“Liquid Gold” Photo by Val Newell of The Green Alpaca

Recently I was asked the Question: Have I ever had to milk a female alpaca? And did I have some tips…
Yes, I’ve had to milk an alpaca. Too many times, actually. And it’s difficult. You need 2 people or a chute usually to hold the [...]

March 7th, 2011 | Tags: alpaca, Alpacas, bottle feeding, bottle feeding cria, Christine Navarre DVM, chute, cria to nurse, dealer, Dr. David Pugh, failure of passive transfer, frozen alpaca colostrum, glorified goats, goat colostrum, Green Alpaca, immunity, Kefir, Liquid Gold, local frozen goat colostrum, low IGG, milk alpacas, milk an alpaca, milking, My Dealer, plasma, powdered colostrum, priceless, prolific milkers, stash of frozen goat colostrum, syringe tips, Val Newell, vet, weak cria | Category: Alpacas, Husbandry | Comments (6)

Or Why You Won’t See Me At An Alpaca Show This Fall

Do you see this alpaca above? His name is Colt McCoy (named for the wonderful Texas Longhorns quarterback). He is one of the finest alpacas I’ve ever bred. I bragged on him.
Alot.
If you have ever read my blog or met me, you’ve probably heard [...]

November 24th, 2009 | Tags: alpaca, alpaca fiber, alpaca shows, Alpacas, Brooke Shields, Colt, Colt McCoy, fiber, fiber break, show alpaca, show alpacas, Tim Tebow, vet, Xman | Category: Alpacas, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (18)

If a cria is hypothermic (low temperature), her organs will not get the appropriate amount of blood flow and may become damaged. The longer the temp is down, the worse the damage can be.
Having oxygen on hand can save the cria’s life. Consider asking your vet to help get you a small oxygen tank for [...]

September 6th, 2009 | Tags: alpaca, Alpacas, cria, hypothermic, kidneys, oxygen, plasma, premature cria, Triple J Farms, vet, veterinary | Category: Alpacas, Husbandry, Words of Wisdom | Comments (12)

BEFORE. When this little alpaca female was born a couple of weeks ago…

…her ears were a bit wonky. Inside out, if you will.
This is something that happens occasionally. It is not genetic and is no cause for alarm. Ears like this can occur from prematurity or just being positioned that way in utero. Several times [...]

May 12th, 2009 | Tags: after, alpaca, Alpacas, before, Dexter, ears, Mimosa, taping ears, vet | Category: Alpacas, Husbandry, The Daily Stuff | Comments (10)