8/17/23

As you know, we are 5 acres of sand and sage brush in the middle of the desert. So, we have been trying to slowly remove sage brush and add some shrubbery and trees to different areas. And we have added some alphalt shavings to the drive way. Fortunately we have super helpful neighbors that are willing to help remove sage brush, mow, etc. We have great neighbors!

There is an area between the street and the girls pens that is approximately 150 ft. wide by 100 ft read more...

Our first cria (baby) of the year was born on 5/12/23 at 9:50 AM. Another MALE!!!! But, gosh, is he cute. Lots of crimpy fiber, good conformation. Up and going in about an hour. But that 18.8 pounds of cria wore his mom, Alpaca Palace's Houdini's Countess out. She was tired and sore for awhile.

Today Zinger 1 of 2023 is an independent little guy. He can often be found up by the barn while Mom is in the girls pens. Or he will be running around with Karri and Limba (both 7 mont read more...

Well, we did it. We took our 5 juvenile males, 2 - 3 year old and 1 - 2 year old male to a double show - Great Western Alpaca Show (GWAS) and the Rocky Mountain Alpaca Showcase (RMAS) in Denver, CO. Leaving here on April 26th and arriving in Denver the afternoon of the 27th for Vet check, Color check and get set up. Don and Julie Roy flew from their home in CA to help us at this event. Glenn's brother, Paul, drove from Helena, MT to alpaca sit while we were gone. Also coming to help Paul a read more...

We are excited to be going to Denver next week to participate in the Great Western Alpaca Show/Rocky Mountain Alpaca Showcase - a double show - to be held 4/28-4/30/23. We have not both been to a show since 2017 when we attended this same show.

We are taking 8 of our boys. 5 are 6 and 7 months old, 1 is 2 and the other 2 are almost 3 years old. We will be participating in several classes.
First will be Walking Fleece. This has your alpaca walking to a fiber judge who will read more...

Where to start is the question. But here goes!

Harvest Hosts has been much slower than last year at this time. Weather and the economy, we are hearing, has had a big impact on travelers. We are thankful for those who have braved both to come visit with us.

Our 7 crias born in the latter part of 2022 are growning so much. Miss Karri, the only girl, keeps the boys on their toes.

We ordered a new 12/x20' building to store products and skirt fiber after shearin read more...

So many things going on lately!!

September 27th and 29th saw the birth of 2 male crias. Snow Diamond Felicity gave birth to a 17 lb. male that the sponsors named Zebrano. Sire is Alpaca Palace's Zinger. (This is their 2nd year to sponsor Miss Felicity so we decided to let them pick a name from a list of wood names that we provided).

On the 29th, Joey's Stargazer Lilly, our 14 year old mom gave birth to a male that we named Sawdust's Babanus out of Sawdust's Almond Thun read more...

Our first Cria arrived 9/27/22. A 15.3 pound boy born to Snow Diamond Felicity and Alpaca Palace's Zinger. And boy does he look like Zinger. Glenn is calling him Little Z for now. The sponsor parents are working on a name this weekend.

The second cria of the season is a 16.5 pound male born to Joey's Stargazer Lilly and Sawdust's Almond Thunder. Both are doing well.

The crias are so much fun to watch in the pens. Little Z stays close to mom while Little Thunder is read more...

Sawdust's Holly  as of 1/15/22

I was asked today about one of our crias (babies) that had this condition.  So here is what I have learned:

Neonatal Maladjustment Syndrome in Foals (commonly referred to as Dummy Foal Syndrome) is normally attributed to horses.  However, other animals can also have a form of this condition.

Our Sawdust's Holly was born May 29, 2021, weighing 14.6 lbs.  She appeared to be fine when born but within a short period of time, she f read more...

Sawdust’s Holly was born on May 29, 2021 at 7 P.M. She weighed 14.3 ponds at birth. (Alpaca Mom’s usually have their cria (baby) between 9 A.M and 2 P.M. In the high Andes mountains this gives the cria a chance for the fiber to dry. Unlike other animals, alpaca moms are not able to dry their cria off so they have to dry naturally). We soon discovered that Miss Holly had some serious medical issues – in a horse it is called Dummy Foal Syndrome (you will have to look that up). Since it was M read more...