Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Alpaca Teddy Bears have Arrived!!




Alpaca fibre teddy bears have arrived. These scrumptious bears are hand crafted in Peru and each one is unique. We now have 16 inch, 9.5 inch in stock. All white and other natural colour combinations are available. Visit the webstore for more information or to order. Our next expected Halifax Seaport Market day is January 28th. Stay tuned.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Last chance before christmas

We have had great success at the Halifax Seaport market and the Wolfville Market on the Saturdays in December.

While stock is getting limited we do still have a variety of socks, knitted and woven products. This week we will be at the Seaport Market on Thursday Dec 22 and Friday December 23

Merry Christmas

Friday, November 11, 2011

Halifax Seaport Market

Starting November 12th we will be at the Halifax Seaport Market every Saturday till Christmas. You will be able to find us in the Pavillion section which is at the south end of the market.

Products we are bringing include: socks, insoles, teddy bears, scarves, mitts and samples of the Alpaca Duvets.

Come visit us!!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

The new truck


Well the old truck finally died and we have spent about a month looking for a new one. New to us, that is....finally we found what seems to be a good one in our price range. The dogs love the back seat.

Friday, October 7, 2011

October Nor'easter


We were hit with a surprise storm this week. The forecast was for a bit of rain and some wind so the resulting storm caught us by surprise.


We had a deluge of rain, some flurries in the air and of course incredible winds.


The Boy's summer shelter was blown upside down, broke one fencepost and was impaled on another. Just after it happened the guys gathered on the tent floor looking around with puzzled expressions, wondering where their house went.


Out I go in the gale force winds to take the sides off the tent as they are acting like giant sails in the wind. The sides came off, and in the final ravages of the storm the remainder of the tent was blown across the field and came to rest upside down.


We are expecting summer weather on the weekend; the first job will be cleaning up the mess.

Wwoofing season over again

Many, many thanks for all the volunteers who helped out on the farm this past season. Without your help we would not have had completed all the fencing, the haying was an easier job and the gardening and firewood were put in good order. The list of other accomplishments is longer than I can list.

Thank you again.

Diablo

We stopped hand feeding Diablo in the middle of September and he is continuing to do well. Still smaller than the rest, and fiercely attached to his mother.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Dyed rovings

All the rovings are dyed now. What a big job, and I was grateful for the help getting it done. Now they just have to dry! It's a riot of colour.


Saturday, July 23, 2011

Toblerone's cria



Dartanyan is the first offspring of Toblerone Ben. He shows good straight confirmation and a lovely fawn colour. Here he is just a few hours old. He is the final cria of the season.

Our first Oreo cria



Oreo has come through with a strong, sturdy gal although we were hoping for colour. The dam is William's Sweet Dreams, a white daughter of Jolimont Peruvian Sweet William.


With black and white in her lineage we just had to call her Domino.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Alpacas in the garden



We had a bunch of marginal fibre left from shearing over the past couple of years. Mostly lower legs, belly etc, which is not good enough for yarn and too short to card or felt.






We spread it pretty thick in the garden rows as mulch to control the weeds. It works well and the fibre keeps the plants snugly warm. At the end of the season it will be tilled in as compost.






Never waste anything on a farm!

Picnic Table Art



We had an old table near the barn and some left over paint. The results are pretty cool.



Thanks to all the helpers that had a hand in the creation.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

First cria for Coco

Coco had her first cria on Monday. He is a beautiful dark brown fellow we named Diablo.

Even though she's white, Coco's dark genetics came through as expected.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Hay Days!











The weather has finally cooperated long enough to get the hay cut, cured and in the barn.




We contract our neighbour to mow and bale for us, and he had problems of his own with tractors not working the way they should.




With the help of our current wwoofer Caileigh, we were able to get the hay baled and stored on Friday.




This year we had the loan of a hay elevator to help move the bales along. It's basically like Disney Land for hay as they ride along the conveyor. Caileigh and I were the "carnies" making sure each bale was properly seated for the ride to the top.




Now it's time for a day off!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Newest addition



While we were away delivering alpacas to New Brunswick, Sedona decided it was time to add a new fellow to the herd. He is healthy and happy, with a name yet to be decided.

A new home for the boys



Congratulations to Denis, Gabrielle and family on the purchase of a fibre male package. SweetNS, Barolo, Andele and Bartholomew have moved to New Brunswick.

Good luck with your new adventure!

Super Pooper Scooper

We have finally had some dry weather and have been able to use the pasture vacuum. It's an amazing contraption that attaches to the back of the tractor. Just drive around and have a helper use it like a vacuum, sucking up all manner of poop from even the longest grass.

The manure is pulverized and we bag it up ready to sell for compost heaps or flower gardens.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Dying to Dye



I have been hand dyeing rovings for some time now, but decided to take a fibre dyeing course to pick up a few new techniques.
Check out the results! The yarn is two toned and looks like a summer dessert.
I also dyed a raw fleece in multi colours and can't wait to use it in a project.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Alpaca Mud Wrestling

You guessed it, I have added a new accomplishment to my already long list.

We have had 2 days of solid rain, and the girls in the temporary shelter have worked the floor into a sae of mud. It's still raining today and I just couldn't leave them in a mud hole any longer.

So, Off I go first thing in the morning all by myself armed with raincoat, halters and sweet feed as a tempation and determined to move the herd to the barn.

The sweet feed works, and I have all the ladies enclosed in their shelter.

Now, the girls are not interested in being caught! Around and around we go in the enclosure, all the while churning up mud and slipping & sliding. Feed buckets are flying and I'm clamly wiping rain & mud from my face. Sort of calmly.

I manage to catch the first 5 girls and somehow manage the gates alone and lead them to the barn.

Back for group 2. Another bunch to the barn, and a few follow the group on their own. This looks promising.

Group 3 is a challenge as they want to join the rest of the herd but really don't want to be caught. I managed to get two of them and the rest escaped. Thinking they would follow the group I was not worried...but they went in the wrong direction.

With much noise and coaxing the group made it to the barn. So, the boys are on the girl's side, the girls are on the boy's side and everyone is confused.

Just as things were settling down, my dear neighbour arrived and with a laugh said "Look at you!". Soaking wet, covered with bits of mud and grass and a big smile for a job accomplished.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Barn Door Art


The weather has finally cooperated and with the help of Michelle the barn doors are painted!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Moving Day

The girls have had their usual access to the main pasture restricted in order that it can grow into hay for the winter. In past years, the smaller area assigned to them was adequate.

This year however they have eaten the grass down more quickly.

Today I noticed that two of the girls were "living life on the wrong side of the fence" and munching on the grass that we are trying to grow.

It became apparent that we would need to move the girls onto the new pasture we created for the guys, and move the guys to another area.

We started by moving the most of the girls into the paddock close to the barn, leaving the two strays in the pasture.

It wasn't long before our resident "drama queen", in her efforts to join the rest of the herd stuck her head through the fence and got caught. A fence tool is a wonderful invention and we had her cut free in no time.

Next step was the move.

We removed the boys from their new pasture and secured them in the barn. Then we escorted the gals and cria in groups of six to the new lush pasture that the boys have vacated.

With the help of Michelle, Kailin and Mikhail the move went smoothly. We have happy girls.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

New pasture for the Boys







The paddocks that the boys were using were just too small. They had eaten the grass down to nothing and desperately needed more space.


So, over the course of the spring and with much help from neighbours Rick & Bill and helpers Roy, Patricia, Els and Clotilde and little to no help from the weather we managed to get a new pasture fenced.

The guys moved in yesterday while Rob and helper Kailim put a few finishing touches on the fence and built the shelter.

This morning Kailim and I erected a temporary fence to allow four of the younger males access to the new pasture without being molested by the adults. The temporary fence was to buy us a bit of time while we put in a more permanent fence between the two groups.

It took Perilli, the main stud, about 3 minutes to jump the temporary fence and put the run on the youngsters. There was much wrestling and protesting and all we humans could do was watch. Finally we were able to separate the fighters.

The temporary fence became very temporary and Rob spent the next three hours pounding in permanent fence posts while Kailim and myself attached page wire.

All is quite now in the new pasture; the males respect the new fence while keeping a watchful eye on the young lads.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Spring cria













The first of the 2011 crias have arrived safe and sound. Kiana was first with a good sized Perilli daughter who we promptly named Dolce Vita. It was a cool drizzly day so we immediately outfitted the little one in a cria coat to keep her snugly warm.

Nikki followed suit the next day. It was a hot one and she must have sneaked off under the trees to deliver her cria as we didn't really notice a second cria until feeding time the next morning. Nikki wasn't showing any signs of being ready to deliver and when I saw two cria in the barn I did a double take before I realized there were two. Nikkis' gal is an Icelander daughter who we named Demoiselle.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Shearing, weather and coats







It's the day after shearing and the weather remains cool; no, cold and wet. The poor naked alpacas are huddled in the barn and shivering.

I happened to have a half dozen alpaca coats cut out of fabric and ready to sew together. I had prepared them for shearing last season but they were not needed. So here we go with a group effort to construct the coats and get them on the animals. One wwoofer, Patricia is pinning them together as I sew and another wwoofer, Clotilde is running the stitched parts right side out.

As each coat is completed Patricia and Clotilde take it and head for the barn to dress the coldest looking alpacas.

Before long we have the chilliest animals warmed up and we're praying the cold weather will break.

Successful Shearing Day

Another successful shearing day with out to many injuries to the humans. A couple of scrapes, a few knocks and a lot of sore muscles. Alpacas made out fine except a little chillier as today is damp and grey.

Thanks to Dianne, Liz, Clothilde, Patricia, Roy, Lynne, Don, Thomas, and Steven. Special thanks to Kevin, David and friends (sorry I missed your names) from the Agricultural College. The extra hands and strong arms were a huge benefit in making the day go smoothly. Thank you again Lucas for another good day of shearing that went by without major incident.

There were the stubborn girls who decided to cush every so often on the route to the Shearing site, the escapee at the end of the day that needed to be herded back into the barn from the pasture, the couple of screamers and only one spitter.

Thanks again for helping shear our 25 animals.

Note: For the second year in a row a pair of sun glasses were left behind.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Shearing Day Saturday May 14th

Shearing day is on. The animals are quite dry. The fun begins at approximately 9am. It takes about 15 minutes an animal so come by later in the day to see the fun.

Finally dry weather

For the first time in weeks we had more than 24 hours with out rain. This is good timing as tommorrow is shearing day and a dry windy day with sunny breaks has got most of the animals dry. We have locked them in the barn tonight to be on the safe side.

Mayflower Show

May 7th was the Mayflower Show in Crapaud PEI. This was our third year at the show. Each year the show runs a little more smoothly. So our hats off to Heather and Paulette of Alpaca Bay Farms the organizers.

We took eight animals this year with Andele and Bartholomew taking 2nds in their Class. Bechamal and Bacio were second and third in their class. Anuone, Alteza, and Arwyn finished 1st, 2nd and 4th in a class of 7 animals. Anuone went on to win White female Champion.

The drive home saturday night unfortunately was a wet affair with heavy rain and fog over the Cobequid pass. But we all made it home safely.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

A bird in every.....oven?

We have had some excitement at Rocaro Alpacas.

During a quiet moment, and there are few here in the spring, our Wwoofer Els and I noticed a scratching noise coming from the overn chamber of our wood fired cook stove.

The first assumption was that a squirrel had found its way into the stove and we had great discussions on the demise of the squirrel as we didn't want to run the chance of it escaping into the house.

We left the problem until the next morning, hoping the situation would resolve itself.

The next morning it became evident that the visitor was not a squirrel but a bird. We discussed our options to remove the bird and settled on using the live trap we have on hand. We arranged the trap tight to the stove and opened the door. Nothing.

We decided some bread would be an enticement for the bird and stuffed a crust into the trap. We waited...and waited....and finally the bird headed towards the bread. We quickly shut the door to the trap and scuttled the whole thing out to the woods.

The bird was grateful for his new freedom and we were glad we were not having Starling for dinner.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Saltscapes Expo

Our attendance at the Saltscapes Expo was a success. Thank you to everyone who visited the Rocaro Alpacas booth. We hope to see many of you at the farm over the summer.

Many thanks to Roy, Particia, Els and Elizabeth for your invaluable help.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Show success

We are home safe and sound after a long trip for both alpacas and humans. The Alpaca Ontario show was a success again this year with Oreo Ben taking the Black Male Huacaya Colour Champion for the second year in a row. Toblerone took a first in his class, Blizzard and Bacio were each awarded second place in their respective classes. Now to prepare for the Mayflower Show in PEI May 7 and then shearing day.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Final preparations

Today I am working on the final prep for our departure to the show in Ontario. It is drizzly outside and the wee ones are pretty damp so they will be spending the day inside in hopes they will dry off a bit. To give the show-goers a little more room in their section of the barn, I put the two of the group who are not attending the show in with the moms. There was much curiosity on the part of the moms with the new additions to their herd, and the four left behind were quite concerned at the loss of their pen-mates.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The big trip


We are in full swing with preparations for the long road trip to the show in Ontario.


Last year I had the help of a wonderful wwoofer, but I'm not so lucky this time around.


The straw and hay are in the truck and the alpacas have been in the trailer a couple of times.


This week I have to seriously get the rest of the prep work done or I'm not going anywhere...so much to do.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Spring must be here.


This morning after breakfast the girls traveled single file across the pasture to their favourite summer hang-out. A sure sign that spring is here!

Monday, March 7, 2011

The Rodeo Part 2

Today marked the first day of lead training for the Rocaro cria, after having the month of January lesson free.

It was a warm day, the kind where you don't have to bundle up or wear gloves. It's icy outside so the first session is in the barn. Normally there are two people working on lead training so the whole group can go together at first...safety in numbers from an alpaca point of view.

This is not the case today as I am here alone. I managed to get halters on and everyone tied without trouble. Then the fun begins.

It made sense to take two cria along with Andele for the first lesson because Andele, age 2, is already lead trained and the non-trained alpacas should follow along. Step one is get the girls out of the barn so I don't have a repeat of The Rodeo. Accomplished.

I then get Andele in hand along with two others and head for the door. Andele follows well, however the other two are having nothing to do with this. A little alpaca is surprisingly strong when leaning backwards with front feet splayed and determined not to move. Hmm, I have no one to get behind and give them a shove. Somehow I manage to keep the leads in front of Andele and reach behind the stubborn ones and provide some incentive. We make a tour around the barn and back home. The first lesson is always short.

Away we go with group two, Andele in the lead. Same situation however this time in my wisdom I wrap the excess leads around my hand. Or so I thought...really they were around my fingers. Fingers are not meant to bend in that direction! Thankfully nothing is broken.

Along with the commotion of trying to get the second group moving, the dogs caught a glimpse of Tab the barn cat prowling the barn near the gate, right under the dog's nose. Of course this is too much for a dog to ignore and the barking and leaping on the gate commences. Naturally the gate flings open, the cat disappears and the dogs bound through and towards the cria who have just stepped past the door.

Panicked cria; once again this is not how fingers bend. There is nowhere handy to tie the alpacas while I get rid of the dogs & shut the gate. Arrgh!

Eventually everyone had their lesson, and I can't wait to do it all again tomorrow.

The Rodeo

A couple of days ago I was doing evening chores as usual. Things were still frozen tighter than a cannon ball, including the door that separates the cria from the moms. The door being frozen is not a big deal, it simply stays shut for short times while hauling water & hay.

As usual, I didn't latch the door. Well, along came a huge gust of wind through the barn and blew the door wide open, with me nowhere in sight.

So the wee ones took advantage of the situation and wandered over to see their moms. Now this is not cause for concern however Andele, a teen age male is also living with the little ones. Being a bundle of raging hormones Andele wasted no time making his way to the girls of his age. He's not really old enough to do any damage (he thinks he is) but we don't want to take any chances.

I start to herd him around to the open door to his residence and away from the ladies, but on the way he ducks through the door to the pasture that is frozen open. Around we go in knee deep snow, Andele much more agile than myself. Finally I get him back in the barn and the outside door blocked off. Around the barn we go, all the while the girls providing distraction for the young man. At one point someone kicked open the gate to the main barn area. The dogs delighted in this new development and added to the confusion by barking and trying to join the chase.

Eventually Andele is back where he belongs and the door latched. Training for the cria is to begin in a week, so I need to get 5 cria back to their home.

One at a time, I manage to herd them towards the latched door, however keeping a hold on them and trying to get to the hook on the opposite side of the door and get it open is nothing short of a challenge.

After an hour and a bit all was back to normal.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Shearing 2011

Shearing day is confirmed for Saturday May 14. We usually get started at around 9am.

If you would like to volunteer let us know.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Wasn't that a Party!

Winter is still fast upon us, and everyone is hunkered down therefore things are pretty quiet these days.

Although....when I arrived in the barn to do chores yesterday morning I found some very innocent looking alpaca faces standing amid a mess.

The hay boxes in both the male section and female sections of the bran had been turned upside down, the girls had knocked down a couple of railings and even the cat dish was on the floor.

Sometimes it just better not to know....

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Driving a Zamboni

We have been home from our southern escape for a couple of weeks now and winter has settled in full force.

Two of the three barn waterers are still frozen and there are mountains of snow everywhere.

This afternoon I was doing yet more snow clean-up in front of the barn. The tractor doesn't have chains on the tires, one of those fall jobs that didn't get done. With all the layers of snow and rain the area in front of the barn has become a skating rink.

The tractor slipped and skidded as I was blowing snow.

Who hasn't wanted to drive a zamboni?

Friday, January 21, 2011

Gettin' Outside

We had a couple of round hay bales delivered and strategically placed in the pastures. The critters are enjoying nibbling away at them and it encourages the animals to get outside.

At first they were only curious about what these incredible structures were but once I peeled away a layer of hay they were right at it.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

School days

This year's crop of cria seem to be particularly smart, they have learned to stand quietly while tied after only three lessons.

We are now working on manners; inspecting fibre, lifting feet, and checking teeth and under tails. These activities take a bit more convincing. Little Barolo makes all kinds of interesting camel noises in protest.

Friday, January 7, 2011

First Yarn


Well, I have started to learn to spin and what a hoot. Spinning takes a sense of rhythm and timing along with manual dexterity and coordination. All of which I do not possess.


Anyway I got through 3 skeins of hand dyed alpaca rovings...you can see the results.


My teacher is appalled to hear that I intend to sell my first efforts. Apparently first yarn is rare because the textures disappear as a spinner improves.


As I don't knit, I'm willing to let a knitter have the fun.

Yahoo! New doors.


Wonderful thanks to the guys who had a direct hand in our new doors.


Ted was instrumental in repairing the doors that took flight in the wind storm, installing new track and re-hanging them.


Don installed a man door in the front of the barn, alleviating the need to struggle of opening the big sliding doors each time we want to get into the barn.

As soon as warm weather arrives the paint brushes will be busy....

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Kindergarten starts again







With weaning complete, school starts again for the cria at Rocaro Alpacas.

Step one is catching each cria and introducing them to their new best friend the halter. If you are familiar with horse halters, cria halters are miniscule in comparison.

Most of the kids took well to the halters; Bartholomew made all kinds of noise and Bacio was none to patient while I found the buckle hole in all her fibre.

They were quick to run outside into the sun as soon as they were "dressed". The halters will stay on for a few days and then lead training begins.