Thursday, October 6, 2016
Statistically, our ranch seems to produce more boys than girls. This year was no exception – out of six cria, we had 5 boys. Having done research in every way, nothing seems to make sense other than when we sell a female, the buyer always seems to get a female offspring. Weird, right?
As a matter of fact, for years we have posted a sign out front by the gate with a pink or blue wooden cria. However, the past two years, we could have just hung it up and left it! This year, we started off on th read more...
|
Friday, September 16, 2016
Everyone knows about premature births -- but ever had one go waaaaay over the due date? like 387 day gestation? That's called "dysmature".
We recently had our first experience with this, and it's no fun at all. For mom, it means giving birth to a 26 lb. cria instead of the normal 15-16 lb. baby. Thankfully, this mom was not a maiden.
Of course, it's a white male - on our farm, seems like we are male oriented. But wow, what a baby. It takes years to know what you have at birth and let us t read more...
|
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Education with a Destination 2016 was the best ever! Being there is so much fun, with old and new friends focusing on the same passion of alpacas!
This year’s expert speakers were fantastic – Dr. Tibary, Dr. Evans and Dr. Kaysen. Each doctor presented their major focus from reproduction, health and genetics. There were alpaca ranchers from across the globe there -- Australia, Florida and all points from the United States.
We opted to stay in the Field House again, a house rental near Flyi read more...
|
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
The cria crop is in full swing, although this year, we are having fewer babies. We are very pleased with the quality thus far....meet the 2017 show string (to date)!
Echo
Beautiful bay black son of 6x champion Irish Meadow’s Carbon Copy and out of 5x champion London Dairy Double Play. The championship combination of this pairing has been succeeded and the future of this male will be exciting. Outstanding conformation, fleece organization and Echo is stunning in every way!
Shiloh
Daughter read more...
|
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Getting the hay brought in, stacked and put away for the next year is a really great feeling. It’s kind of like putting money in the bank for any rancher. Ranchers know the importance of getting your hay load secured and put away. Having hay means security, it provides a comforting feeling even though it can be back breaking work – but all the while, worth it.
For alpaca ranchers, there is absolutely no difference. Our herd, albeit small, uses premium quality second cutting orchard grass hay read more...
|
Friday, June 10, 2016
Welcome Adaline!
We are excited to welcome another beautiful true black girl to our herd, and she’s a Super Sonic daughter which is exactly what we were looking for! And talk about a beauty – this sweet girl is the complete package in true black from the outstanding breeding program of A Paca Fun. She brings with her some impressive winnings of two reserve championships from the East Coast and she will be shown this fall and next year!
We were unable to travel to the Parade of Champions th read more...
|
Thursday, May 26, 2016
It’s no secret -- 2016 was our best show year ever. While it takes time to bring your breeding program up to the Futurity level, it’s even harder with such a small herd.
We are ecstatic to learn that our hard work has paid off, and that we’ve been honored with the 2016 Futurity Reserve Champion Small Breeder of the Year award!
Thank you to Tim Vincent and the rest of the Futurity gang for executing such a prestigious show!
And a huge shout out to the other farm winners, and our friends read more...
|
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Ending the year on a high note was winning Judge’s Choice Females at the CABA Classic this past weekend with Liberty’s Magna Carta!
And to top it off, it was a sweet moment when Jeff took Magna Carta in and I led Zaynah into the championship round. That is a rare moment indeed, at least for our small farm to be in two places that would be considered for Judge’s Choice. But Maggie pranced her way into the ring – like she always does with her head held high and her signature animated stride st read more...
|
Monday, May 2, 2016
We had a fantastic GWAS (Great Western Alpaca Show) this past weekend in Denver, Colorado! A level 5 show and we brought home top honors for our farm!
We earned three (3) championship banners, five (5) firsts, two (2) seconds, and two (3rds) and one (1) fourth placing ribbons.
This was by far our BEST showing in Denver, proudly representing the Pacific NW breeders. For anyone who doesn't think a small farm can compete - wrong! We have 28 animals and brought 9 with us. That's 1/3 of our he read more...
|
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Jeff and Dean (Fiber Meadows Alpacas) are headed to one of the best shows in the country - Great Western Alpaca Show!, held April 29-May 1st, 2016. Breeders from all over the country converge to win bragging rights and have a good time showing off their alpacas! It's a 21 hour drive from Seattle -- not for the faint of heart. Traveling over the Rockies this time of year can be challenging.
2015 was a great year for us, winning two championships, two blues and a couple of other ribbons. 2016 h read more...
|