Skye's Journal
Our New Farm
It has been an incredibly busy spring and summer. In July, Randy and I (and the alpacas, cats, and puppy) moved to our new home at 1489 Grafton Avenue in Errington. If you think moving is an ordeal, you should try moving with livestock. And a puppy. And if we weren’t busy enough before September, we certainly are now, as we now have two teenagers (one from Mexico and one from Korea) living with us for the school year. While all of these things are great blessings to us, they are all work, too. Oh, and just last Wedneday, I got my first two chickens – a pair of Brahma Bantams.
A new farm means a lot of new realities for us. The one that is pressing on my mind the most is the need to establish our property as a ‘farm’. That means we need farm income before October 31st. To meet the requirements in time, Randy and I have made the difficult decision to put one of our alpacas up for sale at ‘bargain basement’ prices. Westwool’s Jovita is now available for just $4000.00 CND. This is less than half of what we paid for this beige double-registered female, but we need to sell something NOW. I chose Jovita because as a beige, she doesn’t quite fit with our goals to breed the finest bright-white alpacas. Her first cria was a beige female and her second was a medium fawn male. This was when bred to a light fawn and white, respectively. She has very respectable fibre stats, and she is easy to handle (though she is somewhat more inclined to kick than some of our other girls!). The sale price includes registry transfer, a vet check and ultra-sound, as she has been bred to Skywalker for an August 2009 cria. Hopefully we’ll be able to find her a good home soon.
Alpaca Glossary – Vocabulary and Acronyms Explained
When learning about a new industry, hobby or interest, one often has to learn a new set of words and abbreviations. Alpacas are no exception, so I thought that I would compile a list of helpful definitions for the ‘lay person’. I love to talk about my alpacas, so sometimes I forget that people have no idea what a ‘cria’ is, or what ‘ARI’ stands for. This list will eventually become part of our FAQ section. If you have any suggestions for words that I should add, please post a comment.
| Alpaca | A domesticated species of South American camelid raised for fibre production and meat. |
| AOBA | Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association - the largest alpaca club in North America. |
| ARI | Alpaca Registry, Inc. - North America's largest alpaca registry. If you want to show your alpaca at an AOBA event, they must belong to this pedigree registry. It is also referred to as the 'American' registry. |
| BVD | Bovine Viral Diarrhea - A cattle disease that has been detected in the North American alpaca community since 2001. It is typically an acute (short term) illness that the alpaca's immune system can take care of, but if a pregnant female contracts the virus, things get more complicated. The female will either abort the foetus, or if it survives, when it is born, it may be persistently infected with BVD and becomes a carrier of the virus. All of our animals have been tested for BVD, and our farm is BVD free. |
| Camelid | Members of the biological family of Camelidae, which includes llamas, alpacas, vicuña, guacano, dromedary and Bactrian camel. |
| CLAA | Canadian Llama and Alpaca Association - Canada's national alpaca (and llama) organization that also operates the Canadian purebred pedigree for alpacas (and llamas). |
| Cria | A baby alpaca. |
| Dam | A mother alpaca. |
| Dual-Registered | Indicates that the alpaca is a purebred in both the Canadian (CLAA) and American (ARI) pedigree registries. |
| Fibre Boy | A non-breeding male alpaca that is kept as a pet and/or for his fleece. Fibre boys are often un-registered or gelded. |
| Gelding | A castrated male alpaca. |
| Guanaco | A wild South American camelid that resembles a llama. |
| Huacaya | The more common of two alpaca fleece types. Huacayas have dense, soft, crimpy, sheep-like fleece. |
| Huarizo | A llama-alpaca hybrid. |
| Llama | A domesticated species of South American camelid raised for fibre production, meat and as pack animals. |
| Oorgle | The sound made by a male alpaca during mating, which may help induce ovulation in the female. |
| Sire | A 'father' alpaca. |
| Stud | A male alpaca used for breeding. |
| Suri | The less common of two alpaca fleece types. Suri alpacas produce silky, pencil-like locks. |
| Vicuña | A protected, wild South American camelid that produces small amounts of super-fine fibre. |
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Skye's Journal
