NEAOBA NEWS

A NEWSLETTER FOR NEW ENGLAND

ALPACA OWNERS AND BREEDERS

Published for NEAOBA by NEAOBA

MARCH 2000

This is a quarterly newsletter intended to educate and proliferate the alpaca industry in the Northeast region of the U.S. Letters to the Editor, articles, questions or comments, send to: Dawn Brooker
Editor, NEAOBA NEWS
58 Graybrook Lane
Union, ME 04862
e-mail: ffalpaca@tidewater.net
Phone: (207) 785-4509
NEAOBA was founded in February 1995 by New England Members of the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA). NEAOBA is an official AOBA Affiliate.
Views and article submissions are opinions of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect NEAOBA'S opinion as a whole.

FROM THE EDITOR…

I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for supporting the NEAOBA NEWS. Several of you have written wonderful articles while others have placed ads, both of which are crucial to the success of the hardcopy. Again, THANK YOU.

At the NEAOBA Meeting, held on Jan 23rd, it was decided that we would once again offer a free copy of the NEAOBA NEWS to New England Alpaca Fest (NEAF) attendees on May 20-21, 2000. The free copy will be the June Issue (printed early).

This is an excellent opportunity for direct marketing in the form of an article or an advertisement. The 1999 NEAF attendees were seriously interested in owning alpacas and came to learn more (as opposed to people out for a Sunday drive).

Of course ARTICLES are needed! This issue in particular may be suitable for pieces directed at perspective or novice owners as well as our usual articles for the established membership.

The ADVERTISING RATES for this special issue will be INCREASED primarily due to increased production costs involved. We also felt that the ad space was more valuable due to the increased exposure to the general public. This is the only issue the rates rates will be increased for, the prior advertising rates listed in the Dec NEWS will continue for other issues.

The ad rates for the NEAF ISSUE are listed below. Please send the ad along with appropriate payment to Dawn Brooker. Several members have taken ads out for the entire year....please send in a payment to reflect the difference in ad rates to cover your ad in the NEAF Issue--Thank you and I apologize for any inconvience. (cont…)

The strict deadline is coming right up so please plan accordingly. I will not be flexible with this deadline due to the "time-crunch" to pull it together in time for NEAF. Your understanding is appreciated.

NEAF Issue of NEAOBA NEWS DEADLINE: APRIL 1, 2000

Farm Flyer Deadline: April 15, 2000

SPECIAL RATES for NEAF Issue of NEAOBA NEWS:

Classifieds: $15

Business Card: $15

1/2 page: $30.

Full page: $45.

Farm Flyers: $70.

Members wishing to do Farm Flyers. We will require 300 copies. Please send them to Dawn Brooker.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions please don't hesitiate to contact me.

GENERAL INFO ABOUT SUBMITTING ADS

A farm flyer is a full page advertisement completely prepared by the member. The proper number of copies(100 with the present size of NEAOBA) will need to be supplied by the member and sent to the Editor. The flyers can be double sided and in color if you choose. These will simply be added to the newsletter during assembly.

Guidelines for submitting ad materials:

  1. Original photos are strongly recommended for each publication. This assures the finest quality of reproduction. We will gladly return the photos in the SASE you provide.

  2. Original business cards are required for each publication. Example: 4 issues requires 4 cards.

Printing from your personal computer:

  1. Print in grey scale.

  2. Print on Photo Quality Paper

  3. Sharpen pictures before printing. Sharpen almost to the point where they look horrible on the computer screen. Then when printing them in grey scale, from your computer onto photo quality paper, they will look crisp and clear.

  4. Payment must be made in full when submitting ads. There will be no billing.

  5. Send info and payment to Editor via USPO.

REGULAR NEAOBA NEWS AD RATES

Classifieds: $10.

45words(-)

Business Card $10.

½ Page $20.

Full Page $35.

Double Full Pg $60.

Farm Flyers $55.

WHAT CAN I DO WITH THOSE CONES OF YARN?

By Sue King, Skyeview Alpacas

Many of us, NEAOBA members, submitted fleece to the New England pool and received rather drab looking cones of "yarn" that could easily end up in a closet somewhere without some help. I have spent the last few months working with this yarn, preparing it, knitting with it and marketing it. Guess what? It’s a fabulous product. It just needs a little help. You can’t sell something that you don’t know much about or how it can be used. I’ll try to share some of my rather unorthodox methods that seem to make this yarn really something spectacular to sell.

First off, I’ll deal with preparation. On the cone, this is a dirty greasy product. Not much interest. I first make up skeins of 108 yards of the two-ply yarn. This is approximately 50 gms or about 2 ounces. This is a good amount for people to work from. If they have a small project, they do not have to buy too much, and a large project has a pretty uniform starting point to estimate how many skeins they will need to buy. After it is skeined, I usually tie a loose piece of string around it even though I have tied the ends around the skein. This really helps to make sure it doesn’t end up in a tangled mess after the next steps. I wash the skeins in luke warm water using liquid Palmolive dish detergent. I do at least two baths in this and you won’t believe the dirt and grease that comes off. Be careful not to agitate it too much doing this as you can felt it at this point. I then rinse it again at least two times in the same temperature water and spin it in the drier for about two minutes. Next I take each skein and put my wrists inside it, having separated it out to the form it was in when you started. This is where that piece of string comes in handy because you can tell just how the skein should divide. I snap the skein open three or four times to straighten out and align the yarn. If you dry it looking like squirming snakes, it is hard to work with and presents itself as an inferior product. Now that I have a well-aligned skein, I hang it over the neck of a coat hanger and let it dry. When it’s dry I twist it into the finished product and staple a "beautiful" home made computer label on it.

So what do I have? What started out as two-ply sport weight yarn has now become worsted weight. The agitation in washing and the inherent loftiness of alpaca increases the diameter of the yarn. It now is worsted weight. So big deal. Well we are now marketing. What can this yarn do? It can be used in any pattern that calls for worsted weight yarn. There are thousands of these around, but very few patterns for sport weight. The best needle size to use with it is a five or six. That’s very different from sport weight. The smaller the needle you use with this, the denser and stiffer the product will be. I have knit great kid’s Aran style sweaters on six needles, and they keep the gauge perfectly. You are going to end up with a fairly heavy sock, but they are great for wearing with Birkenstocks or under boots. Just be sure the person is using a sock pattern for worsted weight yarn. Standard sock patterns are for much finer yarn.

This yarn is quite easy to dye. I have dyed it after I have washed it. Soak it for a couple of hours in water with a half-cup of white vinegar in the water. I have used chemical dyes. Natural dyes can be just as bad for the environment as the chemical ones as you have to use very toxic mordents to set the dyes. Follow the directions for whatever dye you use. The yarn will take up a lot of dye and be a pretty strong color if you use too much dye or leave it in the dyepot too long. Keep an eye on it, because that light lavender can be deep purple pretty fast! I have had the best luck dying the white of course, and the customers like the colors. Those Peruvians had a reason for their white herds!

The heavier Lopi type yarn I prepare in the same manner. I skein this in 4 ounce skeins as that seems to be a good base. This too comes out to be about 108 yd. This yarn, because it is one ply, tends to be more difficult to straighten out to dry. Again I hang it over my wrists and snap it, then hang it over the coat hanger neck. I line up a few skeins in a row and weight the bottoms with a heavy ruler or stick pushed through the bottom of the loop the skein makes. This pulls out those kinks as it is drying.

This yarn is what is called in the trade, bulky weight or chunky, depending on the pattern. It is not a substitute for the wool, Icelandic Lopi that is familiar to many knitters. It is a heavier weight than that. It works best on a very large needle. I have been selling it for hats made on an eleven needle. I made a man’s sweater out of it on a six needle and it’s heavy. I wouldn’t recommend this yarn for that type of project. One could make a sweater from it, but be sure the customer knows he should use a pattern and needle size for bulky yarn, not worsted weight.

So what can you tell the customer to convince them to try this yarn? It’s four times warmer than wool, it feels soft, yet will hold its shape, it’s an all New England product, the heavier lopi type yarn knits up very quickly, and most of all your wonderful finished project won’t be duplicated in any store. Many knitters are just dying to try something new. If you can show them samples of things you have made and ideas for kits that stores can put together, this really helps. The yarn I had made up has much more than paid for itself. I’m actually in the profit column mostly through sales in two shops and various wool oriented fairs I attended as a vendor. People buy yarn in the fall and right after Christmas. Have your yarn ready for then and go for it!

Who’s Does What in NEAOBA?

Jan Hensle: President

General NEAOBA business, meeting agendas, chairs meetings

Jim Mullen: Vice President

Supports President

Joe Hilliard: Treasurer

Membership dues, web site listing payments,

NEAOBA finances, membership database,

Sallie Whitlow: Secretary

Meeting minutes

Al Maloney: Webmaster

Maintains NEAOBA web site, Directory

Dawn Brooker: NEAOBA NEWS Editor

Laura Busky: NEAOBA NEWS Distributor

Fiber Committee: Lorrie O’Connor, Sallie Whitlow,

Jan Hensle

Greg Girard: NEAF Chairperson

CALENDAR OF EVENTS for 2000

Click and Reward Workshop:

April 15-16, 2000

A.L. Paca’s Farms, Weedsport, NY

Contact person: Denise Caldwell

Eastern Alpaca Jubilee(MAPACA):

April 29-30, 2000

Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex

Harrisburg, PA

Contact person: Ernest Kellogg

NEW ENGLAND ALPACA FEST(NEAF):

May 20-21, 2000

Topsfield Fair Grounds, Topsfield, MA

Contact person: Greg Girard

NEAOBA MEETINGS:

May 21, 2000 8AM @ NEAF

AOBA National Conference:

May 31-June 4, 2000

Louisville, KY

Eastern States Expo "The Big E"

September 25-28, 2000 (show dates)

Springfield MA

Contact person: Kevin O’Leary

Fryeburg Fair

October 4-8, 2000

Fryeburg Fair Grounds, Fryeburg, ME

Contact person: Cindy Lavan

NH Wool Tour

Early October(October 7-8?)

Tour conducted throughout central & southern NH

DOES NEAOBA HAVE YOUR UPDATED ADDRESS?

Please contact:

Dawn Brooker

58 Graybrook Lane

Union, Maine 04862

(207) 785-4509

e-mail: ffalpaca@tidewater.net

New England Alpaca Fest Update

Volunteers are needed in the following areas:

Obstacle Course

Animal Check-in (checking travel papers)

Pen Layout (Fri May 19th)

Lecturers

Childrens Area

NEAOBA Store

Felting Demo

New Ideas always welcome!

Please contact:Greg Girard: (860) 668-1762

NEAOBA STORE at NEAF

Sallie Whitlow will be running the NEAOBA Store this year. NEAOBA will be paying her out of the 10% cut NEAOBA receives from sales. However, she needs help. The Store requires at least two people per shift to run smoothly. Please consider volunteering.

Dr George Saperstein to speak during NEAF

May 20th 8:30-10:30AM

by Leo Pfieffer

Dr Saperstein’s subject will be genetics and how it plays an integral part in maintaining a healthy lama population, and the importance of reporting and researching the occurrences of genetic defects in the breeding population.

Dr. Saperstein obtained his DVM Degree from Kansas State University in 1978 and is currently the Chair of the Department of Environmental and Population Health, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. He is the holder of the Amelia Peabody Chair in Agriculture Science at Tufts, where he teaches many courses in the veterinary curriculum. Formerly the Head of the Large Animal

Ambulatory Service at Tufts, he has also been a faculty member at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.

A nationally known mastitis expert, Dr Saperstein holds a patent on an antibiotic sensitivity for mastitis. He is currently marketing this test kit to farmers and veterinarians under the name MASTIK. Dr Saperstein is the author of numerous scientific articles and book chapters on congenital and hereditary diseases in animals, and has an international reputation in the field.

NOTE NEAF Participants: Please remember the kid’s corner is designed for attendees’ children, not for participants’ children.

From the President’s Desk…

First of all I would like to welcome all the new members from the past year. I have been truly lacking in introducing myself to you. The best opportunity for that is coming up on May 20th and 21st, the dates of our New England Alpaca Fest. The dinner Saturday night is open to all members. Since we will be having a pre-dinner wine and cheese party for potential buyers at our first annual Alpaca sale for NEAOBA, this will be a perfect time to get to know each other. Make your hotel reservations now as the area has many events scheduled for that weekend.

We will be having an important meeting on Sunday morning, May 21st, to discuss the fiber pool and the Big E, among many other things. Coffee and donuts will be served. We plan to begin thinking about the next year’s events, including new elections and possible meeting places. It was generally agreed that we try to arrange for a Grange, Lodge, Church, or a facility of that type, in a centrally located place so that members from all the states in New England will be able to attend within a reasonable traveling time. The location will have to move east and west, or north and south during the year. We would like 4-5 places nominated. Some suggestions might be lower Maine, upper Connecticut , western Massachusetts, or central New Hampshire. I put some pins in a map and came up with these suggestions. Seating must be at least 50.

We need volunteers for the Fest in areas such as children’s activities, door, shop, arrival and departure, etc, so please contact Greg Girard. Our speaker, Dr. George Saperstein, will give his main lecture at 8:00 AM Saturday and be at the fest through out the day. He is an excellent speaker and has a very important challenge for us to help with. Dr. George Saperstein spoke at National and had the entire audience buzzing with enthusiasm about a much needed project that we have all said we need, but has never come to realization. We have a chance to make a difference, so listen carefully and be ready for your farm to participate.

Fiber for the NEAOBA fiber pool will be collected at the Fest to save you postage. The final deadline won’t be until July, but if you have it, bring it, remember to clean it and label it. You will all be receiving more specific instructions within the next month or so.

I guess that’s all for now… I’m now off for a long skiing weekend in Canada. So hello slopes!

See you at MAPACA.

Jan Hensle

Breeding Alpacas

by Earlah Swift, Mariah Alpacas

We have bred over 500 alpacas since 1988 and have had very few problems. Our routine for breeding is pretty simple and has work well for us.

We select a male that will compliment the female taking into account conformation, fiber coverage, and color. We are fortunate that we have a nice group of herdsires to select from. Your herdsire is ½ of your herd since you will be using him on many females. Even though you think you have the perfect match, the result is not always what you had hoped for. Once we have a good match, we will pair those animals together for future breedings in hopes of continuing to produce the crias we are looking for.

Good records are important.

We bring our males to our females and breed each one individually. We have found that the adult females breed best at 18-21 days after delivery. When breeding maiden females, we will expose them to the males at 14 months or older, if they are at least 100 lbs. and are of good size. If they are not receptive we wait another month before exposing them again.

After we breed the first time. We field check on days 4-6 and if the female goes down we rebreed. Then we do not recheck until day 12 at which time I'm hoping she will be spitting. If she goes down, we will breed then. If she does not conceive after couple times of this routine I start looking for possible problems.

The problem may simply be we are missing her cycle and I may choose to breed her every other day and see what happens. Another possibility is she may have an uterine infection which will need to be cultured and treated if it is positive.

The nice thing about having females that you have been breeding for several years, is you become familiar with their behaviors which is very helpful in figuring out problems.

Over the years we have tried different methods for keeping the female’s tail fiber out of the way. For the last several years, once the female is down we mearly reach under the male from the side and move the tail fiber out of the way being careful not to move her tail way to the side. I am convinced that the male uses her tail as a guide.

New England Alpaca Fest

May 20-21, 2000

Be There With or Without Alpacas!

WHAT DO YOU DO ON

YOUR FARM?

1. Have you ever had to bottle feed or tube a cria?

2. What computer software fo you use?

Mark Russell:

1. I have never bottle fed any llamas or alpacas. We have tube fed; very seldom, but, just an initial feeding to get it going.

2. ALPACA+. It is ok, but not great if you have more than a few animals.

Liz MacEachran:

1. We've only had to bottle feed when we were a little worried about a cria. We found it quite difficult. We used lamb replacer. We felt it might have helped tie one baby over when his mom was inexperienced and with another baby it seemed to stimulate her to nurse better. I have talked to two people who had to raise orphans this fall and I think the more information exchanged about this, the better. It seems to be a very difficult task.

2. We use Lama Logic. Their fleece section is not great but supposedly they are coming out with a new one. I wish it was more user friendly.

Lee Montomgery:

1. No, we have never had to bottle feed or tube a cria.

2. I don't use any software yet, but am looking for something to use on my Mac for herd management.

Lori Henry:

1. We have never had to bottle feed or tube a cria on any extended basis. Occasionally we have had a cria who takes a while figuring out how to nurse. In some cases we have given them a bottle or two of goat colostrum (which we always have in the freezer). But we have worked quickly to get them to nurse because that is always best for baby and mom.

2. We use LamaLogic software to manage our herd data. We have excellent reports that help us keep track of shots that are due and breeding. Data entry is also made easier (for shots and weighing) by organizing these activities into groups so you can update the files for everyone in one entry.

Kevin O'Leary:

1. This year the last two crias have had to be bottle fed with a mixture of lamb milk replacer and electrolytes

2. The software program we use is Lamalogic, it's takes a little getting use to but works great.

Cindy Lavan:

1. We prefer to tube a cria versus bottle feed. In the very few cases we have had to do this (truly supplemental), we have found the cria since still very attached to their moms, easier to tube feed than try to bottle feed. We sit the cria cushed and kneel over him/her, inserting the tube in front of us. Applying pressure with your knees to hold the cria (aka wiggle worms) in place works well. Tube, then release right back to Mom (who is usually standing right there investigating the situation). We use a mixture of Mom's milk, whole milk and plain organic yogurt. We warm the container of milk in hot water, the old-fashioned way. Rinse your tube throughly after use and put up. (Lab pups love these things to chew on.) We have even been able to get a weak cria, who couldn't stand to nurse off mom, back on mom after 10 days. We milked her out and supplemented till he was strong enough to return to her completely. In another case, we did supplement via tube feeding for over 4 months. A very large percentage of cria will never require supplementation.

2.We use many types of software to help manage the farm business. Quicken for books, Word for documents, Excel and Filemaker Pro database files for customer databases and health management records for the alpacas themselves.(we have modified these database programs and designed record keeping programs for the alpacas). We use two programs for desiging advertisements - Microsoft Publisher and Abode Pagemaker. We have used other alpaca management software, but found glitches and problems with some that became very user un-friendly after time. However, we keep written calendar records of each day's events at the farm as well as back-up - who bred ? to whom ? how long ? any injections today ? etc.

Doug Caldwell:

1.Number of crias needing tubing: none Total number of crias we have bottle fed: 7 out of 135

births over a 6 year period (with the following distribution)...

  • Number of crias needing bottle feeding from birth to less than 30 hours: 5

  • Number of crias needing bottle feeding from birth to 2+ months: 2 One as the mother was bred too early at 12 months and she was not mature enough to have a fully developed udder when her cria was born. The other female had a defective udder as diagnosed by U/S. This female is most likely a genetic problem. Tried Domperidone (a.k.a. Equidone) for two separate treatments at two different dosages. Equidone is in the experimental stage for camelids at this time. It reportedly has about a 40 to 60% success rate so far for camelids but we had no change in output with these two females.

2. Use a fully integrated package built with Excel, Visual Basic, Access, and some 3rd party utilities. Has linkage to internet so that each alpaca on the farm (160) have their own individual web pages for customer access which are updated daily with comprehensive medical and breeding data. The package was developed on the farm over the last several years.

Earlah Swift:

1.Yes we have had to both bottle feed and tube crias from time to time. Each time I try to help the cria nurse on the mother first before bottle feeding or tubing, so that the cria can benefit from the mother's milk. Sometimes this is not possible.

2. I use Bob Black's software; Paca-Plus

Jim Cross:

1. We've had to tube a newborn cria on several occasions and bottle fed the same one for over 3 months to supplement her mother's low milk output.

2. We use PACA+ software.

Jim and Donita Brent:

1. No, never fed a cria with a bottle, or anything else for that matter (yet).

2. We use Lama-Logic, on recommendation from Bruce and Lori Henry.

Diane Legere:

1. No

2. Word, Word Perfect, Lotus and Excell.

Lars Garrison:

1. Over the years we have done both bottle feeding and tubing of a number of llama crias, which won't be much different than alpacas.

2. For herd records we use LLAMATRACKER which was developed under the guidance of Kay Patterson-Sharpnack. It is a great program, although when we bought it it was on the expensive side and may have come down. Otherwise our programs are all Microsoft except the photo stuff which is mostly Kodak.

Louise Hebeler:

1. I have bottle fed several cria for various reasons. One, who was very ill after birth, I milked the mom for the milk and fed it to the cria. A playtex nurser, small 4 oz. bottle with the formed bags inside, makes an excellent catch bottle for milking mom. Then I poured the milk into a bottle so that I could use a Pritcher nipple. We even got a great IgG!!!! To feed the cria, I folded her up on my lap (she could not stand), I cuddled her close so it was darkish, and she drank with some coaxing. Today she is healthy and growing.

Another one was bottle fed off & on for a short time as mom was having trouble. He was fed lamb replacer (2/3 bottle) & electrolytes (1/3 bottle). He did very well. I have occassionally given cria a supplimental bottle when they are not gaining as well as I would like or have a low birth weight. It works very well once they catch on. You just have to be very patient the first few times. If they are used to nursing from mom, either let them drink the bottle from under your arm, or bend over and let them come between your legs to simulate mom as best as possible. Then slowly train them to drink the bottle from your hand with you sitting or what ever is comfortable. They learn very quickly.

Ebony, who was orphaned at 4 weeks old, has been bottle fed for months. We started out ever y 4 hrs. around the clock (Oct.) and she is now getting three bottles a day. She started off with 1/2 lamb replacer & 1/2 electrolytes until she was 3 months old, then slowly changed her to 2/3 lamb replacer and 1/3 electrolytes. She has had a tough time, many ups and downs, but is presently gaining weight, running and playing with her fellow cria and growing, but she still gets her bottle three times a day! She is 5 months old and 45.4 pounds so anything we can get into her , we do!

2. As far as computer software - I use LamaLogic. It has many good points but I find it restrictive. There is a new version coming out soon and I hope that will allow me to be more selective as to reports generated, etc.

Leo Pfieffer:

1. Yes, we had to bottle feed a cria last fall. We used 2/3 goat milk to 1/3 goat yogurt and it worked very well.

2. We use Llama Logic herd software.

Penny Sunn:

1. We have had one experience with bottle feeding a cria, he did not take to it at first, I used whole milk with yogurt mixed in, and eventually he caught on. Luckily the dams milk came in a few days later, and he much preferred her, and stopped taking the bottle.

2. As far as your question regarding softwear, I have a Mac so I have had to make up my own version of alpaca recordkeeping.

Michelle Rogers:

1 N/A, yet!

2. I make my own charts with Microsoft word or excel and any farm letters/brochures,etc. in Paint Shop.

Laura Busky:

1. We have never had to bottle or tube feed a cria.

We did however, have a problem getting our first cria to nurse. She was a first time Mom and cria was born at the odd hour of 10pm. We tried for about 3 hours to get him to nurse, but he couldn't figure out where to go. Every time he almost found the right spot, Mom would get impatient and move, lay down, etc. We had no colostrum on hand so we started calling around to find some. A late night call to fellow NEAOBA member, Joe Hilliard, ended up being a godsend. Joe suggested that if Mom laid down, we tip her over on her side and hold her there, then push the cria's mouth to the right spot. Fortunately, this method worked wonderfully for us and our little guy got a good long drink. Everyone, including Joe and our vet was surprised that this method worked because it's so unnatural and requires so much human contact. The bottom line though is that in this instance it did work and we ended up with a happy, healthy cria.

2. With only a few animals on our farm, we do not use any herd management software yet. We use Quicken to keep track of our financial records, both for home and business use. We are also looking at upgrading to QuickBooks or an equivalent for better business records.

John Callen

1. We have had to bottlefeed 2 cria in 5 years.

2. We use Sicon. Lori Henry is/was their rep. in New England. I handle marketing/sales, transportation, purchasing of animals and special projects, long range planning. Lyn handles feeding, the books, ARI relatiohship, product sales. Our bachelor son, who lives at the farm, handles buildings, grounds and lawn maintenance, fencing. Besides, he is our breeding and birthing expert. when we're traveling (which is quite often), he handles the whole farm for periods up to five weeks! We all can do each others jobs as a backup.

Lorrie O'Connor

2. Since we are still small, we do our care records by hand and I do the farm finance accounts on Quicken.

Dawn Brooker:

1. Yes we have tubed a cria. We used a 50/50 ratio of lamb replacer and whole milk mixed with organic plain yogurt.

Al Maloney

1. Yes. We have been bottle feeding an orphaned cria. She is now eating grain so the milk consumption is decreasing.

Linda & Bill Ley

1. Not yet.

2. Windows '95

Les Foshay:

1. We have both tubed and bottle-fed.

  • My first experience with tubing came about 3 years ago, attempting to restore a llama baby to health, on a friend's ranch. The baby had come from the Prescott Zoo, was quite puny, made some good gains, developed some sort of gasteroenteritis and was lost. I must note, the zoo staff had tried for 5 days as the cria LOST vitality, before getting sent out to the ranch.

  • We have a young gray that was tubed and bottle-fed before another mom adopted him, while we had the pair boarded out. The original mother since rejected another,male ...... you may remember "Little Guy", our gray cria at Eastern States. He was bottle fed for 5 mos. He was also tubed several times early on.

  • We tubed one or two more cria in the

first day or so, when needed to give them a

boost, with the vet's help.

2. software?...we just have windows 95

Terry Miller:

1. No, We have never had to bottle feed/tube a cria.

2. We are in the process of loading Paca+ herd management software into our computer; we had a problem with one of the disks we received and are waiting for a replacement so we haven't been able to use it yet.

SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!

Do you have a suggestion(s) for the NEAOBA NEWS? We have a wealth of creative people in our membership and I am very willing to incorportate new ideas into our publication. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your suggestions!-Dawn Brooker

THE TUBING EXPERIENCE…

By Dawn Brooker, Fiber Fields Alpaca Farm

Well, I knew when I decided on this issue’s "What Do You Do On Your Farm" question, "Have you ever tubed or bottle fed a cria?", it would be an omen. Sometimes those intuitions are worthy of consideration!

On December 24th one of our proven females delivered a beautiful, healthy female cria. The cria was standing up and nursing very quickly. We thought all was going well until we noticed the dam was limiting the nursing sessions by stepping aside and laying down. Off to the vet we went. After a physical exam, the vet diagnosed mastitis and prescribed the appropriate antibiotics. We also started administrating Probias to maintain a healthy intestinal flora. As for the cria….a plasma transfusion(IgG 341) and tubal supplementation was recommended. My first words were "I will need a lesson," as my heartrate increased slightly with anxiety.

I had read about the tubing procedure and knew it was a relatively common practice(not to be confused with a routine practice) but I had never done it. The vet proceeded to demonstate tubing and then handed the tube to me for a try. I sucessfully completed tubing my first cria. Other than feeling rather clumsy because it was my first time, it was relatively easy…although nerve-racking.

Our veterinarian listed key points to follow while tubing. I have included this list with a couple of additions we discovered along the way. I think every breeder would admit to being nervous the first time they attempted tubing a cria. But it becomes second nature extremely quickly, once you develop a feel for it.

Tubing is generally recommended when supplementation is required for a short period of time and/or if the cria refuses to accept a bottle. Bottle feeding on the other hand is recommended if supplementation is recommended for an extended amount of time. Each cria is unique and should be treated as an individual…one recommendation does not fit all.

The following is a guideline for tubing. Having a hands-on lesson from a qualified person is strongly recommended due to the severity of the problem should the tube be placed in the lungs by mistake….death. So, if you find yourself in a situation that requires tubing, take the time to check and double check the placement of the tube. It is well-worth the time.

BASIC GUIDELINES FOR TUBING

  1. Place the cria in a kushed position on the floor (facing the same direction) while strattling her with your knees. Gently squeeze with your knees into her sides to keep her still if necessary.

  1. Maintain the cria’s head in a natural position, not up or down.

  2. Gently insert the tube into the center of her mouth and enter the esophagus. The cria will show slight annoyance at this point but continue on.

  3. As the esophagus approaches, the cria will often swallow the tube. With practice, the breeder will detect a feel for this and work in conjunction with it.

  4. Continue directing the tube into the esophagus until roughly half way down.

  5. Test #1: Remove the stylet from inside the tube(the wire that helps guide the tube during placement). Suck in on the tube. The esophagus is a flexible tube and will collapse around the tube producing a vacuum. (The trachea is a rigid non-collapsable structure with cartilidge rings. When sucking in on the tube it will yield air.)

  6. Test #2: Place fingers near junction of head and neck. Reach around/behind trachea and feel for the tube moving in the esophagus.

  7. Continue to guide the tube through the esophagus and stop at the mark on the tube(already measured).

  8. Test #3: Blow into the tube and wait for gurgling noises from the stomach, often accompanied with intestinal odors. If unable to hear effectively, place the 60cc syringe on the end of the tube and it will act as a megaphone! Only after confirmation the tube is in the correct place should milk be administered.

  9. Connect 60cc syringe(as a funnel) to tube and administer supplement, letting gravity control the speed of flow. Remove the syringe when done.

  10. To remove the tube, continue to keep cria’s head in a natural position. Place a finger over the hole in the end of the tube and pinch the tube with the other hand in front of the cria’s muzzle. This is done to prevent the milk from inside the tube spilling into the lungs on the way by the trachea. Pull the tube out smoothly and with an upward motion toward the end(still maintaining head position). For some reason this seems to help the cria tolerate the last 4+ inches of the tube turning the corner into the mouth.

Host a Vet Student on Your Farm

by Stephanie Pfieffer, Hawke Hill Farm

This past November, we participated in the Tufts University "Adopt-a-Veterinary Student" program. Two first year vet students came and spent a weekend on the farm with us to experience working with alpacas and llamas. They participated in a variety of activities: grooming, haltering, leading, and feeding. The students asked pertinent questions about animal husbandry and breeding. They also brought a checklist of subjects they were required to ask about as part of their assignment. It was rewarding for us because as we answered their questions, we realized how much we have learned since we started the farm in 1998. The students were professional, polite, and very eager to work with the animals. This hands-on experience helps the students decide whether they'll specialize in small or large animal medicine. We felt it would be a great opportunity to expose two future veterinarians to the world of alpacas and llamas.

We had a very productive two days and feel that it was time well spent. In fact, the weekend was so successful that we've signed up to host two more

students. If you are interested in hosting students, and are located in southern New England, Tufts would like to hear from you.

For more information about the program, please contact: Ms. Lynne LaPensee: (860)974-2780

Fiber Pool News

by Jan Hensle

"Sox" it too ‘em. We made them and they came, finally. At the last NEAOBA meeting we distributed the rest of the Alpaca Sox to members. They are sooo warm and woolly! Fred Swift and my Ben won’t take them off their feet without a struggle! I had to dye mine magenta to keep my daughter from pilfering them..

We are definitely going to repeat this fiber pool this spring. Anyone can join. 4 pounds of any fleece + $48 = 1 dz. pairs of socks in sizes for women, men, and ex-large. Earlah and Fred Swift are the only ones with socks left and they are going fast. They will sell you a pair for $18.

The Blanket Pool is sold out at $175- $350 a blanket. These soft and luxuriant queens flew out. We have sent checks to those members who asked us to sell for them. We are repeating this again. 5 pounds of fine blanket fleece + $75 = Queen size blanket.

The 100% Suri/Huacuya projects are almost complete. Samples will be sent to designers and catalogue houses as soon as possible. I have heard from the mill that this fiber combination is weaving beautifully. No glitches so far! You will get a chance to touch it at NEAF.

So where do we go from here? We are getting back between $16.00 and $24.00 a pound from these products. I think that is a damn good profit on fleece from the neck, belly, leg, and prime blanket. Lorrie has had a financial wing-ding time on this, but many thanks to her math and computer skills.

We are interested in hearing from the membership as to any suggestions regarding future projects. We will have a display at MAPACA and plan to sell socks. We are thinking of doing the same at National, but will have to take orders only since we won’t have any stock left.

We are also in the process of approaching several catalogue houses. If we’re successful, we could guarantee income from your fleece, but we would also need your true commitment to the project. We are talking about the year 2001, and about that many pounds of fiber! We are well on our way to making New England Alpacas a Fabulous Fiber Financial Success.

What else? You will get individual notices of what to do with your fiber this year and where to send it. You can bring your spring shearing to NEAF, to save shipping. We will have all the products on a display there. Remember to blow your animals before shearing!! A Clean fleece is the only Fleece!

Dog Bone Designs

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www.midcoast.com/~newaim/dogbone

www.newaim.com

tel: (207) 832-5162

email: al@newaim.com

Do you need help with a web site for your farm?

If the answer is yes, then why not have your site developed, updated or hosted by someone who is familiar with the needs of the Alpaca business. Dog Bone Designs is located at NEWAIM Farm in Waldoboro, ME and is the webmaster for the NEAOBA web site. We offer prompt friendly service and reasonable rates. Economical e-commerce solutions are also available. Let Dog Bone Designs help you market your Alpaca Related Products on the World Wide Web. Detailed information regarding services and rates are available at www.midcoast.com/~newaim/dogbone or by sending an email to al@newaim.com

 

NEXT ISSUE’S

WHAT DO YOU

DO ON YOUR FARM?

  1. What kind of wormers do you use?

  • Oral, Injectable? Frequency?

  • When do you stop worming your pregnant females prior to delivery?

  1. What percentage of your alpacas do you micron test? Do you find that your animals' fiber micron count increases each year? and by how much?

 

Directions: Farm members will be contacted by the editor via e-mail for their responses. Farm members without e-mail, please contact the editor with your response.

Do you have a question suggestion for this feature? Please send your ideas to Dawn Brooker, Editor

Thank you for all of the question suggestions! I am keeping a list to work from. The two for the next issue are from that list.

CRIATIONS!!! CRIATIONS!!! CRIATIONS!!! CRIATIONS!!!

Mariah Alpacas:

" MA Chaarmayne" (F) 10/24/99, dk coffee, sire:5Peruvian Navarro(dk fawn),

dam: PW Electra(brown)

"MA Chino" (M) 10/25/99, fawn, sire:5Peruvian Silverado(grey), dam:4Peruvian Charmer(bay black)

"MA Rubina" (F) 10/30/99, brown, sire:4Peruvian Wiracocha(fawn), dam:5Peruvian Rubi(lt fawn)

"MA Cimmaroon" (F) 11/19/99, white, sire:4Peruvian White Wizzard(white)

dam: PPPeruvian Grace(white)

Twin: "MA Valicita"(F), 13.4#, 12/6/99, white/brown, sire:PPPKenamori Gold(white), dam:Earlah(white)

Twin: "MA Miski" (F) 7.4#, 12/6/99, white, , sire:PPPKenamori Gold(white), dam:Earlah(white)

"MA Jeannette’s Boy" (M) 12/22/99, dk fawn, sire: 5Peruvian Navarro(dk fawn), dam:PPPJeannette(white)

"MACornelia" (F) Suri, 1/10/00, fawn, sire: MA Rusty(white) dam: 4Peruvian Condori(fawn)

"MA Black Millennium" (F) 1/25/99, black, sire:PPPInca-aka El Negro(black),

dam: 4Peruvian Black Satin(bay black)

"MA Olivia" (F) 1/30/99, fawn, sire: 4Peruvian Wiracocha(fawn), dam:PPP Malika(fawn)

Acorn Alpaca Ranch:

"Genna" (F) 11/6/99, true black w/white face, sire: Lanark’w Ottawa(blk),dam:Chilean Saucey(blk/wh)

Snowshoe Farm, LLC:

"Hannah’s Julie" (F) 1/21/00, lt fawn, sire: Altiplano Gold(beige), dam: CT Tela(dk brown)

Kilblaan Farm :

"KF Paloma" (F) 11/26/99, white, sire: CPeruvian Accoyo Amadeus (white), dam:Chilam white

Wilpaca Farm:

"Sorprisa" (F) fawn, sire:Peruvian Royal Gold(fawn), dam:Peruvian Mirabella(fawn)

A.L. Paca's Farms:

"Lady Aravis"(F) 11/1/99, Charcoal Gray w/ white face, sire: Peruvian Chocolateer

(dk cof/blk), dam:Mystical Mariah (white)

"Java Cream" (F) 11/12/99, beige, sire: Peruvian Best ala' Best (White), dam:Mocha(dk br)

"Miss Dawn to Dusk" (F) 11/12/99, black w/white, sire: Peruvian Chocolateer (dk cof/blk),

dam: Snow Flake Samoilov(white)

"Cracker Jack" (M) 11/18/99, lt brown, sire:Peruvian Chocolateer(dk cof/blk),dam:Peruvian Marilla (wh)

"Evening Mist's '99 Cria" (M) 12/19/99, black, sire:Request the Best(grey), dam:Evening Mist(grey)

"Kiwi's '00 Cria" (M) 1/3/00, silver gray, sire:Request the Best(grey), dam:Kiwi(black)

Chase Tavern Farm:

"CT Morin" (F) Suri, 12-27-99, white, sire: unknown, dam: Peruvian Celena(white)

"CT Millennium"-aka "Milly" (F) 1/1/00, bay black, sire:Silver Dollar (gray),dam:Leslie(gray)

Hidden Hill Farm:

"Allegro Gold" (M) 1/17/00, white, sire: Peruvian Altiplano Gold(beige), dam:Peruvian Amanda(white)

"HHF Kenamori’s Felipe (M) 11/4/99, lt fawn, sire: PPPKenamori Gold(white),dam: Fiona

Tuck Farm:

"Anais Nin" (F) Suri maroon w/white face, sire: Prysm(maroonw/white face), dam:Lubica(medium fawn)

"Kee Kee D" (F) Suri white, sire: Mr. Pierre(white), dam:Bellflower(white)

"Martina" (F) Suri med fawn, sire: Prysm(maroon w/white face) dam: Victoriana(LFX)

"The Colonel" (M) Suri med fawn, sire: Sheriff(med fawn), dam: Que Bonita(LFZ)

Champlain Alpacas:

"Noel" (F) Suri 12/17/99, wht, sire: Torio(wht), dam: Nina(wht)

"Faith" (F) 12/4/99, med. fawn, sire: dam: Lucillio (fawn), dam: Fauna (vicuna)

"Anabel" (F) 11/11/99, dk. fawn, sire: Antojo (wht), dam: Annie (dk fawn)

Fiber Fields Alpaca Farm:

"FFAF Ellie Mae" (F) 12/24/99, lt fawn, sire: PPPKenamori Gold(wht),dam: CT Elin(brown)

An Open Letter to NEAOBA members Jim King, Skyeview Alpacas

As you may have seen in the January issue of the AOBA HUMMER, I am one of the six nominees for the two open seats on the AOBA Board of Directors. The ballots, along with a statement from each candidate, will be sent out to the AOBA membership in mid-March. The ballot will indicate a voting deadline, sometime prior to AOBA's June Annual Meeting. I urge that all of you carefully consider the qualifications of each candidate and vote for the one or two that you believe will best serve both your needs and those of our industry. Hopefully, I will be one of your choices.

Since 1992, my wife, Sue, and I have operated Skyeview Alpacas, which has grown to a current head count of 40 alpacas. I have been active in NEAOBA since its beginning, serving for two years as Treasurer. On the national level, I am presently a member of the AOBA Marketing Committee and the AOBA Affiliate Task Force.

I believe that the following factors will allow me to make positive contribution to the AOBA Board and to the continued growth of the alpaca industry:

  • A strong background in business and finance.

  • The experience of building a successful, medium sized alpaca farm.

  • The ability to represent the views of alpaca breeders in the Eastern states.

  • Knowledge gained from participation on industry fact-finding and operating committees.

  • A commitment to work for an orderly consolidation of AOBA and ARI into a strong breed association that can best sustain the health and expansion of our industry.

I ask for your vote.

Thanks, Jim King, Skyeview Alpacas

YIPPEE!

by Dawn Brooker, Editor

We did it! The advertisement revenue from the last newsletter enabled us to cover the costs of publication and postage!!! Thank you all.

The total costs for the 16 page double sided newsletter:

Copying: $160.

Postage: $234.

Total: $394. ($3.12/copy)

Grass Farming

by Dan Mingle, Mountain Brook Farm

It’s mid winter.  The cold is getting old, cabin fever is here.  Dreams of a white Christmas have passed and have been replaced by long hours by the fire perusing the seed catalogs planning and replanning the spring garden.  In the barn, you have been handling hay since October, and continually find hay chaff on the floor beside your chair at work.

It’s time to feed our fantasies of spring by thinking about the pasture. 

Pastures provide our alpacas with space for exercise, exposure to the sun for vitamin D production, grass for grazing and nourishment, sometimes access to water, and toilet space where there is less pressure to clean than there is in the barn.  In addition there are few things prettier than a herd of alpacas wandering around a broad grassy expanse.

After a long winter of handling hay and grain and carrying buckets of water, it is tempting to just let the alpacas loose in the pasture contained by a fence and take the summer comparatively at ease.

For a livestock farmer, pasture grass can be considered a crop.  The livestock is the farmer’s means of harvesting that crop.  Pasture grass, like any growing plant, will thrive with good management and suffer when neglected.

A pasture well maintained will provide the alpacas with superior nutrition.  A small, well-managed pasture may easily support far more than the estimated 5 to 10 alpacas per acre we all quote to our buyers. A neglected pasture will progressively favor the growth of unpalatable weeds over grass.  The neglected pasture will suffer from erosion and poor water quality in neighboring ponds and streams.

The first step to a well-managed pasture is to sketch it.  Pace out the distances and estimate acreage.  Draw in natural landmarks such as ponds, streams, wet areas, changes in slope or visible differences in vegetation types, drainage, and soil types.

The second step is to look at your fence as it relates to the waterways.  Although it is nice to give our animals free choice to sip water from the natural waterways, there may be long-term penalties.  Alpacas may spend a lot of time in the water during hot weather resulting in felting rotting of the fleece.  Water quality may suffer if the poop pile is inadvertently too close to the water, leading to contaminated run-off fouling the water.  Consider fencing out the ponds and streams.  A thirty-foot buffer of vegetation between the fence and the water should be adequate to prevent contaminated run-off from reaching the water.

Third, take a trip to your local Soil and Water Conservation Office.  This is a branch of your State Department of Environmental Protection.  There are typically regional offices, often one for each county.  I found mine in a search of the State of Maine Web Pages.  They provide wonderful services often at no cost.  Pick up a map of your farm.  The map will precisely describe the distribution of different soil types on your farm.  The described soil types will take into account the physical and chemical structure of the soil, the slope, the drainage characteristics, and the usual depth of the water table. 

The other resource you will find at the SWCD is a soil engineer.  Get a key, from the engineer, to the soil types on your farm.  I came home with a 5-page printout entitled "Land Capability and Yields per Acre of Crops and Pasture."   It will provide you with more than you ever needed to know about your soil and an estimate of the number of animals supportable by that piece of soil under optimum management conditions.

Take your soil engineer home.  I had a great afternoon with mine, walking the pasture and problem solving my drainage, access, erosion, and irrigation problems.  The service was free, and he pointed me toward a lot of other programs to obtain financial assistance for projects that will protect the water, prevent erosion, and provide for any number of other private farm projects considered to be in the public interest.

Visit the office of the local state university Extension Service.  Although regions may be divided differently, like the SWCD, Extension Service offices are regional, usually specific to a county, and administered on a statewide basis.  Many of their services and resources are also free.  I also entertained our extension agent for an afternoon on our farm and learned a lot.  They will have data on grasses, pastures, poisonous plants, and other useful resources. 

You will want to test your soil.  I use the Maine Soil Testing Service at the University of Maine.  Instructions, requisitions, and sample containers are available at my extension service office.  My report gave me requirements in pounds per acre of each major nutrient based on my preference of chemical or natural fertilizers and the crop I intended to grow.  The report also recommended a specific fertilization schedule. My extension agent helped me to calculate the amount and blend of available fertilizers to meet the recommendations.

If you need to plant grass, your soil engineer or extension agent can guide you to the varieties that are suited to your climate and soil type.  It makes little sense to be overly selective or specific about the grass type you plant. A blend of suitable types is

P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">probably the best.  Within a few years, your pasture will self select the grasses that do best under management system.  And grass seed gets around easily enough that the grasses in your mature pasture may little resemble the grasses you planted.

Finally, consider rotational grazing.  Grass has the best nutritional value when it is between 2 and 7 inches high.  Your animals are going to prefer eating the tender new sprouts rather than the tall mature grass that is going to seed.  This explains why my alpacas ignore what looks to me to be lush green banquet areas of my pasture and instead graze on what appears to be barren dirt.  They prefer the new growth.  Eventually, by eating the new shoots as soon as they appear, the plant can never adequately feed and support its root structure and will die.  In a large pasture, they will ignore some areas and continually pick other areas clean. Those areas they graze clean will eventually grow only weeds that they don’t like.

An effective rotational grazing system will isolate the animals to portion of the pasture just large enough to eat down to about 2 inches in about 4 days.  Then move them into another section of similar size. 

Allow each section of the pasture to recover to at least 7 inches before grazing again.  It takes about 4 weeks for each section to re-grow grass.  It takes about 7 sections to provide continual grazing.  Because each area is small, they will have to eat everything to get enough to eat, they will not neglect big sections of the pasture.  Because you move them out before they get down to bare ground, the grass will recover and stay healthy.

In comparison to the cool, wet spring and fall when grass grows fast, in the dry hot summer days when grass grows slowly it might take twice as much time to re-grow the grass and therefore twice as much pasture to feed the herd.  Half the pasture will be unnecessary during prime grass growing seasons.  If you don’t hay the unused portion of the pasture, mowing it 4 weeks before it is needed will provide a higher nutrient value once you release your animals on to it.

I welcome your additional comments, experience, and favorite resources.  Mail to Mountain Brook Farm 219 Streaked Mountain Road, South Paris, Maine  04281, email: mtbrook@megalink.net

2000 NEAOBA DIRECTORY

Afer receiving the 2000 membership database from our treasurer Joe Hilliard, Al Maloney compiled the new directory! A hard copy has been enclosed with this newsletter.

If any of the information is incorrect, please contact Al immediately.

Established members, please take a moment to replace your existing directory with the new one.

You will also find the contact information for our new members in the Directory.

 

Please Welcome Our New Members to NEAOBA!

FARM MEMBERS

Linda and Bill Ley

Parris Hill Farm

Les Foshay

Champlain Valley Alpacas

Phyllis and Steve Decker

Alpacas of Maple Lane

Michael and Sharon Hennessey

Aleatory Alpaca Farm, LLC

Zrinka and Jonathan Orr

Hollis Alpacas

Roxanna Smolowitz

Coonamessett Farm

Ann and Richard Frye

Patricia and Richard Houde

Beech Ridge Ranche

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Bonnie Callery

Village Farm Alpacas

John and Judith White

East Woods Alpaca Farm                                             

Gwyn Marathas

CONTACT INFO UPDATES

Penny Sunn

Vermont Alpaca Company

18 Justin Morrill Highway

South Strafford, VT 05070

TEL: 802-765-9639

FAX: 802-765-9641

e-mail: vtalpaca@valley.net

www.vermontalpacaco.com

Walter VanBuskirk

Lightfoot Farms

P.O. Box 1275

Kennebunk ME 04043

TEL 888-426-6631

FAX: 207-985-7940

Sallie Whitlow

4B Piscassic St

Newmarket, NH 03857

TEL: 603-659-8998

e-mail: Sallie.Whitlow @grg.sr.unh.edu

Jerry Weisgrau

Judy Phaff

e-mail: serendipityfarm@

worldnet.att.net

Jim Cross

TEL: 603-588-3370

 

Renee Adams

203 Crossett Hill Road

Lori Henry

lhenry@tellink.net

www.wilpacafarm.com

Bob and Louise Hebler

e-mail: acornpaca@aol.com

Mark and Deborah Russell

www.balfourfarm.com

Leo Pfeiffer

www.hawkehillfarm.com

 

 

Tubing and Bottle Feeding

by Jan Hensle, Henseforth Farm

It has been nearly 10 years since I first became enamored with alpacas. After the first flush of true love, I realized that I could really damage these kind souls if I didn’t really know all there was to their care and feeding. Before I even took delivery of my new charges, I enrolled in Dr. LaRue Johnston's Neonatal course where we worked with cadavers on delivering and caring for Alpacas. What an introduction!

What’s the connection? I learned two things: To never attempt to tube an alpaca unless I had successfully done at least ten or twenty. You can slip that little tube right past the esophagus into the lungs and drown a cria faster than lickity split. Add that to the fact that in ten years, I have never needed that technique, I would suggest, that unless you schooled under Earla Swift, your vet, or qualified others that really know that spot to hit, don’t even think about trying!!!!

I have found that a conscious alpaca can be bottle fed without worry of choking on fluid. If the animal is unconscious, don’t! There are lots of other things that baby needs before milk. As far as substitute milk, I personally think that fresh goat’s milk is the best substitute. Sheep and cow’ milks from farms around you are the best as they share

similar immunities. First milking, with that yellow

stuff called colestrum is great if you can get it, but a bag of high octaneserum with immunoproteins in your freezer is the best insurance. Add some of that

to the powdered milk that Land of Lakes puts out, but only as a last resort. Milking mom is, on rare

occasions, a possibility. My vet says that milking an alpaca is like milking a mouse, so take note.

A normal human babies bottle with the nipple enlarged slightly will suffice. I like the Old fashioned Even- flow bottles. I take a heated ice pick or nail and enlarge the hole. You don’t want to flood their mouths, but make the milk flow easily enough for them to get the idea. I open the corner of their mouths with the fingers on my left hand. My arm and my hand are around their neck, ears, and on the opposite side of the head to me. Then I shove the bottle in and kind of work their jaws up and down a bit to get some milk flowing, pulling out and in slightly so that they get the idea to suck on it to keep it in their mouth. It takes a while, even days, for them to get the idea that this is not mom’s, but that it’s okay. I find it is easier for me to sit on the ground, the cria in my lap, and one of my legs, or another person holding the baby in position, its head up straight. Some times it helps to just wiggle their tails to get the cria started. Sort of an "on" nursing switch. I also cluck at them like their moms, or at least I fancy it is like their mom’s. Patience is a human virtue at this stage. They can be really

obstinate.

After a while it will become less of a struggle. In a couple of weeks, if you can’t get the cria back to its mother or a surrogate, they will see

the bottle, and you, and come to you with tail up. Now that becomes a challenge. Back off and feed with your arm extended. Then feed through a pen or fence. Bottle fed babies are just so cute, and they need you so much, but they do not need to be put into imprint situations that could lead to somethng called Berserk Syndrome. Berserk Syndrome is the imprinting of human traits on another species. It can cause male alpacas to regard humans as sex objects. Alpacas of both sexes can become agressive and potentially dangerous in the barn as they push or challenge humans as equals. The problem is that they’ve forgotten they are alpacas, or perhaps, that you are not one. Make sure that they know that milk only comes from the bottle, and not from you. That way, the transition to hay, grass, and grain will not leave them following you, but the rest of the alpaca herd.

Q & A from the Field

by Cindy Lavan, Chase Tavern Farm

The following are a few frequently asked questions we have received from folks interested in alpacas and breeders themselves over the years. Communicating with other breeders about raising alpacas helps us all learn and benefit. Most importantly, it helps the animals. You may or may not agree with all the answers I give below and you may have comments to add supplementing or negating them. If so, please make note of them to share with us all soon. Communication is education.

Q. What type of fencing is adequate for alpacas?

A. Fencing for alpacas should primarily be designed to keep things out versus keeping them in. Alpacas in general do not challenge fencing. Leave a gate or door open or slightly ajar, that’s another story. Alpacas are primary herd animals and want to stay with the herd. Even when some animals have ‘escaped,’ they do not seem to wander far from the rest of the herd, usually just on the other side of the fence line. One lovely summer morning, many years ago, we awoke to find ½ of a group of girls sitting peacefully under a maple tree outside their fenced area with the other ½ of the bunch, placed quietly across the fence line. Important to note- stay calm when you find ‘escapees.’ They can get excited when they feel you are excitement.

Fencing is primarily to keep possible predators out. We have used the following types of fencing successfully with alpacas: high tensile electric fence (6 strand – 3 hot, 3 ground), square fencing (goat height) on posts placed every ten feet with a top hot wire, temporary ‘hot’ orange or green fencing (goat height) with stakes every 10 feet placed in the ground as well as panels made of wood and wire mesh or metal for corrals. My golden rule on fencing – use the type of fencing that will allow you to sleep at night and keep your alpacas safe from predators or from injuring themselves.

Q. What type of shelter is adequate for alpacas?

A. We have used a simple 3 sided shed with a south face built on skids to house males. We also use fully structured barns, with wooden floors for a ‘clean area’ when shearing, etc. Parts have dirt floors. We bring in mason sand to build up the floors in the summer and bed those up with straw for winter. Some folks use types of pea stone as well for flooring. Some folks use concrete floors topped with heavy mats and then add straw in winter for bedding. Flooring may depend on the type of structure you wish to house the alpacas in. Typically, I like to allow for at least a 5’ x 5’ of space area for each alpaca and her cria. However, they do tend to huddle close together to share warmth in winter and you will find they only use part of the area you are providing them with. Still, allowing them the extra space makes for a less stressed environment. Allow for flexibility in your shelter as your herd grows and your housing needs change. (For example – studs not getting along, weaning areas, etc.) My golden rule on shelters – use the type of shelter you feel comfortable with and always try to keep a south face or opening.

Q. What do I feed my alpacas?

A. A loaded question. Ask 5 different breeders what they feed or have fed and you would probably get 10 different answers. Do know this – that every alpaca in your herd requires different nutrients and has different needs. Gelded males love food, but they don’t need as much since they are not producing cria or mating anymore. They will try to convince you otherwise however. I have produced many geldings that look like they are ready to deliver twins anyday. Females with cria in-utero and nursing another cria on the side need the most nutrition. Stud or working males and growing cria next. Based on

 

Wilpaca Farm

 

your herd size, your herd health and your soil conditions, each farm must evaluate and feed according to its specific needs. Soil testing is essential in this process. Hay analysis as well. From these two established factors you can assess your TDN (Total Digestive Nutrients) needed and decide which type of commercial grain or home-made feed mixture you can use that will most effectively supply

your animals with the best nutrition possible. My golden rule on feeding - Always check with your vet.

Q. What medications do I give annually?

A. Always check with your veterinarian before administering any medication you have not already given before. Depending on where you are geographically located will help determine which coarse of medications you give on an annual basis. Also, some veterinarians are more comfortable prescribing the use of some medications over others. As our knowledge base of alpacas grows, the medications, and their methods of administration, may change over the coarse of time. The régime of medications we followed seven years ago is different than the régime we administer today. On an annual basis, we administer CD&T,

BoSe (Bovine Selenium)and Rabies to all our adult alpacas. Of course, through the year, we are de-worming with Panacur (Fenbenzadole) and Ivermectin as well. Methods of administration will vary on the alpaca’s condition (ex. Pregnant,

etc.). Some medication should never be given to pregnant females, such as BoSe. We administer BoSe to the female after she delivers. We also give a smaller dose to her cria. Most of these meds, we administer ourselves. Our state now requires Rabies

to be administered by a veterinarian. Remember, most medications administered to our alpacas are ‘off-label.’ That is they have not yet been thoroughly tested safe for use on alpacas. We use them since they work well in other livestock. Golden rule on medications - Again, always check with your veterinarian before administering.

Q. At what age do I breed my young female? young male?

A. Just like any mammal, our young females can get pregnant at a young age, but do we want them to? Does breeding a female alpaca under one year effect her ability to carry the child, produce milk and be a good mother? Might, might not. Will this effect her reproductive abilities later in life? Might, might not. I know of 14 year old human girls doing well carrying a child, producing milk, etc. I know no one wants his or her 14-year old child to do this, but physically, she might be able to. Each alpaca weanling female develops differently. We also as humans, like to control, so we hold out on breeding alpaca weanlings until they are between 14-18 months of age and sometimes older. By doing this, we are encouraging the reproductive system to develop completely. Nothing wrong with that. We have seen females under 14 months of age, act receptive and ready to breed, but when actually pursued by a male, turn under him to nurse. She’s interested but not quite there. We hold off another month and try again. If she continues this behavior again, we wait another month. We have seen females under 14 months of age conceive and deliver normal, healthy cria as well. We have also seen when waiting for the female to become older (over 2 years of age) harder to judge her cycle and take longer for her to conceive. Also, time of year is an important factor in determining when to breed. On to males – we are very encouraged when young males show the ability to want to re-produce at a young age. We joke about young 3 month old "Sam" trying to mount his barnmates and maybe even Mom. A male being reproductive early is seen as a ‘good thing’ but generally speaking, most males are not fully sexually mature until 2 - 3 years of age. Oh, they may mount a female and insert their Dremel-like headed penis, but its extension may be restricted by the tissue (prepuce) surrounding the penis shaft. That is, they can’t stick it in all the way just yet, but oh boy…they will have fun trying! Prepubertal adhesions will break with more maturity or could be surgically removed.

Q. How do I test my males fertility?

A. First of all – physical examination. Does he have two testicles? (Note – males can breed with only one testicle. This is considered a negative trait for quality in breeding.) Does the female intimidate him? Is the male physically able to mount the female? Is he being hormonally induced naturally to do so? Once mounted, does he have experience to penetrate the vulva? If he can do all the above, what about the quality of his semen. Since we are dealing with such a small penis and a behaviorally induced breeding reaction, the best way to gather semen for analysis is to harvest it from a female right after she has copulated with the male. A pocket area in the vagina (vaginal fundus) usually contains a small reservoir of semen after breeding. Also, as the male extends back, he will drop semen in the cervix as well. A warmed pipette with a syringe is used to gather the semen. Viewing the semen under a microscope, your vet can determine each sperm’s rate of motility as well as its shape or morphology. Inadequate amounts of sperm and seminal fluid as well as malformed sperm are indicators of immaturity. Alpaca sperm move slower than other livestock species such as rams and bulls

Fiber Fields Alpaca Farm

We are a modest sized farm offering

honest, straight forward support

without the hype.

If we don’t have what you are looking for, chances are we know who does.

 

"Katahdin"

We found crossing Royal Fawn and

Altiplano bloodlines to be very successful.

Call us for a visit.

Fiber Fields Alpaca Farm

Dawn and John Brooker

58 Graybrook Lane

Union, Maine 04862

(207) 785-4509

ffalpaca@tidewater.net

due to the increased viscosity of the fluid it lives in. Keeping the semen in a relevant environment similar to the female’s vaginal temperature is ideal for accurate analysis. We have studied semen in these conditions successfully.

Q. It’s 6 hours since birth, and my new-born cria has not stood to nurse. What do I do?

A. Firstly, call your vet to inform them of your new arrival and situation. In a full-term cria, the intestinal wall’s ability to transfuse molecules across it begins to decrease 6 hours after birth. That is – if nutrients do not begin to get supplied to the cria internally soon, the cria is loosing its ability to absorb them naturally and effectively. A normal full term cria should be standing and nursing within 2 hours after delivery. Personally, I like to see this within 1 hour. They may not latch-on effectively, but they should develop the basic idea of where the goods are within a 2 hour time frame. They need the colostrum from Mom to get them going. Colostrum is not milk. It is a high protein, pasty like substance that mom will secrete from each teat. Baby should have a strong enough suckle reflex (you can check this by inserting your finger in its mouth) to pull off the waxy tip that covers and protects Mom’s teat until baby is nursing. You can pull this waxy plug off if you wish to help the cria. Colostrum contains immunogloblins (such as G – the most important, A and M) and is high in infection fighting molecules (such as macrophages and B &T lymph cells). If baby won’t stand to nurse, and has a strong suckle reflex, help by holding baby under and milking mom. Smear some colostrum on the babies mouth and nose area so they get a taste and smell for it. Try to keep baby in the general area of the teats so he/she will know where the source is coming from. Milk mom as best you can. With a syringe, slowly give some to cria. You can use the tip of your finger as well at first, but we want to make sure the cria who his/her real Mom is. If the cria can stand and just hasn’t quite figured out where the teats are, you can give him/her some colostrum and the smear a bit around the mom’s teats so they can then smell their way back to the right area. Keep Mom and baby in a smaller area as well as alone so they develop that important bond. The most important thing you can do is monitor baby. Make sure he/she is at least trying to nurse. If too weak to stand, milk mom and feed the baby colostrum every hour or so. This way you know the baby is getting something. Fifty percent of intestinal wall closure to the very important immunoglobin G (IgG) and other molecules takes place around 9 hours. Getting colostrum into baby is very, very important. Between 24-34 hours of age is the ideal time for your vet to draw blood to determine your cria’s IgG level. They will take the blood’s components and place it on an agar (or growing substance) and let it grow for 24 hours. Ideally the higher the resulting number, the indication that more IgG’s and other molecules have successfully transfused across the intestinal wall before closure. If this number comes back low, your vet may recommend a plasma transfusion to help supplement the cria. This will ensure the cria’s ability to fight any infections and begin developing normally. If your cria is still very, very weak at 24 hours, your vet may recommend to draw for a protein analysis and within minutes, can have an idea of what absorption has or hasn’t taken place. Your vet may opt to do the transfusion immediately instead of waiting for the IgG results to come back.

Q. Unfortunately, I just lost a cria. What do I do now?

A. No one wants or wishes this situation on anyone, but it does and can happen. Whether born still or after living for days or months, your cria may pass. Mom may have already developed a very strong bond with the cria and is standing over it nudging with her nose to get it to stand up. Mom might have just delivered her first cria and walked away after looking at it not moving or breathing for just a few minutes. All of this is normal behavior for mom. If your mom delivered a still-born cria or if no nursing attempt was made at all, do not touch mom’s udder area. She will begin to ‘dry up’ as her hormone levels drop and no inducing by suckling and nursing is done. Try to leave the dead cria in with mom as long as possible before taking it in for an autopsy if it was old enough to be insured. However, the longer the cria is not kept ‘cold,’ the faster its tissues and organs will begin to break down making it more difficult for your vet to perform a through internal autopsy. If the cria is too young or you do not have the cria insured, and do not opt to do a full internal autopsy (rather a visual one), leave the cria’s body in with mom until she walks away completely. We have had a first time mom deliver a still-born cria, look at it and walk away after 15 minutes. We have had an older mom (two-successful healthy cria born before) deliver a cria we could not revive, stand over her cria for almost 4 days until she finally walked away. Luckily this was during the late fall and the temperatures were colder and there were no flies. It is extremely heart wrenching to see a cria lying on the ground motionless, but it is more important that mom knows her cria is gone. If your mom did lactate and give milk, monitor her udder for mastitis as her udder may become red, swollen and engorged. If this happens, have her examined by your vet for recommended treatment. As long as mom did not have any complications with delivery, she should be able to re-breed normally if not bred back already.

Q. How do I stop this addiction called ‘alpacas’?

A. You can’t. Most importantly, why would you want to?

Roy and Cindy St. George were gracious enough to host the last NEAOBA meeting on January 23rd. Unfortunately, farm members who received the the meeting minutes noticed their farm name was incorrect. Oak Ridge Alpacas is the correct name (not Acorn Acres). A sincere apology goes out to Roy and Cindy St. George.

ARI GRANT

Yocom-McColl Testing Labs in Denver is heading up a grant from the Alpaca Research Foundation. This project requires samples be taken from ARI-registered huacaya alpacas, and samples are being requested by region throughout the United States.

In the Northeast (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont) the following samples are needed: Twelve sets (or 96 individual samples) representing one, two, three, and four year old or older males and females, and Nine castrated males three years or older.

Please refer to the Yocom-McColl website at http://www.ymccoll.com and click on the link to the Alpaca Research Grant at the top of the main page or go directly to the ARF grant information at:

http://www.ymccoll.com/arf.html After reading the project requirements, if you would like to commit a sample (or samples) to this project, please email Angus and Margaret McColl at ymccoll@ix.netcom.com.

Have you listed your alpacas for sale on the NEAOBA web site?

$15 / year / animal

That’s hard to beat!

NEXT NEAOBA MEETING

May 21, 2000

8AM

At the New England Alpaca Fest (NEAF)

Topsfield Fair Grounds

Topsfield, MA

DIRECTIONS:

From Northern points:

  • From I-95 take Exit 50.

Do not take Exit 53 (tough with a trailer)

  • As you come off the ramp follow signs to route 1 North.
  • Follow route 1 North for roughly 2 miles.
  • Topsfield Fair Grounds will be on your right
  • Use the River gate entrance, which is the first gate you will see.

From Southern points:

  • From I-95 take Exit 50.

You will see a sign for Topsfield Fair Grounds.
  • Stay right onto route 1 North
  • Follow route 1 for roughly 2 miles.
  • Topsfield Fair Grounds will be on your right
  • Use the River gate entrance, which is the first gate you will see.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL

from Dawn Brooker

After being editor of the NEAOBA NEWS for two years, I have come to the extremely difficult decision to resign. I have thoroughly enjoyed, soliciting, compiling and designing the newsletter. I have also been blessed with a membership that has been supportive and willing to submit quality material--making my job much easier! Thank you, Thank you.

Unfortunately, career schedules and a growing farm force me to pick and choose how to allot my time. This was not a decision that came quickly or easily by any stretch of the imagination.

I will of course compile the NEAF issue as promised with the same enthusiasm as always. I will also be available for consultaion for the new member who steps forward to take over the position of editor. The fall issue will not be due out until September, giving the next volunteer plenty of time to get organized.

I truly hope you show him/her the same support you showed me. Thank you again for everything.

 

 

Black Fire de Bolivia

DOB 4/2/97

Domestically born of pure Bolivian imported stock at Alpacas of America

Micron: 20.5 & Standard Deviation: 5.2

Breeding Fee: $2500.

Multiple breeding discounts available

Black Fire is an absolutely beautiful black Superior Suri herd sire. This is a great opportunity to bring new bloodlines to the East Coast. We look forward to your visit at our new location in South Strafford, VT.

Vermont Alpaca Company

Penny Sunn

18 Justin Morrill Highway

South Strafford, Vermont 05070

tel: (802) 765-9639

e-mail: vtalpaca@valley.net

www.vermontalpacaco.com

Interested in Joining NEAOBA?

For more information on NEAOBA, or to become a member, please contact:

Joe Hilliard, NEAOBA Treasurer

47 Silver Hill Road

Milford, MA 01757

tel: (508) 473-8372

e-mail: shalpacas@tp.net

Farm Membership: $50 donation

Associate Membership: $25 donation

 

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