We’ve been shearing our herd of alpacas all week here at Snowshoe Farm. Though we’ve had quite a bit of unseasonably warm weather this spring, this week it feels like winter is back. We now have 51 naked and shivering alpacas in the barns. Oh well…we worry more about the … Read More
This is our show string for the Northeast Alpaca Expo. Fortunately, we have a couple weeks for them to clean up. These alpacas are WHITE! Looks like they both stayed out in the rain last night…
Our multi-champion herdsire, Snowshoe Aristides, won a second place ribbon in his class (behind the color champion) and also won RESERVE WHITE MALE COLOR CHAMPION at the North American Alpaca Show today!! This is Ari’s 7th banner, making him a 3X Color Champion and 4X Reserve Champion – yay!! … Read More
The North American Alpaca Show will be held in Springfield, MA this coming weekend. This show always kicks off the season for us. Getting ready for the first show is a bit of a challenge. Our show supplies have been packed away since fall and it’s time to drag them … Read More
Taking good fiber pics is not one of my strengths, but I couldn’t resist snapping a shot of this fleece today. The alpacas look pretty ratty during mud season and I had to open up this fleece to remind myself how nicely this guy is coming along. This fleece belongs … Read More
The first day of spring and it feels more like summer! This stretch of warm weather is so unusual for northern Vermont. We are generally sitting in a sea of snow and mud at this time of year. But most of the snow is gone, the roads are nowhere near … Read More
After the craziness of fall alpaca shows and fiber festivals, we always have big plans for all the “free” time we’ll have during the winter. Well, March is here, the first spring show is in just three weeks, then shearing starts start soon after. And all those big plans for … 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
The forecast for tomorrow and Friday is sunny and 30’s. Perfect weather for skirting alpaca fiber in the barn. The south facing window warms the space up nicely when the weather is above freezing. I still have a fair amount of fiber to skirt and move before alpaca shearing starts … Read More
Visitors to Snowshoe Farm often ask how the alpacas handle winter. As you can see, at least on days when there’s not a cold wind blowing, the alpacas are quite comfortable. Unless the weather is very windy or it’s snowing or raining hard, our alpacas generally are free to come … Read More