https://www.openherd.compredominately grey suri & huacaya alpacashttps://www.openherd.com/article-list/6245Do NOT buy just because they are cute ! While the title may seem harsh I am sure many other long time alpaca owners could chime in with story upon story. Alpaca Ownership Responsibly - try to cover the basic bases When communicating with potential alpaca owners, starting with simple basics can mean: explaining there are 2 types of alpacas - huacaya or suri (they are not llamas or even emu's lol) Correct zoning - are you allowed to have alpacas on your property (not in your house), if so...Fri, 02 Sep 2022 19:57:16 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/5507Nearly every shearing season we feel the harvest is plentiful and there could probably not be such thing as too many laborers. Shearing season, which may be different times of the year depending on location & temperatures, etc., in Southern California we are some of the earliest to shear. Alpaca fleece is extremely warm - I've heard references to it being second in thermal properties to polar bears. I've also heard references that at 60 degrees in full fleece they are uncomfortable. Postponi...Thu, 09 Apr 2020 17:26:38 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/5078- When you see and touch that luxurious fleece - over and over again - When you use the word scintillating to describe suri yarn your herd produced - When you can't stop looking at and feeling your harvest - When you can't wait to wear some of your alpaca wear - When you can't wait to share some of your alpaca wear - When you are utterly impressed by the creative items that can be produced - When you are ecstatic over a confirmed pregnancy after many attempts - When you rejoice over every...Fri, 07 Sep 2018 20:03:28 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/4080I just recently read something about vitamin F – It caught my attention so I thought I’d write a quick little blog on the benefits of it. Vitamin F is probably the most awesome supplement out there! Realizing that there may be many people out there who are suffering from various ailments, life stressors, work, illness, finances, fragmented families, those who don’t have children, while others who have extremely challenging children. Benefits of Vitamin F may be very vital to your well being. T...Wed, 23 Sep 2015 16:54:48 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/3960This is a dog's world. At least ours often seems to be dominated by dogs. Through the years we have suffered the loss of numerous pets and it never is easy, even though we are blessed to be surrounded by others. We have also been fortunate enough to witness the births of various breed types because our daughter actually runs a non-profit dog rescue. We attended dog shows in the past that also exposed us to a large variety of breeds but those were mostly in the non-sporting categories. The type ...Fri, 17 Jul 2015 22:39:41 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/3643Happy New Year - Its a new dawn, it’s a new day, its a new year for me... and I'm feeling??? A new year can bring one a chance to reflect on events over the past year and while another digit in itself may not be overly significant, I think it is great to reflect and ponder some on past and plan some, always doing our best to look forward to the future. In reflecting on 2014, I thought of quite a few of those in our alpaca community; There were those we got to know this past year that suffe...Fri, 09 Jan 2015 00:20:19 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/3537Had a feeling it might be a long, hot summer in So Cal. Not only with on-going drought constantly in the news, it is becoming more evident everywhere you turn, no water in creek beds, dry looking brush and new wildfires breaking out. We are rolling into fall and have had temperatures of over 90 degrees for weeks straight – Ok, no humidity for those in other areas, but regardless too warm for too long. Not 1 but 3, alpaca people lost their first born cria’s (alpaca babies) just last week and...Tue, 07 Oct 2014 13:56:22 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/3480Warning, you may have Alpaca ADD, a version of Attention Deficit Disorder if you love too many things about alpacas to count, have multiple projects going simultaneously, are equally enthused about each one and would prefer to let other tasks such as eating and sleeping go LOL. I thought I could write a little bit about creative alpaca uses. Personally, I am not a crafter. My mother on the other-hand, she sewed, knitted, crocheted, took cake-decorating classes, painted ceramics... It all l...Wed, 10 Sep 2014 13:01:26 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/3130Here I go again (I am thinking if I re-read blog guidelines, I am at minimum doing a dis-service to alpaca blogging) writing not useful, alpaca information, but here I go, once again giving example of what not to do. Sharing our inept ways, in hopes you will find humor in the day to day, excuse pun, hum drums of our alpaca adventure. Using the saying "keep calm & start an alpaca farm" to seguay into a funny story. Let's for sake of embarrassment say an undisclosed person in household was ho...Mon, 24 Mar 2014 17:38:12 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/2978Although my pile of paper work and time spent in front of a computer sometimes seems to drone on and on -with some of the drone talk coupled with our capabilities of a science lab on Mars, I got thinking about what it would be like to have a drone or remote control activated devices with cameras. If/when they become affordable for use on a farm. Hence the title, Dream a Little Drone for Me... A drone/robot type device with camera could zoom in check feed & waterers - see if an alpaca is in...Mon, 25 Nov 2013 12:59:40 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/2947If you have ever spent any time near an alpaca and happen to be like myself, one of the first things you may be intrigued by is the sound they make. Not an overly boisterous noise, like a bleeting goat or sheep, more a simple, soul-soothing hum. There are a few definititions of the word hum ranging from; to emit a continuous low sound - a blend of sounds (like traffic or a swarm of insects) which lends to definition of state of busy activity, as in traffic is just humming along, or to produc...Tue, 05 Nov 2013 18:22:20 +0000https://www.openherd.com/article-list/2887Short disclaimer there are first attempts at many things in life. This is my first attempt at a blog and I wrote it, in my vanpool on my iphone, yes typed it with my thumb--- At risk of sounding like complete imbeciles I thought I would offer up a few alpaca adventure stories for the main purpose of not necessarily sharing topics of educational information, more or less just sharing a laugh at our lessons learned. In doing this, was thinking that I may need to revisit some James Herriot cla...Tue, 22 Apr 2014 15:46:55 +0000