Mariposa Farm Alpacas

Moving.....

2011-07-19T15:41:00.000-05:00

This blog is moving. The past year I've been taking classes in website design and now I'm working on getting the farm website up and running. There's not much on the site now but expect it to become populated in the next few weeks. Once it's up and running I'll be moving the blog to that site as well.

If you want to observe the progress the new site is www.mariposafarmalpacas.com

Just How Strong is Alpaca Fiber?

2011-01-30T22:08:00.000-06:00

Alpaca fiber lore tells us that our alpacas have superior fleece compared to other fiber producing animals - but what does that mean? And are there numbers to back it up?

Well, Dutch Hollow Acres has done their homework and has a well thought out post on their blog about the strength of alpaca fiber. Check it out and let them know what you think!

Business Dinner Plans

2011-01-09T17:30:00.000-06:00

This post was originally written for Alpaca Farm Girl's blog and first published on 5MAR2009.

As alpaca owners we are often business owners. And as business owners we are expected to have a business plan. However, writing a business plan can be intimidating. To me, it can be compared to dinner. I’m going to assume that everyone reading this has eaten dinner numerous times through out their lives. So let’s assume that our overall goal is to eat dinner (or in the case of your business plan, to make money raising alpacas).

First we need to obtain raw materials (something edible):

· Grocery store

· Farmer’s market

· Your garden

· The fridge

· Outsource to someone else

Dinner preparation:

· Your stove

· Someone else’s stove

· Grill

· Microwave

Dinner delivery:

· On china

· On a paper plate

· Eaten out of the pan while standing over the sink

And don’t forget the financing:

· Your wallet

· Someone else’s wallet

· Dine and dash (not recommended)

Much like there are many ways to have dinner, there are a variety of ways to run an alpaca business. A business plan specifies how you run your alpaca business now as well as your future goals and dreams.

To get started on your business plan you can find recipes here and here. Fill in the ingredients you already have on hand (information you already know). Next make a visit to the Alpaca Academy to start filling in the missing ingredients. If there’s still a few items missing simply mark as ‘to be determined’ or ‘I don’t know yet.’ Substitutions are definitely allowed.

Remember this is your business plan. Highlight what makes you stand out from other alpaca owners. Write it in first person and make it easy to understand. It’s okay to use bullet points and lists. In fact, someone outside of the alpaca industry should be able to understand why you’ve chosen to raise alpacas, how you’re going to make an income, and your goals for the future.

Once a draft is written, it’s time for a taste test. Take your draft down to the Small Business Administration. They’ll be able to provide valuable feedback.

Writing a business plan takes some effort. Don’t let all that effort go to waste by putting it aside. The plan is a tool. It provides the actions needed to achieve your goals. Review the plan every six months or so. Does it still meet your needs? Does it need some more spice? Do you need to cut back on the fat and carbs? The plan doesn’t need to be rewritten. Just add a page with the date, changes made and why the changes were made.

Meals are so integrated into our lives that most of us probably don’t even think of all the options and choices that go into them. These same skills, which you already possess, can easily be adapted to creating your alpaca business plan.

Bon Appetit!

On the menu: Sweetness & Warmth

Resolutions

2011-01-09T17:01:00.000-06:00

For many, this time is a time of year for reflection. Recently I've been reflecting on my absence from blogging in 2010. In late 2009 my car was totaled by a tractor trailer. While I walked away from the accident, it's taking some time to resolve my injuries and things are improving slowly. Blog writing just wasn't high on my priority list.

Recently, I received an email asking for advice about how to get started in the alpaca industry as an agistor. While composing my reply, I thought that perhaps I might write a series of posts on what it's like to board alpacas versus having a farm of your own. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. So, stay tuned!

Alpaca Socks Giveaway!

2010-10-26T12:08:00.001-05:00

Check out Dutch Hollow Acres blog, Alpaca Bytes, and enter for a chance to win some alpaca socks. Contest ends 11/12/2010.

Mariposa's Minerva (aka Minnie)

2010-06-16T15:01:00.019-05:00

Minerva 1 week old

Meet Minerva, the newest addition to Mariposa Farm. Minerva arrived May 17th, 2010. Her dam is PHF Liberty and her sire is BRA Jesse James. Minnie is a dark silver grey and I have to admit I'm pleased as punch to have her in my herd. We had to shear her at one week of age because she was overheating due to the density of her fleece. I've already had inquiries regarding her price and I'm in the process of getting her Alpacanation page set up. We'll be pairing Liberty and Jesse again for a 2011 cria. More pics coming soon.

Her Sire, Jesse James

Just a few hours old

What are you doing for NAFD?

2009-09-24T22:07:00.006-05:00

National Alpaca Farm Days is upon us. I've spent the last month or so getting the open house on various community calendars and sending out flyers to everyone I can think of. We're having the farm open both Saturday and Sunday from 12 pm - 4 pm.

Some of my friends couldn't make it out this weekend so we started National Alpaca Farm Days just a wee bit early for them. Griffin and Ulysses helped train some new alpaca wranglers.

These are felted alpaca cat toys. They're my newest project. I haven't quite perfected the process just yet. The cats enjoy them. Once the cats have had their fun, the dog enjoys ripping off the felted fleece for some multi-species entertainment. I will have these for sale at the open house this weekend.

I invite all of you to come out and see the alpacas rain or shine this weekend.

Here's the info:

Dates: Saturday September 26 & Sunday September 27, 2009

Time: Noon - 4 pm

Location:
Big River Alpacas - Bob and Lisa Fererro
7820 Riverview Rd.
Dittmer, MO 63023
House phone. (636) 452-3436

Driving Directions:

Take Highway 30/Gravois Road West from 270.
Go Approximately 20 miles to Missouri Hwy B and turn Left
Go 5.2 miles and turn RIGHT on Missouri Hwy C
Hwy C dead ends into Missouri Hwy Y after 4.7 miles
Turn Right on Hwy Y.
Go 0.2 miles and turn left on Browns Ford Road
Go 2 miles and bear left on Ware Lake Road
Go 0.5 miles and turn left on Riverview Rd - there's a big sign that says 'Riverview'
House will be on the right.

Copy Cat

2009-08-24T11:10:00.012-05:00

I work for a corporation. And sometimes when you work for a corporation someone else will steal/copy your work, ideas, and/or writing. We're having an open house for National Alpaca Farm Days. I wrote the advert. This was difficult for me as most of my writing experience is technical. I thought it was decent and apparently another alpaca owner did as well. Imagine my surprise when I saw my very own words used to advertise another farm's open house!

Here's what I wrote (if you double click on the image will open up a larger version that's easier to read):

"In honor of National Alpaca Farm Days, Big River Alpacas along with Mariposa Farms will be holding an open house. You'll be able to get

up close and personal

with our alpacas. You'll be able to pet and feed the alpacas, and we'll have answers to all of your burning alpaca questions. Fleece & alpaca products will be available for sale as well. There will be a spinning demo and free alpaca beans if you need compost for your garden this fall. (please bring a container if you'd like to take some with you)"

And here's what Copy Cat Alpaca Farm wrote:

"In honor of National Alpaca Farm Days, (Xxxxx Xxxxx) Farm will be holding an open house on Saturday, September 26th from 9am-4pm. Get up close and personal with our alpacas. You'll be able to pet and feed the alpacas, and we'll have answers to all of your burning alpaca questions. There will be a spinning demo and free alpaca beans if you need compost for your garden this fall. Please bring a container if you'd like to take some with you. "

What interesting is that Copy Cat Alpaca Farm has a copyright protection notice on their website so I'm pretty sure that they know plagiarism is a no-no. I've emailed this farm as well as left messages on their voicemail and I haven't received a response as to why they thought this was okay. According to the Copyright Website (notice how I give credit to the source as well as provide a link to the website) "almost everything on the Net is protected by copyright law."

I have to say that I am highly disappointed as this farm is located in Missouri and I will likely see them at seminars and shows.

PS. If you like the advert and need one of you own, I'd be happy to write one for you.

On Hiatus

2009-06-30T10:24:00.003-05:00

Readers and Alpaca Fans,

I'm going to be on hiatus for a bit. I recently slipped, fell and broke my right radius. Overall it's healing well but it will be some time before I'm back up to full speed.

I board my alpacas and they are in good hands so that's one less thing to worry about. For now my focus is on getting well.

Should anything overly exciting happen, I'll let you know. Otherwise, I'll be back once I'm healed.

Update on Autumm (and the rest of the herd)

2009-06-07T22:48:00.010-05:00

Things are progressing slowly with solving Autumm's mystery. An ultrasound revealed that she is not pregnant, even though her behavior indicates otherwise. She wants absolutely nothing to do with any of the boys. I am currently waiting for some feedback on the ultrasound. At this point it's getting too late for a spring breeding so I'm resigned to leaving her open until next fall. That should give us plenty of time to get her body back to normal.

Mariposa's Rose Marie has been successfully bred to BRA Bocephus. And my girl, Liberty, gave us yet another alpaca surprise. I had chosen to breed Liberty to Doc Holiday. Doc was quite excited about this and was absolutely enthralled with Liberty. However, Doc apparently is NOT Liberty's type and she had no interest in him whatsoever. But she did find BRA Jesse James to her liking. Perhaps Liberty knows something I don't?

Griffin and Morrighan are both weaned and eating well on their own. They got a halter lesson today. Both are very good at standing still and being touched. But walking around on the halter.....not so much.
Griffin poses for the camera during halter training while Baroness looks on (photo by Ellen Disseler).
Halter training Morrighan. Sometimes it helps to get on their level. Photo by Ellen Disseler.

Glass Paperweight

2009-06-07T22:38:00.008-05:00

As much as I enjoy the alpacas and working with fiber. I'm always up for trying new things. The third Friday of every month, the Third Degree Glass Factory has an open house. I attended with a singles activities group I belong to and thought I'd try my hand at making a paperweight. It was really cool. The molten glass had a very interesting consistency both fluid and stiff at the same time. I was absolutely enthralled. The instructors were quite knowledgeable and patient. They let you work with the glass quite a bit. If you're reading this before the third Friday in June 2009, then you can see a picture of me in their slideshow making the paperweight pictured above. And if you live in the St. Louis Area, I highly recommend you attend one of their 3rd Friday open houses. They're free and family friendly.

Mysterious Autumm

2009-05-19T16:08:00.010-05:00

As is often the case, things rarely go as planned. I purchased Autumm Spring 2008 so she's my newest purchase. Autumm is confusing me right now. Her behavior says she's pregnant. Her progesterone says she isn't. My first instinct is to have an ultrasound done, but our vet doesn't have an ultrasound machine.

What to do? What to do?

Possibilities include a retained CL (retained corpus luteum), ovarian cyst, uterine infection. Or she could really be pregnant. Her previous owners did not perform progesterone testing so I have no idea if her levels are 'normal' or not.

Here's the data so far:

DOB 10/19/1995
10/19/2008 – Full term, still born female cria
11/15/2008 – Bred to Cisco, 25 minutes
11/22/2008 – Half-hearted spit off
11/29/2008 - Bred to Cisco
12/5/2008 – Spit off
12/22/2008 - Progesterone = 0.08
May 2009 – Spits off every male
5/12/2009 – Progesterone = 1.01

I'm in the process of trying to find a vet with an ultrasound machine. In the meantime, I'd welcome any comments and thoughts you might have.

Name that Sheep Contest

2009-04-19T18:34:00.003-05:00

Alpacas are not the only animals that get sheared. Like alpacas, sheep look quite different after being sheared. Homestead Wool is having a Name That Sheep Contest. Go on over and take a look. There's lots of great pictures and a bio on each and every animal.

Shearing Day 2009

2009-04-18T18:34:00.006-05:00

We sheared the alpacas this week. 31 animals from four different farms. We had lots of helpers. So many that we had two shearing stations set up and even a photographer. We also trimmed nails and I was the Queen of the Tooth-a-Matic

Since we had a photographer there are lots of actions shots - way too many for a blog post so I made you a little slide show. Enjoy!

MOPACA Invitational Alpaca Show 2009

2009-03-31T22:40:00.024-05:00

The MOPACA show was March 28 – 29. Before I get to the details, I’d like to say thank you to my coworker, Robyn, who very kindly let me borrow her Explorer Sport. Normally, I borrow it to haul alpacas, but this time I used it to transport the sponsor gifts to the show (It was like Christmas!) and spin off samples back to another farm on the way home.

Big River Alpacas ensured that Marie (and Ulysses) made it safely to the show.

I’d also like to thank my friend, Ellen, without whom the weekend would have been very stressful. Ellen came along to learn about alpacas, help out a little and just get away for the weekend. She ended up learning how to color check, show animals, gate steward, and process the spin-off samples. She contributed a lot to the show and they can’t wait for her to come back and volunteer in 2010. In fact, Ellen got to show more animals than I did and her first time in the ring she took first place!

I’d also like to thank my family for taking time to stop by - especially with the icy, snowy weather. Sharp Bros. Seed, my dad’s business, sponsored our Meet & Greet and hopefully picked up a few new customers. My cousins brought my Grandma V down to the American Royal Sunday afternoon to see the animals. Janae, my second cousin, enjoyed leading the alpacas around so much she asked me if it was okay for her to ‘borrow’ one.

Marie, being the photogenic alpaca that she is, made Friday's Kansas City Star before the show even started. She's the one in the middle and this is the 2nd time she's made the paper in less than a year.

Marie took 1^st place in her halter class (hooray!). However, it was a class of one. This does not necessarily mean that you’ll get first place, though. If the alpaca doesn’t meet the correct conformational and fleece standards, they’ll award a 2^nd place ribbon instead. In one case, there was a class of one and the alpaca was so unruly that she and her owner were dismissed from the ring with no ribbon whatsoever. The judge was very pleased with Marie’s conformation and especially the density of her fleece. She said it was a shame that I didn’t have any competition in the class.

Marie and Ulysses were both entered in the spin-off competition. This is where 2 ounces of fiber is sent in ahead of time. It is then handspun into yarn and judged. This is a great way to get feed back on the fleece and to see how well it converts into yarn. Both of them received 4^th place ribbons and I’m very happy with my little handspun yarn samples.

I picked up these little alpaca pins for my store and these wonderful pastel alpaca socks from Alpacas Midwest for myself. The socks come in assortment of Easter Egg shades just in time for spring.

We returned home late Sunday and I was quite happy to see the kitties, Magic (thank you Amber & Kate) and sleep in my own bed.

March Bit and Pieces

2009-03-23T20:22:00.009-05:00

Several of my readers have asked how my hat knitting is going. I finished it about a week ago. I found making the brim a little difficult but overall I think it turned out well. My dog, Magic, was happy to model it for a treat ~_*

I've started a new scarf. This yarn is 60% alpaca, 40% wool. The goal is to make a skinny, lacy looking scarf and so far, so good. I find the color pattern interesting.

And in other knitting news, I've joined Ravelry.
******************
In alpaca news, my friend, Ellen, and I will be heading to Kansas City, MO for the MOPACA Invitational Alpaca Show on Friday. Mariposa's Rose Marie will be competing as well as Mariposa's Birch Ulysses (who now belongs to Big River Alpacas and Blue Feather Farm). They will be competing individually and together in a class called Produce of Dam which will give recognition to their dam (mom), Calliope's Isis.

If you can't make the show in KC, I'll have a post about it sometime next week.

Here's Ellen giving Griffin a halter training lesson. He's too young for the show but he's getting better at walking on the lead. Notice the bachelor herd watching in the background.

*******************
Shearing Day will be Tuesday, April 14th at the farm. If you're in the area, have the day off and would like to observe or help out, let me know. Extra hands are always welcome.
*******************
My shipment of socks finally arrived and they are now available for sale. I've also added this purple scarf and some other items to the store.

I think that's all the tidbits I have for now. In the future there'll be posts about the show next weekend, shearing day, and perhaps a surprise.

I'll end with this photo that has nothing to do with alpacas. But it is a mariposa or butterfly. It was taken at the Butterfly house where it's March Morpho Mania.

Kreative Blogger Award

2009-03-16T09:23:00.012-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised to get this award from fellow St. Louisan, Lenox Knits. I especially admire her pledge to live handmade. She also has all sorts of wonderful knitted things in her Etsy shop. I encourage you to take a look.

The rules for this award are straightforward. List 7 things I'm thankful for then pass the award on to 7 other bloggers.

7 Things for Which I'm Thankful

1. Indoor Plumbing
2. Electricity
3. My wonderful friends
4. Gainful employment
5. Books, books & more books
6. Flowers
7. My pets

My picks for the Kreative Blogger award are diverse group. Each one brightens my day and inspires me.

In no particular order.

Am...musings - my college roommate and long time friend, who's incredibly creative
Phat Fiber - promotes independent fiber artists. Who knew yarn could be so addictive?
Fluffington Farms - Fiber Friend, Spinner, Raiser of Cute Bunnies
On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess - Isis the Scientist balances Life and The Lab in smokin' hot shoes.
Zen Habits - The Power of Less
Alpaca Love - The goings on at the Wisseler farm. Christa's writing makes you feel like you're there.
Alpaca Farm Girl - I think that Wordless Wednesdays are my favorite.

Phat Fiber Sample Box: Desert Garden and Giveaway

2009-03-10T12:56:00.003-05:00

Phat Fiber has become one of my favorite blogs. They showcase independent fiber and yarn artisans. I don't know how to spin but when I look at this blog I want to learn.

Phat Fiber also does giveaways. There's one every day this week. Today's giveaway is from Desert Garden.
Here's the link: Phat Fiber Sample Box: Desert Garden and *Giveaway*

I'm intrigued by the Sea Witch Coilspun Wool Yarn. I love the colors and find the texture especially appealing.

Guest Author

2009-03-05T18:08:00.005-06:00

As many of you know I've been working hard on various ways of marketing the alpacas and myself. In doing so, I was asked to be a guest author on Alpaca Farm Girl's blog. Most of my writing is quite technical so this gave me a chance to be a little more creative. Give it a read and let Katy know what you think.

http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/farmbusiness/?p=755

Hey Look, I Can Knit!

2009-03-04T19:47:00.008-06:00

About 7 years ago I took a knitting class which eventually led to me owning alpacas. I haven't done any knitting since. I found it difficult and then I had surgery on my dominant hand. Holding the knitting needles became painful.

About a month back I saw a post on peg weaving. Then I saw someone at a MOPACA meeting weaving with this circular thing. I thought, 'hey, I could do that.'

So I found myself a loom at Michael's and gave it a try. It was simple enough that I could teach myself how to weave/knit plus it didn't hurt my hands. In two weeks I'd made this scarf while watching The Daily Show and LOST. The yarn is 75% acrylic, 25% wool (I'm saving my hand dyed yarns and alpaca yarns until I'm better). I used almost a 200 yard skein of each color.

I did have some 'help' with the scarf. My cat Cleo insists on sitting on my lap and she was not thrilled about having to share with the loom. My other cat, Spock is not quite three and he found the yarn quite tempting.

Here's how it looks while still on the loom.

Since Spock was so intrigued by the knitting process, I let him model the finished scarf.

Some day this will be a matching hat.

Lose the Winter Blues Contest

2009-03-02T21:53:00.003-06:00

Fellow St. Louisan and blog follower, Lenox Knits, is having a giveaway.

Prizes include:

1. A lace knitted scarf in a blue hemp/cotton blend yarn with clay beads, worth $18.

2. A knitted pouch in the blue hemp/cotton yarn with the same beads. It has a draw string closing with a long paper bead, worth $12.

3. A matching headband in lace, worth, $7.

4. A knitted wire wrist cuff with matching clay beads and some fun paper mache beads in matching colors, worth $11.

Entering is easy. Just click here.

Say Cheese!

2009-03-01T17:56:00.011-06:00

Today I had my first experience using the Tooth-a-Matic. Marie will be competing at the MOPACA show the end of this month and her teeth needed to be trimmed. Trimming alpaca teeth is regular part of alpaca husbandry and until now I had only observed or held the alpaca's mouth open. But, since Marie is my alpaca, today I had the honors.
Here is Marie in the chute and ready to go. She was less than pleased at this point and I was prepared to be covered in spit.

I'm using the Tooth-a-Matic in this photo - my photographer wasn't willing to get too close and I'm left handed so it's hard to see. It was much easier to use than expected. Also there were other alpaca owners visiting the farm so I had quite the audience for my first attempt at alpaca dentistry.

Now I'm just smoothing her teeth out a bit with the Dremel.

Here we both are afterwards, none the worse for wear. Marie was actually quite calm during the whole thing and there was no spitting. Yay!

By the way, I'm told that I'll be doing teeth on Shearing Day, April 14th...um yay?

We also did a couple of more halter training lessons with the crias: Griffin & Morrighan

Here I am working with Morrighan.

Griffin went outside the pasture on the halter for the first time today. At first he wasn't very sure about it but then he saw Samantha and became quite curious. Even at a young age he LOVES the ladies.

Alpaca Photo Contest

2009-02-21T21:07:00.003-06:00

The annual MOPACA Invitational Show is coming up the end of March. So dig out your best photos because this year there are cash prizes to go along with those ribbons!

You can enter two photos in each of these categories (if you like):

1. Cria—an individual cria caught at a special moment.

2. Alpacas interacting—shows action between alpaca and alpaca, alpaca and other animal or alpaca and person.

3. Farm scene—includes at least one alpaca.

4. Black and white—these shots should show an alpaca, and have artistic merit.

5. Computer enhanced—be creative—include one or more alpacas and artistically enhance the image of the alpaca.

6. Junior class—any type of alpaca photo taken by a young person, age 15 or younger

Entry form is here.

Cute, Fluffy Valentine Goodness

2009-02-15T13:39:00.012-06:00

On Valentine's Day, I made a visit out to see the alpacas. Morrighan had her first halter lesson and Griffin chose to do his 'dead alpaca' imitation during his halter lesson.

I also delivered some fleece and met the bunnies of Fluffington Farms. Talk about some cute, fluffy goodness! I learned about the different types of Angora rabbits - English, French & Satin.

I also purchased some of Jordan's home made fabric softener. It smells divine and I'm almost excited about doing laundry!

Griffin, 4 months old with his dam, Isis.

Morrighan Noir, 2 1/2 months old

Cute Fluffy Goodness All for You!

An experiment of sorts - the RESULTS

2009-02-11T22:36:00.003-06:00

On January 31st, I posted some of Autumm's fleece on my Alpacanation site, Craiglist, Missouri Wools Yahoo Group, and Local Harvest thinking I'd be lucky to sell it. After all, it wasn't even prime fiber. I had an immediate response from the Missouri Wools group. And I was very surprised to get a response from Craiglist. All in all I sold SEVEN pounds of fleece from four different animals when I had only listed 13 ounces for sale.

Much thanks to my co-worker Robyn who suggested Craiglist. And thank you to my buyers: Debbie who is going to use the fleece for doll hair and Fluffington Farms who will combine the alpaca fleece with fur from their angora rabbits.

So, how & where do you sell your fleece?

Ride the Manta at Sea World Contest

2009-02-11T22:04:00.003-06:00

Julia Roy's blog has a contest to ride the new Manta roller coaster at Sea World. Looks like something my niece and I would enjoy.

Who would you take?

Click HERE to enter.

Alpaca figures and scarves now available.

2009-02-04T22:12:00.001-06:00

These very cute alpaca figures have been added to the store website. There are two sizes: 6 and 12 inches.
These soft, fringed scarves have been added, too.

An Experiment of Sorts

2009-01-31T15:39:00.003-06:00

I'm often asked 'What do you do with alpaca fleece?' There are a myriad of things that could be done with it. For me in particular I've entered some into competitions and I have a closet full of fleece waiting to be sorted and put towards various end products. I thought I would try something a little different with some of my fleece.

One of my alpacas, Autumm, has very pretty colored fleece. When it comes off of her it's in various shades of brown. However, because Autumm is older, her fleece is coarse and short. It's too short to be spun into yarn or used to make rugs. But it is still good for felting and can even be used as stuffing or quilt batting.

So I took Autumm's coarse, short fleece and rinsed it to get as much of the dirt out as possible. This was a little daunting to me because if you agitate the fleece it turns into felt. I've posted it for sale on my Alpacanation site, Craiglist, Missouri Wools Yahoo Group, and Local Harvest. I would have done eBay but to be honest, the fees aren't worth it in this case as I don't expect to make a fortune off this left over fleece. I just want to get the most out of every bit of fiber I can and get the fleece out my closet - Shearing Day 2009 is in April and I'll have 6 more fleeces!

Will it sell? I don't know. But at least I'm trying something a little different to see if I get different results.

Alpaca Academy

2009-01-28T13:13:00.002-06:00

The Alpaca Registry has just launched a new website called Alpaca Academy. It has a lot of basic information about owning alpacas on it. I really wish this site would have been around when I wrote my business plan a couple of years ago! Even though I've owned alpacas for nearly 3 years now, there's still a lot to learn and I'm excited to have all of this information in one, easily accessible place.

Socks and Bears now available at my Alpacanation store

2009-01-12T23:03:00.003-06:00

Mens and Ladies ribbed socks as well as 5 and 9 inch bears are now available at my Alpacanation store.

Halter Training, Griffin's perspective

2009-01-12T22:18:00.008-06:00

Photos by Ellen Disseler

MOPACA Seminar, February 7 - 8, St. Louis, MO

2009-01-12T21:23:00.005-06:00

MOPACA Winter Meeting & Seminar
February 7-8, 2009

Saturday: 9:00 A.M. – 5 P.M.
MOPACA Presents:
Ellie Winslow**
Marketing in a Difficult Economy:
How to Jump Start your Business

12:00 P.M. – 1:00 P.M.
LUNCH

5:30 P.M. - 7 P.M.
Meet and Greet: Appetizers and Cash Bar
Sunday: 9:00 A.M. – 3 P.M.

MOPACA Presents
Jess Bowers**
The Straight Poop about Parasite Testing
How to do your own fecal exams, lecture and lab

12:00 P.M. – 1:00 P.M.
Lunch

**See descriptions of seminars and bio’s on speakers at MOPACA.ORG**
Location:
St. Louis Marriott West Hotel
St. Louis County, Missouri
MOPACA members: $40
Nonmembers: $80

To register click HERE

Some Photos

2009-01-11T23:14:00.003-06:00

Griffin, 3 months old

Morrighan, 6 weeks old with dam, Liberty

Morrighan hiding behind mom

Just a few pics from today's visit. Morrighan's fleece is coming in nicely. It's crimpy and uniform. Griffin had his second lesson on the halter. He did pretty well. He bucked and jumped around a bit and one point he even threw himself down on the ground. Then he became interested in walking with me once he realized the halter wasn't going to hurt him. His fleece is getting longer and is starting to get a bit of crimp to it.

We also practiced with Marie & Ulysses for the upcoming show in March. We just walked them around and then stood in one place for awhile. Then we walked some more. They did great!

Morrighan's webpage is finished

2009-01-07T15:47:00.003-06:00

Finally, Morrighan's webpage is up and running on Alpacanation. Now all the alpacas are listed and have been updated. Once the listing is created it's not that hard to maintain but it does take some work to get the initial page set up. Having an Alpacanation account is pretty much a 'must-have' for alpaca owners. I'm not sure if a lot of people sell their animals on there or not, but it's a good way to look at an owner's herd and bloodlines as well as check pricing for your area of the country.

I'm very excited about Morrighan and can't wait for her to get older so I can take her to shows. Both of her parents have very uniform fleece and I'm expecting hers to be the same.

Win a Peek

2009-01-06T22:45:00.003-06:00

This is a nifty device that lets you check and send emails. That's all it does and I'm sure that for some that's really all they need especially if they're on the go a lot.

Anyway if you'd like to win a Peek, head on over the jenn.nu's blog and enter the contest.

Here are the directions:

Win a Peek at jenn.nu! Participating in the Peek giveaway is as easy as creating a blog entry that links to the giveaway and to getpeek.com. For more information, see the official giveaway blog entry: Win a Peek!

Sold!

2009-01-06T14:11:00.004-06:00

As an alpaca owner I've had some fun 'first' experiences. My first alpaca, Isis....my first shearing day...my first cria. I've even sold some raw fleece, socks and teddy bears. But, today I made my first alpaca sale! I finally feel like a 'real' alpaca breeder and business owner.

Big River Alpacas and Blue Feather Farm have decided to co - purchase Mariposa's Birch Ulysses. He'll be spending six months at Big River Alpacas, which is where he's boarded and six months a year at Blue Feather Farm in Sullivan, Missouri.

Ulysses sweet demeanor and gentle spirit has made him a favorite with a lot of visitors to the farm. With his new owners he'll get his pick of the ladies from two different herds. They're even planning on taking him to the same show in March (MOPACA) that I wanted to take him to. In fact, I'll be transporting him there. So while he's no longer part of Mariposa's herd, I still get to keep tabs on how he's doing which I'm thankful for - I was worried that my first few alpaca sales would be total strangers. I realize that they're livestock and that this is first and foremost a business and I will be likely selling my animals to people I don't know. But, I also put a lot of myself into these animals - figuring out the breedings, analyzing fleece, halter training, etc. So, I'm glad not only to make this very first sale, but to make it to experienced alpaca owners I know and respect.

Teddy Bears Added to Farm Store Website

2009-01-05T13:35:00.002-06:00

These fluffy adorable 9 inch bears are now on the Farm Store website. They're made from 100% alpaca. Some smaller bears and stuffed alpacas are coming as soon as I can get them photographed and uploaded.

In other news Griffin is keeping everyone quite entertained at the farm. Saturday they put a bred female in with the moms and babies. Griffin thought that she was for him and began orgling (this is the noise that male alpacas make when they're interested in a female) and tried to go after her. She spit all over him! He's only 2 1/2 months old but apparently he thinks he's a herdsire already.

Also, Griffin had his first halter lesson on Sunday and did very well.

Griffin's webpage is finished.

2009-01-03T14:07:00.003-06:00

The crias are growing and doing well. Even though it's cold there's still plenty to take care of with my alpaca business. It's time to renew memberships to various organizations, get the crias registered, and update the website.

I've finally gotten Griffin's website done.

Next I need to do Morrighan's and get some items added to the store.

There's always something to do!

Win an Alpaca Teddy Bear!

2008-12-09T12:06:00.003-06:00

Alpaca Farm Girl is giving away an alpaca teddy bear. These teddy bears are softer than soft and very, very cute. Head on over and enter today!

Liberty's Cria has finally arrived.

2008-12-03T10:49:00.003-06:00

Libety's Fall 2008 cria finally arrived on November 26th, 20 days after her 'due date.' I was starting to get worried. Liberty birthed a 17.3 pound, true black, girl. I have to say that I'm just pleased as punch about this, especially after everything that Liberty has been through the last 12 months.

Williams-Sonoma Gift Card Giveaway

2008-12-03T10:42:00.003-06:00

Alpaca Farm Girl is celebrating the holidays with daily giveaways on her blog. Some are alpaca related. Others, like today's giveaway, are not. Today's giveaway is a $50 Williams-Sonoma Gift Card. So head on over to the site and check it out!

Marie in Full Fleece

2008-11-07T14:34:00.000-06:00

Here's a nice shot of Marie in full fleece taken Spring 2008.

Mariposa's Griffin

2008-11-07T14:27:00.005-06:00

Griffin is the newest addition to the herd. He arrived on October 15, 2008. He's already up to 32 pounds and is completely girl crazy. His white fleece has a nice luster to it and we expect him to be a BIG boy when he grows up.

His dam is Isis. Marie is his half sister and Ulysses is his half brother.

Mariposa's Birch Ulysses

2008-11-07T14:22:00.003-06:00

Ulysses is just sweeter than sweet. He's very food motivated - much like his owner. Ulysses was born on October 12, 2007. His dam is Isis. Marie is his full sister and Griffin is his half brother. His pure white fleece is coming in nicely this year and he gets lots of compliments on his topknot. He has quite a following among my friends.

Mariposa's Rose Marie

2008-11-06T16:05:00.002-06:00

Here's Marie with hay all in her top knot looking a lot like E. T. She was my first cria. Her dam is Isis. Ulysses is her full brother and Griffin is her half brother. Marie just turned 2 years old in October 2008. Her cria fleece has won several ribbons. Marie is ready to be bred but I will probably hold off on breeding her until Spring due to financial considerations.

Autumm

2008-11-06T15:58:00.001-06:00

This is Autumm. And yes, I spelled it correctly. Autumm is my most recent acquisition. Some fellow alpaca owners were moving and they decided to disperse their herd, so I purchased Autumm. She's the oldest of all my animals and is the easiest to work with. She may not look like much but she has spectacular babies. To date she's had 9 crias. This fall she had a stillborn cria in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and Autumm was rather distraught. Later that day another alpaca had a cria. Lo and behold, Autumm was letting this cria nurse and taking care of it as her own. So for now, the little cria has two moms!

PHF Liberty

2008-10-31T21:35:00.001-05:00

Here's a photo of Liberty freshly shorn last spring. Liberty is a gorgeous true black and everyone just loves her dreadlocks.

The last 12 months have been particularly hard on Liberty. In Fall 2007 she gave birth to a bay black girl, Violet Faye. At 3 weeks of age, Violet developed sepsis which is a blood infection. Violet seemed to improve at first but then it became apparent that the infection had spread to her nervous system and there was absolutely nothing we could do. Losing Violet was hard on Liberty and myself as well.

At first Liberty seemed okay so we went ahead and bred her. A month later she developed a severe parasitic infection. We almost lost her. With exceptional care, she bounced back and seems healthier than ever. Surprisingly she held her pregnancy the entire time. Her 'due date' is November 6 and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well.

Calliope's Isis

2008-10-30T13:44:00.001-05:00

My first alpaca purchase, in 2006, was Isis. She's high up in the hierarchy of the herd and is quite well known for her attitude. She's first in line to be fed and has been known to dump feed bowls forcing the other alpacas to eat off the ground. Touching her belly is strictly forbidden!

When she isn't preggo, she's a completely different alpaca. She's actually rather sweet and you can get a look at her light fawn fleece.

She's a devoted and dedicated mom. Actually she looks after everyone's babies.

Her crias are Marie (2006), Ulysses (2007) and Griffin (2008).

Wow, it's been a long time......

2008-10-30T13:21:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted in ages, mostly due to time constraints. Several of my friends have started personal blogs and I'm feeling somewhat inspired. While I don't feel comfortable sharing my personal life on the web, I'm more than happy to share stories about my alpacas.

Since my last post in March 2007, the herd has grown to 6 alpacas. All the alpacas now reside at Big River Alpacas in Dittmer, MO. For awhile they were spread out between several different farms.

In the coming posts, I'll introduce you to the members of the herd.

MOPACA 2007

2007-03-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

Here's a recent picture of Marie.

I'll be attending the 2007 MOPACA show at Lake St. Louis the end of the month. Both Liberty and Isis' fleece are entered in the competition. I'll also working as a volunteer handing out ribbons on Sunday. Results will be posted as soon as I get them.

Also, I have my alpacanation website up and running. The link is on the right. In addition to listing my alpacas, I'm also brokering alpacas for others.

The logo is still in progress. It's being designed by my cousin, Kim. It should be done by the end of the month.

2007-01-26T16:10:00.000-06:00

Here's a couple of photos of Liberty taken January 20,2007. I am particularly fond of her dreadlocks.

In other news, I'm working on the official sales website of Mariposa Farm. In addition to listing my animals, I'll be brokering others animals in the hopes of generating revenue while I'm building my own inventory.

Mid America Alpaca Show Results

2006-11-15T17:09:00.000-06:00

This just in.....Isis' fleece took third place at the Mid America Alpaca show held in Topeka, KS October 27 - 29, 2006.

2006-11-05T18:18:00.000-06:00

Here comes Marie!

2006-11-03T21:28:00.000-06:00

Alpacas are raised for their fleece. In this photo Isis' fleece from 2006 is being sorted prior to competition. Her 2006 fleece took 2nd place at the AFCNA national show last August (the red ribbon below).

These are the ribbons Isis has won thus far in national and regional competitions.

2006-11-03T20:58:00.000-06:00

Isis was our first alpaca purchase. She may look white but her fleece is actually light fawn. She looks darker than Marie because she is, not because she's been rolling in the dirt (which she has). In these photos Marie is 1 week old and 22.8 pounds.

PHF Liberty

2006-11-03T15:00:00.000-06:00

This is Liberty. She is our second alpaca purchase. She currently resides at Peru Hollow Farms in Waterloo, IL. In a few months she will be moved to Always Alpacas in Highland, IL with Isis and Marie. Liberty is bred to Pooh Bear (photo below) for a Fall 2007 cria. (Photos courtesy of Peru Hollow Farms.)

About alpacas....from my 2004 marketing plan

2006-10-31T14:55:00.000-06:00

Alpacas are a member of the Camelid family. Other members include llamas and camels. There are two types of Alpacas: Huacaya and Suri. The Huacaya predominates. Alpacas are originally from the Andes Mountains in South America. Currently there are approximately three million alpacas worldwide with 50,000 (AOBA website) residing in the US. (As of 2004, there were about 6 million sheep in the US. —American Sheep Industry Association)
Alpacas are raised for their fleece. Unlike lamb’s wool, alpaca fleece contains no lanolin making it hypoallergenic. An alpaca can produce five to ten pounds of fleece per year. The fleece can be sold to small spinners in cottage industries, larger material manufacturers, or the Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America. Alpacas come in approximately 22 different colors and the fleece can also be dyed. In North America naturally colored fleece is highly desired.
Alpacas only produce one cria (baby alpaca) per year. This coupled with the fact that importation of alpacas into the United States was closed in 1998 ensures that the alpaca population grows at a slow and steady rate. The majority of alpacas in the United States are registered with the Alpaca Registry and are DNA typed. Alpacas can be 100% insured for 3.3% of their value. They are not aggressive and at most will be five feet tall and weigh 150 - 200 pounds. Required shelter consists of a three-sided barn and they tolerate cold well. In warm climates they will need a large fan or other method to keep from overheating.

Alpacas are environmentally friendly[i] and contribute to community conservation efforts in several ways:

o The alpaca's feet are padded and leave terrain undamaged as it browses on native grasses.
o The alpaca is a modified ruminant with a three-compartment stomach. It converts grass and hay to energy very efficiently, eating less than other farm animals.
o Its camelid ancestry allows the alpaca to thrive without consuming very much water, although an abundant, fresh water supply is necessary.
o The alpaca does not usually eat or destroy trees, preferring tender grasses, which it does not pull up by the roots.
o A herd of alpacas consolidates its feces in one or two spots in the pasture, thereby controlling the spread of parasites, and making it easy to collect and compost for fertilizer.
o An alpaca produces enough fleece each year to create several soft, warm sweaters for its owner’s comfort or for selling to others. This is the alpaca's way of contributing to community energy conservation efforts.
[i]. http://www.alpacainfo.com/newsite/about/environment.html

2006-10-31T13:03:00.000-06:00

Here's a pic of the latest addition to our herd, Mariposa's Rose Marie or, Marie. She's about 3 hours old in this picture.