Babies Get Their First Hair Cut!

Twister seems to be saying he's not too sure about his new look but he has to be so much more comfortable in the summer heat, now he's lost his newborn coat.

Still being bottle fed twice a day, Twister is definitely the biggest baby in the pen in more than the obvious way.  He has gotten to enjoy his bottle so much, he follows us around making tiny mewling sounds.

Martin, however, is definitely enjoying his shaved look and is obviously so much more comfortable with his thinner coat.

It is important to shear newborn alpacas so their fleece can be used the first year - which is when it is at its finest and softest.  The cria tips felt extremely quickly which is due to a combination of the presence of amniotic fluid and the fact that cria do not produce body oils until after birth.  Therefore, the newborn fleece is without oil and forms into tiny hooks.  These tips act like velcro and attract dirt, hay and any other debris our cria can find.

As seen on Pauline's face, which was not shorn, the pieces of hay and grass are easy to spot.  If cria are not shorn within a few weeks of birth, they can quite literally look like a walking haystack by shearing time.  Although alpacas are not concerned with the cleanliness of their fiber, our sorters certainly are and, if it's bad enough, some of the cria's fiber cannot be used.

 The cria can look very different once they are shorn but Sox is still easy to spot with his white front fetlock.

Drop by and pay our cria a visit and if you come around 10.30, you may see Twister enjoying his morning bottle.

Babypalooza Winners and Answers - how many did you get right?

Congratulations to Theresa Moriarty who was our winner for Alpacas 101 - she will be receiving a stuffed alpaca to remind her of her day at the farm.  Mandy Conklin won the Baby Alpaca Teddy Bear in our "Who's My Baby" and it was quite a challenge to match the moms to their babies - see below.

Winning entries were placed in a drawing and we invited one of our visitors to impartially draw the winners names.  We were very excited at the number of entries we received and look forward to doing something similar at future events.

The highlight of the weekend was seeing the enjoyment on the faces of the guests who signed up for time in the cria pen.  Our cria (babies) are extremely inquisitive and loved all the attention they received.  If you spent time with the cria, let us know your experiences.  I know everyone had a different story to tell when they came out.

Here are the answers to the Whose My Baby competition held this past weekend at our fabulous Babypalooza Open Barn.

Arlene
and







Tishell

Britney and

Montgomery

Charity and

Twister

Chica and

Chaps

Cleopatra and

Louisar

Coppertone and

Martin

Ebony and

Pauline

Gidget

Philippa

Iridessa and

Iridessa's Cria (not yet named)

Liberty and

Mylow

Mimi and

Midsummers Knight

Morenya and

Morwenna

Normandy and

Norton

Omega and

Omega's Cria (not yet named)

Opal and

Ellingham

Praline and

Praline's Cria (not yet named)

Tre J and

Sox

Zarzamora and

Arandano