I am my Brothers Keeper
Shooter is a young male alpaca who was born last summer on the farm. From the very beginning he was the kind of independent cria that would drive a mom crazy. No matter how much humming or clicking Lilly would do Shooter had his own thoughts about how his life should be spent. Most days you would see him wander away from mom to explore the world on his own. That plan continued for Shooter until fall came around and a little cria named Brighton was born. Brighton has lived his life with caution. He spent the first weeks glued to his mother with little thought of what might be...
Read MoreAlmost Winter
It is almost winter here at Encore and we have begun to prepare for the cold winter winds. Even the animals seem to know that the warm sunny days are numbered and they try to enjoy every moment that they can. Do they really have a sense of what is coming? Do they feel the days shorten and sense these cool nights mean no more lush pasture for months. I think they do. They just don’t talk about it as much as I do… The cria’s are now eating grain in the cria pen and loving every min of it. They think dinner time is now great fun since they get to act like the rest...
Read MorePart of the Family
This is my blog to write about alpaca stuff but tonight I must make an exception. Today I said goodby to my first French Bulldog, “Boomer”. He had been with me 13 1/2 years. I have joked with many that he was that parinoid son I always wanted. Now that he is gone I don’t have the words to explain what a joy he has been to me. I remember the first time I saw him sitting in an x-pen. His ears were erect and he was bouncing like a rabbit. I picked him up and from that moment on he was my boy. He has been a partner raising golden puppies, and has traveled with me...
Read MoreIt’s All In The Eyes
It’s all in the eyes. If you have every really looked at an alpaca you know what I am talking about. I don’t know if its the way the eyes sit in the skull or if it is those long flowing eye lashes but alpacas eyes have a way of swallowing you in. Marissa’s eyes are huge. When she looks at you she gets close up to your face and looks deep into your soul. Immediatly you know that she is connecting with you and that she has important things to say. I feel a responsibility to listen to each and every word. Maya has soft searching eyes. She looks at me as if she...
Read MoreI am an Alpaca Farmer
I am an alpaca farmer. I believe that this is the best thing I have done in years. No, not just because of the money but because raising alpacas is different than than raising any animal I have ever had. Yes there have been a few other animals. There were cats when I was very young. Ok, I didn’t really raise them they just appeared when they wanted and there was alway more than there had been before. In some ways it was not long but in other ways far too long before my mother and I learned the benefits of nutering cats. Then there were my...
Read MoreGreystone Pasture Vac
This summer one of our major purchases was a Greystone Pasture Vac. We had look at this over the past two years trying to decide if the benefits would justify the cost. Well, we have had our Greystone for about four months now and it has been wonderful. It has done a great job cleaning the pastures in short and long grass, wet or dry. The engine has plenty of power for everything we have asked it to do (which by the way included sucking up some extra dolimite we wanted to get out of the barn). It is easy to empty once it is full of Alpaca Beans. If it is not full it can sit until...
Read MoreEmail Encore Alpacas
