Abracadabra - Bella pulls another one out of the hat !

We were pretty sure this year that with all the time we were spending out there in the field, Bella would not be able to produce her six cria unannounced,  but we were wrong !  two weeks early, during a 20 minute departure from the field while Steve collected the first load of this years hay and I was over the other side of the farm, she managed not just to give birth, but get it up,  dressed and fed, and then  delivered the after birth  as well.  We didn't even know she was in labour !

Remember this ..........

and then this ........

Well  we have been waiting all year to see the result and here it is  Popham Ambersun Soloman's first cria !

 

A beautiful dark fawn boy with a pedigree that includes names like Highlander, Benleigh Cosmos, Auzengate, Jolimont Conquistador, Jolimont Warrior and Accoyo Osobali,  - no pressure lad  !!

Although now nearly nine years old, Bella is most definately our very best female.  They say that everything is for sale in the field at a price,  Popham Bella is one we would not part with, definately one of the senior partners better buys.

Cute and tender moments

Right on time, the second suri of the year arrived on Sunday.  Finesse, who was due on the 21st July, delivered her cria first thing sunday morning as planned, if only they were all so reliable.  Another Moonsbrook Cosmos boy called Kirikou.  The name was chosen by one of our gite guests, a Parisian family, originally from Syria, who have booked  for the entire 6 week period.  I thought the name was Arabic but in fact, I think it comes from an old African folk tale.

He must have been a bit squashed in the oven as his legs were a bit wonkey and he was having trouble working them. So he spent the first day with them bandaged up which seemed to help him with stability.

 

Bandages off today , he has been running with the herd and making new friends.

There have been  many moments when I have spotted something in the field and wished I'd had a  camera with me.  Today was one of those moments when I did.  Busy taking cute pictures of Kirikou I noticed Bali and her cria from last year, Janine, sitting in the dust pit trying to keep cool.  The flys have been out in force the last couple of days and driving them all mad buzzing around their heads.  It took me a little while to work out what she was doing, but then I realised.  Ever minute or so she rubbed her head across Janine's neck and head, chasing the flys off.

 

 

Although long sinced weaned,  with Bali ,once a daughter always a daughter .

polioencephalomalacia and the chicks

Now I look at the blog, I realize it 's been ages since I blogged and when I think about it, a lot has happened over the last few weeks.  Shearing thankfully passed without a hitch, as the weather kept fine and once again they  now all look clean and fresh wearing their corduroy coats.  There are always a few surprises when the fleece comes off, normally it's those pesky mite that have managed to find themselves a nice armpit or crease of skin  to breed in.  However, this year although the Ivomec  was on hand, they were not in evidence.  This year the big surprise, when turning over a young female was pink fibre !  yes Quelvehin are now breeding saris  pink.  On further investigation the colour didn't follow through to the skin (oh what a surprise!),  so we can assume at some time or other she must have sat in something . Pascal, our french shearer, just had to take a photo, and cut off a memento of the occasion, Doubt he will shear another pink for a while.

 

The herd has grown by two since last I blogged .  Little Kane our Popham Daniel, Bay black boy was born 3 weeks ago and is doing well.  His mother was our first  fawn Atlas girl out of a  solid white, so between him and Daniel we have managed to go from white to black in two générations.

Then our first suri of the year, Kushti, a lovely little fawn boy sired by Moonsbrook Cosmo.   Puppy found him all alone at the bottom of the field, here he is under the watchful  eye of his mother, she's second on the left over the other side of the field in the far distance !! 

 

Mum Emma needed a short,  sharp lesson in motherhood.  An hour later all was well and he is now doing fine.

Our chicken population has also risen slightly.  There are now about 40 chickens,  all at various stages of development and Steve has had to build another hen house.  They wander freely around the farm, in and out of the flower beds and over the fields - what a life !  if only they knew their fate.  Two have already been put aside for our  french friend Bernard, who , although now retired, once cooked for  the rich and famous in his restaurant on the Champs Elyées . He has invited us to dinner to sample one of his haut cuisine recipes - chicken of course !

All these new arrivals has meant we have spent an awful lot of time around the farm clearing up after one animal or another.  This time of year,  Steve and I , religiously pick up poo in the fields once or twice a day.  All this time in the field gives you plenty of time to watch the herd.  While  on one of his poo picking shifts, Steve noticed a young female acting a little strange.  It is normally me that notices these slight differences and then has to justify my concerns, so when he said something was definitely not right ,  I didn't doubt it and  we got her in for a good look straight away.  Further investigations did little to enlighten us , everything seemed fine other than the fact she stumbled around, bumping in to fences and other members of the herd and tripping over food troughs.  Over the next hour  her condition worsened , she had stopped ruminating and was having difficulty holding her head up. we felt it was time to call the vet.  After a thorough  examination,  the vet  concluded that she may have eaten something, perhaps the bracken fern  that grew around the edge of the field or foxglove, although with plenty of other more palatable options she wasn't totally convinced and neither were we.  By ten at night her condition was no better and Steve took to the internet to do some research.

 

 

 

Working his way through the American forums he came across Polioencephalomalacia  /Thiamine deficiency. Thiamine is a B vitamin (B1). It is water soluble and must be manufactured constantly in an alpacas second stomach as it has a very short life span of around 10 minutes.  Symptoms of low thiamine,  polioencephalomalacia (PEM), are largely neurological as the brain needs an adequate supply in order to function properly.  Alpacas can deplete their body's supply of thiamine much more rapidly than cattle, sheep or goats and PEM symptoms can bring about the death of an alpaca much more quickly than in other animals. Symptoms of low deficiency are said to be decreased appetite, failure to remain with the herd,  staggering or unsteady gait,  elevated head or stargazing, head or ear twitching, excessive salivation or drooling.  The acute stage of PEM is characterized by blindness, grinding of teeth, spasms and seizures, laying down  and failure to rise.  Untreated these symptoms lead to coma and death.

 

 

 

First thing the next morning a quick call to the vet told us that she as well had burnt the midnight  oil and come up with the same prognosis, she was on her way over with two bottles of Vitamin B compound. We started a course of 6 hourly injections of 5 mls Vit B1.  After the third injection we started to see a slight improvement in her condition and 48 hours later, she was back to normal.  We are thankful we acted  in good time and she was able  to make a full recovery.

Causes  that bring about Thiamine deficiency include sudden feed change , an imbalance in the gut flora, imbalances in the rumen caused by antibiotics and wormers,  too much grain or pellets.  Coccidiosis, as cocci rely on thiamine to reproduce.  Other causes include change in the weather, forage,  stress, drinking well or untreated water and eating bracken fern, which breaks down thiamine.

On closer inspection of the field , it was obvious they had all been eating the bracken fern which poked through the fence with the brambles that they loved.

 

So, on what was probably the hottest day yet this year, with temperatures reaching 30° at one point, we pulled up and cut back any bracken that dared to creep into the fields.  Although we can't say that the bracken was  the culprit, after all they had all eaten it, it may have been a contributory factor and  we were taking no chances.

 

 

 

This experience has taught us several things

1, always have a bottle of vit B1 in the cupboard, even if PEM is not present, it will do no harm giving it if suspected

2, Act quickly, time is of the essence.

3, Never under estimate the true benefits of picking up poo.

4,  What a wonderful thing the internet really is.  At this point I would like to thank Bag End Suri Alpacas of Maine, LLC for their wonderful blog  date September 2011,  http://www.bagendsuris.com/?page_id=735  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Births and birthdays

Finally at 2 days off a full year our first cria of the year arrived.  A beautiful Columbus girl from La Grand Mere Blossom.  Needed a little help this one as she got stuck but after abit of intervention hit the ground at 7.2 K, which surprised me as I was expecting a whopper given Blossom's body score.
Although now a week old she is still unnamed which is why I hadn't blogged until now.  Fact is this year we are on 'K's and the senior Partner says its his turn to choose the name, so despite several suggestions from myself and  other interested parties (namely Judi), she is still referred to as 'the cria'.
So here she is  -  The Cria !

There is something quite magical about a newborn, brilliant, crispy white cria running around a field of tired, shabby fleeces that are more than ready to come off.  The last week the girls have all been sitting around the water bucket, willing it to jump out and splash them.  Today, however, it is a different story.  One day off shearing and it is raining cats and dogs.  With no barn here we are now faced with a familiar problem - 'will it rain tomorrow and how are we going to keep them dry overnight' - the forecast is better tomorrow but wet fleeces don't shear.  So far the last five years we have been lucky, could our luck have run out this year, watch this space.

 

 

All this rain is a world apart from the weather at the end of May 21 years ago, when we were in the middle of a heat wave.  I remember  it all too well as I was very heavily pregnant with our youngest son Jake, who will be 21 this Saturday -  how time flys and how life changes.

You know when they have grown up when :-

Letters arrive in their name ! some of them bills !

When the phone rings, someone asks for Mr Parker and they don't want your husband !

When they complain about the price of petrol !

When they buy a pair of shoes from a cheap shop that when you were paying they refused to go in !

When the only time you know where they are  is when their car is stood outside !

and when they tell you they are having their 21st birthday party at their girlfriends house because her parents are not there this weekend !

 

However, you know they are still your baby when they say, '... but you will make me a birthday cake won't you Mum,  as you've always made me one and it won't be the same without one !'   arrh bless !

 

Come to think of it  - it took a week to name him !!

 

 

 

Mothers pride

Sometimes I find myself apologizing to the non alpaca breeders for a blog that is almost all alpaca chatter, but this blog will be of no interest to those readers, so for those of you who were looking for your next  alpaca fix sorry, this one is not for you !!

Regular  followers of this blog may have, from time to time, seen we have someone  clicking on from Baja California or comments on the blog from No.1  son and those of you that know us well will no doubt realize this is our eldest son Josh who at the tender age of 18, packed his suitcase, and went to work and study in Mexico, a third world country !  or so we are led to believe.

 

Josh left France to study for his language degree six years ago and since then has gone from strength to strength.  He now works and teaches for the university in Ensenada  and does interpreting and translation work in both French and English.  Here he is interpreting for an International conference, not quite the U.N. but give him time.

As a parent I think that the most difficult thing we have to do is to let go, it is always hard to say goodbye to your child after 18 years but when they are getting on a plane at Nantes airport, waving you goodbye through the passport control window and you are trying to look cool, waving back and being casual - boy it is hard.  Skype is a wonderful thing and we are able to communicate on a regular basis, but there are times when you feel you are not fulfilling your parental duties.  When they are ill because they have once again eaten something off the street stalls in Mexicali (hope I have spelt that right), at Christmas and birthdays, or as in this week when they send you their photographs taken at their graduation ceremony.

 

They say that Pride is one of the deadly sins, well then I am just going to have to add it to  my  list of other deadly sins as Josh passed this degree with honors and we are both extremely proud of him and  what he has achieved.   So many congratulations Josh  from all your family this side of the world, we all love and miss you.

 

Oh and just one thing .... do you think Mexico might be interested in this one too ? !!

 

 

 

  

The waiting game

Its that time of year again!  when I spend most of my day either looking out of the bathroom window or leaning over the gate just in case one of the females decides to give birth unannounced.  No doubt despite our constant surveillance Bella will once again still manage it.

 

This year all being well we expect 11 little extra mouths, the first is now a week overdue and still no sign.  LGM Apple Blossom is now 151 days and looking very fat with a body score of 5.  I hope she is not having us on and getting fat on all the extra preggy girl rations.

Our breeding programme here at Quelvehin has now taken on a new direction and the senior partner has got a new project to occupy his spare time !!  chickens ! -   We have had chickens for several years now that wonder freely around the farm -(yes protected by alpacas ) too freely in my mind, two in particular think they are part of the family and if they get the chance wonder around the lounge and sit in front of the telly.  After a hen went broody the other week we ended up with two delightful chicks.  This is the second time this hen has sat on eggs, the first time didn't go so well, when only one hatched and for some reason the good lord decided to put one leg on the wrong way  so it went round and round in circles, needless to say it didn't last long .  So on the strength of our current success,  we are now the proud owners of a new incubator and are hatching our first clutch (does one say clutch) of eggs.
  

One good thing about breeding chickens it only takes 21 days and requires no monitoring on my part.- finally a business idea that requires no picking up poo !

 

Finally some caribbean sun !

I believe that is was Aristotle who said  "One swallow does not a summer make, nor one fine day;  -well in our case it is the lizards that give the illusion that summer has started .  This week they have been out  in force, basking in the bright sunshine and running up the walls.  They hibernate in the walls during the winter months occasionally somehow making their way into the house.  They are often seen running across the bedroom carpet and even on one occasion, on pulling back the sheets of his bed,  Jake  found one snuggled up there, taking a nap !

   As you can see they weren't the only one's soaking up the D3

The good weather seemed to coincide with the visit of a family from Costa Rica.  When they first enquired about the gite four weeks  ago, I thought it was someone having a  bit of a laugh, a joke or something.  I sat there and replied to their enquiry in two jumpers, listening to the rain against the velux and looking  at the meteor reading on my computer which read just 3° and wondered why anyone would want to leave this .............

 

and this ...

 

   to come to this  ..............

 

it was surely not because of these .........



I was right  -the answer was Cheese !!   Jean Jacques explained that he kept a herd of 200 cows and that his main income comes from milk production.  Over the last few years the costs involved in keeping them taking into account  the rising cost of feed and medication, compared to the income in milk sales was  making it more and more difficult to keep going and that he was looking for  another outlet for his milk. Costa Rican cheese apparently has very little favour, so most of the cheese they eat is imported and hence is a bit of a luxury.  He had booked himself a course at the local Agricultural college to learn how to make french cheese.  While here he sampled some of our mature white cheddar which really impressed him.  So if anyone knows of any Cheddar making course I am sure he would be interested.  While he spent his time on the course his family enjoyed the summer sun with temperatures  as high at 26 ° , here are the two girls aged 2 and 5 enjoying a chocolate cake. 

                                                                     

Every day we had endless conversations, with me replying  'si'  which is the only word  I know in Spanish.  I just hope I was not  saying 'yes' when I should have been saying 'no'. They left this morning taking the tropical sun with them and  leaving us with a cloudy outlook and a temperature of 8 degrees.  Standing at the door with their coats zipped upto the neck they  explaining they had packed the sun  in their suitcase - thanks !

All this good weather gave us a chance to look over the cria from last year and make some decisions for this years matings.  We don't  open fleeces that much here at Quelvehin,  if you're  not careful it can become a bit of an obsession and we feel it destroys the structure .There are very few shows in France so we don't think about it that much. Hence every now and again we come across something that is quite a nice surprise.  They say that a good stud will improve any female, although if you want the best then put him across the best, especially if you're paying good money.  So, with that in mind, I will just ask, what is best, to get a good result out of a Dam and Sire that you expect to get a good result out of, or to get a female cria that is a vast improvement on her mother and shows you just exactly what a sire is capable of.  Having seen what Columbus could do when given our best female - Fanny Ann or as she is affectionately known 'Princess Fanny' (as she absolutely refuses to eat unless she has her own personal bucket - no way she's eating with the riff raff),

 

 

 Izzam - second fleece ! s. Columbus

 

 

Almost two years ago now, we decided to see what he could do with one of our 'lesser' females who had been bought solely to put strong colour in the herd.  Meet  little Janine, almost a year old now.

 while I admit, it's not what I would call show quality, I have to say given the Dam,

I am very  impressed.   Anyway,  a pleasing result, a lovely female who just needs a nice male to put across and  I  think we  have just the one for the job !! 

    !!!!!!!!!