Ribbons and sex, sex, sex!

Ribbons and sex, sex, sex!

Our new ribbon!

El Barto has done it again! He won 3rd place at a confirmation-only show at the Oregon State Fair on Friday! We are very proud of him.

The show was put on by WABA, at the last minute. Someone in our association knows someone at the fairgrounds and was asked if we could use the brand-new pavilion at the fairgrounds for one day for free. They had a cancellation or something and needed to fill it. We jumped at the chance because the State Fair has built-in advertising and walk-in traffic that we would never be able to muster at an alpaca-only show. As it was, we saw lots of people who came in out of curiosity and left with our card and some information. I hope it is an annual event.

The only downside to the show was that I was sick as a dog with a head cold. I tried not to touch anyone and smile a lot, and I ran mostly on adrenaline. I am still suffering from the cold and feel wretched, but it was worth being sick a couple extra days to be there.

Bogart baby on the way!
http://www.alpacas.com/Studmaster/StudDetails.aspx?alpaca_id=69497

Dawn is due on September 5, (tomorrow) for a baby by the above stud. He’s a son of Hemingway, who is a magnificent stud, and father of many champions. We are on criawatch, which means that we are on the farm all morning, watching Dawn for signs of labor. She was a month late last year (or two weeks late, depending on how you count gestation). Either way, I don’t expect a baby for a week or so, but we are stuck here just in case. Most babies are born without incident, like Consuella’s baby in March. However, there is always a chance of a dystocia, or incorrect position of the baby. These can be bad, so we need to be here in case she needs help.

Right now, our other two female alpacas are off the farm being bred. Consuella is up at Northwest Alpacas, where we bought Dawn and El Barto, being bred to Canadar, a new stud that Mike Safely discovered standing idle in Canada. He is also a Hemingway son, and Mike is very excited about him. He can be found at the following link: http://www.alpacas.com/Studmaster/StudDetails.aspx?alpaca_id=2035. This was a last-minute decision, made at the farm as we dropped Consuella off because he was so handsome.

Cabernet is at Alpacas at Lone Ranch, where we bought her, being bred to Barolo, who can be seen at: http://www.alpacasontheweb.com -- go to “herd sires” and then to his page. She and he had their first date on Friday, and will try again on Tuesday, too.

About two weeks after Dawn has her baby, we’ll send her to Northwest Alpacas, too, and have her bred to Pachacuti http://www.alpacas.com/Studmaster/StudDetails.aspx?alpaca_id=178 , who we hope will add his denseness to her fineness.

So, once Dawn and her baby are gone, we will only have the young males on our ranch. It will seem lonely with only three alpacas all of a sudden. The girls will be gone approximately two months each because alpaca pregnancies can be delicate for the first couple months, and transporting them before then can turn a pregnant alpaca into a not-pregnant alpaca.

However, we will have the whole crew back by early November, with Dawn’s baby to entertain us through the winter.