Bella does it again

Despite watching the herd like hawks at the moment, for the third year running Bella managed somehow to secretly slip her new arrival in unoticed once again. Never showing any signs of labour she just casually drops it  whilst you take a coffee break.
Djill,our French 'stagiere' student was back with us for the second week of her studies so it was nice to have a birth whilst she was here although we missed the actual event.
Not the best choice of mornings.Wind and rain a-plenty so it was a cold and very wet cria that greeted us.
Another 'Columbus' boy, weighing in at 8.5 kilos and a week early. He was dried and fitted with a warmed cria coat and seems to be doing well..

 

So,that's four boys,one girl so far. so we could do with the balance redressing with the remainders please.

From one extreme to the other

We've had two more cria since the last blog but unfortunately the camera was playing up again so I couldn't take any photos. It was either the battery or the charger,and in the end probably both.
The cost of replacing both was only twenty euros cheaper than a new camera and a camera much better than the old one.
What a wasteful throwaway world we live in. Anyway, I am now the proud owner of a new (hopefully trusty) Canon. Being over fifteen years of age I am still trying to find my way round all the different functions it performs. The fact in came with half a dozen instruction manuals and not one of them in English doesn't help.
Evita 'unpacked' a week ago,and nearly three weeks sooner than she should have. A girl this time,not especially small at 5.9 kilos but very weak,very down on her pasterns and unable to stand. or hold up her head. Another unusually late afternoon birth.So it was mum and baby into the barn,hot water bottle plenty of wrapping,warm electrolytes inside her and glucose and anti-biotic injections. A comfy chair for me and we were set for another long night. After a few hours she began to show signs of improvement but was never going to feed herself in time to get the colostrum. So around midnight mum was milked and baby was fed by bottle. She was lucky enough to have the sweetest ,calmest alpaca for a mum who stood perfectly still and unheld whilst we took what we needed at two hour intervals through the night.
The importance of having alpacas with this temperament is often overlooked but on occasions like this can prove to be a life saver.
After a few days she slowly found her legs and is now feeding from mum and is back with the herd and doing alright.
The second arrived yesterday. Afternoon birth again! This time two weeks early but a huge 9;5 kilo boy that literally hit the ground running.I have never known one so determined to get up and go!
Once his cord was iodined he was off, heading for the otherside of the field and within one hour of being born he was running with all the confidence of a two week old!
Poor mum was desperately waddling after him humming and cursing, her placenta still swinging, in an attempt to get him under control! Quite incredible.

These pics were taken today at one day old, he's changed colour as he's dried from yesterday but we're still not exactly sure what to. Rose grey I think.

Heres another picture of Izzam whilst we're at it. He was found to have a small umbilical hernia so he's wearing a strap-on.

Our Suri still keeps us guessing. Now running to 381 days! and not at all bothered. It's certainly a mixed bag this year!

Overseas Aid.

"It's the last chance we'll get to have a break"
"Can we go? can we?"
"I've checked the ferry prices,and there's one in the morning"
It was eleven o'clock on Saturday morning and the lure of the Popham open day in Cornwall was becoming too much to bare for my missus.
Like a junkie in need of a fix it had to overcome all obstacles.
"We have people just arrived in the Gite" I pointed out.
"Oh, they're ok. they have been before"
"But,Jane and Micheal are coming tomorrow"
"I can change that to this afternoon, they won't mind"
"What about Manny and Damien coming over on Monday? and they're bringing us some chickens"
"I'll ring Manny she'll understand"
I should perhaps explain at this point our chicken family had become seriously depleted and we were down to two surviving old hens, when sat outside a few days ago there was an ear piercing shriek from the hen house followed by a few thumps and old Harriot was on her back stone dead!
One solitary chicken was not much of a flock so Manny had kindly offered to get us some more in return for favours done.
Anyway, I relented. People were re-arranged and the ferry booked.
Popham Farm was bathed in sunshine when we arrived and we soon settled in to what is fast becoming our second home.
A few beers on the patio and the 'chill mode' was engaged.
Around fifty people came along on the Monday and inbetween cooking homemade sausage and burgers it was good to finally meet a few people you already felt you knew. If you see what I mean.
The highlight of the afternoon was the sale of 'Thunder' the futurity winning black male to Tim Hey and Matt Lloyd.
It all came and went too quickly and it's now back to work trying to make the grass grow!
Rainfall is about 80% down on the norm for the first quarter of the year in Brittany and it shows.
It is forecast for this weekend though, so I've been out fertilizing the fields today in anticipation.

The show season is here

First things first. French Frankie, our string eating alpaca is back to normal and grazing along with the others.He spent a couple of days mostly kushed down staring into space wondering what had hit him, but all's well now.
We're just waiting for the alpaca bean necklace to exit!
Gary Sanders from Pophams spent a few days with us last week to take in the Salbris alpaca show and try to continue their show winning run this side of the channel with a few males that stay at Quelvehin.
French alpaca shows go from strength to strength each year. The entries have grown in size (170 this time) and the quality gets better and competition harder.
Salbris was a new venue for the Concours International organised by Alpaga Developpement and only a stones throw from Vierzon where it is usually held. A fantastic stable block within the grounds of a chateau. You'll have take my word for it as I still have no photos!
We took our usual gang of three stud males plus two new boys
Judged by Matt Lloyd , Daniel and Alfonso both took first place rosettes in their respective brown classes for Gary, and Columbus was placed second in a very high quality senior white male class, losing out to the eventual show winner Jolimont Attitude owned by Alpagas Sologne.
For our part,the mighty Atlas was up in the Champions league again for the forth year running this time,taking reserve champion black huacaya.and a first place in the black fleece entry.  What a star.
Columbus and Atlas have both proved their worth in the showrings in recent years and now we shall reap some rewards with a handful of stud services already in place.We are certainly looking forward to our own C&A cria this year.

        photograghs supplied curtesy of gary sanders and ginny cobb.

Ever had one of those days?

This was supposed to be an account of our weekend at Vierzon where we attended the annual alpaca show once again. But it will have to wait.
During the weekend my mobile phone was playing up and now it's dead. Went to cut the grass. Battery flat on the ride-on. Went to charge the battery. Battery charger dead. Thought I'd download the weekend photos on to the computer. Cameras knackered. So no show pics at the moment.
On top of everything else we had an emergency with one of the alpacas this evening to deal with.
We had let them onto a parcel of land around our polytunnel this afternoon with some tempory fencing as a treat because the grass was long and lush. As we did the final check around eight o'clock before they settle for the night we found one of the boys choking and coughing and in some distress.
The shelter walls were all splattered with green gunge he was spitting up.Hastily I checked in his mouth and throat for any obstruction but could see nothing.The vet was called.
All the other boys seemed fine, but while waiting for the vet to arrive I decided to check around for anything toxic we may not have noticed. What we found,in fact, was a trail of string and a tangled ball.This was the twine I use for lining up fence posts and must have been hidden in the long grass. My guess is he had swallowed a length of it. I checked again now suspecting what to look for,but nothing to see.
Anyway the vet arrived and  he's had various injections. Muscle relaxants,anti inflammatorys and what seemed like a bucket full of some oral drench which the poor mite obviously had difficulty swallowing and as a consequence a lot of it was spat or coughed over me.
It's now two in the morning and I've done the last check on him. Very drowsy, too drugged to move away so just a pathetic squeak as I stroked him goodnight. Hope he's ok in the morning.

Right, I still stink of alpaca juices and need another wash.Luckily the boilers mended and we now have hot water. Forgot to mention that one.!

Mayenne weekend

Ahh bliss. Home alone. Wifes away alpaca sitting for a few days at' La grand mere' so the music is up a few volume notches and no dissaproving comments to be heard.
Spring seems to have sprung and we enjoying some great weather at the moment. It's amazing the difference a bit of sunshine does. A tonic for the soul, fueling the incentive to get on with the endless list of jobs 'pending'.which, after seven years hasn't got any shorter!
We did manage our first weekend away for some time though albeit mixing business with pleasure as we delivered a couple of alpacas to Ian and Karen in the Mayenne. Our plan for an early start was scuppered as the electricity supply blew just as we were about to go,and not thinking it very fair to leave Jake in the dark all weekend had to get an electrician sorted before we went.
We arrived at Chailland just in time for lunch. Jake had rang.The electrician had been and gone. I had left a blank cheque fearing the worst. It was the kettle shorting out the circuit. The bill? Five euros! FIVE euros.
I think I'll use him again!
After the alpacas were settled in we were treated to home made elderflower cordial, home made bread,home made moussaka,home made lentil and cheese loaf,home made cherry wine, and home made bakewell tart.
Very scrummy. They had embraced the self sufficiency ideal to an envious degree. How do you find the time?

As we were in the area we paid a visit on Clare at Atlantis Alpacas where we were once again wined and dined.
The food was excellent. She would be the first to admit it wasn't all home made but guess what? The dinner service was! and all emblazened with alpacas.How's that for oneupmanship.(Is that a word?)
We talked alpacas into the small hours and retired to a four poster bed passed down through family generations.

Sunday morning,after breakfast we made our way into Normandy for a surprise visit on Norman and Orla at Vaux Hardys and arrived,you guessed it,just in time for lunch!
Things are back to normal now. Jayne's cooked a big pot of curried stew. She said.
"I've made this so you can warm it up for yourself whilst I'm away at Judi's"
"Great,was is it, beef,?"
"Well sort of, - you know thoose packs you can buy in the supermarket marked  'consommation animal seulement ' "
"Dog food?"
"No it's alright it's just the bits they trim off when making up the joints"
"You won't be having any then ?"
"No, Judi's got me some food in"
"Well, thanks babe. How thoughtful"
Think I'll ring Karen and go back and check on the alpacas .If I play my cards right I can get there about lunchtime.!

Pontivy Show Time

 

Well it wasn't exactly the Alpaca Futurity but another weekend spent spreading the good word at the Pontivy Festival of Animals. A two day event featuring everything from snakes to horses. There was an international Cat show in half of the hall with some very strange felines on display. I'm sorry but I can't get gooey over a cat with no fur! Some very well trained donkeys seemed to be the stars of the show doing almost all the tricks you would expect of a dog including rolling over to have its tummy rubbed.

  There was also the usual pony rides and a display by a team of sled pulling Huskies although the skis were replaced with wheels owing to the lack of snow.

The last couple of hours on the Sunday and the alpacas were ready to go home. They let you know by waiting by the entry gate to the pen and humming loudly. Dinnadin was so fed up he slumped his head on Daniels back. The alpaca equivalent of of big sigh.

There's only so many photo shoots one can take!