On Saturday Tom did a presentation on alpaca husbandry. He was all set up with his samples on the different types of grasses offered in our area as well as the different types of minerals and grains. It was during Tom’s presentation that the rain started to come down hard. Each of the host ranches had to leave Tom to continue on his own and entertain the guests while the rest of us ran outside to move the sale alpacas up to shelter out of the rain. Lucky for me Tom has the gift of gab and felt right at home lecturing.

Saturday afternoon I, Janice, spoke about how to create an alpaca ranch store. I wasn’t expecting an introduction, but Deb Hill of Cloud Dancer Alpacas got up in front of the class to give me one. I was humbled at how she advised how great a job I had done creating my ranch store from scratch with never having any knowledge on retail before doing so.  It was a very nice intro. At the end of the class Linda Wood of Square Top Ranch gave me two thumbs up.

On Sunday I gave another lecture on how to select your breeding pairs. Basically this was an informative class on breeding up your herd.

Other speakers included Deb Hill of Cloud Dancer Alpacas (renowned alpaca speaker), Mike & Linda Wood of Square Top Ranch, and Dave & Nancy Crowley of Madera Canyon Alpacas and Fiber Works. Everyone one of these speakers did an awesome job and it was proven by the students’ compliments at the end of each day.  They were impressed at the amount of information we shared, how laid back and friendly we all were, and how much fun it was to learn and make new friends. Best of all the event was free for the entire weekend!!!!

Tom with Mercedes as the students were evaluating her fleece. Mercedes did a great job and remained quite calm throughout the entire experience. Students claimed she was the sweetest alpaca being evaluated.

Here the students were assessing four different female alpacas that were all similar in age and color after listening to Deb Hill’s lecture on how to assess fiber when making an alpaca purchase.

Some of the students at Alpacas Among Friends.

 More students at Alpacas Among Friends.

Linda, brown jacket, and Nancy, blue jacket, listening to a student give their reasoning as to which female alpaca had the best temperment, best fiber, most guard hair, heaviest female, and lightest female.

In this picture, Deb Hill, is giving a talk on how to sell alpacas in the current economy.

Here Linda Wood is giving a lecture on how to be involved with the community. It helps sales!

DMAR Valentino and DMAR Royal Peruvian Princess: Our two newest crias are both thriving and doing well. Valentino had a little bit of retained fluid at birth which caused him breathing issues. It sounded like he had a snotty nose that he needed to blow. It was agitated when he nursed and the first day he went to open mouth breathing. This isn’t what you want to see as all alpacas must breathe through their noses. Crias especially since they continue to breathe through their nose as they are nursing. However with some naxcel, banamine, and pure oxygen Valentino had cleared up the fluid by day 2 and is now a rambucious two week old cria. Princess, on the other hand, has been battling some diarrhea that started out with a case of e-coli. Her poop was yellow and pasty which is a sure sign. I immediately started her out on Albon and within a week the e-coli was gone, but not the diarrhea. We are currently giving her pepto-bismol and probios. It is getting better, but we aren’t too concerned as we see her nursing regularly (getting hydrated) and is running around being active. The diarrhea we are contributing to mom’s rich milk as we believe she only produces heavy cream and not milk.

DMAR Store will be open all this week for the last minute Christmas shoppers. You can stop by the ranch store, but please call for an appt first at 520-803-9569 or you can shop online at http://www.dmarstore.desertmtnalpacas.com. You can still get the items ontime if you select next day or 2nd day shipping.

Registrations have now opened for the 2009 SouthWest Regional Alpaca Show held at the Arizona State Fairgrounds on March 7th & 8th. The alpaca show is free to the public and if you ever wanted to learn more about alpacas attending a show is a great way to network and meet alpaca ranchers and ask questions. Tom and I are the event show managers, so please contact us at swralpacashow@yahoo.com if you have any questions. The show website may also answer a lot of your questions and that address is http://www.swras.org.

Our maremma dog, Bianca, is due sometime this week or next. We are excited as always to welcome her new pups. The whelping box is in place and Bianca has made herself comfortable in it many times now. I truly felt like she gave a sigh of relief when she saw me putting it in place. I know she was searching a location to have her pups and now she needs to search no more. This week Tom will place a camera in the feed room where the whelping box is, so we and online viewers can watch. Remember that you can reach the web cam by going to http://www.desertmtnalpacas.com and clicking on the Live Cam link at the top menu.

Don’t forget that in January we will have the Alpaca Know How Seminar. This is great for all you need alpaca ranchers to get a hands on as to how to select a good quality alpaca from a pet quality. For more information click on the DMAR Seminar link on the left hand side menu.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

 

 

 

Series I: Know How to Make an Informed Alpaca Purchase  

Overview:

• Brief overview on alpacas, history, and basic needs for alpacas
• Learn why alpacas are profitable
• Learn how to differentiate between a quality alpaca and pet quality alpaca
• Financial and Tax Considerations
• Know How to Understand Contracts
• Know How to Get Your Alpacas Insured 

This seminar will be held at the DMAR ranch located at 7107 S Nucci Rd Hereford, AZ 85615 on Saturday, January 17th, 2009 from 9am through 3pm.

Seminars include a continental breakfast starting at 8:30am, lunch, and hand out material.

Seminar Price: $75 per person or $140 per couple.

Email Janice Buttitta at info@desertmtnalpacas.com for your seminar reservation request or call 520-803-9569.

Future Alpaca Know How Seminar Series:

• Know How to Breed and Reproduce Your Alpacas for Herd Improvement
• Know How to Manage and Maintain a Healthy Alpaca Herd