Halter Training

Hi Folks,

Well the sun is shining and I have a weekend off from work, although that was spoilt at about 04.30 this morning as I was woken with severe chest pains, well I say chest it feels like someone is giving you the biggest bear hug in the world and your ribs are about to implode, I have been getting this for about 2 months now but only when I sleep, as soon as I'm awake and up and about it goes away. However this morning was different the pain was taking my breathe away, Lisa was straight on the phone to NHS Direct who then advised we call 999 for an ambulance, after a chat with a doctor over the phone they decided that what I was describing was not life threatening enough for an ambulance but would require me to see my doctor Monday as this is obviously not normal and sounds like intramuscular problems. Anyway that's enough of my problems.

We decided today to start our halter training of our male "Gieves" he is such a lovely boy and seems really nice natured and relaxed, we waited until Lily went for her afternoon nap as we were unsure what might happen. Lily was upset when we had the alpacas shorn because some of them screamed a little and I think she just didn't understand. Well we slid the halter onto Gieves head and would you believe it he stood there like a true gentleman, as if it was all second nature to him.....well done Gieves you did us proud.

Lisa & Gieves 30secs after being put on the halter.

I'm sure this is just beginners look, he did play a little stubborn and not want to walk at one stage, but with a little push on his bum he was away again, I'm sure tomorrow will be a different story!

3 of our pregnant girls in our birthing paddock relaxing in the sun.

Well that's all for know, back with more photo's soon.

Hidden In The Wall

Hi Folks,

Well the weather has certainly took a turn, we had an absolute torrential down poor here Wednesday which lasted for about 20 minutes, resulting in Lisa having to get our pump out to try and help control the torrents of water that came down our yard and overloading our drains, within minutes Lisa was in up to her ankles in water. Lisa called me at work trying to explain what she was faced with and the noise in the background coming from the rain was unbelievable, anyway all was well, the rain stopped, the pump was turned off and normality was resumed.....thankfully.

Needless to say the alpacas came in that night to help them dry off and to get them off a now very sodden paddock, I must say,they all looked very content in the barn when I arrived home from work.

For a while now we have had a bird taking bits of food into the hollows in the block work of our barn, feeding her young, I have been desperate to try and get a photo but I have been very conscious not to disturb them, however I manged to climb my ladder armed with a camera and grab a quick shot of the new chicks, they cant be far away from leaving the nest so it looks like I may have timed it just right.

I'm sure it must only be days before these have flown the nest, to be honest I thought it was a little late for them to be still in the nest.

All the alpacas are doing just great, we are really starting to get to know them now, I need to get some more picture of them soon. Our chickens are laying well with approximately 7 eggs a day at the moment but this should increase soon as the other chickens mature.

Well that's all for tonight, back soon with an update on the chicks.

New Best Friends

Hi Folks,
Well again its been awhile since my last blog. We are still fencing when we get chance to and things are really taking shape now. We have had to separate our male from the ladies as he is starting to get a little fruity with them, so until his new paddock was ready we put him in with the pony and her new foal, this was done under a controlled manner to ensure no harm came to any animal if they didn't agree with each other, well believe it or not hence the title we have two new best friends......

Gieves and his new best friend Flicker the foul.

These two are right characters, its so nice to see two totally different breed of animals getting on so well with each other.

Yesterday we visited Rob & Les at Wellground Alpaca stud to top up our knowledge on husbandry skills, we left Lisa's dad to look after things on the farm, he is just as keen on the alpacas as we are so we knew they would be in safe hands. Rob & Les greeted us with coffee on the decking overlooking the alpacas and a quick look at our fleeces we took down. fantastic sandwiches which I could just not stop eating, then it was down to taking notes and lessons from Rob & Les, thanks guys.

We have had all the alpacas shorn now which with the weather being so warm its must be such a relief for them, we have now moved all our pregnant girls into our birth paddock next to the caravan with our first to give birth at the beginning of July but knowing alpacas you can never tell when it will be.

Well that's all for now, take care all.

Back To A Dongle!

Hi All,
Well what fantastic weather.......all though I do feel for the Alpacas still having the fleeces on. We are due to have our Alpacas shorn on the 2nd June, so in the meantime we are making sure they have plenty of water and shade should they require it.
So much has been happening here at WillowBank Alpacas, we have been in undated with people enquiring about the "Lamas" and asking questions, Once have informed them that they are Alpacas they are thrilled at what we are doing and have all wished us every success with our business, we are constantly being told that its such a delight to see something different in the village.
I have some pictures of our Alpacas and Lily with the new foal but with using the dongle it seems to be taking for ever to upload the images, so no pictures for now but I am coming up with a plan to sort this out.
We are being connected to BT on the 28th of this months so this is only a temporary hitch with communication.
We have had some interest already in Alpaca sales which is a good start for us, but until this turns into money exchanging you can never say for sure. So we will keep you updated on this progress.
Well that's all for now. enjoy the sunshine.......

One Week On

Hi All,
Its been a busy first week for us at WillowBank Alpacas, we have been hanging gates and finishing off fencing around the paddocks. All the alpacas have really settled in now and are starting to gain our trust allowing us to get a little closer to them.

We have also settled in nicely in our new home with all the mod cons of central heating and double glazing helps enormously, Lily is so much more settled living on the farm, she really is an outside girl and loves helping Lisa with the alpacas taking the hay down to them and shouting "come on girls"

Our new foal that we had born is growing fast and runs around the paddock like she is in training for the grand national, which is rather amusing when the grass is a little wet and her cornering skills are not the best!

Well unfortunately blogger is not letting me upload any pictures for some reason, so you will have to wait for more pictures, so I will keep it short for today and try again soon.

Take care all.

Trying To Keep Up

Hi Folks,

Just another quick one tonight, as I have left Lisa at home while I borrow a computer until my phone line is connected.

So Friday was the most amazing day of our life so far, its starting to sink in now that our business is up and running, we have been swamped with people asking questions about the alpacas and wanting a closer look, which are not at all bothered by as we want the villagers to be involved and understand what we are all about and what the business entails. We have had fantastic comments from everyone who has been to see us and they cant wait to see our cria's born, are first of which is July......well sometime round there as you just never now with alpacas.

Another talking point for our visitors is a surprise birth that we have had at WillowBank already........no not a cria but a foal from our pony, now you might say how can that be a surprise.......well we brought the pony as a yearling in August last year out of pity as she was all skin and bones and felt that we could not leave her any longer where she was, so we got her back and put her out to graze on our lush grass and over the months she became rather fat!! we reduced her grazing and on Saturday morning gave us the biggest surprise.......

Daisy & Her New Foal

Just A Couple Of Hours Old

So as you can see we have had our hands full already, we are just glad that were living here at the time our else it may have been a different story that we are telling......but as it is both mother and daughter are doing just fine.

The Alpacas are really finding there feet today and have explored the paddock allot more finding the field shelter that we built, I thought I might have to bring it to them at one stage.

Well again that's it for now but more adventures from Willowbank Alpacas to come soon.

An Amazing Couple Of Days

Hi Folks

Well myself and Lisa are over the moon, after a couple of years of learning and gaining our knowledge of Alpacas we are now officially up and running as "WillowBank Alpaca Stud". This blog is only a quick run down of the last couple of days but more pics and more chat later, lets take you through our journey..........

Its on its way

I hope this is going to fit!

I decided a bit more muscle was required

I think it need to come round a bit more.......

Ah.....that's not good

A little bit of moving and half hour later, this looks better

Watch the barn.......Stress levels are going up!

A bit more head scratching and its in

Are home sits on place

Are Alpacas arrive on mass with Roger and Pauline from Pipley Court Alpacas followed by "The Stig" aka Rob from Wellground Alpacas

THE STIG!!

All the gang settled in very well indeed and are relaxing in the paddocks, we are so excited to be finally up and running as Alpaca breeders. So watch this space for more pictures of our busy couple of days and more information on how WillowBank Alpacas are going to expand its herd and grow its business over the next few years, our website is not far from being completed so we will inform you when that's all up and running with some exciting features.

Oh, of course I couldn't blog without at least putting a picture of our new gang, so here they are enjoying the sunshine.

Well that's all for now, back soon.