Our first cria of the season was born yesterday and we’re off to a good start. Snowshoe Praline gave birth to a light brown female at day 325. That’s a little early and it shows; the cria has slightly floppy ears and her teeth have not erupted, but she weighs … Read More
We have a number of husbandry tasks that are done on a regular basis. Today we took advantage of the relatively mild weather and weighed and body scored our 2011 crias and weanlings. We weigh young alpacas more often than adults as a way to keep track of their growth. … Read More
This time of year is as close as we get to “down time” on the farm. Outdoor chores are limited: no gardening, no mowing. Breeding chores are limited; no breeding, no birthing. We stick very close to home in the spring and summer, but this time of year we have … Read More
Our herd was due for its dectomax injections this week, so we took advantage of the gray, wet, but still fairly mild weather to get that chore done today. Snow is in the forecast for tonight and more seasonable temps to follow. It’s time… Tomorrow the crias get their oral … Read More
Every spring we look forward to a new crop of crias – baby alpacas. And every fall we’re relieved when the months of being on “baby watch” are over. This year we had 15 crias due and the last one made its appearance yesterday. But not successfully. Our beautiful white … Read More
Hurricane Irene spared much of the northeast part of Vermont, thank goodness! Many towns in other parts of the state sustained heavy damage from flooding and will be cleaning up for a long time. The day after the storm, skies cleared and it’s forecast to be a beautiful week. Today … Read More
We like to shear our crias before the end of summer. This removes the discolored, often tender, tips of their fiber and gives us a better fleece at shearing next spring. This week we sheared the nine crias that have been born so far here at Snowshoe Farm. This is … Read More
The first offspring of our White Male Color Champion, Snowshoe Aristides, were born this spring and more are coming along. I’ve posted photos of those crias that are currently on the ground on Ari’s web page here. We’re pleased to be seeing some very nice crias! Contact us to make … Read More
The cria that was born on June 11 and showed signs of being a bit premature still has problems. He can’t get up. We’re working under the assumption that he has white muscle disease, since he has responded to injections of selenium. Within a day or so of the second … Read More
We had a busy day in the barn today with two crias being born. One was an uneventful birth; a first time mother who did just fine and has a healthy and beautiful cria who is nursing well. The second birth was a little more exciting. As soon as I … Read More