Meet Some of my Four-legged Friends

My weekdays start with a coffee at the table with my family before they head off for the day.  Then, it's me and my four legged friends...
here's only a few of them...



You might recognize Smokey, the retired barn cat.  You might also recognize the alpaca/merino handknit sweater jacket, that I threw on the blanket box when I came home from the library.  Smokey has great taste.  In fact, I have had to move my retail sweaters, shawls, blankets and such into a cupboard in the shop so that he can't perch on them.  He finds anything alpaca to lay on that he can.  I figure that apart from being nice and warm, he might also be able to smell the alpaca and be reminded of his barn-buddies.



 This is Lucy.  Lucy is about 13 years old.  We got her at the pound when she was about 3 months old.  She was in a puppy cage by herself.  While the other puppies jumped up and yapped when we entered the room, she leaned her whole body against the cage so we could rub her.  She's a very loving dog.  These days, she sleeps a lot.  I think she really misses her pal Molly.

 This handsome dude is Ka'Kocha.  He's a lover with the ladies and throws very nice cria.  Unfortunately, he's a big bully with the other boys to the point that he wouldn't let them come in the barn sometimes.  So, KaKocha has a barn pen and a pasture all to himself beside the ladies.  He watches them all the time.  If I had the money to rework my farm, I'd have one barn for the girls and one barn for the boys with pastures that didn't share fencelines.  Then, the boys wouldn't feel the need to compete all the time.

This...uhmmm...interesting looking face belongs to Daewoo the black-face llama.  We got him and his buddy, Frankie, before we brought alpacas to the farm.  These llamas were destined for the sausage-factory before we bought them.

We were told he was 3 years old at the time, so he'd be about 11 now.  He hadn't been halter-trained or apparently touched very much.  I tried to halter train him, but he is a very large llama and at 3 years, he was already about 350 lbs.  It's a two person job to try to get a halter on him and he is able to drag me around the pasture with ease.  Anyway, my husband and I can manage him to give him medication, his vaccination and toenail care although it's always an exciting task.  I halter train all my alpacas to make it easy to manage them for care and transport.

Daewoo's ears must have been frostbit when he was at his previous farm. He's also not a very well conformed llama.  I don't think he'll live the full life expectancy of 18-20 years and I keep an eye on his eathing and his gait for signs of pain.  For now, he eats well and gets lots of exercise so he's fine.

Frankie and Daewoo were gelded when they were brought to the farm (otherwise, they could have impregnated my alpacas which would produce an animal with undesirable fibre).  They are sentinel guards of my herd - meaning that they are the first to see something in the fields and signal with an alarm to the others.  When they are in action - these llamas, which probably go about 500-600lbs each - look quite formidable...tails up, back arched, chests out, ears back.  We usually put them in a pasture with the weanling males so that they bond with the little guys.  It usually works so that, by the time we put the little guys into the main boys area, the llamas take quick action against any big boy that wants to bully the little guy.  I think they earn their keep.

Favorite and Not Such Favorite Things

This morning, at the barn, I got SPIT ON! Full face, gobbed on glasses, spit on by Daewoo the Llama. This has me particularly offended because I am forever trying to dispell the bad publicity that llamas suffer from.

I often have people here at my open houses that ask of the alpacas, "Do they spit like llamas?" and then continue to tell me of the nasty, cantankerous beast that they met.

To which I start my well-rehearsed speech about llamas having a bad reputation in North America because most people have only met them in petting zoos where they are confined to a small pen or have been improperly socialized. Llamas and alpacas both spit at each other in competition for food, sex or for a first line of defense. Pregnant females will spit at an amorous male to tell him to 'Go take a cold shower, Buddy!'. A stressed alpaca - getting examined by the vet - may spit up in the air or at the wall she is facing to express her concern. During these times, we caretakers may get caught in the cross-fire. However, properly socialized and cared for llamas or alpacas should never spit at humans.

I would like to believe that Daewoo looked a bit sheepish listening to me rant at him while wiping my face and cleaning off my glasses. And I would like to believe that he was aiming at the female alpaca that was near to me. Even after I reminded him that he was not a llama of particular endearing qualities, that he had a lot of guard hair and bad teeth and that I wasn't sure that he was earning his keep around here, he didn't look too concerned. Llamas are a bit like cats...they think we are lesser beings than their 'royal selves' and could live without all of our emotional drama.

Here's a picture of Frankie the llama. He's quite large and currently, more appreciated than Daewoo, at least today.


Here's one of our male alpaca, Striker.

Llamas and alpacas are in the same family - camelid. The most obvious difference between the alpaca and llama in the pictures are the size, the shape of the ears (see Frankie's telltale banana shaped ears?), and the shape of the head. In person, you would notice an obvious difference in the fleece. Although llama fibre can be used for textiles, llamas were originally bred for pack animals and meat. Alpacas have been bred for their fleece quality for thousands of years.
Both are extraordinary, intelligent animals.

Being larger, llamas take on a guardian role with the alpaca. If we pasture a llama with our weanling alpacas, the llama will bond with weanlings. This is particularly useful with the male weanlings - as the llama will protect the young male from the older male alpacas when they are moved to the boys pasture. Our llamas are gelded males - otherwise, they could impregnate an alpaca and thus produce a poorly fleeced cross-breed.

In this picture, you can see the difference in the size between the alpaca and the llama. This particular alpaca, Carmel, is our largest alpaca but you can see that Frankie the Llama is quite a bit taller and is likely double his weight.

Happy Day! New books arrived at the library...and since I received the courier package...I got to open the box. It's like Christmas at the library!!!
I am probably the world's slowest-reading library clerk but I can still dream of having time to read all the interesting ones!!!

I'm back at the weaving studio. I've put a warp on for a couple scarves. The warp is a handdyed 2 ply of 100% alpaca with some stripes of my handspun, handdyed alpaca\merino blend from my stash. I am weaving the first scarf with a black alpaca\merino blend milled from my own black alpacas. The colours are beautiful and the warp feels incredibly soft.
















I wove and undid the first 5 inches three times before finally hoping that I have the proper tension.

Weavers will note by the pin on the woven part and the little bowtie on the back view that I broke a warp thread. Another one happened shortly after.

I'm sure things will go smoother in the studio next time....