DMAR Alpaca and Maremma Blog

DMAR Calendar for December 2009:

December 3rd: Tucson’s Women’s Night Out held at the Radisson Suites at 7pm. I was thrilled when they asked me to be one of the vendors. All shopping will be conducted in one of the ballrooms between 5pm and 7pm. They expect to have over 80 professional women attend.

December 4th: Take Bianca (Maremma LGD) to vet to confirm that she is pregnant. I can tell you that her mammary glands have begun to swell and it looks promising, however I have my doubts about the whole testing procedure. Last year I took her in twice to the vet. One time he palpated her stomach area and the other time he took x-rays. Both times he told me she wasn’t. I didn’t believe him and luckily I didn’t as on Dec. 23rd she went into labor. I had Tom prepare a whelping box for her a couple of weeks before, so we were prepared. What we weren’t prepared for was that a young pup would make the wrong turn and go up the other uterine horn. The pup was stuck and blocking the passage out. Bianca had to have an emergency c-section. I am sure Bianca nor the pups would have survived if I believed the first vet who said she wasn’t pregnant. I am thankful that I stayed with her for two nights when her temperature dropped and was able to help my beautiful Bianca when she was in trouble.

I am happy to say that the new owners of Bianca’s pups from last year, Gino and Poppy, have kept in touch. Tom and I were able to personally see Poppy last month while at a show in California. Her new owners were kind enough to bring her over. Wow! She has really beat the expectations I had on her. She has Bianca’s face and Santino’s coat. She is a tall girl who appears to still be growing. She is now 11 mths old and after a little time I truly believe she remembered me. Unfortunately I didn’t have a camera, so no pictures were taken. The owners are thrilled with Poppy and plan to breed her in the future.

On the other hand, Gino’s new owners sent us pictures recently. Gino is the spittin’ image of his dad, Santino. The owners love his look and especially his personality. They say he is one of the family, however just recently he was on the wife’s bad side for chewing up Christmas ornaments outside. Oh well…..Gino still is a puppy after all. Take a look at how nicely Gino is growing.

Gino at 11 mths old.

December 10th – December 29th: Waiting the arrival of Michelle’s cria.. I will pretty much be homebound during this time period simply waiting on the newest arival. As usual Tom and I are full of anticipation and excitement. I love having small crias running around the place playing with each other.

December 25th – Christmas Happy holidays to everyone. The ranch will be closed on Christmas day.

Desert Mtn Alpaca Ranch welcomes all visitors. Please remember to call at 520-803-9569 or email at info@desertmtnalpacas.com to schedule an appt. before coming out. We do need to put our guardian dogs away.

DMAR Update for Week Ending 11/15/08:

This past weekend was a huge success for our first time going to the Fall Festival at the Holy Trinity Monastery in St. David. Sales were up with both DMAR Apollo and DMAR Diego being bit hits with the crowd. Of course Sunday was a huge challenge with the winds gusting at 25 – 35 mph. This is the life of an outdoor festival vendor. However we had purchased a new trimline canopy tent and it has proven to be its weight in gold.

Tom and I are now getting ready for AlpacaFest West this weekend. We will leave this Friday morning with two pit stops on the way to pick up more alpacas. I can’t wait to see how our group does.

Alexis is now only 10 days out from being full term. I don’t think she looks as big as previous years, so I’m wondering if that is a sign that she is carrying a female. Tom and I are anxious for the upcoming birth. I pray she doesn’t go early and waits for us to return from our trip considering baby watch doesn’t start until next Saturday.

Love is in the Air at DMAR:

Alpaca Breedings: Now occuring on the ranch…..AVR By Golly Miss Molly has been bred to DMAR Apollo. Both DMAR Athena and Walls Edge Ranch Emma have been bred to HRAZ Lock & Load. We tried to breed DMAR Electra to DMAR Diego, but these two youngsters just aren’t ready yet. They are both under 2 yrs of age, so we have some time for them to become full adults. At this time Electra is real aggressive towards Diego when he shows any interest. She spits at him and charges into him. Then poor Diego looks at me as if to say, “now what?”.

Maremmas: Bianca started her heat on Oct. 14th. This week she should be very receptive towards Santino’s approaches. If all goes well Bianca will give birth to her litter by around Christmas. 

Southwest Fiber Festival: Don’t forget this weekend is Southwest Fiber Festival being held in Amado at 3001 E Frontage Rd. We will bring DMAR Apollo and DMAR Diego. Please stop by and speak to Tom about raising alpacas. Afterwards stop by our DMAR Store Booth. The holidays are approaching quickly and alpaca products make wonderful gifts! 

 

Cable knit alpaca dress sock winner from this wekend’s Sierra Vista Home and Business Expo raffle is Ms. Deloris Brooks of Sierra Vista. I was very happy to call her today to advise the good news. I personally delivered the socks to her and explain what makes alpaca fiber superior over wool.

The SV Home and Business Expo was a big success. Our booth was visited by thousands of people. Sales were made of alpaca sweaters, capes, socks (both dress socks and hiking socks, and stuffed teddy bears. Tom and I answered tons of questions and loved speaking to the public. We look forward to the next expo.

Home and Business Expo at Buena High School is being held this Saturday, September 13th from 9 am to 4 pm. We will be there and hope that you all will stop by and say hello. We will bring some items from the DMAR Store and you know it is never too early to start your christmas shopping.

Next weekend is the NM show. We are taking 4 juveniles, 1 yearling, and 1 adult. We are very excited to go and hope our alpacas will behave. Hopefully we will come home with a bunch of ribbons.

By Golly Miss Molly is now in her 11th month of gestation. Her day 335 begins on September 27th. Last year she birthed on that exact number, however the average length of gestation goes from day 335 to day 355. We are waiting on pins and needles as we bred her to our rose grey herdsire, Snowmass Incan Emperor, and from the last two crias he gave us we can only expect another winner. Don’t forget to watch her on the web cam.

DMAR Update for Wk 6/16/08:

It is hot here. High 90′s and low 100′s all this week. I go out at noon everyday and hose down the legs and bellies of all the alpacas. Funny how I seem to get kisses from the ones who never kiss me when I spray them down. I’m sure it feels real good to them. Especially to the dams carrying fetus’ in their bellies.

I took Emma and Carina to the vet last Wednesday and they are both confirmed pregnant. Lock & Load is the herdsire we used for Carina and Apollo is the herdsire we used for Emma. This is the second confirmed pregnancy for Lock & Load and the first for Apollo. It is exciting to see these young herdsires producing their first crias. Unfortunately we have such a long time to wait to see the results. Nonetheless they are pregnant, so that is one milestone down.

Two major changes seem to be occupying my time these days. I have enrolled in a veterinarian assist course. I am trying to learn more about animals and the illnesses (causes and cures) they contract. I definitely do not like feeling helpless when my alpacas, dogs, or cats are not feeling well and my vet is unavailable, so I decided to do something about it. I have already finished lesson 6 and am anxiously waiting for my new material to arrive, so I can dive in again.  

The second change is I am working on doing a website face lift. I am redoing the main website and because their are so many pages it is quite time consuming. However, I look forward to publishing the finished content. That won’t be for a little while yet.

Other than that things are quite calm around here. The alpacas and maremmas seem to be coping with the weather with the daily hosing down (not the dogs they don’t like to be sprayed) and staying in the shade with the fans and/or the two evaporative coolers we have on. 

This weekend we will be at the Bisbee Farmer’s Mkt again at Vista Park in Warren. We are there every other Saturday and bring our products from our DMAR Store.

 

DMAR Update for Week 5/25/08:

AOBA National Show in SLC, UT: I just got back from the national show last night. I left last Wednesday for a fun time networking, learning, and observing alpacas. To my disappointment I didn’t do as well on my fleeces as I thought I would, however on the upside I did take a seminar on how to do fleeces and plan to put my newly found knowledge to work and redo my fleeces to see if I can improve the overall scores. I had a great time and look forward to the next show.  Of course that won’t be until the end of September in New Mexico.

DMAR Nikoli and DMAR Antonio: Both of these juveniles are now fully weaned and beginning their halter training. Both boys are for sale and I will have a link to their information within the month.

Bisbee Farmer’s Market: Tom and I will be back at the farmer’s mkt. this weekend. We hope to see you there.  

 

DMAR Update for Week 3/31:

We are still anxiously awaiting the birth of DMAR Athena’s first cria. Today is day 352. Tom and I cannot sleep the entire night through as we wake up to check the camera to see if she is showing any signs of labor. We have the camera hooked up right to our bedroom television and we don’t shut it off. Very convenient on one hand and awfully annoying on the other. However, I want to be sure to catch the birthing especially if there are any complications. Don’t forget to watch the Live Cam at Home and you too may catch the birthing.

Last month Tom and I had to deal with an alpaca, DMAR Apollo, getting very sick. We were very nervous about his not eating, having severe diarrhea, and a temperature. Although he never went down we could tell that this young male was very ill and we immediately took action to take care of him. You can read about our ordeal at How We Got an Alpaca to Start Eating Again.

Gino, the maremma pup, is now 3 mths old. He is still available and for $750 he comes fully dewormed, second set of shots, and microchipped. Gino is growing nicely and is already following the rest of the adult dogs around barking and trying to keep up with the chase. Gino is not afraid of the alpacas and does not chase after them. He will occasionally walk up to them and sniff them out, but for the most part he leaves them alone.

The Arizona Fiber Co-op recently received back our products from the mill. Every year the co-op gathers donated fiber only from the Arizona Alpaca growers and sends it off to the mill to have yarn, sock, and other products made. This year DMAR store has had rose grey cable knitted dress socks and cream colored yarn skeins made. You can view and purchase these items now at DMAR Store. All payments are done through Pay Pal which is secure.

We now have gardeners coming by for our alpaca manure. We off the manure for free, so simply call us for a first time appt. We will show you where it is. After that you can stop by at your leisure to pick some up. We do have a shovel for you to use, but you need to bring your own bags or buckets.

DMAR 2008 Sales List and Breedings has been updated. Please go to www.desertmtnalpacas.com/alpaca-sales.html to see the new sales listing featuring AOCR Michelle Rose.

To see the latest herdsires for breedings please go to www.desertmtnalpacas.com/services.html. We have added DMAR Apollo to the list, an Augusto grandson, who is the whole package.

Don’t forget to visit the DMAR online store at www.dmarstore.desertmtnalpacas.com. I am constantly adding more product.

Grand Opening – DMAR Online Store located at www.dmarstore.desertmtnalpacas.com.

After much hard work I am ready to open our online store. It took a while in the making, but I now have products available. This is an ongoing project in which I will be adding more items as quickly as I possible can.

We will also be sending out a free gift for the first 20 orders. Remember that you can select your shipping between UPS and USPS. Also, if you do not see a size or color you are needing, please inquire at sales@desertmtnalpacas for special ordering. It will take approximately 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Happy Holidays!