Alpaca Vacation

On Friday, August 27th my husband and I left New York State and headed to Vermont for a mini-vacation. We spent some time at Snowshoe Farm and at the Caledonia County Fair at the alpaca exhibit! It was a truly amazing and educational experience. We learned a bit about interacting with the public and the kinds of questions they ask, bottle feeding a cria and how important good customer service can be. I've put together a short list of the things I learned over the weekend. Hopefully you'll find it informative and a bit humorous...

Things I Learned On My Alpaca Vacation

1. There's nothing sadder than a newly orphaned cria.
   
   
2. The temperature of the milk seals the deal for a bottle fed cria.
   


3. When it's hot and sunny, laying on the sprinklers and as close to the power fans are the places to be!
   
   
4. Once wet, you must roll in the dirt (or hay).
   
   
5. When it's too dark to take good pictures cria get together and give a great performance.



6. The hay in your hands is much better than the hay (from the same bale) you just put in the feeder.


7. When separated, mom and cria play their own version of "Marco-Polo" to find each other.


8. A good product does not mean much without great customer service.


9. Gloves are a must when putting up hay for the winter.


10. Nothing makes time fly faster than watching alpaca antics. AKA It really shouldn't take 3 hours to fill/check water buckets - but it often does.

Unfortunately, numbers one and two in the list were learned because a cria's mom died suddenly when the cria was just a week old. I did have a great time getting to help bottle feed Phylicia but I know it's no substitute for her mom. Here's a picture and yes, she really is as soft and loveable as she looks in the picture - but this isn't typical cuddle time with alpacas who would rather just look at you from a distance...

While at the farm we also got to work some with our cria, Tempe. She's a true wild child but we're sure with some hard work she'll be ready for the ring this spring! Here's a picture of her looking angelic!

Don't let her fool you - you get the halter and lead on and she's all over the place! She hangs out with the boys and seems to lead the pack! We're very proud...

I also wanted to share what I thought was a very cool idea for marking your cria, especially if they are going to be shorn soon and many look similar. Here's a picture that says it all!

Green is for boys and orange is for girls. Use a Sharpie to write on the names and you have easy tear-away name badges for each cria. Phylicia is the one in orange!

Until next time, enjoy those sprinklers!