Stop and small the flowers ... Its time for a lifestyle change.

 

Newsletter

Meadoview Alpaca Farm

Weaning ... does it have to be a sad day?

           We have been in the alpaca business for almost 9 years now and weaning for 8.  It always used to be one of the saddest days on the farm.  Mothers would be looking for their babies and babies would be crying for their mothers.  I just hated that time… I guess I just have a soft heart.

           Let us start at the beginning,  weaning is necessary as mothers only have so much energy; they can’t feed two babies, especially through the cold winter— the one they are carrying as

well as the one that is drinking mom’s milk.  There is much discussion as to when to wean the little one from mom, and how.  We tend to do it around the five to six month mark.  We base our weaning on the size of the cria, the mother’s conditioning, and the age of the cria. We also consider who the weanlings will be with. Being a herd animal, they need their buddies for least stress.  In other words, we don’t do it as many may do … at 4 months you are weaned whether you like it or not.  We work very hard at minimizing stress as much as possible.  We have tried many different  ways of weaning, all successful but some more stressful than others. We always made sure that the crias were in the adjoining pen so there was a contact of sorts.  Here are some of the methods we have tried: 

· We separated the crias during the night, but let them join the mom during the day.  We did this for two weeks, then they were separated for good.

· Then we tried separating them cold turkey.

· When separating them we always removed the crias from the moms and placed them in a pen by themselves.

           This year our approach has been different.  We removed the moms from the crias placing them in the adjoining pen.  We kept the cria with the maidens and the females that were not pregnant.  The difference seems subtle, but what a difference it has made!  The crying was minimal and the babies and mothers were able to nuzzle on occasion.  The separation anxieties were minimal; the crias still look at their moms but without that look of panic or the running up and down the fence or the “poking the head through the fence” thing.  From day one, everything went very smoothly.  Denise had this bright idea and boy does it work well!  I did catch one smart little guy who got his mom to come close to the fence so he could poke his head through to nurse.  But it only happened once.  If you haven’t weaned yet, try this method and let me know how it works.  We will be doing it this way next year for sure.

They are looking at mom on the other side of the fence.

Shearing is a happy time as we are harvesting our crop.  We have been working all year to achieve these results.

What now, with that  mountain of fibre?  Every step toward harvesting your crop, then the preparation for the mill, are very                             important toward                                                                                                                                                                                                                                having a superior end product.  Your products cannot be inferior as it downgrades everybody else's products as well.

Remember all steps to a quality product are important:

1. Animal preparation

2. Actual Shearing

3. Skirting

4. Batching

5. Right fibre for right application

6. Processing

7. Marketing

8. Sales

Can you make money with fibre?

         The question must be asked.  Too often we get caught up in the daily chores and activities and we forget the reason for the existence of alpacas.  We must always look at the end product.  If you are into the breeding of animals for the sale of animals, that is fine.  That is your priority.  However, at Meadowview Alpaca Farm, our priority is breeding for the quality of fibre; we are in the fibre business.  That being said, every year we sell a good number of animals to people who have basically the same philosophy.  Not that we don’t sell to breeders, but rather the people that seek us out are people that are, or want to be, in the fibre business.  I honestly believe that the more the general population is exposed to alpaca fibre products, the more they will be turned on to these products.  If we sell one pair of socks to one half of the adult population of a city of 50,000 people, you get the following equation:   1/2 of 50,000 (we won’t include kids) X $35.00 = $875,000.00.  I know this is simplistic, but it is just to make you think of the possibilities.  I firmly believe that the more alpaca farmers there are, the better, as it will stimulates the market.  It is just like all the fast food restaurants… they are usually located together on the same road; they sell more together than apart.  You would think that competition would be too great. Not the case...together they thrive...apart they fall.  Strange but true.

           With this premise in mind, the more alpaca farmers there are, the better it is.  We sheared 80 animals last year for approximately 400 lbs. of fibre.  Unfortunately, it is not sufficient to fulfill the demand of the local market.  Hence, we bought out Alpaca Plus to have enough products.  That was good for 2011... what about 2012?  Denise and I are working on a two-pronged approach.  We are involved in the Fibre Initiative Committee implemented by Alpaca Ontario.  Great things are going to come out of this committee.    We are presently pushing the education aspect of the fibre industry.  The premise for success in the fibre industry is that, to have superior product, you need superior fibre.  All farms have good fibre, we just need to adjust how we harvest the fibre and what application we choose for a given batch.  To give you an example, you would not use baby fine alpaca to make socks as the socks would wear through too quickly.  Or you would not use a grade 6 yarn to make a scarf as it will be prickly against your neck.  Meadowview Alpaca Farm as a farm, even after 10 years in the business, (yes, time flies) is still making changes every year to our method of doing things.  Denise went to Olds College two years ago and has taken all of the courses offered by Ruth Elvestad.  In addition, she works and discusses fibre issues with other enthusiasts, from mill owners to breeders to artisans.  There is always more to learn.  Yup folks, we are still learning, even at our age. We, as fibre harvesters, still have much to learn.  Education is very important to our success. 

           Having said that, our role as past educators is coming to the fore.  With the support of our local alpaca farms, we applied to AMI for a grant to help with the development of videos and training materials to help other alpaca farms with the learning process, particularly for people who live in isolated areas.  These will never replace hands-on training, but they will provide some support.  Watch for it this spring.

           The second part of our two-pronged approach, is to prepare our business plan for 2012 … so should you.  At 100+ animals, we are at our max. That’s the most we can handle with our facilities.  Yet, our demand for products is greater than the fibre we can grow.  A nice problem to have, you say?  On top of that, the product business has grown by just over 10% this year and it has been that way for a good many years.  Therefore,  we are doing a business plan that will take these factors into consideration.  Denise and I have to find a way to fill our orders and at the same time find a way to accommodate more animals.  We have put our creative minds together and, I have to admit, we are making progress … so stay tuned.  We may have a proposal for some of                                                                                                               you.  Keep in mind... united we stand, divided we fall.

Watch for the  Fibre Harvesting video kits and training materials coming this spring, thanks to the support of the  Algoma- Manitoulin Alpaca Breeders and AMI.