Adding value to the fiber produced by our alpacas is an important part of our farm business. But finding time to sort through all the fiber during the busy spring through fall months is difficult. This year, our project (one of many!) has been to weatherize my fiber room in … Read More
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
We’ve already had some hot and humid weather this summer and it sounds like there’s more to come this week. If you’re new to owning alpacas, you need to know how to keep them cool during hot weather. Alpacas are native to a dry, high elevation and are not comfortable … Read More
The last alpaca we sheared last week was our beautiful rose gray female, Esther Rose. Here are some photos of the process:
We’re scheduled to shear our alpacas this week and the forecast is for chance of showers every day. This is not good. The alpacas need to be dry – or mostly dry – for shearing. And damp fiber is more work for us as it will need to be aired … Read More
Yes, it’s officially spring, but that doesn’t mean it has to feel like spring. Up here we have a transitional season we call “mud season” and it is aptly named. It can take some time for the weather to melt all the snow, drive the frost out of the ground … Read More
OK, so we’re coming up on mid-March here and it still looks like mid-winter. Nevertheless, spring show season starts in 3 weeks with the North American Alpaca Show. We’re showing 5 of our males – one adult, one yearling and three juveniles. Only one of the five is currently lead … Read More
Just when things start to slow down for us, they start right back up again with registering and planning for spring shows. Our first show of the season is the North American Alpaca Show in Mass. Registration opened yesterday, so we spent some time the other day reevaluating our 2010 … Read More
This weekend is our last alpaca show of the season. Ron is in Syracuse with three alpacas, including Snowshoe Aristides, our white male color champion. We’re hoping for another good showing for Ari! Back at the farm, it’s time to clean up and prepare for winter. We’ve been working on … Read More
This is Wizard’s first shearing, but also he was the 1000th alpaca to be shorn this year by me (Ron)!