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Monday, February 13, 2012
All that complaining about the heat, flies and mosquitoes last summer is coming back to haunt me. A week or so ago we got blasted with about 20 inches of snow on the farm. Snow drifts in the 600ft long driveway were up to my waist. We managed to dig out of that…sort of. I cleared the alpaca pens that I could with the tractor. Others have lonely trails were the alpacas dared walk. I find it funny that the girls and youngsters are much more eager to get out and explore the snow than the boys. The males are content to stay in the barn until the snow clears. The debate continues…is it because the boys are wimps or are they just smarter? No comment.
This past weekend marked the end of my procrastination on starting to halter train the weaners. Snow or no snow halter training had to get started. I am planning on taking two of the juvie girls to MOPACA and then locally to GWAS…so…let the rodeo begin! I knew going into halter training that this likely would be a challenge. I can’t help imagining the 8 second bronc ride at the rodeo. It’s probably almost as much fun trying to saddle a bronc as it is to ride one. So…here I go into the pen…saddle…I mean halter/lead in hand. The snow/mud in the pen just adds to the fun. Goldie (Mayberry Farm’s Gold Strike Fever) is first up. It must be a coincidence that this year’s weaner rodeo involves youngsters with names of western movies and shows. So, Goldie is the first contestant. As much as I’ve tried handling her since she was born, she has always been as they say ‘spirited’. After we danced around the pen a while (fastening a halter on a standing, jumping, rolling alpaca is not easy) I stepped back a couple of feet…lead in hand…and watched her snort and stare at me. Then…the sideways twist…gotcha. Then the other way…gotcha. Much to my surprise my clicking and whispering to her all this time started to pay off. She seemed to relax a bit. I walked backwards (I lead in this dance). She followed with a soft tug of the lead. We went in circles slowly for a few minutes. I approached closer…she moved away. Now…no way is my breath as bad as hers right now so time to get close, girl…then put my arm around her neck. She relaxed. I stroked her neck a bit…examined her fleece…WOW. I’m excited about this girl. I picture myself sort of an alpaca whisperer…yeah, right. Overall I was pretty impressed with Goldie’s first rodeo…I mean halter training exercise.
Next in the chute…Virginia (The Virginian of Mayberry Farm). This girl was easier to wrangle. With halter on we began heading out of the barn and thru the pen. Much to my surprise Virginia actually followed me…moving forward slowly…sorta. This was a new one on me. For every step forward Virginia made two leaps straight up. We eventually got it to about a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio…good progress. She also managed to throw herself down on the ground and get her left side muddy as can be. I’m sure the choice of side to muddy was on purpose as I tried to hold her close, stroke her neck and touch her fiber. Yuck. With enough walking and following to convince me that we might just get this accomplished in 6 weeks…I let Virginia call it a day
On deck…Rider (Mayberry Farm’s Dawn Rider). He is a big boy…dense as can be. On went the halter. That was easy enough. Rider did the best of the group. No jumping or throwing himself on the ground. However, he managed to walk with his head twisted to the side, stretching the halter as much as I would let him. I have no idea what that was about…but good progress all the same.
Rodeo over. We’ll call this a success. Now to get cooperation for more than 8 seconds at a time…
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Last Sunday marked the final day of the National Western Stock Show in Denver. WOW! What an event. You have to hand it to the people that are in charge of the logistics. With an estimated 600,000 visitors over the 16 days and different forms of livestock coming and going, vendors of all kinds participating…and pretty seamlessly making it all happen. Mayberry Farm Alpacas participated the first weekend this year when alpacas were featured, including a well run show and a ‘meet the public’ session. It was an incredible time with lots and lots of visitors. Some were just curious. Others were serious and were researching alpacas. And…it was just plain fun! We also participated in the Alpaca Breeders of the Rockies product booth. Sharon worked the booth for three shifts. Our products, along with those of 20+ other farms were featured in the booth for the full 16 days. Sales were brisk. Every time we visited the stock show we made a point of stopping by to see how things were going. There seemed to always be activity. We’re pleased with sales of our products and look forward to additional participation next year. Thanks to all for making it such a memorable, fun, and profitable show!
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Sunday, January 01, 2012
With the holidays mostly behind us and the new year underway I have to take just a few minutes to wax philosophical. 2011 overall was a very good year for Mayberry Farm Alpacas. Yes, like everyone, we had our ups and down. The lowest of lows was the loss of Maverick at four and a half months. The highs? There were many of them. We had a good breeding year. I’m excited about the boys and mostly girls born in 2011. We made a few alpaca acquisitions that were not in the plans going into the year but they will make a huge favorable impact on our breeding program. We added two females purchased at auctions (Futurity and AOBA). Sorcha, a feistly dark brown was added to enhance our color breeding program. Gloriana, an easy going beige girl from Accoyo America is bred to none other than Accoyo America Ulysses for a 2012 cria. It should be awesome. Gloriana’s next date is easy to figure out. It’s a male we purchased from Tierra Prometieda at the AOBA auction…TP Poseidon’s Gladiator. The minute I saw the catalog I knew I wanted Gladiator. He slipped under the radar of most bidders at the auction…much to my satisfaction. He did not stay under the radar for long. Gladiator was the White Color Champion in halter at ABR Fall Fest amid very stiff competition. Needless to say we are thrilled and looking forward to Gladiator continuing to show and breeding in 2012. We’ve already begun to book outside breedings for him in 2012. We are making a few available at discount but don’t plan to keep that up. Then late in 2011 we were fortunate enough to add half interest of a male that has already favorably influenced our breeding program. We now own half interest in The Invincible Nathaniel, a Snowmass Invincible son. After having already seen firsthand what he can produce we jumped on the opportunity. His dates are already in the planning stage for 2012 and one of those will be Almar Farm’s Lei Lei Darling. That combination has given us wonderful male (Mayberry Farm Ray of Invincible Sun) that continually finishes well into the ribbons in halter.
I could go on and on…but will move on now. I have fleece to prep for the mill. Take care and have a wonderful new year!
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Sunday, December 04, 2011
I said I wouldn’t post on this blog unless I had something interesting, important or relevant to say. I’ve been actually delaying writing for a couple of weeks now since I couldn’t work up the nerve to write about this topic. I am the type of person who does not like to wear my emotions on my sleeve. It’s difficult for me to allow myself to cry. You see…just a few short weeks ago we lost one of our 2011 crias. I know that others have lost babies and even adult alpacas. It’s hard. Very hard. Maverick was born this summer while Sharon was out of town. His mother, Raena, was a first time mom and had an easy delivery and was attentive from the start. Mav nursed soon after birth and I witnessed him nursing thereafter. Even the milk mustache was present. He lost some weight the first day. Not unusual. Then he lost weight the second day…I was really worried. A check with the vet showed mom had minimal milk. We tried lactation herbs and other possible remedies. Nothing worked. Sharon returned early from visiting our oldest son in Portland, OR to help me. We began giving Mav goat’s milk. He started gaining weight. He gained regularly, albeit slower than most of our crias. Our hopes were high. He had gorgeous dark fawn fleece with crimp and brightness to spare and a mellow personality. He stayed close to him mom and hardly ever played with the other kids. He seemed to be in a world by himself. He also had a tendency to just stand and stare. It was like he wasn’t quite with us. I was sure though that he would be fine.
Mav became one of my favorites. Keeping in mind I needed to keep it all business when we fed him to avoid ‘berserk male syndrome’ I still couldn’t help giving him a hug every now and then. He would whine and complain. I would laugh. His dense topknot and extra fuzzy face were irresistible. Surely he would grow up to be a big strong male with the potential I was just sure was there…
Mav had gained to over 40 pounds and was about 4 and a half months old when he passed. We do not know why. It happens, we know. We found him on the barn floor one sad Saturday morning. Raena was concerned and confused. She’s gotten better. Still today she seems to be looking for him…just sure I’ll bring him back from the weighing scales like I always did.
If there’s a rainbow bridge for alpacas Maverick is there. I miss you Mav…RIP.
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Saturday, November 12, 2011
When I decided to start a blog I told myself I would not post unless I had something interesting to post about. Well, today seems rich for content. With Sharon off to a dog show I found myself with kind of a honey do-less day although I knew I had to do some spit testing. Now, mind you, I don’t normally mind the spit testing. Some of our girls are so predictable (I know when to duck) that the task is easy. Today I would have a couple of those relatively easy ones. A washable coat and a job that must be done pre-shower for the day seemed in order. Another bit of information to factor in was that it was a very windy day. Stay upwind. I decided to start with an easy one. Lucinda is a big girl who doesn’t really like to be caught but she is ok once you have her on halter. Since she and her baby girl Cat (Ballou) are housed in the maternity ward it’s an easy pass-thru to the breeding pen for spit testing. She followed instructions and was in the pen without any other guests (her baby). I brought Rudy over to test since he is the father of the baby I’m hoping she is carrying. Run, kick and a spit for good measure. The trifecta! Out comes Rudy and in comes Belle to replace Lucinda. She gave Rudy a ‘don’t you dare’ look. He thought he would try anyway and got a face full. Yes! Two for Two. Then comes Olympia. I knew Rudy wouldn’t be up for the task after two ‘disses’. Monroe it will be. He is the father of the hopefully in process cria in Olympia. But it digress. The really challenging part of spit testing Olympia is haltering her and bringing her to the pen. You see, I don’t really need an wishful male alpaca when Olympia is with cria. A simple halter in my hand will do. She holds the farm record for spit distance and style (really green stuff). Factoring in the wind and her projectile capabilities I managed to get her to the pen. Meanwhile Monroe was ready. Clucking and such the whole way over. At ten years of age he is our most aggressive breeder. But even he has to bow to Olympia’s ‘olympic class’ spitting, running and kicking abilities. After letting him know she definitely was not interested I hauled him off dejectedly to face the other boys, who I am sure were chuckling under the breaths. So…three for three. That’s probably it for the year on spit testing. If they aren’t pregnant by now we will be waiting til spring to rebreed them. In Colorado you have to respect the weather as much as the girls spitting abilities. Well…the hard part of the day was over and now to do some clean up chores, water and take some pix of this year’s crias. Or so I thought…
The guardian dogs were barking at the north fence as I was finishing up chores. I didn’t see any action at the neighbor’s place so told them to quiet down. They wouldn’t. I looked. OMG….one of the kittens was face to face with a rattlesnake on the other side of the fence. Now, I am not one to run from the snakes…but I don’t like them either. Healthy respect I call it in my ‘how to act like a man when you are afraid mode’. I grabbed a hoe and headed over to see what I could do. The kitten was smart enough not to approach it. Me? Well, that’s a different story. I decided it had to go. It was within 50 feet of the girls and cria pens. I had to get rid of this thing. I went into ninja mode with my hoe…whacking, swinging and striking at will…while my heart pounded. With a mere five feet between me and the rattlesnake I managed to take him out. Being the tough guy I am I had to ‘measure it’. WOW…a four footer. Ok…not a world record…but he got my attention! I dispatched it the trash container (after texting Sharon and telling her I saved it in a bag in the freezer). Teeheeheehee…. Boy am I in trouble;-)
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Friday, November 11, 2011
Gladiator winning White Color Champion at Fall Fest
Well, I’ve procrastinated long enough. This is the start of the Mayberry Farm Alpacas blog. I’ll share things going on around the farm and related to the alpacas. As it turns out this is a very easy time to get started. I guess it’s easy to sit down and write when things are good. I truly have been blessed with a wonderful herd, great friends in the alpaca business and getting to do something I truly love as a hobby (still working the day job). I am still walking about three feet off the ground after last weekend’s show…the ABR Fall Festival in Loveland, CO. We took a bit of a risk, I guess. While all colors of Huacaya alpacas have improved immensely over the years, whites remain the toughest (in my opinion anyway). We took five alpacas to the show…three boys and two girls. The only non-white alpaca was Sorcha, our dark brown female we acquired at the Futurity sale. I would like to say that we came home with ribbons with all five alpacas…but that’s not true. Sorcha was the lone ribbon winning female from our farm. She was 6th place. Dawn, who we love dearly, got the gate. My wife was showing her and did a great job…but it just wasn’t to be. Dawn is an extremely dense girl with wonderful crimp and staple length. She lacks fineness. Meanwhile, I had her half-brother Ray in the next ring over. Ray is one of my absolute favorites and has been since he was born. He’s easy going (although the testosterone is starting to kick in). Dawn and Ray share the same sire…The Invincible Nathaniel, a Snowmass Invincible Son. More about Nathaniel another time. Ray managed to embarrass me royally. No, he didn’t poop on the judges shoes…he refused to walk. This was Ray’s fourth show and he has never done that before. I call it donkey mode. Maybe it’s because he slammed on the brakes and wouldn't walk or maybe it’s how he made me look...use your imagination. Despite not walking Ray walked (or was dragged) away with third place. I was pleased. Competition was tough. Now comes the reason for me floating on air all week. In the two year old class I was showing the boy we bought at the AOBA auction this spring, TP Poseidon’s Gladiator. I wanted this boy from the time I saw him listed in the catalog. My lovely wife humored me…and actually saw for herself this was a boy we HAD to have. We bought him. Fast forward to Fall Fest. Gladiator has matured wonderfully. I had high hopes but tried to temper those hopes knowing the stiff competition we would face. Glad did his job…and made me look like I knew what I was doing in the process. We took blue in the large two year old class. Wow. While we waited I told my wife that we had a chance at a banner. She promptly told me to keep my hopes in check and reminded me of the stiff competition. She was right, of course. I could dream. Well…the dreams keep coming…every night it seems I relive the judge walking toward me with a smile on her face and the championship banner in her hand. Glad had done it! White Color Champion! Yes I’m biased. Truth is he is an awesome male. I can’t wait until he starts breeding. We had decided ahead of time, and took out an ad in the show catalog, to offer breedings at $750 (first 10). We’re sticking to it. I expect them to go fast…as soon as the word really gets around. Stay tuned for more on Glad and the gang. I promise to limit the bragging. I’m sure you understand this time. BTW…thanks to the larger farms for the heartfelt congratulations and we look forward to testing our mettle in the ring with them and everyone. Competition is tough. That’s good. The industry is on the right track!
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