Battered Wife!!

Hi Folks

Well it's only a short blog tonight, to show Lisa's bruises which are developing quite well after her little accident yesterday. I know it's not the picture that some of you have been waiting for, but I was not brave enough to take that photo of Lisa completely covered from head to toe in mud, as Lisa was stood in the door saying I'm hurting, so taking a picture would not have gone down very well.

We have been the doctors today just for a check up as Lisa was complaining of pains in her chest, so after a check up it was confirmed that heavy bruising to the ribs, bruise to the head, cuts to her hand, bruises to the knees and these to the back of her legs is about it. A lucky escape really.



So as you can see from the picture above, she has done a good job.....anything to put her feet up over the next couple of days!!

Rob you are a braver man than me if you had taken the mud shot, rather than running a nice hot bath!

Take care all.

Mud Mud and Ooops....

Hi Folks,

We hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and are now ready to see the New Year in. We are hoping for healthy cria's being born and wish everyone success in the prevailing year.

The snow has now all gone apart from the odd pile which is hanging around like a bad smell, like many other breeders we are now back to sloshing around in slippy mud as Lisa found out this afternoon.....when bringing the horses in, Lisa slipped over followed by the horse slipping over and landing on top of Lisa, pushing her deep into the mud. Although Lisa is a bit battered and bruised (pictures to follow) I did have to laugh as she stood at the door completely covered from head to toe in mud. We had to hose off her clothes to remove the mud, not whilst Lisa was still wearing them, although the thought did cross my mind for a minute, but it is still the festive season so I ran her a bath instead.

All the alpacas seem happy to be spending more time out in the paddocks now that they have some grass to nibble on. The weanling's have settled into there new paddock and occasionally look for there mums, but with the grass back they soon put there heads down again.
We have been busy with the usual husbandry duties and just seem to run out of hours in the day to try and achieve anything else. The list of jobs just keeps growing, don't get me wrong we are not complaining, that's the way it goes, the daylight will become longer soon and the job list will take a hammering...hopefully!

We hope to have some exciting announcements in 2011 to share with you all and some interesting ideas for our business will be put into action. We wish everyone great success in 2011 and hope to read about your journeys as the year goes on.

Happy New Year All

Little Bow Peep, Dressed Up As A Sheep!!!

Hi Folks,

Well it's not long now till the big fella comes and delivers us some goodies. I have tomorrow left at work, then I have some time off.

Lisa and Lily have been up to mischief today, well Lisa more than Lily I think.... they both went to take some hay to our Ryeland sheep and I think Lily is starting to get a bit obsessed with sheep....


Here is Lily trying her hardest to blend in to the back ground but its not helping as there is someone stood there with a camera.....


No, the camera is not going to put the sheep off, Lily feels right at home now....her favorite, Bertie the ram always comes over for a cuddle, regardless of what Lily looks like.

I think Lily has just realised that Lisa has been laughing at her (in a nice way of course) and from the look on her face, the penny has dropped....."why am I dressed as a sheep mum" Well it is Christmas and if you can't have fun when can you.

Daisy and her foal have been enjoying the snow running around all over the place. I can't believe its almost 8 months since Flicker the foal was born, where does the time go. Here they are below enjoying watching Ben our other horse cooling off.

Well that's all for tonight. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It won't be long now until it's Easter and the Easter eggs are in the shops!!!

Take care folks.

Back To The Blog

Hi Folks,

Well we are back to the blog.....it's taken us long enough as we have just been so busy getting ready for Christmas, with one thing and another the blog had to take a back seat for a short while.

We have more snow and frozen pipes but our spirits are high and we wouldn't change what we are doing for anything in the world. I came in the office earlier to update the blog and found the cat relaxing on the desk, rather than risking being attacked by the cat for disturbing its precious sleeping program, I decided to wait till later.


The snow is certainly challenging us, but we still have nothing compared to others so we can't complain to much. The alpacas are coping well, but they soon let you know when they want to come in, as they all stand at the gate just hoping to catch your attention, so that you will let them in the barn to there nice snug bed.

We are bringing the alpacas in now every night and to be honest we have been for some time now. I know they survive in there native countries out in the cold, but being cold and wet is not something that they are use to, so rather than risking any problems we bring them in, the alpacas seem to appreciate it anyway.

Our egg sales have gone through the roof, with demand being for more than we can provide, so we have now invested in more chickens to keep up with demand, Thank you to all of you that have brought from us, I know some of you read this blog.

As an addition to our laying chickens, we have also purchased a breeding pair of " Lemon Sablepoot Bantam" chickens. More on these little chickens later.



Well we hope you are all coping with the weather that we are being dealt, just remember, the nights start to draw out soon and summer will soon be here, with little cria being born all over the place.

Take care all, back soon.

Eating Snow......What Us!

Hi All,

We have had snow again today on and off but still nothing like those up north. The water is still flowing and despite the bitter temperatures we are coping quite well in the caravan and on the farm.

Lisa has been out with the camera today and snapped a picture of some of our Ryeland sheep, just as Lisa got the camera ready they lifted there heads to reveal what they have been up to.....now there must be grass under here somewhere!

Lily was happy climbing on the hay stack, closely followed by the dogs who seem to follow her everywhere, even up the hay stack!

Well its still snowing this evening, so I wonder what tomorrow will bring for getting to work in the early hours of the morning. The alpacas don't even get up as I leave, they just raise there heads and look. I'm sure I can here them sniggering at me as I leave, while they are snug in the barn in there straw beds and I'm pretending to be Christopher Dean on the yard!

That's all for now, back soon.

We Have Water......

Hi Guys,

Well again we managed to dodge any major snow fall, although we are not out the woods yet, according to the Met Office we are still classed as "be prepared"

The horse manure has worked it's magic and we now have running water again. How excited can one person get knowing that the toilet will flush without having to fill the tank with water from a tub, little luxuries that we all take for granted until you haven't got it.

Yesterday's blog was telling you that Lily had got a new pet brought for her by her great grandma, well some interesting guesses were noted like "Lurky Turkey" well I did say that you might be disappointed and Rob you were nearly right with the big ears......have you guessed....

It's a rabbit.....Lily has decided to call her "Rabbit" after a little discussion that it needed to have a better name than that, Lily decided on "Rabbit Rabbit" I don't think she understood what we meant, we finally managed to get her to agree on "Rabbit Pebbles" the only thing now is that when the rabbit sits on her lap Lily likes to look through the rabbits fur checking for crimp!

I was having a look through some pictures and came across this one of Lily a bit excited about a cake.

She is a real cheeky monkey, but we love her to bits.

The alpacas are all snug in the barns now during the nights and have plenty of bedding to keep them warm during this cold weather, keeping there water from freezing is another story, but I won't go into frozen water as we are both on a high still for having running water again.

Back soon, take care in this cold weather.

Calling David Wright.....

Hi Folks

Well what a weekend.....it's day two for us with no water but at the minute we don't have that much snow, although I might have just spoke to soon.

We have been putting nice and warm manure on the pipework that comes out the ground to try and help thaw them out...now I don't mind the smell of manure but when your face down under the caravan pushing manure past your face and over the pipes it started to look like a bush tucker trail from "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here" well that was a good job done, so lets hope the heat starts to thaw the pipework out.

Now for a public announcement....we had a lovely email Sunday afternoon from a gentleman called David Wright. Unfortunately David for some reason when trying to respond to your email it gets returned back to me with invalid address error, so if your reading this blog and you would like to call us we would be more than happy to call you back and have a chat.

Lily has got a new pet which her great grandma has brought her for Christmas, anyone wishing to guess what this is? Jayne get your psychic powers working!

Well that's all for tonight.

Playing Catch Up

Hi Folks,

Well we survived the high winds from last week, even if we did loose sleep wondering which way round we would be facing in the mornings, but all is well and we are still securely in place.

My week off came and went as if I had not even been off from work. The job list looks like it's not even taken a dent. Lisa really has got her work cut out on the farm but we are both determined to make a success of the business, that the hard work involved is part of the excitement in developing the business into a successful thriving Alpaca Farm. We are pleased to say that things are really working for us at the moment and potential sales of alpacas look set on the horizon.

Our top herdsire "Wellground Relentless" that we brought earlier in the year is really turning out to be a top buy, his presence in the paddocks is really noticeable and has been commented on by visitors to the farm. "Relentless" has the most amazing fleece and a fantastic pedigree to back it up. We are hoping that "Relentless" will be ready to work in the early part of 2011 and we are very keen to see his off-spring on the ground in 2012, there will be more information about "Relentless" on our website very soon, I am just finalising the pages that are hidden at the moment.

We have been selling eggs like they are going out of fashion and the egg side of things just goes from strength to strength, which is all very eggciting!!. We have also had our first batch of yarn back from the mill albeit a small batch this time round as we wanted to see what we can produce, and we are very excited indeed, this will be past onto our knitter so that we can have some garments knitted up....we cant wait to see the finished product.

Well that's all for tonight, back soon.

Windy Times....Rocking Caravan!

Hi Folks,

Well what a week off I'm having. Not only has my work phone not stopped ringing, the weather is horrendous. I'm so glad I finally managed to secure the caravan down, we are convinced that with this wind pounding against the caravan it would have certainly moved. Listening to the wind buffeting us about is not for the faint hearted. Lisa and I sit here and then just look at each other as the wind takes hold again and we secretly think I hope this wind stops soon. My philosophy behind it all is that if the field shelters are still standing then we should be OK.......fingers crossed!

Well that's enough about the weather. We have been bottle feeding one of our cria's for the last few weeks after it became apparent that he was just not getting enough from his mum, Lisa had been keeping an eye on him when feeding from his mum and noticed that he just didn't seem to be getting anything, so we decided that bottle feeding was the best solution. Well we are pleased to say that he his now looking more content and plays more with the other cria's causing mayhem in the paddocks.

We have now managed to organise our barns to allow us to bring all the alpacas in through bad weather and over the winter. Jayne we certainly have mud now so the nice green grass pictures are well and truly gone until next year! with the barns setup for the alpacas its given us the piece of mind knowing that all the alpacas can be tucked and allowed to dry out. A collection of hay and straw filled our gaps so we are now set for the winter.

Well that's all for now, we have another sleepless night ahead, as we listen to the wind rattling the caravan........

Boy's Will Be Boy's

Hi Folks,

Another week passes and I have finally managed to get a week off from my full time job. The job list for this following week has grown beyond belief. Well Saturday started of with an early start with Lisa's dad farm sitting for us we had to take a trip down south to drop off "Wellground Killawasi's Keepsake" back to his owners Roger and Pauline at Pipley Court Alpacas. We were made very welcome on our arrival, with cakes and coffee flowing. A look around the farm and at the alpacas was all very exciting but that excitement was to end as it was time for us to start heading home.

We couldn't drive home without calling into see Rob and Les at Wellground Alpacas, after all it is on the way home and I knew Rob would have given me grief if he knew that we had driven by without stopping. So this was a flying visit, which was started with Rob showing me his potential new toy......."The Run Away Tractor" I think you need allot more practice on the tractor.......if I was you Rob, keep the role hoop up and wear your crash helmet!

I have finally managed to anchor the caravan down to the ground now with some 4' spikes knocked into the ground and metal rope securing the caravan to the spikes.......that should do it.....well this week will soon show if it works, as the TV has given out severe weather warnings with gales and rain throughout the week, great!

Well with the caravan secured and the sun shinning, although it was cold, I couldn't resist getting the camera out and catching a couple of pictures of the babies play fighting.

These two are always up to mischief, they just cant walk a couple of feet without having a dig at each other, its all completely Innocent play but they are little sods, if you turn your back they are off back up to the barns to cause havoc while you are letting the rest of the gang out into the paddocks, if they were kids they would have "Asbo's" issued to them by now.

Flicker our unexpected foal is really growing into a big girl now, she has now been weaned of her mum and has been as good as gold about it. Flicker was born on the 1st May 2010 and has really settled into her new surrounding, even if she thinks she might be an alpaca as that is what she sees the most of.

Well that's all for tonight, batten down those hatches!

Hot & Cold.......

Hi All,

Well its been a while since my last blog as I have been away for a week at the International Fire Training Centre up north at Tees Side, this was some training for my work as with having an airfield I needed to gain a qualification to be able to operate it properly. This was quite an intense week of training, not only in the classroom but dealing with live fires on the fire ground. I am pleased to say that I passed the exam and I am know a qualified "Low Category Supervisor of Aerodromes" which basically means that I am now in charge of the Fire Crew and know the legal requirement to operate an operational airfield as set by the CAA (civil aviation authority) anyway that's enough of that, your probably not interested anyway!

That's me bending down to the fire at one of the many simulations we did, you can see on the right what would be an engine fire and undercarriage fire, with the props of the plane showing through the flames.

Well Lisa did a fantastic job looking after the farm and all of the gang, Lily was helping too or hindering, depends on how you interpret it. It was nice to get back home and see the family and the alpacas. We awoke this morning to a chilly start but a typical crisp winters day, I couldn't resist getting the camera out to take a couple of pictures of some of the gang in the winter sunshine (I say winter as it certainly reminded me of winter this morning)

Coco was not impressed with the cold weather and thought it might be warmer on his feet, if he stood in the feed trough...... he didn't stop there long as he was soon pushed out the way by the others when the food went down.

Well its back to work in the morning, so that's all for now as I really ought to help Lisa with the animals or else it might be me outside in the barns tonight!

Take care folks.

Lazy Days

Hi Folks

Just a short one tonight, but I couldn't resist this picture of some of our herd enjoying another sunny day in October lazing around.


Barry came down a couple of days ago helping with the ever growing poo picking duties, Lily has really taken a shine to him and it looks like i have lost my cap from work, which seems to have found a new owner. I'm not sure what the conversation was here but it certainly looks like they are both putting the worlds to right.


The new four Australians have settled in very well, it's like they have always been here. Still no muddy puddles for Kazuo yet Debbie!

Well that's all for tonight as I am desperately trying to get the website up to date, as this just seems to be taking forever to get it how I want it.

Take care all.

Four More Australians

Hi All,

Well what a hectic weekend we have had. Saturday was an early start as myself and Collin headed off up north to Barnacre Alpacas to pick up four more Australian to add to the WillowBank Herd.

What a journey this was, just over 4 hours to get to Debbie & Paul at Barnacre but it was a welcome sight to see the alpacas in the paddocks when we arrived quickly followed by bacon sandwiches and coffee, thanks guys I certainly needed that.

We had a quick look at some of the knitwear Debbie has been creating which was outstanding, you certainly have something good going on there Debbie, keep it up. A look at the studs in the paddocks confirmed that what we had just purchased was going to make an impression within the WillowBank Herd, Wellground Legend of Spartacus and EP Cambridge Gianmarco's Masterpiece looked amazing even if they were a little wet.

It was then time to get the four loaded into the trailer as we had a long journey back home and I wanted to make sure we were back before it got dark so as we could keep an eye on them to make sure they settled in OK. I think i saw a tear in Debbie's eye as the rear door was closed, don't worry Debbie they will be well looked after and I will get Kazuo to send a postcard.

We finally got home and let the alpacas out into there own paddock to allow them to settle in, a well deserved stretch of the legs for all involved.

Today has been a lovely day with crisp sunshine for most of the day so an ideal time to get the camera out to take some photo's of the new arrivals.

The above picture is Cambridge Ginny a solid white female sired by Wellground Legend of Spartacus, with further genetics from EP Cambridge Peruvian Spartacus, EP Cambridge Giselle and Jolimont Commissario. Ginny's dam Yuralee Katia of Cambridge comes with genetics from Jolimont Manfredo and Jolimont Conquistador.

This is Cambridge Kazuo a solid white male sired by EP Cambridge Gianmarco's Masterpiece with further genetics from Jolimont Gianmarco and Jolimont Encantador Kazuo's dam Laalgarths Alice of Cambridge comes with genetics from EP Cambridge Stormcat and NWA Ltd Ruffo.


Ginny and her mum Yuralee Katia of Cambridge, enjoying the grass but Ginny heard me coming so was trying to pose for the camera

All four standing for the camera, from left to right is Ginny, Katia, Kazuo and Alice, oh and not forgetting Wellground Relentless our stud male in the background. We are so pleased that we have been fortunate to have these fabulous genetics here now at WillowBank Alpaca Stud, bring on 2011.

Well that's all for now, back soon.

New Arrivals!!

Hi Guys,

As you can see from the time of this post it's a late one and a short one. A trip up north brings in return four more alpacas with amazing genetics and exciting times ahead to our herd here at WillowBank, thanks to Barnacre Alpacas.

Pictures and more information to follow shortly at a more reasonable time, so come back real soon.

That's all for now, I really need my bed, eight hours travelling is enough for anyone.

Just A Thank You....

Hi Folks,

It's only a quick blog tonight but just felt that we had to say a thank you to a lovely lady that I have just spoken to on the phone, I cant say who it is as I forgot to ask permission to mention her name on the blog but you know who you are and you are more than welcome to come and visit us whenever you are in the area. Your words and encouragement have made us feel very happy and it was an absolute pleasure talking to you.

The alpacas have been chilling out in the paddocks today and Barry our helper has been down for his routine relax of poo picking the paddocks......you missed a bit Barry.....only joking, you keep coming down for as long as you want to.

"WillowBank Killawasi's Image" and "WillowBank Coco" enjoying the limelight

Well that's all for tonight.

A Walk In The Park

Hi All,

The weekend is over and the travelling to and from work starts again.....Lisa is left to look after the alpacas with a bit of help from one of the villagers who likes to pass the time and relax, with a bit of poo picking of the paddocks, you must be crazy Barry but your help is much appreciated and if it helps you relax whilst being round the alpacas then you are more than welcome, oh and whilst I'm on the subject of being appreciated, that goes for you as well Isabelle the support and encouragement you have given us is fantastic.

With Sunday being the last day before returning back to work, we decided to make the most of whats left of the nice weather and go for a walk with the dogs around a local park. So with a farm sitter in place we headed off as a family for a couple of hours armed with the camera for those unexpected moments......for example the picture below, we knew the deer were at the park but didn't expect to get this close.


It was nice to see Lily enjoying the change of scenery and playing on the rocks......she has got no fear at all.....I think she might be a rock climber when she grows up!


Otto couldn't wait to have the attention brought back to her and in no time at all was waiting for her picture to be taken whilst sitting on a rock.

The alpacas have had there toes trimmed tonight when I got back from work as that is something myself and Lisa have to do together. It amazes me how quick some of alpacas nails grow so quick in a short time.....never mind, its one of those jobs that comes with breeding alpacas and its also a perfect time to see how the fleeces are progressing and to body score them.

Well that's all for tonight, back soon.

Success At WillowBank

Hi Folks,

Well what an absolutely fantastic day Saturday was.........it started with an early on the road driving time of 05.30 as I set off for the Standwick Centre, Frome Market, Bath. Today was the day of the Great Western Region Fleece and Fibre Show, a first of its kind to judge fleeces shorn from the alpacas without knowing who the alpaca belongs to, the names of the breeders and animal names were sealed in envelopes and only open once the judges decision had been made. I arrived just after 08.00 and was greeted by fellow alpaca breeders setting up the trade stalls in the main hall.

We had entered 2 fleeces into the show and was unsure what to expect, just learning from what the judge had to say about the fleeces was worth the trip down. Mr Dominic Lane internationally renowned for judging alpacas was the judge for the day.

The judging started at 09.00 and it soon came round to the first class of alpacas that we had a fleece entered into, Huacaya-White Junior just looking down the list of entrants made me nervous and with the judge having to narrow down the fleeces to get his chosen few, I was certain we had not even got a mention, never mind.....it is our first alpaca fleece show. The judge has made his choice....6 boxes with fleeces in them sat on the table in front of me....can I tell if any of these are our fleece.....No they all look the same....which is what built the atmosphere in the room.....know one could tell who's fleece is who's. Well the judge reveals 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and highly commended......not even a mention of our fleece, i suppose it could be the 1st place choice but with hearing the names of the other winners in the class, I don't think so.

Before we can find out who the winner is all the Huacaya-White of all age groups have to be judged and then the first place winner from those classes gets judged and the winner from that goes onto Champion to be later judged for Supreme Champion but you still have no idea who's fleece is who.....what a fantastic way of doing things....its any ones guess who is going to win.

So its onto the next class and we have a fleece in this class too, Huacaya-White Intermediate another large class of entrants with some very good breeders entered, the judge really has got his work cut out trying to reduce the selection of fleeces down to just 6, I see some very good fleeces get pushed aside not making it into the final 6.....but the judge is happy and has made his decision......in 2nd place he announces "Wellground Cyan" Owners Name "Mrs Lisa Birch" in 3rd place.......hang on a minute that's our alpacas fleece....what in 2nd place.......then I get a nudge on my shoulder from Rob Rawlins saying "how about that then" Bloody Hell excuse my language we just came second....I cant believe it out of all the entrants in this class.....crikey.

Well the rest of the Huacaya-White classes get judged with some fantastic fleeces passing by my eyes, Then its time to get all the 1st place entries for this class together so that the judge can decide which one is Champion to be put aside to go onto be judged for Supreme Champion. The judge is ready he has selected his choice of champion for this class and that entry goes onto the chance of winning Supreme Champion so we won't know who that is until later, but we can now find out who has come first in the other Huacaya-White Classes so the winner of the Huacaya-White Junior Class is "Wellground Magenta" Owners Name "Mr & Mrs Birch" We have only gone and bloody won 1st place......holly macaroni.....I am shocked to say the least.......a 1st and 2nd......S**t the bed.......I cant believe it....I need to tell Lisa.

Our First place and Second place Rosettes.

The whole day was absolutely amazing, the atmosphere in the room was just fantastic everyone was just blown away with this show and its success, its certainly a show that we are already thinking about which alpaca fleeces to enter next year. In our opinion all those involved in getting the show up and running deserve as much support next year to make it even bigger. Great Western Regional Alpaca Show 2011 is a must for any alpaca breeder.

Well that's all for today, back soon.

Duckies Grand Day Out......

Hi All,

Well another busy week passes with late finishes from work for me, unfortunately the blog has to go on hold when I'm on lates as I'm so worn out by the time I get home I struggle to string a sentence together let alone type a blog.....

The Alpacas have been enjoying whats left of the summer and enjoying the sunshine we have been having. "WillowBank Prime Contender" is becoming stronger by the day which is encouraging, we cant wait to see what his fleece starts to turn out like.

We have done a couple of spit-offs tonight which were showing good signs of pregnancy, we have hopefully now got all our females pregnant for next year.

Some of the gang enjoying the sunshine

A few weeks ago I blogged that Lily had placed a couple of duck eggs under our chicken that was happy to sit on them......well Lily had been checking the chicken every day without fail asking about her duck eggs and what was going to happen.....well we have a success.......

This is Lily's duck that she has name herself..........please meet "Ducky"

Lily is so excited about her duck that she wakes in the morning and the first thing she says is "Can I see Ducky" Lisa even had to take it in to Lily's play school as her teachers said that its all she talks about.......

Well that's all for tonight, more soon.

WillowBank Prime Contender

Hi Folks

We just wanted to introduce you to our new addition that arrived at 7.15pm on Tuesday evening......this is "WillowBank Prime Contender" sired by "Wellground Close Encounter"

"WillowBank Prime Contender"

"WillowBank Prime Contender" being greeted by this years cria's

The above picture is "WillowBank Prime Contender" with his mum "Wellground Beyond Compare" details of the genetics to follow soon. We cant wait to see what this little fella turns out like as time goes by.....good times ahead......fingers crossed.

That's all for now, back soon.

Close Encounter

Hi Folks

Just a quick blog tonight as I have not long just got in from work and Lisa has been very busy.......today has been one of those days for Lisa, Wellground Beyond Compare one of our females has had a bit of a hard time delivering her cria, in fact she didn't Lisa did it for her.

Well the vet was called at 2pm as Lisa just had that feeling things were not going well, the vet came very promptly which was fantastic and after a little examination was happy that things were fine. Lisa is now watching Beyond Compare with eagle eyes as she is convinced that she is going to give birth tonight........

6.20pm Beyond Compare is defiantly having the cria....Lisa springs into action and soon realise that there is problems.....6.30pm the vet is called again on is on her way......unfortunately Lisa couldn't wait as all that was showing was the cria's nose then with a little help two front legs and the head....great Lisa thinks I will step back and observe the goings on.....it soon became apparent that Beyond Compare didn't want to be left and followed Lisa up the paddock.....Lisa then took a closer look and decided she would help, oh no......two front legs, one head and whats that poking out.......its a back foot......dilemma time. Lisa had noticed that the fight was starting to go out of the unborn cria and something needed to be done NOW the vet was still on her way not wanting to risk possible complication with pushing it back in.....so there was nothing else for it apart from pulling the cria out as it was.

Well we are very pleased to announce that the cria came out alive and kicking after a good rub to get things going to the arrival of the vet, the little boy came out with one back leg forwards and the other backwards, these animals do like to challenge us.

Beyond Compare was examined in case of damage caused by this delivery but all was well with a clear bill of health given by the vet. The cria was up on its feet and feeding from mum in no-time which is good news although he is a little premature as his ears are flopping forwards, but at least he is alive.

Both mother and son are under the heat lamps tonight with constant checks to make sure all is still going well. So fingers crossed that things stay this way and we get to keep our "Wellground Close Encounter" Son.

Well that's all for tonight, pictures coming soon.......

The Relentless Wait Is Over.......

Hi Folks

Its been a very exciting day for us here at WillowBank, today saw the arrival of our own herd sire "Wellground Relentless" courtesy of Rob and Les at "Wellground Alpaca Stud" Rob arrived this morning in his Stig Wagon and we set about unloading our boy.

I think Lily felt a little pushed out as "Relentless" stole the lime light for awhile. We are so pleased with him and feel very honoured to have him as our herd sire.

"Wellground Relentless" settling into his new paddock.....looking for his girls......."Relentless" will become available to start mating around March / April next year so we are keen to see what his offspring will give us, he has amazing genetics and a fantastic fleece with that greasy feel to it, more on his genetics and family background later.

We would like to say a very big thank you to both Rob and Les at "Wellground Alpaca Stud" for releasing this fabulous male from there herd, its always such a pleasure doing business with highly experienced breeders of Quality Elite Alpacas. Thank You.

Well that's all for tonight as we cant keep away from looking at our boy.

The Waiting Is Over, The News Is Here

Hi Folks

Today has been a very exciting day for us. After a couple of weeks of making phone calls and organising various things, everything has finally fallen into place. Jayne you have been waiting a long time for this blog and the waiting is over.......

WillowBank Alpaca Stud are very pleased to announce that the following two full Australian female Alpacas with cria at foot, will be joining us here at WillowBank. First we have "Yuralee Katia" a solid white who was sired by "Jolimont Manfredo" and has "Jolimont Conquistador" as her Grand Sire. "Yuralee Katia" has a female cria at foot who's sire is "Wellground Legend of Spartacus".

Second up we have "Laalgarth's Alice" a solid white who was sired by "EP Cambridge Stormcat" and her Grand Sire (dam's side) is "NWA Ltd Ruffo". "Laalgarth's Alice" has a male cria at foot who was sired by "EP Cambridge Gianmarco's Masterpiece". We owe a big thank you to Debbie and Paul at Barnacre Alpacas for helping us make this package fall into place, and helping to keep Jayne guessing with this secret.

We are also very pleased to announce that we have now purchased our own Herdsire from Wellground Alpaca Stud. "Wellground Relentless" who's sire is "EP Cambridge Samson" and Grand Sire is "EP Cambridge Peruvian Spartacus". "Wellground Relentless" dam is "Wellground Ruffo's Reflection" who was sired by "NWA Ltd Ruffo". "Wellground Relentless" will be starting to work his magic around March/April 2011. So again its another big thank you to Rob and Les at Wellground Alpaca Stud for helping us achieve this next step in our business.

So Jayne did you guess any of this or are you losing your white witch powers....:-)

Well that's all for tonight, apart from another thank you to Barnacre Alpacas and Wellground Alpaca Stud.

Matings

Hi Guys

Just a short blog tonight as we are busy mating some of our females. The girls seem very pleased to see "Killawasi's Keepsake" and have taken up lying at the gate hinting that they want to be next, blatant flirting...... sorry girls but you will just have to be patient.

The weather has not been the best over the last couple of days and its rained so hard that the guttering on the barns might as well as not been attached, as it was failing to cope with the amount of water coming off the roofs, I think I really need to upgrade it to more industrial stuff.

Sorry Jayne......we are still unable to announce are exciting news at the minute but hopefully by the end of the week we should be a little closer maybe.......or maybe not!!

Well that's all for now, back soon.

Duck Eggs

Hi Guys

Again we just seem to have no time spare to keep up with our blog, we have been constantly on the phone arranging various different things the last few weeks which will all become apparent soon......so sorry Jayne its still a big secret with whats happening.

Lily has a chicken which has gone broody so her Grandma has given her a couple of fertile duck eggs to put under, Lily was keen to get them put under her chicken and set straight to it.

Lily with her duck eggs.

Lily has put the eggs under her chicken and was very excited that the chicken went and sat straight on them.....lets just hope they hatch now and hopefully not with a identity complex!!

Lisa has managed to get a picture of some of the gang here at WillowBank. We are due to start mating over the next few days and in fact started today. We have had Roger and Pauline here today from Pipley Court Alpaca Stud, they brought us our two remaining alpacas that we had brought from them along with Killawasi's Keepsake to do some of our matings, It was good to catch up with Roger and Pauline and we had plenty of chat regarding alpacas and even a look at our new cria's for this year. We then set Keepsake to work with a spit off and a mating, we let him have a rest as the temperature was starting to creep up, so that gave us time for a something to eat and drink and more alpaca and putting the world to right chat.

Some of the gang

A few weeks ago we had to have an emergency C Section on one of our females as she had a severe uterine torsion and the vet couldn't even get anywhere near to touching the unborn cria, we tried several times to roll the mother around to try and correct our problem but she was not having none of it and we decided enough enough lets get on with the C Section. I'm pleased to sat that "Anita" has now returned to the paddock and is looking allot better after her set back.

Well I'm back on the early shift for the next few weeks so that all for tonight, but exciting news is soon to come so keep watching this space.........stick with it Jayne

Exciting Times

Hi Folks

Its been a really exciting week with lots of new things about to happen here......this is a bit of a teasing blog as we are unable to say whats happening yet as we have not asked permission from all involved, but lets just say its big things.........watch this space over the next few days for the big news to be revealed.

Lisa has been out this evening with the camera taking a couple of pictures, this is "Wellground Beyond Compare" her Sire is "EP Cambridge Commish Lad" and her G/Sire is "Jolimont Commisario" she has been mated to "Wellground Close Encounter" and due on the 4th September. We are very excited about this birth and can't wait to see what we are given.

Wellground Beyond Compare

Are new cria's just seem to be glued together, they run riot around the paddocks with there mums looking on......I wonder what they must be thinking as they watch the cria run around?

Well that's about it for now as we still have lots to do before it gets dark, so keep watching this space for the exciting news from WillowBank Alpaca Stud.

What A Strange Day

Hi Guys,

Its been a very strange day today, just when you think you have something all tied up in a deal someone moves the goal posts and expects you to move with them.......well unfortunately that was not going to happen as I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life and as a result has caused unnecessary grief for other people involved, which we now feel partly to blame for. So apologies to the innocent party involved, you know who you are.

Anyway that's my little rant over back to the alpacas, our baby cria's are bonding well with each other, WillowBank Coco and WillowBank Killawasi's Image are becoming inseparable, they are two mischievous devils when they get going.......although you wouldn't think it from this picture.

Whilst the camera was out Lisa caught Gieves playing "who is going to blink first" with a fly hovering above his nose......

And the winner is.........the fly as it decided to land on Gieves's nose....... much to his surprise, have you ever seen an alpaca go cross eyed!

Well its a new day tomorrow.......so lets see what that brings for us all.

Hectic Couple Of Weeks

Hi Folk,

It's been a hectic couple of weeks here at WillowBank. We have been busy with more fencing which seems to be turning into an epic of a job as the ground is like concrete at the moment and trying to knock posts into the ground by hand is mission impossible, so little and often is the way forward at the moment.

We have some exciting things happening here, but unfortunately we are unable to comment about them at the moment as we have not asked permission yet from who it involves, so more on this later.

We have been busy with injections throughout our herd, toe nail trimming and removing a face full of spit which I didn't manage to dodge.......much to Lisa's amusement.

A trip to Lincoln fetched Bertie the rams girlfriends, they are now grazing are rented land, Bertie will go and join them around October so he can go and work his magic.

Some of our Ryeland Sheep

Our cria are growing really well and we are really pleased with the fleece on one of them, we have taken a photo but I'm told by another breeder that it is near on impossible to get the crimp across in a picture, well we tried but I don't think succeeded

WillowBank Killawasi's Spirit Fleece

WillowBank Killawasi's Spirit is from the "Ruffo" bloodlines and although the picture doesn't do it justice the real thing does, well we are happy anyway.........

Well that's all for now, back soon.