Saturday, January 29, 2011

Weaning

Archi
Maestro
Lia


Weaning time is coming up shortly. It can be stressful, but is a necessary time on the farm. The babies are away from their moms for the first time - although usually, not far away. To prepare, we ensure the cria are physically ready; drinking water from a bowl, eating hay on their own, in some cases eating grain, and they are showing adequate weight gain, strength and overall good health. They are moved into a pen with the other weanlings where they'll keep each other company and learn from each other and/or a guardian alpaca. The first couple of days are a bit uncomfortable as they look to reunite with mom, but in a short time, they'll discover their independence and the stress subsides.

For the moms, there is a sense of separation, but also relief. More often, the moms have been re bred and their bodies are ready to focus on the new cria developing that will arrive in just a few short months. Nursing a cria that is old enough to be on their own, can take a significant physical toll on mom. Weaning might take place anywhere from 4 to 8 months of age. We use a benchmark of 6 months. Occasionally, nature takes care of things and a cria will stop on their own, or the mom will take charge by discouraging nursing and the cria stops. It's helpful when this happens, but it's not frequent. Once the babies are fully weaned, they can be reintroduced to their original pasture with mom. They act familiar, they reacquaint and usually stay connected, but without nursing.

Our experience has been that the males are a bit more resistant to being away from mom than the females are. Sometimes they take a little longer to relax, but since they are not put back with the females in the pasture, the time doesn't matter as much. This year, Laelia, Archimedes and Maestro will be weaned. Our plan is to pen the 3 of them together, out of view of their moms. We're still deciding whether of not to add a guardian alpaca, such as Hamilton, who has very successfully trained weanlings in the past. He was guardian for Murphy, Paxson and Eclipse.

Our target date is February 14th to begin weaning. All 3 cria are old enough, they're healthy, eating and drinking on their own and quite content being together - much like 3 musketeers. They will all be heading to Massachusetts in April for the North American Alpaca Show, so it's important they have resolved all of their anxiety long before then. They have also begun halter training. Once they've relaxed, training goes much more smoothly. Keeping them as stress free as possible is our goal always, but particularly during this process.

We hope you get the opportunity to visit the farm soon. If you come during weaning time, don't be surprised if some of the 'pacas appear a bit out-of-sorts. Weaning can be challenging, but is a necessary task. The discomfort is short-lived and the results will be wonderful. We will be introducing 3 new independent alpacas that will go on to be happy yearlings and adults...continuing the circle of life!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Testimonials

Did you visit our farm and have a wonderful experience? Purchase something from our store and want to share how much you like it with others? Did your purchase or receive a RentAlpaca gift?

Northern Solstice Alpaca Farm is requesting testimonials and reviews!

Do you have a picture of you at the farm you would like us to share on our website? Or a picture of you in yur new favorite alpaca socks? We would love to share them with others!

We are creating a testimonial page on our website and want to feature your testimonails!

Please message us or e-mail at northernsolstice@uninets.net

wwww.northernsolsticealpaca.com

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Do you know where your socks came from?


This was our first year ever having socks made from our Alpacas fiber. We are THRILLED with the way the socks turned out. We have received overwhelming feedback from our customers. We wanted to let our renters be the first to know that our supplies are running out quickly.
What we have in the store is all that we will carry until November/December 2011.

If you are interested in purchasing a pair please let us know so we can pull them off the shelf and reserve them for you!

About our socks:
These socks contain fiber from Hamilton, Salsa and Aniken. They are incredibly warm without the bulk of a traditional ski/boot sock.


*This will the only opportunity you will have to purchase this blend of fiber. We can not guarantee which alpacas fiber will make it into our 2011 socks.

Some sizes have only single digit amounts remaining.

Northern Solstice Alpaca Farm is the only place these socks are available.

To purchase these socks at our online store click here.
For more information visit our website.




Meet the Alpacas that grew your socks!

Aniken


Hamilton
Salsa