HISTORY 12

April 15, 2002

It finally rained a real rain last night... the first rain since last September. We only got 1.33 inches of rain, but that's surely going to help. And then it's really hot for this time of year.... 79 degrees in the shade. Our poor animals are packed with long, dense fleece, and must be suffering something awful! They don't look like they are the least bit affected by the heat, though. They could go into the barn where it is cooler, but for some reason they don't like the barn. Could it be because that's where we catch them and do herd health things to them?

We're really excited. On Wednesay (two days from now) we'll bring Sobata and Sarai home for the first time. We went today and got Sarai's medical exam, which the insurance company wanted because she'd had a stillborn cria last fall. Not a real problem, though. She stood there quite calmly while the vet gave her the exam, and didn't bolt when Rick let her go. Contrast this with Clovelly! I received a message from Brookmere farm today that enclosed the insurance forms, and the note said, in part, "Clovelly was a bit antsy and struggled with the vet as he did his exam - she will need to be worked with, but that will not be a problem and will be your pleasure!"

ack! We were hoping both Clovelly and Molly would be at least halter trained...well, actually, trained to walk on a lead. Guess that isn't going to happen, though, so we'll have to do it ourselves.

Speaking of teaching the animals to walk on a lead, this month we were able to move all three of the geldings onto the scale in order to weigh them. Rick didn't have to manhandle them at all... looks like our patience is paying off! All three of the guys will let us scratch their ears while they eat from the scoop in which we bring their food morning and night. Kimball, who lost weight for awhile because of a tooth that had grown too long to meet the dental pad, is gaining weight again. We didn't even notice that the tooth was so long, because we weren't expecting the teeth to grow so long so soon. We realized something was wrong when Forrester was (suddenly, it seemed) bigger than Kimball. That wasn't right! So we caught him and did a body score and checked his teeth (suggestion from a member of the alpacasite email forum to others whose animals had lost weight). One of his incisors was a good half inch longer than his other incisors. When he was gelded, the vet cut back that tooth, so he hasn't lost any weight since, and has gained back what he'd lost during late January, early February. He still weighs about 90 lbs. Forrester has gained a bit, though... from 89 pounds to 95 pounds in the last month, and Kirk has grown from 110 to 123 in the last month. It's so neat to watch these guys grow!

Also this month, I started up an " Alpaca Trading Post " where folks who are willing to trade animals can post their offers. For example, I'd like to trade Captain Kirk in for a true-black gelding. It looks like I may get my wish, too, because the folks who sold us Molly have expressed an interest in trading. I also want to trade Forrester, who is said to be true-black, but who looks dark brown. Haven't had any nibbles yet, though. People are probably hesitant because we had so much trouble with his health when we first got him. I suspect the trouble was largely our fault because we didn't know what we were doing, but it's hard to explain that to folks who read this journal and can't know how we actually interacted with the animals. I don't know that we did anything wrong - we sure tried not to! - but I think that's a better reason for his health problems than that he has a weak constitution. He's been about as healthy as a 'paca can be once we got his ulcer cleared up!

I had said I'd sell Kirk and Forrester for $1900 for the pair, but now that we have a probable trade for Kirk, that leaves Kimball and Forrester as our geldings. We'd trade or sell Forrester, but would rather not trade or sell Kimball. Even though Kimball is white rather than true black, he's so gentle and pliable. He's still not got the walking-on-a-lead trick worked out yet, but he's trying!

I finally found someone who would crochet a shawl for me from Sobata's and Sarai's fleece! I traded several skeins of yarn for the work, so it won't cost me anything more than we've already paid for processing. And I contacted the NEAFP to find out what their requirements are for fleece. They say the larger chunks of vegetable matter have to be removed, but that the small bits can remain. That's good! I've ordered a set of those looped grooming gadgets that I've seen at the shows, and maybe they will be enough to clean up the worst of the mess. I sure hope so!

Also in our plans for this spring is a trip to the Mapaca Jubilee 2002 in Harrisburg, PA on the weekend of April 26-28th. We won't be showing any animals or fleece, but we'll help the Ciszewskis out with their booth so they'll have time to see everything else. We'll just look.. and get acquainted with more alpaca breeders!

One final note: Once again, it looks like we'll get a trailer instead of a cap for the truck. The reason is that Rick found one that suits our needs almost exactly. It's a small, 2-horse horse trailer, about 5' wide by 10' long. It's open all around at the top, with bars to prevent access or egress. And it's covered. It has a storage place in the front, too, so we can take along any supplies we might need. I'm not going to hold my breath, though. He may change his mind again! heheh!! It looks now like we're going to have to drive the whole 15 hours (one way) to pick up Molly. None of the transporters seem to be going in that direction in late May or early June.

More later...

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