2009 Babies!

This year at Stoneberg Alpacas, LLC has been quite a roller coaster with new babies.

In July, Brandy Storm had a baby girl who died 3 days later. She was a beautiful Sun Tzu female. I did a necropsy on her which turned out inconclusive.

The next birth was Marshmallow Cream. She gave me a beautiful Paul Revere female! Vanilla Cream is 34 pounds as I write this post. She is robust with nice fiber and thick bones.

Next came a DENSE boy from Mocha. Paul Revere did it again. Annihilator is the full brother to Cocoa. He has a small grey spot on his left hip. He like his half sister, Vanilla Cream, is about 32 pounds as I write this post.

Aspire my 16 year old matriarch was next. She was bred to MSA Hemingway's Bogart. On 09/16/09, Aspire went into labor. My gut told me something wasn't quite right as I saw the amniotic sack but no nose or feet. Jamie got in and got the cria out. There was a heart beat and we worked on her for 30 minutes but were unsuccessful. That Bogart baby was a nice brown female...and not a pinto.

At this point I was ready to throw in the towel with Alpaca breeding. I felt somewhat responsible for the 2 deaths. I was frustrated that the full gestation of each cria went for nothing! It got even more frustrating with Hi-Way.

Hi-Way, bred to Artero, gave me a beautiful white female. less than 24 hours later she had died. It is unknown what she died from. I honestly was a little depressed and really began blaming myself. However, I thought in my heart and mind...Keep going Eric. Think about the long term plan you have with Alpacas, learn from what happened to these babies, see the big picture, re-breed and get that farm you so desperately want.

Today, 10/14/09, Zafiro birthed a white Glacial Storm daughter. She weighed in a 17.4 pounds and was treated extra special. Leanne and I used a hairdryer to get her dry. We also put a cria coat on her. As I write this post, she and Zafiro are resting comfortably under the carport on a nice bed of straw. I have learned from my mistakes and vow not to repeat them.

I am blessed with the 3 cria that I have. They are all healthy and are excellent additions to my herd. My next post will be about 2009/2010 breedings.

2008/2009 fiber sorted.

Yesterday, 06/27/09, I went to Alpacas at Tucker Creek and helped with shearing. 30 animals were shorn including, "THE MAN" Sun Tzu. Wow, nice fiber and his daughter Candy is superb. Candy's fleece is phenomenal! Carrie Hull with Course Boards, sorted all my fiber and it is ready to go to get processed. Now I'm waiting for Brandy...July 21 or so. Sun Tsu baby and I can't wait.

Shearing!

Monday June 15th through Wednesday June 17th I had my 12 animals sheared. They all are much happier to get their fiber off. My total was about 52 pounds for 2009, not to mention another 40 from last year. Tomorrow June 22nd, I am heading to Tucker Creek Alpacas to drop off my fiber, which will be sorted by grade next weekend. I am also helping with toenails and top knots. June 28th I will be helping Tucker Creek Alpacas with some of their shearing.

Over the next few months, I am going to intensify my marketing strategy. I need to sell some animals. I have good bloodlines and look forward to the births this year.

Sheering and Fiber!

The sheering season is under way throughout farms in Washington County. On my way to work I have seen animals that have been recently shorn. I will be helping NWA with their sheering June 16-18. I have also been asked to help Alpacas at Marquam Hill Ranch (June 5) and finally Alpacas at Tucker Creek June 28,29. This year my fiber will be sorted and sent out to get processed.

I went to the CABA fleece and halter show and spoke with a few different breeders about how they processed their fiber. To do it privately vs. a co-op there are many factors to consider. Here are a few:
1. Price
2. Individual animals vs. many animals
3. turn around time
4. quality of fiber processed

The year is moving by and June will be here shortly. Then one baby in July: Brandy Storm/Sun Tzu. The rest in September. Shayda/K2 cria April 2010 if the breeding was successful from last week.

Three boys are down the road!!

Anatolian, Brunson and Thunder and off to new homes. The family in Damascus took Thunder and Brunson. Anatolian will be given away at the end of June. Have some things in the works for this year! I won't jinx myself, but I can't wait for Mocha, Brandy, M.C. and Aspire to deliver. I'm interested to see last year to this year, especially Mocha/Paul Revere. Cocoa is beautiful and I'm hoping for a repeat!

Making room for 2009 cria = get rid of some boys!

Anatolian is in a drawing to win an alpaca. Thunder and Brunson are being looked at tomorrow as fiber boys/lawn mowers for some people in Damascus. Please take them....less mouths to feed and room for new babies!

The shelter is being taken down. Apparently the county got wind. Soooo new shelter might be a Costco car cover.

ALPACA CASTLE!

I've been working hard to get the alpaca shelter complete. As you can see in the picuture, the frame is almost complete. I got some supplies ordered from Jeffers.com and Valleyvet.com. I will be updating the shelter pictures daily as I have time to work on the structure!

http://www.stonebergalpacas.com/ All my animals are up for sale!