A Busy Birthing/Show season
Our first full birthing season is coming to a close as we eagerly await the birth of our last cria of the season. Four cria were born on our farm since November including Freckled Rose (November 7), Spats Ghirardelli (December 12), Midnight Serenade (January 17) and Penny Lane (February 3). Sadie Ann’s first cria is due any day now. With little ones pronking in the field and a barn full of pregnant moms and randy males, life is very full!
We attended two shows this year. In February we went to the Florida Expo in Jacksonville. Heli Arc and Lakota came away with red ribbons in their classes. Crimson Tide placed sixth in his class. Last weekend (April 2-4) we went to Clemson, South Carolina for the Palmetto Classic. Crimson won a blue ribbon at that show (go figure!), Lakota placed second again and Heli Arc placed third. Not a bad show season for our second year in business! Next year we will have five yearlings and one juvenile to show.
Alpaca shows are great opportunites for networking with other breeders and buying and selling animals. We did not intend to sell any of our animals this year. But we did purchase a beautiful maiden female named Shyning Bright Lee from Bill and Juanita Crake of Ridgeview Alpacas. We also invested in a quarter interest of Libertad’s Notorious - a gorgeous rose grey male who will come down to Florida in December for his first breeding season. We will certainly keep him busy on our farm! Learning from outstanding judges such as AOBA president Dave Barbosa, and observing the animals that consistantly do well in the show ring provide an invaluable education for alpaca breeders. We intend to participate in more shows next year, and enter our fleeces in fleece shows as well.
Here are a few pictures of our newer crias: Midnight Serenade with Penny Lane,Penny with Ghirardelli
Libertad’s Notorious Shyning Bright Lee