New Year Beginnings

Thanks to the crocheting talent of my Aunt Carla, I now have a beautiful afghan created using all five of the natural colored alpaca yarns from our alpacas!  I was anxious to see how the yarns would work together and can't be more pleased with how my Aunt skillfully blended them.  Thank you Carla!!

Carla's beautiful Afghan with all five colors of our alpaca yarns.

Here are the five yarns used to create Carla's Afghan.

One of my goals this year is to teach myself how to crochet so I can create products out of our alpaca yarn.  Hopefully one day I will be able to match the skill of my Aunt!

I'm also going to be exploring the art of felting.

I've begun felting basics 101 by creating dryer balls out of the alpaca roving I'm selling on Etsy.  These dryer balls can be used in place of chemical laden commercial dryer sheets.  I'm felting them by using Daisy's raw fleece as a core which I fashion into a rough ball. I then tightly wrap that with layers of roving until it is slightly larger than a tennis ball.  These balls are then placed in an old nylon knee high.  I can get four balls in one knee high tying a knot in between each one.
The sleeve of balls is then washed and dried two to three times.  This felts the balls.

I've been using them in my dryer and find that they help cut down on static (though I can't say they eliminate it entirely) and in loads with towels they help create a fluffier towel.  I've been adding a drop or two per ball of essential oil creating a subtle scent.  Dryer balls are also touted to help speed the dryer time.  I can't say I've done a scientific study to determine if they have helped reduce my dryer time.  What I can say is that I'm quite pleased to replace my commercial dryer sheets with a natural non chemical alternative!

Suri Alpaca Felted Dryer Balls

 I hope to be able to offer a set of three dryer balls for sale soon on my Etsy site.  Right now however, I'm in the process of fulfilling a large order and don't have any available.  I'll post on facebook and my blog when I have dryer balls available.

In other farm news, the bitter cold has created some interesting chicken behavior.  My girls have taken to roosting in the rafters at night.

I was startled to discover Delores about three weeks ago missing for night call when I went out to feed for the evening.  The other four girls were already settled in for the night in the coop but I couldn't find Delores anywhere.  Fortunately I glanced up and found Delores perched 12 feet above me.  She seemed quite content and there was no way to get her down.  So I left her there for the night.  Since that night she has managed to get up into the rafters each evening before I make it out to the barn.  Plus she has convinced the other three younger chicks to join her!  The only one not joining the rafter party is Winifred.  She has never been able to even marginally fly and can't get up on the hay stack to make it into the rafters.  So she is content to roost in the new enclosed roosting box in the coop.  The only chicken in a 10' x 10' chicken coop!  On top of that all five of the girls are going through their seasonal molt.  Poor Winnie, however, is looking downright ugly.  It looks like she has been randomly plucked.  I wonder why chickens molt during the coldest season of the year when a nice layer of feathers would be a welcome protection from frigid temperatures?

Winnie looking freshly plucked.

The baby alpacas are growing fast and have now started eating a regular diet of hay and alpaca crumbles ($$$).  They are still nursing, however, and won't be weaned until late March or early April at about 6 to 7 months.  I'm having a hard time keeping the Moms, Felicity, Birdie and Twizzler at a good weight.  Between providing milk and trying to keep warm in our already frigid winter they are looking too thin.  I've increased the amount of alpaca crumbles they get and I am giving them as much hay as they will eat.  I've also started adding alfalfa pellets($$$) and goat feed ($$$) to the crumbles which have a higher protein content.  I'm hoping this will help them gain more weight and maintain it.  I've learned an important lesson.  Any further breeding I do will be done to create late spring crias so that Moms will have access to a summer of rich pasture while they are nursing.

Sting Ray enjoying his own alpaca crumbles and hay.

Since the babies are eating a more regular diet they are creating more output.  In an attempt to make stall cleaning feasible and help control feed grabbing by the Moms I've moved Daisy and Andraya  to their own stall.  This meant I had to move the boys to the new stall and give the two maidens, Daisy and Andraya, the boy's old stall.  That way they can still see their old herd mates and share a fence line with them but they don't have to compete with them for feed and I have an easier time cleaning the stalls.  Unfortunately Daisy thinks I've sentenced her to purgatory and won't acknowledge my presence!  She has always been an outgoing friendly youngster but now she is starting to resemble the cranky old maid Andraya.

Daisy, Daisy, Daisy!

Ah the trials and tribulations of the barn life!  Worse then a soap opera.

On a brighter note, I received a new larger two wheeled wheel barrow for Christmas!  Just one more way to make stall cleaning easier!

The new super duper Truper barrow, able to move more manure with fewer trips!