The Hollyhock Blog

Can you believe our little boy crias are over 3 weeks old?  Yesterday we sheared off their baby fiber.  (and today is it really hot and humid, so I’m sure they are happy!)  Besides being cooler for the remainder of the summer, those cria fiber tips collect a whole lot of ‘stuff’.   So I will have 2 very nice clean fleeces for sale next spring.  (Interested?  You can reserve one now!)   Just the big alpacas, we strap them down to the shearing table. 

On the table

Since they are so small, Darryl can hold him down while I hand shear.  I just shear off the blanket area, the hips  and the base of the neck.   This will be the prime blanket when we shear next spring.

Shearing in progress

I try to blend the cut areas into the longer fiber on the neck and legs.  It usually requires a couple of touch ups over the next few days.

Embrace's boy

Annie's boy

I save the super soft fiber and use it for kid’s projects during Farm Tour.  Mark your calendar – Sept 25 & 26 - it will be here before you know it!

Today  the Mom’s (Embrace and Annie) went out for lunch together and left the boys back at the barn in the care of the other gals.  Guess they needed a little ‘me’ time! 

Out in the pasture

But when they came back to the barn, it was lunch time for the little boys.

Embrace and her boy

Annie and her boy

With tummies satisfied, it was play time.  

Neck wrestling

Camille looks on

I’m always amazed that boys start acting like males from such a young age.   Seven and nine days old.  And already they play rough and want to fight. 

For those near to Becker, I’ll be at the new market downtown on Saturday mornings.  The market will be around the intersection of Hancock and Second Streets.

Today is a little warm to have a baby, but Annie decided it was still a good day to have a baby.  Again, I missed it.  Our neighbor called, as they have done before to tell us we had a new cria.    I went out to find a shiny white boy, still wet, but trying to stand.  Since this is Annie’s first cria, I hung around to be sure he could get milk.   Annie seems to be a model mother, standing patiently while the cria sucks on her legs and all the wrong places.   But he did find his way and got a first meal.

Annie and her cria

Already has a dirty face

"Aww, Mom!"

Yesterday Caramelita wasn’t sure about the new guy on the block.   Embrace was keeping him pretty close to her and he was doing his best to walk and run, but was still pretty wobbly. 

Today is a new day!   I was watching from inside the house as the alpacas went out to the pasture.  Once the new guy (we’ll call him NG until he gets a name) started to run a bit, Cara came running up to him, they sniffed noses and they started off together – not really running yet, but a fast wobbly walk.  Cara took him to her favorite place in the pasture.  I grabbed my camera and took these pictures through the fence. 

"This is sand pit."

"Hey, Mom, this is fun!"

A dust bath for everyone.

Today was the perfect day to have a baby alpaca.   And Embrace did just that!  It was partly sunny, breezy, low humidity.   Great for drying out a water-logged cria!  I was watching Embrace this morning as she was humming a little oddly when I did chores.  I saw her coming in from the pasture about 10:30 and around 11:30, she was leading this guy back out the pasture! 

The sun feels good.

Standing

Walking

Running

Can you catch me, Mom?

That was all at only a couple hours old.  They are amazing critters.

Resting in the shade

This afternoon he took a little nap with Mom, but has been back out in the pasture again since.