be able to buy a blanket at cost + 3% that you should be able to sell for a profit, but they will eventually be able to pay you for your fleece in subsequent runs. Click on the link to read about the Alpaca Blanket Project and see if this might be a good idea for your alpaca fiber business. Free alpaca patternsRecently someone requested more patterns on our website. We'd love to do that, but time has really been a factor lately for us. We are just plain busy and have not had time to develop any. So, we are providing this link. You can check out the free patterns and see if you want to try any. You can spin up your own alpaca yarn or purchase alpaca yarn. Hope this at least gets you some ideas. Alpaca goes to the pubShort video of prize winning alpaca going to a pub. Year of the Alpaca FiberDid you know that this is "International Year of natural Fiber"? Well, it is. Because synthetic fibers have caused a drop in consumers using natural fibers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is organizing the promotion of natural fibers this year. To keep informed of the activities you can get added to their email list. Read the article by clicking on the link provided. Alpaca behaviorKnowing normal alpaca behavior can help you spot when one of your alpacas is ill. When you know what is normal for an alpaca, then it's easy to spot abnormal behavior and investigate to determine if there is a problem. Follow the link to read about normal alpaca behavior. Permalink -- click for full blog post Hilarious Alpaca FarmingMike Rowe of discovery channel helps on an alpaca farm. This is a funny look at alpaca husbandry. The video is hilarious. Follow the link to see this outsiders look at alpaca farming. Alpacas mauled by dogsPlease, remember that dogs are the most common predator to Alpacas. Be sure and build good fences and keep your alpacas from being attacked by neighborhood dogs like what happened to these Alpacas in the following article. Choosing a Livestock Guardian DogChoosing a livestock guardian dog for your Alpaca farm. Permalink -- click for full blog post Alpaca photo tipsDid you get a new camera for Christmas? Take some photos of alpacas whether you own them or can visit a farm that raises alpacas. They are excellent subjects. They appear to have a smile on their face and those big beautiful eyes make great pictures. Read our tips for photographing alpacas by following the link. Permalink -- click for full blog post Home business with AlpacasThe driving force of a home-based business is passion. Doesn't matter if you've chosen Alpacas or something else. If you don't have a passion for what you are doing, your home business will likely fail. We have a passion for our Alpacas and working with their fleece. We hope that You have happy holidays and the new year will bring you opportunities to start your own business or continue with one you already have chosen even in this bad economy. The following link will take you to an article about home businesses that have succeeded because of their passion. It may help you to decide if a home business will work for you whether it's raising Alpacas or some other venture. Felting an angelWow, this is a really cut angel to needle felt. Alpaca fiber would work great for making this angel. Cut decoration for your christmas table. They are so quick, you still have time to make one or more. Just follow the link to see the needle felting tutorial for making an angel. Alpaca winterAh, yes, this is a winter fit for alpacas with their warm wooly fleece. They made it through the bitter cold, no problems. Us humans (meaning Debby and Mike) are weenies and glad that we don't live outside. Instead we are staying cozy in our house with a woodstove going. Now we are getting snowed on, but not as bad as some other parts of the country. Soon as the snow stops, it is predicted that we will go back to bitter cold...can't wait. Our water pipes to the alpaca fields are frozen so we have to hand carry buckets of water to the alpacas. Good thing we have strong backs. Is it Spring, yet?... Alpaca hats keep troops warmKnitting caps for the troops in Iraq is a nice way to use alpaca fleece just sitting in your barn or garage. Read how some women are providing warmth with alpaca to troops. Brrr...Alpacas!Wow! This is one of the worst weather conditions we have had here. It's frigid with a strong wind. When the wind stopped for a short time yesterday it wasn't bad. The winds are cutting cold and we worry about our animals. Our Alpacas have always done well in cold and heat, but this one has us a little concerned because the wind is significantly dropping the temperatures. We are checking on them frequently and so far they seem ok. This horrible weather is going to continue for another day at least. We worry about frostbite on the ears. One of our alpacas' had a mom from someplace in the northeast where she got frostbite on her ears and lost the tips of them. We've brought the dogs in the house (cats, too), but the alpacas will just have to stay outdoors. We're hoping they come through this just like they have everything else. At least, they have a good growth back on their fleece. We hand sheared them this year which doesn't get as close as the clippers. All we can do is keep checking on them and if one gets into trouble we can move them to the garage. This is the only time in eight years of raising them that we feel a barn would really be nice. Quality FeedWe all know that it's important to feed our Alpacas quality hay for them to get the nutrition they need. Don't forget about doing the same for that loyal Alpaca guardian dog. We were feeding food that was considered good food (IAMS), but our dogs were not eating all of their meals at each feeding and not having great energy. We switched to one of the premium dog foods and can not believe the difference in our pets. They eat every morsel and are very healthy with lots of energy. Yes, it is more expensive, but it's been worth the extra expense as long as we can keep paying it. It makes a difference what you put into your animals for their fur and health. Give them the best that you can afford and you will have healthier, happier animals. Be sure and read the labels on food products for your pets so you can choose wisely. It really does make a difference. Make a gift for Christmas from alpacaThere's no better gift to give than a handmade one for Christmas. If you don't have time to knit or crochet socks or a sweater or a hat and scarf, consider making simple jewelry with your alpaca wool as a gift for someone special this year. Follow the link to get some ideas on how to make jewelry from alpaca fiber. Wet felting dvdLearn wet felting techniques to making felt inlays and cutouts. Permalink -- click for full blog post Injured Alpaca UpdateOur gelding was injured in an unknown incident. He has improved, but still limps on that leg. It has been a few weeks since the injury. We are assuming there was some kind of ligament injury, although we can not find an actual site of injury. There has never been any swelling, warmth, etc. He still does not put all of his weight on the leg. He still kushes more than normal. He is getting along well with the girls now and is eating and drinking just fine. We are hoping that in another couple of weeks he will not be favoring that leg. We are concerned that his good leg will start breaking down if he doesn't start bearing more weight on the other leg. He's one of our favorites and we want him to heal well. Just wish we could figure out what is wrong exactly. Alpaca InvestmentWith the state of the economy, people are looking to alternative investments instead of putting everything they have in the stock market. Some are investing in gold, or parking spaces, or guess what?...Alpacas. In October at least one farm we know of sold over $2 million in alpacas at an auction on one weekend. Not bad! Injured AlpacaOur gelding would not put weight on his rear left leg. We are assuming that there was a fight between him and the male alpaca he lives with. We can find no obvious injuries to the leg or hip (no swelling, warmth, etc.). We moved him to the girls field to let him rest up. The first couple of days the girls would not share their food with him which surprised us. He's been there a week and has been accepted now. He seems to be walking a little better, but still doesn't put all his weight on that leg. Alpacas are so stoic. He eats but has to lay down about half way into his eating time. We're going to continue to let him rest in the girls field and hope he heals soon.
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