Taking good fiber pics is not one of my strengths, but I couldn’t resist snapping a shot of this fleece today. The alpacas look pretty ratty during mud season and I had to open up this fleece to remind myself how nicely this guy is coming along. This fleece belongs … Read More
Yep – it’s that time already. Has been for a while, actually. I finally sat down at the computer and entered our spring show string for two shows: North American Alpaca Show and Northeast Alpaca Expo. Those are the only two alpaca shows we’ll do this spring due to the … Read More
The forecast for tomorrow and Friday is sunny and 30’s. Perfect weather for skirting alpaca fiber in the barn. The south facing window warms the space up nicely when the weather is above freezing. I still have a fair amount of fiber to skirt and move before alpaca shearing starts … Read More
Visitors to Snowshoe Farm often ask how the alpacas handle winter. As you can see, at least on days when there’s not a cold wind blowing, the alpacas are quite comfortable. Unless the weather is very windy or it’s snowing or raining hard, our alpacas generally are free to come … Read More
On Saturday we delivered three young male alpacas to their new home at Fantom Farm in Mass. The farm had two older alpacas and when one died recently, they were left with one alpaca who was looking for his companion and not happy with just his goat and sheep herdmates. … Read More
It’s that time of year again…we’ve weaned most of last year’s crias and they are big enough to wear halters comfortably. This means it’s time to start lead training. We start by fitting the alpacas with halters and letting them wear the halters for short periods for a few days. … Read More
Those of us who farm in colder climates have to work around some challenges posed by the cold, ice and snow. One challenge is to stay warm while working outside, especially if you can’t wear heavy gloves for the task at hand. Another is to find good days for using … Read More
Here at Snowshoe Farm we are looking back at 2011 and counting our blessings. Despite a down economy, we’ve managed to sell quite a few alpacas this year; we had a beautiful crop of crias – mostly female (yes, that’s a good thing); our homegrown herdsire, Snowshoe Aristides, won another … Read More
This time of year is as close as we get to “down time” on the farm. Outdoor chores are limited: no gardening, no mowing. Breeding chores are limited; no breeding, no birthing. We stick very close to home in the spring and summer, but this time of year we have … Read More
Our herd was due for its dectomax injections this week, so we took advantage of the gray, wet, but still fairly mild weather to get that chore done today. Snow is in the forecast for tonight and more seasonable temps to follow. It’s time… Tomorrow the crias get their oral … Read More