Dog Days of Summer!

Phew.  Will these long, hot days ever end?  I'm sure we'll look back at this summer with fondness in the dead of winter but, for now, a 15°- 20° drop in temperature sure sounds attractive.

Otis spends his days behind a big fan and was too hot to get up and say "hello".  What better activity is there than sleeping through another steamy afternoon, waiting for the coolness of night to take over from the heat of the day.  I'm sure Maggie and Otis are extremely glad that they were shorn too, ridding them of their long, hot, shaggy fur.  Although neither one enjoys the experience, they would have been miserable if they'd been allowed to keep their coats.  Otis, especially, is mortified when he's shorn, but this year he didn't even run away and hide, like he has done in the past.  I guess even he knew it was for the best!

Spongebob seems to agree although he prefers to keep an eye on his pasture whilst resting his eyes.  Staying inside the barn provides shade, along with cool air from the fans, but there must be a slight breeze at ground level judging by how the alpacas are sleeping.

Britney's Boy still enjoys lying out in the pasture and he is also showing off his new haircut.  He was shorn just a couple of weeks ago.  Cleaning his fiber will be much easier next year as his birthing coat has now been removed. 

When a cria is born, amniotic fluid coats the fiber and it acts as a magnet for dirt, sticks, hay and anything else in the baby's environment.  Coupled with the fact that young alpacas, like young humans, like to roll around in the dirt (and anything else they can find) it will now be much easier at shearing time to sort his fiber ready for processing into yarn.

Fairly soon, it'll be time to start the barn chores but, until then, it seems a nap is in order.

Hot Mama

Poor Opal.  Every mother can appreciate how hot Opal must be feeling as Jujuy drapes herself across her mother's neck.

Whether human or alpaca, it seems, little ones are most comfortable when draped around a parent, and Jujuy is no exception. 

Fiona, however, is out in the pastures and is very interested in smelling the pretty flowers scattered throughout.  Ever inquisitive, Fiona loves to explore her world and is fascinated by any new experience that comes her way. 

Both Jujuy and Fiona, our female babies, are very curious and come to find out what's going on if they spot us around their pasture.  They love being around people and want to know everything that's going on.

Our lone boy baby, however, prefers to spend his time sleeping in the sun.  He'll get up if he has to but pays little attention to things going on around him.  He also has little appreciation of personal space and flops down wherever he feels like, even if an adult alpaca is already there.

Feels Like 113°!!!

Kevin is very popular amongst the ladies in the barn today.  I'll bet you'll never guess what he's doing!

Current temperature is 102° but feels like 113° , as per Weather.com - and that's without the fur coat.

Alpacas can tolerate a fair amount of heat, and we have many fans blowing in the barn, but even the fans couldn't compete with Kevin's cooling therapy.

Give up?  OK.  He's spraying their bellies with cool water.  Did you guess right?

As you can see, these alpacas are very eager to feel the cool water stream on their legs and bellies but we must be careful to make sure no water hits the backs of any alpaca - or they could die. 

Alpacas are amazing animals and this is another insight into the care and wellbeing of their animals that Kevin and Nancy provide on a daily basis.  I learned how it works today, tried it for myself, and I'll share it with you. 

The veins on an alpaca's legs are very close to the skin so running cool water over them is similar to running your wrists under a tap to cool down.  Also, wetting their bellies allows them to cool off, but we have to be careful the water doesn't get too high on their backs.

If water accumulates on their back during high temperatures, whether it's from a hose - which has strong pressure - or a heavy rain, the water gets trapped in their fleece and starts to heat up as their backs bake in the sun.  Black fleeced alpaca are especially prone to heatstroke if they get wet.  Therefore, keeping the hose down and making sure no alpaca cush behind the one being sprayed is mandatory.

As you can see in the pictures, they REALLY like it.

Sweetie's Baby Gets Named

Fiona would like to thank Kim Ketcham for her new name.  It was chosen from the many suggestions we received at our open barn during the Barnstormers Tour. 

Naming the alpacas can be a difficult task, especially when there are 90 of them!  It seemed easy in the beginning, but finding a name to suit has become harder as the herd has grown.

Sweetie's name didn't lend itself to a fitting lead in for her offspring, as she was named due to her being a surprise when she arrived.  Sweetie's full name is "Bruxo's Sweet Suri-prize of SAC", and when her dame was purchased, the pregnancy was unknown.  Imagine the surprise when Sweetie arrived.

We thank everyone who took the time to suggest a name - we don't know until we see it what fits and feels just right.  Without your suggestions we'd have a lot of  ******'s Cria, which is how they're identified until they are named.

Hot Days in the Barn

A blown back Top Knot has been the favored look in the barn during the last couple of days.  With the sweltering heat reaching almost 100 degrees yesterday, and it not being much cooler today, the alpacas are doing their best to keep cool.

Multiple fans are end to end throughout the barn, keeping the air circulating and giving some relief from the intense heat.  The fields are noticeably empty during the middle of the day as all the alpacas are lying in the shade of the barn and the most coveted spots are in front of the fans. 

Everyone out there, including Otis and Maggie our Watchdogs, are too hot to do anything but lift their heads, and even that is an effort.  At least we always have a breeze - even if it's a warm one - but you have to feel sorry for anything living   outside this week in a fur coat!

We're making everyone as comfortable as possible and cool water is freshly pumped into the barn for the alpacas to drink.  Staying hydrated is just as important for them as it is for us, so we make sure it is good and fresh and plenty of it.  Opal is definitely enjoying her cool drink in the heat of the afternoon.

As the sun goes down and the temperatures cool, everyone will be out in the fields again - at least until tomorrow.

It's a Girl

Our Newest Cria - a beautiful baby girl arrived last Tuesday and, although it took her a little longer to "find her legs" than those I've seen so far, she was soon playing in the pasture and making friends with the other cria.

Dam, Bruxo's Sweet Suri-Prize of SAC (Sweetie), hovered anxiously over her and shows every sign of being a wonderful Mom. 

Sweetie's Baby was the main attraction in the barn as the other females were very interested in her arrival and jostled for space up front where they could see her.

Sweetie is a gorgeous Suri and dad, Pucara's Sur-Real Mad Max is known for producing beautiful babies with intense luster.  The combination of the two, along with the already apparent twist seen in her fleece, looks like a promising future breeder. 

Mad Max has multiple show ribbons to his name, including show champion, and maybe Sweetie's baby will follow her Sire into the showring.  She is also displaying the proud royal head that is a distinguising characteristic of Mad Max's offspring so we are excited to she her develop.

Barnstormers Tour

We had an exciting weekend - Sugarloaf Alpaca Co was one of the featured barns in the Barnstormers Tour 2012.  Organized and sponsored by Frederick County Landmarks Foundation, the tour featured 10 barns in the Buckeystown area and ranged from our modern pole barn to another featuring one of the last remaining wooden silos still standing.  History was seen by modern visitors who took time to admire the hardware - long left behind - and the faded markings found within these impressive structures.

Trained Docents were available at each property to give visitors information about what they were seeing and experiencing.  Without them, guests wouldn't know that the pleasant breeze blowing through one of the barns was an intentional design of the original builder.  Comfort was not the reason for the breeze - although it was certainly appreciated by visitors on this warm summer day - it was to help separate the chaff from the grain during threshing, before more modern machinery did it for us. 

Of course, our alpacas were very excited to see so many visitors stop by.  We didn't tell them our guests had come to view the barn (not them), so they stayed happy all day!  Naturally, few could resist their big brown eyes and shaggy overcoats, so our four legged friends were fed many bags of treats throughout the event. 

Alpacas are such social animals.  They love to see visitors and are very nosey, jostling each other for a good view, if anything is happening inside or around the barn.  Maggie and Ottis, our Guardian Dogs, managed to keep most of their opinions to themselves and only expressed their displeasure when other canine visitors approached the barn.  Luckily, all species were well behaved so a pleasant experience was had by all.

It was an honor to be included in such a well run and enjoyable event.  We would like to extend many thanks to Frederick County Landmarks Foundations for an extremely interesting and fun filled day.