Squirreling In For The Winter

In the midst of all the higher alpaca learning Jeff and I are soaking up, we have also been like the industrious squirrel, readying the farm for winter.  We've stocked up on hay and straw.  Though I'm convinced we won't have enough of either and I would like to get more.  We built a wind and snow block on the girls side of the barn so the barn door into the stall can stay open 24/7 without the southwesterly winds howling through the whole barn.

Daisy Mae modeling the new girls windbreak.

Jeff organized the shed and the work bench in the basement.  He also moved and stacked all the left over lumber from the barn build under the deck.  He's put away the outdoor table and chairs.  I've been busy painting the house and barn exterior doors red.  I've put my garden to bed and put away all the flower pots.  I still want to line the lower third of the stalls with plywood to prevent any accidents.  I also set up the heated water buckets.  This morning there was a good 1/4" of ice on the outside water buckets.  We've been fortunate that the first weeks in November have been so mild.  So sad that it can't remain that way.

I've also been busy skirting and washing the paca fleeces that we a acquired from this springs annual shearing.  That has been an enlightening lesson.  Alpaca fleece is dirty, very dirty.  After spending an hour painstakingly extracting bits of hay, straw, burrs, and sometimes dung from each fleece it is then "washed".  

Notice the clump of hay.

I keep each fleece separate by putting them in mesh laundry bags.  

A fleece ready to be washed.

Washing the fleece.

Then they are put in a the utility tub with a mild detergent and water and soak for at least 20 minutes.  Each fleece bag is then put in the washing machine and run through the rinse/spin cycle three times.  Then the fleece is spread out on a drying rack made of a 1x2 frame stretched with hardware cloth.  It takes several days for the fleece to dry.  Then I bag each one separately in a plastic garbage bag. Next stop will be the mill, where the fleece will magically be turned into rovings (precursor to yarn for hand spinners), or yarn. 

This is Rafael's and Comanche's fleeces on the rack to dry.

From front to back these are Andraya's, and Caroline's 2nds and prime fleece.

This is Birdie's fleece.

I am fortunate that I have a wide variety of the 22 alpaca colors available.  The next step in the process is to deliver all these fleeces to the mill.  There they will be processed.  First they'll be carded (2 metal brushes pull the fleece strands apart as they are brushed in opposite directions) creating separate strands of fibers that are light and airy.  Then they will be turned into rovings or yarn.  Rovings are basically just strips of the carded fleeces rolled into a ball.  Hand spinners create yarn out of roving.  The mill is not located around the corner, unfortunately.  It is in Wolverine, which is located north of Gaylord, but right off of I-75.  It will be about a two hour drive.  I'm thinking it will be cheaper to drive the fleeces there instead of mailing them.  I have about 40 pounds of fleece.  A chore to be completed soon.

I created a hay feeder recently out of a large pvc barrel I had acquired from my sister.  I've been wanting to feed the hay off the ground.  The alpacas step on it and drag it around.  They also seem to waste a lot of it.  I'm hoping by containing it and elevating it there will be less waste and it will be more sanitary for them, reducing parasites.

Blue barrel donated by my sister Karen.

The barrel cut in half.

The "plastic hairs" that needed to be filed off.

The finished hay feeder.

 I had created a screen to sit on top of the feeder out of left over fencing and lumber but it needs to be tweaked a tad to operate properly.


We have been busy, with more left to do.  I still have the other half of the barrel to turn into a 2nd hay feeder.  I still need to line the lower 1/3 of the stalls with plywood.  I'm sure there are other "chores" lurking in the shadows that haven't made themselves known.  I'm just sorry the warm weather has fled!