Alpaca Shearing Festival and Barbeque

Posted 30 March, 2007 in Alpaca General | No comments

I am so excited to announce the first annual alpaca shearing festival and barbeque being hosted by Desert Mountain Alpaca Ranch and Thunder Creek Alpaca Company. It will be held on Saturday, April 28th from 12 PM until 4 PM at 7255 Ranch Road in Sierra Vista (Thunder Creek Alpaca Company ranch). You can see first hand how the alpacas are sheared and see demonstrations on sorting and skirting the beautiful fiber.

I will also bring over to the ranch the Desert Mountain Alpaca Store for everyone’s shopping convenience.

Also on the ranch is horses and Pyratolians (Pyrenees/Anatolian mixed breed) livestock guardian dogs.

Best of all the festival will be followed by a free barbeque. That’s right, I said free. However, it is limited to the first 50 reservations. Contact LouAnn Frizzell at 520-378-3263 or simply email me at info@desertmtnalpacas.com. On the menu is barbequed beef, chicken, cowboy beans, cole slaw, and dessert. Doesn’t that just get your mouth watering?  

Be prepared to be educated and have a great time. Hope to see you all there! 

Alpaca Presentation at the Tucson Design College

Posted 24 March, 2007 in Alpaca General | No comments

Tom and I will be giving an alpaca presentation to students at the Tucson Design College on April 9th. We are really excited. We will be giving a brief history on the alpaca, but delving more about the fiber and its uses. The students plan on entering the AOBA design contest. We wish them the best of luck.

Tom and I are always eager to educate the public about these beautiful animals. Please feel free to contact us if you would like us to speak to your organization.  

Alpaca Ulcer Update

Posted 15 March, 2007 in Alpaca Health | No comments

Alpaca Ulcer Update - As you all know the end of last month we lost one of our females due to perforated ulcers. We have done some research on ulcers and learned that grain, such as cob, can cause ulcers in alpacas. Not that we fed too much of this, but it has now ended. We will no longer feed alpacas any supplement to their hay unless it is specifically formulated for alpacas such as the Mazuri Alpaca Chews.

We also observed that the feeders are a place of stress. Therefore, instead of having just one feeder per stall we have now added modified laundry baskets that we can hook onto our paddock fencing. Depending on the stall and who is inside we added one or two baskets. This way if any of the alpacas is being spit on at the feeder they can simply walk to another feeder and eat in peace. Of course some of the alpacas just prefer to eat where they are eating regardless if they are being spit at. This is especially true of my crias. They are so stubborn. However, I have noticed other stalls/paddocks a lot quieter now during feeding.

Since ulcers cannot be detected at this time these were just some ideas to consider.

SouthWestern Regional Alpaca Show

Posted 7 March, 2007 in Alpaca Shows | No comments

If you have a chance this weekend please don’t forget about attending the SouthWestern Regional Alpaca Show from Saturday, March 10th thru Sunday, March 11th. It is being held at the Arizona State Fairgrounds and is free to the public. Over 460 alpacas have been registered to attend. This should be a lot of fun.

Here is your chance to meet the alpaca ranchers in the area and also meet some of the vendors.

We hope to see you there. 

Alpaca Article - Ulcers-in-Alpacas

Posted 2 March, 2007 in Alpaca Articles | No comments

The March Alpaca Article - Ulcers - in- Alpacas is the hardest article I have written to date. I am still filled with emotion and cannot even begin to explain how my husband feels. Overall we hope together that our loss will be someone’s gain if this article can help them read the signs of their alpaca having an ulcer. Ulcers unfortunately are a silent killer, but as silent as ulcers are they are very painful to the alpaca. There is nothing worse than to see an alpaca you love in pain and feeling useless in helping to resolve the issue. Please feel free to post or to contact us privately at info@desertmtnalpacas.com should you have any questions or comments.