July 3rd
Well, it's already July... This year is just whizzing on by! The next two or three months can whiz as fast as they want! I am ready for cool weather again. I know, you hear this every year...
Chuck has been off work the past couple of days and we have made some headway in the barn. The chute has been moved! It didn't seem like it was taking up so much room when we had six or seven alpacas on each side of the barn. Increased numbers made the real estate the chute sat on quite priceless! It is now very open and cooler! I had not thought about the chute blocking breezes but it sure was.
Most folks think of a chute that is long and narrow. Ours wasn't that way at all. The design pretty much came from out first vet with some tweaking by Chuck. (One thing he tweaked was the height... Big mistake. He was thinking that the alpacas are not as tall as her llamas... True, but I bet we humans are! I don't have to say "told you so" since he's the one who is reminded every time we use it when he hits his head! Anyway, this chute is wide enough for us both to get into with the alpaca. Some times that is great. It is not great when they want to kick. It is not great when the female would rather stand on her head to avoid a manicure... Oh, it is also not great when your 95 pound friend is trying to shear a two hundred pound male and he flings her around! Of course, that is another story best left to another day. She and I always manage to have these adventures that leave our other friends rolling on the floor laughing.
I spoke with "D" yesterday a couple of times. I kept getting these reports on her fiber finds in the house. Now you have to understand, unlike myself and others who are even worse than I am with processing fiber, she has always processed fiber. There isn't a craft she doesn't know how to do; there are very few she doesn't enjoy and there are none that she doesn't do well! But the thing is the lady spins, felts, crochets, knits - constantly! She markets through her website and at fairs, shows - you name it. So how did it happen that she "found" about 200 pounds of fiber left over from previous years - forgotten in a closet? She's giddy with excitement and plans for it. Of course, I know how it could happen - as breeders we get caught up in the breeding and our initial five alpacas have multiplied over the years and their friends have come and gone... the numbers are a lot different than in 2005...
Now in my case, I haven't been able to stuff it in a closet and forget about it. Currently we are sharing the house with the fiber... Good thing there are only two of us! The dogs are probably the only creatures who are happy it is summer since they can be outside more. When inside they have to be in their crates because of this year's crop of fiber. I am overwhelmed. I have fiber all over the living room. I have fiber stuffed in the shower of our 3/4 bathroom! I had to move out of my office for all of the fiber. It is absolutely out of control. This weekend is really going to be independence day around here. "D" is coming and is helping me sort all of the fiber and then taking it home with her to drop off at the mill!!!! I am so excited. It really got to the point of there being too much to ship - that would have doubled the processing fees. So, in the not too distant future I will have an assortment of felted sheets, rug yarn and roving. Once it it has been cleaned and processed somewhat I will be able to get to the fun part and get some products together. That I am looking forward to in a big way.
Next year I may well hook up with a coop and just have it taken care of on shearing day. Off the animal; skirted and sorted; off to the coop for processing. But then I won't have product specific to my farm like I do now... I kind of like seeing the fiber of my alpacas made up into items. I remember donating a poncho made from Jacob's fiber to a Silent Auction a few years ago. Or maybe it was a raffle - I can't remember. The following year at the show the lady who won it said "hi" and told me that her son had won it for her and he was so pleased. I remember thinking immediately of Jacob and not of my supply of dark fawn yarn. Kind of neat. But, this is business and decisions have to be made that aren't sentimental. This decision warrants a lot of thought.
I can across a product while reading the AN forum the other week. Truth be told, I already knew about the product but had previously learned about it back in 2005 or 2006. At that time we had a lot fewer alpacas on site AND they all had good manners - no one pooped or peed in the barn!!!! Then the product seemed extravagant. Well, many alpacas later and with the arrival of alpacas without manners {you owners know who they are! :-)}coming across the product again was a great thing. Would you like to know what the product is already? It is called Stall Skins. The best I can describe it is a cross between felt and pellon. It is black and about a quarter inch thick. The felted side is put down against the ground and the smooth, somewhat coated feeling side is walked upon. It doesn't sound like it would last does it? Well, it is an equine product and said to last about six years with horses. I figure it will take about $600 worth to do my barn floor. That will be in one piece and it will be fixed to the walls (baseboard)all around. The only bedding that will be required will be in the winter - we'd probably put down some straw for warmth. The trick to success will be to prepare the floor ahead of time. Now that they are relieving themselves in the barn no matter what has been done to discourage them, it is getting a bot smelly in there and certainly not helping with the fly situation. The floor/ground (it/s dirt/clay) needs to have a trench dug about 2' deep with rock put in and then the ground angled to drain into that. On top of the gravel we will need to put down some landscape cloth and then cover the whole floor with either gravel dust or coarse sand. We will level the floor and tamp that down really well. Then we will install the Stall Skin. From that point on we should only have to sweep up poop and the urine will have drained away. Supposedly it won't matter where they do their "duty" as it will all slope away into the leach pit. Oh yeah, once a month or so you spray it down (I am sure only where they go) with pine-sol or something and the odors stay away. We will also do the ground under at least one of our overhangs, probably both. My only concern is the fabric is black and one overhang does get sun almost all day. The other is shaded except in winter so it is a good candidate for being successful. I will keep you posted. This is a fall project - can't see us digging out there in 90 degree plus weather... Not these northerners!
Aside from the barn and fiber projects currently going on we have pictures on the schedule for all of the alpacas and once those are finished we will be able to update the website and sales list. Doing major organization in preparation of the fall show & symposium schedule so that when I come off that and go onto cria watch it will be smooth. Oh, and we started doing some landscaping directly around the house to try to improve our look... Curb appeal without the curb! And, the never ending work on the property out front. We will get that finished this summer. Some how, some way.
Have to run! Until the next time...
Chuck has been off work the past couple of days and we have made some headway in the barn. The chute has been moved! It didn't seem like it was taking up so much room when we had six or seven alpacas on each side of the barn. Increased numbers made the real estate the chute sat on quite priceless! It is now very open and cooler! I had not thought about the chute blocking breezes but it sure was.
Most folks think of a chute that is long and narrow. Ours wasn't that way at all. The design pretty much came from out first vet with some tweaking by Chuck. (One thing he tweaked was the height... Big mistake. He was thinking that the alpacas are not as tall as her llamas... True, but I bet we humans are! I don't have to say "told you so" since he's the one who is reminded every time we use it when he hits his head! Anyway, this chute is wide enough for us both to get into with the alpaca. Some times that is great. It is not great when they want to kick. It is not great when the female would rather stand on her head to avoid a manicure... Oh, it is also not great when your 95 pound friend is trying to shear a two hundred pound male and he flings her around! Of course, that is another story best left to another day. She and I always manage to have these adventures that leave our other friends rolling on the floor laughing.
I spoke with "D" yesterday a couple of times. I kept getting these reports on her fiber finds in the house. Now you have to understand, unlike myself and others who are even worse than I am with processing fiber, she has always processed fiber. There isn't a craft she doesn't know how to do; there are very few she doesn't enjoy and there are none that she doesn't do well! But the thing is the lady spins, felts, crochets, knits - constantly! She markets through her website and at fairs, shows - you name it. So how did it happen that she "found" about 200 pounds of fiber left over from previous years - forgotten in a closet? She's giddy with excitement and plans for it. Of course, I know how it could happen - as breeders we get caught up in the breeding and our initial five alpacas have multiplied over the years and their friends have come and gone... the numbers are a lot different than in 2005...
Now in my case, I haven't been able to stuff it in a closet and forget about it. Currently we are sharing the house with the fiber... Good thing there are only two of us! The dogs are probably the only creatures who are happy it is summer since they can be outside more. When inside they have to be in their crates because of this year's crop of fiber. I am overwhelmed. I have fiber all over the living room. I have fiber stuffed in the shower of our 3/4 bathroom! I had to move out of my office for all of the fiber. It is absolutely out of control. This weekend is really going to be independence day around here. "D" is coming and is helping me sort all of the fiber and then taking it home with her to drop off at the mill!!!! I am so excited. It really got to the point of there being too much to ship - that would have doubled the processing fees. So, in the not too distant future I will have an assortment of felted sheets, rug yarn and roving. Once it it has been cleaned and processed somewhat I will be able to get to the fun part and get some products together. That I am looking forward to in a big way.
Next year I may well hook up with a coop and just have it taken care of on shearing day. Off the animal; skirted and sorted; off to the coop for processing. But then I won't have product specific to my farm like I do now... I kind of like seeing the fiber of my alpacas made up into items. I remember donating a poncho made from Jacob's fiber to a Silent Auction a few years ago. Or maybe it was a raffle - I can't remember. The following year at the show the lady who won it said "hi" and told me that her son had won it for her and he was so pleased. I remember thinking immediately of Jacob and not of my supply of dark fawn yarn. Kind of neat. But, this is business and decisions have to be made that aren't sentimental. This decision warrants a lot of thought.
I can across a product while reading the AN forum the other week. Truth be told, I already knew about the product but had previously learned about it back in 2005 or 2006. At that time we had a lot fewer alpacas on site AND they all had good manners - no one pooped or peed in the barn!!!! Then the product seemed extravagant. Well, many alpacas later and with the arrival of alpacas without manners {you owners know who they are! :-)}coming across the product again was a great thing. Would you like to know what the product is already? It is called Stall Skins. The best I can describe it is a cross between felt and pellon. It is black and about a quarter inch thick. The felted side is put down against the ground and the smooth, somewhat coated feeling side is walked upon. It doesn't sound like it would last does it? Well, it is an equine product and said to last about six years with horses. I figure it will take about $600 worth to do my barn floor. That will be in one piece and it will be fixed to the walls (baseboard)all around. The only bedding that will be required will be in the winter - we'd probably put down some straw for warmth. The trick to success will be to prepare the floor ahead of time. Now that they are relieving themselves in the barn no matter what has been done to discourage them, it is getting a bot smelly in there and certainly not helping with the fly situation. The floor/ground (it/s dirt/clay) needs to have a trench dug about 2' deep with rock put in and then the ground angled to drain into that. On top of the gravel we will need to put down some landscape cloth and then cover the whole floor with either gravel dust or coarse sand. We will level the floor and tamp that down really well. Then we will install the Stall Skin. From that point on we should only have to sweep up poop and the urine will have drained away. Supposedly it won't matter where they do their "duty" as it will all slope away into the leach pit. Oh yeah, once a month or so you spray it down (I am sure only where they go) with pine-sol or something and the odors stay away. We will also do the ground under at least one of our overhangs, probably both. My only concern is the fabric is black and one overhang does get sun almost all day. The other is shaded except in winter so it is a good candidate for being successful. I will keep you posted. This is a fall project - can't see us digging out there in 90 degree plus weather... Not these northerners!
Aside from the barn and fiber projects currently going on we have pictures on the schedule for all of the alpacas and once those are finished we will be able to update the website and sales list. Doing major organization in preparation of the fall show & symposium schedule so that when I come off that and go onto cria watch it will be smooth. Oh, and we started doing some landscaping directly around the house to try to improve our look... Curb appeal without the curb! And, the never ending work on the property out front. We will get that finished this summer. Some how, some way.
Have to run! Until the next time...
posted by A of NH at 6:42 AM
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