Caroline Update

Caroline

Caroline's surgery went well according to the vet.  They came and picked her up at 11:30 this morning.  When I checked in at the clinic at 4:00 p.m. the receptionist said she was still in surgery.  The vet called at 5:00.  It took a lot longer than I was expecting but I'm glad to know that everything went well.  She is spending the night at the clinic and they will bring her back in the morning.

Hopefully she will have a quick healing process.  Her ear and lip on the injured eye side of her face had been drooping.  The vet is hoping as she heals and the infection is conquered that they will return to their normal pre injury state.

Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers.

Dream Or Nightmare?

The girls chilling today.  Notice Daisy Mae on the left.  She's zonked!

Today was a stressful day here in alpaca land.  Please note the next picture is not for the faint of heart (I'll leave plenty of space between the text and picture if you choose to forgo the image of Caroline's injured eye).  

Caroline has been struggling with an eye injury she received last Tuesday.  When we picked the alpacas up from Benchmark Farm on Sunday, Barrie Lynn, the owner, offered to let Caroline stay at their farm.  Due to the high cost of board and transportation issues, we chose to bring Caroline home. 

It's been a hell of roller coast ride since.  Her eye never looked good, even the day we picked her up.  I called a recommended alpaca vet on Monday that I thought worked in our area.  She is located out of Cadillac and said she didn't come as far south as Evart.  She did prescribe some eye drops.  She said she would be in Evart next Monday and would come by then. Caroline also was on penicillin.  I've been trying these last few days to administer the medicines, including giving the penicillin as an injection.  It's been a struggle.  

Last night a good friend of ours, Ray, single handily, constructed a beautiful stall in the barn on the girls side (Jeff and I mostly got in the way).  Thanks to the stall it was easier today to give Caroline her meds.  

She, of all the alpacas, appears to be the most shy and skittish.  As I observed her today she appeared listless and wasn't eating or just barely.  When an alpaca doesn't eat, things can go south in a real hurry.  Desperate, I called another vet closer to home hoping they worked with alpacas (note to future alpaca owners, be sure there is a competent alpaca vet in your area).  After a drive to their clinic to get more meds and a conversation with the vet there, I was assured that someone would try to come today or tomorrow.  I'll spare you the drama with the vet from Cadillac, just suffice it to say that I hope to not ever have to talk to her again.  The local vet did finally come at 6:00 this evening.  His prognosis is that Caroline's eye is beyond help, the cornea has a large gouge in it.  He thinks it's best to remove the eye and lids and stitch the skin together over the eye socket.  The eye socket is infected and is probably why Caroline is so listless.  She is in pain.  I so want Caroline to feel better.  I feel awful that she feels awful.  I guess we will have the surgery done tomorrow.  The vet said the sooner the better so she can be out of pain and feel like eating again.  This whole scenario is so sad.  This is not what I wanted my alpaca life to start out like.  That's the kicker with owning livestock, you never know what the new day will bring.  It could be beautiful or heartbreaking.  As I was trying to come to terms with the vet's suggested course of treatment I was treated to a show of alpaca high jinks, as the other alpaca girls raced around the pasture, jumping and kicking.  Like I said, the good with the bad.

Caroline's injured eye.

They're Here!

There are now officially alpacas in the field!

The boys checking out the girls in the next pasture.  L to R: Commanche, Bo Jangles and Rafael.

The girls next door.

The boys seem to be enjoying their grass.

Finally I can look from the back deck and see alpacas.  The boys are in the pasture to the left of the barn and the girls are in the paddock to the right.

It was a hectic morning as Jeff and I scrambled to finish the fencing.  We worked yesterday until it was dark but didn't quite finish.  So we were at it bright and early this morning and just finished in time to pick up the alpacas.  When we arrived at Benchmark Farm, Barrie Lynn had me give everyone their invermictin shots (wormer).  That was a much needed hands on trainer but a tad nerve wracking.  I sure was nervous.  Apparently I did okay and we got every paca loaded up in Craig's (our generous neighbor's) stock trailer.  The boys were quite excited to be so close to the girls.  The trailer had a partition, so they were only close enough to see and smell them but not touch.

They all settled down once we hit the road and we had an uneventful ride home.  That was a relief.  

Checking things out just before we unloaded at home.

Once home we got the boys in their pasture and girls in theirs.  Unfortunately, Caroline still has a wonky eye (actually it looks like something out of a horror show).  She still needs penicillin shots two times per day.  So I had to give her shot to her this evening.  Corralling her was the hardest part.  Barrie Lynn made it look so easy.  Jeff and I chased the girls around the paddock several times before I got Caroline cornered.  I'm kinda dreading tomorrow mornings shot.  Jeff was less than enthusiastic about helping (understandably) but he did.

I will need to have the vet out as soon as possible just to make sure the eye is healing properly and to get more penicillin and eye drops.

Tomorrow is a new day to start with a fresh approach and some much needed sleep. I can't believe my seven year dream has become a reality!

They're Coming, They're Coming!

Zoey is a little apprehensive about the alpacas arrival!

The alpacas are arriving on Sunday!  Hooray!  Our neighbor and hay cutter owns a large stock trailer that he has graciously agreed to lend, along with his driving skills to retrieve the alpacas on Sunday.  In preparation for that Jeff and I have been working our tails off in a frenzied push to finish the fencing.  We have spent every day this week pounding posts, digging holes for wood posts, mixing concrete for said posts, stretching fence, and clipping fencing to posts.  We are plum tuckered out.  The excavator arrived on Tuesday and did the final grade.  We are now fencing, fencing, and fencing.

Jeff showing off his post hole digging prowess.

Digging posts, a slow physically demanding job.

 We decided to use wood posts for all our gates.  We tried mounting them on our metal T-posts but they just didn't seem sturdy enough.  So we dug two foot holes for each wood post and filled the hole with the wood post and concrete.  I'm glad it was just six wood posts for the gates and not for every fence post.  We would still be digging post holes when the snow flies.

My friend and new love!

I have fallen in love with our truck.  We purchased this lovely lady from our son-in-law in the spring.  It wasn't until we started our fence building that I really had an opportunity to drive it.  She has been our work horse.  I've driven her around our pasture to deliver posts and fencing, to hold tools, and to stretch fencing by clipping the wench to her sturdy hitches.  She is a wonder and I think I need to name her.  I'll have to ponder on that or I'm open to suggestions?  She is the only vehicle we own (and there are four of them currently, why I do not know) that I can drive without being glued to the dashboard so I can reach the gas pedal.  Being short is not usually advantageous in today's large vehicles.  We would have been hurting without her.  Yes she has a few miles on her and a little wear and tear but so do I, so we are both in good company.

Zephyr Hill Farm's first ribbon!

Twizzler produced the 2nd place winning fleece.

I entered Twizzler's fleece that we had shorn in May in the Suri Network's All Fleece Show, which was held in August.  I did it with no expectations, except the experience it would provide for me for future shows.  Twizzler, however had a more ambitious agenda.  Her fleece placed second in the white fleece mature class.  That is quite an accomplishment considering she is six years old, this was a national show and I didn't know what I was doing when I skirted her fleece (cleaned it by picking out grass, dirt, and foreign matter).  I'm astonished and tickled pink white!  This will be a bragging right when I go to sell her babies.  In case you're not familiar with what a fleece show is, let me explain.  When the alpaca is shorn in the spring, the prime fleece is collected and saved. I then skirted it, trying to not disturb the integrity of the fleece. I put it in a clear plastic bag and box, and dropped it in the mail along with an entry form.  At the fleece show the judges evaluated the fleece based on 10 criteria.  The fleece score was added up and awarded a placement based on the total score out of 100.  The judges note "Some excellent luster throughout!"  This show was held in Denver, Colorado.  Fleeces were sent from around the country.  This makes me smile!

Sweet Caroline

On a sadder note, this week Caroline injured her eye and ear.  They both became infected and as a result she may lose vision in that eye.  Barrie Lynn, whom I'm purchasing the alpacas from, said it was quite the experience to clean out the maggots (yes I did say maggots) from her ear and she's seen a lot in her 20 plus years in the business.  Now Caroline is on antibiotics, 2 times per day, and needs ear drops 4 times per day.  Nothing like having to jump right into the ins and outs of alpaca farming from the get go!  I haven't heard anything more since the vet came on Tuesday, so no news means she must be healing.

Zoey doing what she does best!

Linus zonked!

Finally, like the cats, I'm toast and hopefully will be creating my own zzz's shortly!  I'll try to take many pictures on the "Day of the Alpacas".  Stay tuned!

Barn Done - Check!

Ta Da - A Barn!  Northwest view showing the "Girl's" side and the chicken coop in the front corner.

Northeast view of the Barn - The "Boy's" Side

The Boys and Girls each have an open lean-to area to catch some shade and stay out of the rain.  There is also a door in each lean-to leading into the barn where they will have a large "stall".  Their water will be located in here.  This stall will probably be utilized mostly in the winter.
 
Today, the concrete guys showed up, a few days late, but they were here before 8:00 a.m.  They finished by 3:30.  Of course I forgot to take pictures after the concrete was in.  Tomorrow I will.  Next on the agenda is the excavator.  He needs to come and do his final grade around the exterior of the barn, so we can bring the fencing up to the barn.  After that we can bring home the alpacas!

With the help of our son-in-law, our son, and my folks we have completed 3/4 of the fencing.  The rest can't be done until the excavator does his thing.  Thank you again to my family.  You were all a tremendous help!

This will be the "girls" pasture.

This will be the boy's pasture.

I was pretty intimidated by the fence project.  Now I feel like an ole pro.  It had it's challenges.  Like lifting a 15 pound t-post pounder over a six foot high t-post and literally pounding the steel t-post into the ground for two feet.  That gave my arms a pretty good workout.  Now I'll be walking around with bulging biceps while the rest of my body is sagging.  Ha, time for a new trend.

Before: A tree in the south east pasture needing some cleaning up.

I've spent the last two days, cleaning up overgrown tree scapes.  The two trees are both located in the southeast pasture which I will be using as a rotational pasture.  Meaning when the alpacas have chewed down the pasture they're in I can switch them to this pasture for a few weeks and let the grass grow back in their pasture.  Since I don't have a chain saw, mower or heavy duty weed wacker (I know, what kind of farmer am I?), I used my hand loppers and my landscape shears.  It's been a pain, quite frankly.  Of course, the weather has been hot with an extra helping of humidity.  Ugh, my least favorite kind of weather.  But I got er done!

After:  Isn't she looking slick?

It still needs some lower branches trimmed but that will have to wait for a chain saw.

There still will be things to do in the barn.  The electrician will need to do his magic so we can have lights and electricity.  We will need to enclose the "stalls".  We still need to buy hay and straw.  Oh my gosh, I'm just going to stop now, before I get overwhelmed.



 

Slow Progress

The barn has a roof.  Unless it rains all day tomorrow, Friday is the estimated day of completion for the barn itself.  The concrete still will need to be poured, electric run inside for lights and outlets, stalls erected, and a finally load of dirt deposited in the stalls. The exterior still needs it's final grade. Let me repeat, however, we do have a roof!

Friday

Monday

Tuesday

We've hit a few snags along the way.  The right and left side of the barn are actually lean tos, portions of which we will be enclosing.  When we originally talked with the builder I requested an exterior door located where the red ladder is leaning.  This would lead from the chicken coop into the chicken run.  While we were gone on Friday the crew extended the roof over the lean to.  As you can see it follows the roof line.  Not good.  The barn side walls are 10 feet high.  I assumed the lean to side walls would be around 8 feet.  Imagine my concern on Saturday when I realized I could actually touch the bottom of the outside header in the lean to (just above the red ladder).  For me to be able to do this the height of that wall would have to be well below the 8 foot mark.  Frown.  How can we install an 82" high exterior door there when the wall is only 79" high?  I assumed that the roof line over the lean to would not have as steep a grade as the barn roof for just that reason.  Ha, that's what I get for assuming.  Should have gotten in writing.  Now we will have to have a sliding door made to accommodate the lower wall.  Workable but not what I requested.

Secondly, as I was checking out progress today after the crew left I realized that the portions of the roof over the open areas of lean to are not insulated.  Once again, when we talked with the builder, he said he would insulate the whole roof, in case down the road we wanted to enclose the open lean tos.  Without insulation between the roof and the rafters, condensation will form, enough that it would drip down to the floor below.  Sigh.  At this point the only way I can see a fix is if they remove the portions of roofing lacking the insulation.  A costly time robber.  There is a whole roll of insulation left.  Looks the builder was planning on it being insulated but didn't communicate with his crew.  :-(  Now I have to decide if I want to have them redo the uninsulated roof and slow progress even more.

On a more cheerful note, we have family members (silly people) that have volunteered to assist us with our fence building efforts.  Thank you Brad, Jeremy and my folks!  My goal is to get as much of the outer fencing completed as possible while they're here Wednesday through Friday.  Jeff and I completed two corners (out of 14) on Sunday, before we had to leave. Woo Hoo!  At least we have a feel for the work.  Jeff and I will have to complete the fencing to the barn once the final excavation is complete. 

I'm afraid the arrival of the pacas will end up being pushed back to the 2nd weekend in September.  I feel bad that I won't get it done by the 1st.  I know the owner, Barrie Lynn, whom I've purchased my alpacas from, has a lot on her personal plate right now.  That was the reason she was reducing her herd.  

Daisy May as cute as ever!

I did get to spend Friday morning with Barrie Lynn learning the ins and outs of alpaca management.  Including how to give shots, how to halter train, how to give wormers, how to check if a female is still pregnant.  If she isn't, how to breed!  Unfortunately, two of my girls are not pregnant.  Looks like I will get to breed them first thing when I get them home.  That will be challenging!  This way they will have babies in September of next year.  It was a lot of information to absorb in a short period of time.  Lets just hope I retain some of it!

Hello Girls.  You'll be coming home soon!

 

FINALLY!

 THE

 WAIT IS

OVER !

Progress on the barn at the end of the day today. Yeah!

Progress in other areas.  The porch is 95% complete.  Just waiting on the gutters.  Then I plan on painting the front door to match the red siding.  I already have the paint.

I will also paint the garage door the same red.  I have a shrub and some coral bells to be planted in the alcove below the rounded window.

Linus has a new haircut.

Zoey sleeping hard!

Zoey watching the birds out the window.

Our new bed.

Our bed was made right here in Evart at Artisan Heirlooms, a local woodworking shop located behind The 7th Street Coffee Shop.  The coffee shop owner, Sandy, had the guys in the wood shop collect scrap pieces of wood from various projects.  Then she created a piece of wall art.  Our headboard is a reflection of her creativity.  The first time I saw the wall art in the shop I knew I wanted a headboard made the same way.  Thank you Sandy.

We have our fence materials as of this morning.  The fence building may commence at any time!  We are looking at 19 days to complete the barn and fence. (That includes pouring the barn concrete floor, hooking up the water, completing the electric and completing the final grade around the barn.)  No pressure.
We have rounded up a potential trailer and hauler to help in the transport of the alpacas on the red letter day.  We just need to be done.  Can I have an amen?