It was good to see a healthy and active cria on the ground first thing this morning! Yesterday’s baby is still weak and we’re fairly sure he has a health problem. But he’s nursing when we stand him up and the rest of the time he’s comfortably cushed next to … Read More
We’ve been waiting for several crias to make an appearance and now that we have cool rainy weather, they’ve decided to show up. Today was a good one – two girls! Cinnamon Girl gave birth to her second female cria sired by our champion male, Snowshoe Aristides. The baby was … Read More
We’ve been waiting for several crias to be born and Izabella finally gave birth to a beautiful white male this morning. The dam is our Dom Lucilio daughter, Izzy, and the sire is our champion male, Snowshoe Aristides. Both Izzy and Ari have some really nice offspring, so we’re looking … Read More
Those of you who own livestock will recognize this situation: there’s something not quite right about one of your animals, but you can’t put your finger on it. Or the problem stops just as you’re about to call the vet. It can be expensive to get the vet out to … Read More
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
Here at Snowshoe Farm we are looking back at 2011 and counting our blessings. Despite a down economy, we’ve managed to sell quite a few alpacas this year; we had a beautiful crop of crias – mostly female (yes, that’s a good thing); our homegrown herdsire, Snowshoe Aristides, won another … 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
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
Rosita has been under our watchful eyes for weeks now as she often has her crias early. Finally – at day 340 – she had her cria at around 2:00 this afternoon. A big boy – 19.5 lbs. He looks to be medium silver gray. He’s active and pretty steady … Read More
It’s birthing season here at Snowshoe Farm. Alpacas have a fairly wide window for birthing; gestation, in our experience, can be as short as 10-1/2 months or can go over a year. So we do a lot of watching and waiting. Rosita is up next; her 11 month date is … Read More