Mini me

Felicia & Luminaria

Belle

Thea & Tiberius

Thea & Tiberius

Southwell Minster Craft Fair - Saturday 2nd November

   
Come & see our beautiful alpaca knitwear
Can't wait this event is my favourite

Fab day at Yorkshire Alpaca Group Show - Thirsk

James with Swift & Jess with Sparkle

It was very dark, cold & wet when we woke up at 4.30am for our trip to Thirsk! After driving through heavy rain & strong winds we managed to arrive in Thirsk just in time. Our girls & boys unloaded we just had enough time to set up the stand with all our gorgeous scarves & have a bacon butty before the judging began. Our black girls are now over a year old & were in the second class of the day the intermediate black female class. This was quite a large class for black alpacas which makes for a good competition. James was in first with Swift & Jess further down the line with little Sparkle. Mary-Jo placed Swift in 3rd & Sparkle in 4th & we were delighted.

James with Daley

Daley went to the show having already been sold 2 weeks before, & we were really hoping for a rosette for his new owners Roots at Thorpe Farm. James took him into the ring & even though he did get bored & sit down alot, he came out with a fab red 1st rosette, which I think will be on show in Roots :)

Eventually the last cria of the year

JandJ Tiberius

The last cria of the year was eventually born on 26th August, just 2 days off a year's gestation. His birth was straight forward, we had been watching while feeding & it was very slowly moving forward. So we just nipped up to the house to grab a piece of toast for breakfast, (not been gone 10 mins), came back, all looked calm. Thea was sitting on the ground, but behind her was a cria completely out but with his neck & head twisted in a strange shape. Martin, who was following me quickly picked up the cria & give him a couple of swings & a little heart massage, it's wonderful to see a grey blue mouth turn pink! Just shows you always have to be there when little cria are being born, never know what's going to happen to them.

JandJ Tiberius nibbling mum Thea

What a beauty he is, absolutely the best was left to last. He's James' to name so he is called Tiberius & he may live up to his name. Even at a couple of weeks old he acts like a stud boy, struts across the field, stands tall and handsome, always at the front. We have just moved the alpacas & he walked up the ramp into the trailer & down again as if he had been in and out of a trailer lots of times. Once in the new field he was the one out in front checking out the field :) He's very funny & happily for us a home grown brown little boy with a fab fleece.

What an end to our amazing Sunday

JandJ Belle

By the time I arrived home I had 2 new little cria to go & look at. Martin had been busy all day with the new arrivals & also been keeping a very close eye on Luminaria who had been coughing & salivating for part of the day. We decided to call the vet out as it looked like choke, something lodged in her throat which she could not clear. The vet came within an hour. 

While we were stood with Lumi waiting for him, we were watching Nell very closely, as she appeared to be in labour, she is a first timer but a birth after 4pm is a little late for a cria to be born. The vet came & sorted out Lumi's choke, while he was doing this I was concentrating on Nell who appeared to be struggling with the birth. There is a 20 minute rule with alpaca births, as long as there is a progression in 20 mins you do not intervene. Unfortunately, the little cria's head seemed to be stuck half way out, perfect timing for the vet to be there, he said that Nell's contractions seemed to have stopped. So with the help of some gel he eased the little cria out. This is the latest birth we have had at 5.15pm. 
Nell's nickname is Nellibell, so of course her little female cria is called Belle. Belle is tiny, the smallest cria we have had (we thought Sparkle was tiny last year) & we have had problems with her not gaining weight. We did think that the fault lay with her mum & her milk, but we are not sure about that at the moment. Belle is feeding off Nell & we are topping her up with bottles of goats milk. Unlike our lambs, when we feed Belle she does not come running for her bottle but tends to try & run in the opposite direction. She is the cutest little alpaca.

Our second Sunday cria

I missed yet another birth on our very busy Sunday the arrival of Persia's cria. This happened at 2.15 & was a very straight forward birth, Martin was on hand to help it out a little. This is Persia's first cria, a little female called Ester which means Star in Persian, perfect I think.

McKenzie's un-named cria

A bit of motherly love
McKenzie with Maggie May

On Sunday morning I had a stall at the 
Dry Doddington Flower Festival, so had to be out all day. Martin was left in charge & what a day he had. 

As we were busy we didn't get to look at the alpacas until 8am & McKenzie had already delivered a beautiful black female cria so the day was off to a good start or so we thought. This little cria has been waiting for a name for a fortnight, James was trying to go for a something scottish but eventually she has been named Maggie May.

Wow we have a white girl

JandJ Felicia

I am a little late in posting this 2 weeks ago when the weather cooled for Saturday & Sunday all the due girls gave birth.

It started on Saturday with the arrival of Felicia, she is Luminaria's 6th cria & very special being a girl. We really like our coloured alpacas but it's fantastic to have another white, out of our 100 alpacas we only have 4. Lumi has had Felix, Kasper, Luminessence, Frazer, Flynn & now Felicia, Felix Kasper & Flynn have been sold & we were very upset last year as Esse developed a vertebrae problem & we lost her. This year Frazer has been promoted to a stud male & we have mated him with Mississippi, a very unlikely union of white & black, so we wait until next year to see what colour their cria will be, I think probably it will be black but a multi would be fabulous.

Felicia is a gorgeous little cria very gentle just like her mum but very inquisitive & really friendly. This year we seem to have very friendly, brave little alpacas, all come up to see us & want our attention.

The late arrival of Reid

Reid & Ruby Tuesday

On the day Lana's cria Kobi was born it was very hot, too hot for the little cria to be out all day so we brought them into the shed out of the sun. At 3pm we let them back out into the paddock & Ruby Tuesday made a very quick dash for the poo pile & stood there with her tail up, a sure sign a cria is coming. I did say to Martin, 'look at Ruby go' but then carried on working thinking it is a little late for a cria now. Ten minutes later he said 'are you watching Ruby as she's having a cria', oops, & 5 minutes later Reid arrived! He's a cute little cria, Ruby's first & took time getting used to his long legs, he is very friendly. We found his name when we were searching for Aslan's & Kobi's, it means red & there is also a Bondi lifeguard called Reidy.

Lana's look alike Kobi

JandJ Kobi

With 5 mums due I was sure we were in for some births soon & on Friday I was not disappointed at 10.15 we had the very quick birth of Kobi. 
Kobi really is cute, such a sweet little face, he looks like Lana when she was born. Lana's cria are Clementine, Kiki & Caspian so the new cria's letter is K. I have been looking for an unusual name for the past year & whilst watching Bondi Rescue heard the name of one of the lifeguards, Kobi, & added it to my list on the wall, so Kobi it is.

.

Cria in the dust bowl

From left to right
Pipit, Cain, Layla, Peach, Aslan, Reid, ZsaZsa & Asha 

Claire's cria finally has a name!

Claire with Aslan

Eventually Claire managed to have her cria last Monday. A handsome huge cria, he had been growing as much in side her as he would have done if he had been born earlier I think. Her gorgeous little boy has been waiting for a name, we have been calling him little Leo after his big brother, he's very similar but a little darker fawn. Daren't give him a nickname like Nettle in case it stuck. James has finally decided that he is called Aslan & it really suits him, he is very brave, loves to be the leader of the racing games at the end of the day & wanders over for attention, he did try to eat my ipad as I took photos :)

JandJ Peach

It's another beautiful day for our Open Weekend

It's sunny again today for the second of our open days. Yesterday was a beautiful day, we are so lucky to have the large cool sheds for our alpacas. We kept the pregnant girls & cria in the shed for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon to keep them out of the heat of the sun, the little black cria lay out & because their colour absorbs the sun well they get hotter & hotter. It's nice for us as we can keep out the sun as well & still talk.

Really hoping for a birth today, Claire, Luminaria, Persia, Ruby Tuesday, McKenzie & Lana now all due.

A cute little ZsaZsa

ZsaZsa with her mum Kiki & Cain nibbling her ear

I had to go out Thursday morning & guess what, missed another birth. Martin was watching the girls, still mainly Claire but this time is was a black alpaca giving birth. Kiki who is a first time mum, sister to Clementine, her mum Lana is waiting to give birth in the paddock as well. Martin nipped back to the house for a towel to clean the little cria's face & she was on the ground before he got back, speedy delivery:) Pretty little black cria, her mum Kiki has a beautiful face. With my word association to remember all the names - Kiki is a character from Hector's House, television programme of the 70's, Hector the dog, Kiki the frog & 
ZsaZsa the cat & as my little cria is not a boy, ZsaZsa it is & the name really suits her.

Introducing our beautiful Peach

On Monday I was waiting for a new arrival. Claire had never had a cria later than this, but this year she is still holding on. When I went down to the paddock instead of Claire in labour I saw Clementine.
Clementine was pregnant last year but unfortunately all did not go well & the cria was not born alive, so I was really keen for a better outcome this year. Luckily both Martin & I watched as she gave birth to make sure nothing went amiss that we could help with, but all went well & apart from a little easing at one point it was a very normal birth. So Clementine is the proud mum of a beautiful girl Peach, she is a gorgeous brown colour very unlike her mum & gran Lana who are both fawn. Clementine like Lana is very steady & gentle & I really hope that Peach takes after them.

Grace's next Emmerdale cria is a boy

Last Friday we were eagerly awaiting the birth of the next Emmerdale cria. As Grace's last 2 cria were both girls Charity & Chastity I did wonder if we could have 3 girls in a row & call this one Genesis (Jenny) but instead of a girl we have a beautiful jet black boy who of course had to be named Cain. Cain is a lovely little alpaca very friendly, just like his mum Grace. He is very brave & has to come up & sniff our hands every time we go in the paddock.

Hope's beautiful daughter Asha

JandJ Asha with her milky mouth

I am a little late telling you about our next arrival as I have been trying to get a good photo of Asha. Every time I go to take down to the paddock when it is nice & sunny all the alpacas are in the big shed keeping cool:) Born last Thursday, Asha is Hope's first cria, we are not sure at the moment whether she is dark brown or black. Her name means hope & desire. She is a very funny little cria, little slow to get going, Martin even made up a colostrum bottle but when he went to feed her she had just found where her mum's milk comes from. Asha was a little wobbly on her feet & is only just mastering the art of standing on three legs to itch as all alpacas do from time to time.

Our second arrival - JandJ Layla

Had a very busy weekend. We had a whole day of shearing last month, shearing 37 alpacas in day. Yesterday Sandra the shearer came back & we had 44 of our own left to shear & 5 alpaca boys which we have sold in the past coming back for shearing. Amazingly 40 were shorn on Saturday leaving just 10 for Sunday morning. 

JandJ Layla

Poppy was due on Friday & by Saturday was really unsettled, we thought that perhaps a cria was imminent but I think that the rainy weather put her off. This morning though it was bright & sunny so a perfect day to have a cria & sure enough at 9.21am Poppy gave birth to a beautiful fawn girl we have named Layla. She is a little unsteady on her feet, earlier on she leaned on me & promptly fell over :) 

Skylark's first cria of the year - Pipit

JandJ Pipit

This is our first cria of 2013. 
Skylark managed to be the first to give birth on Friday even though she is not due until Monday. Her cria are often early & even though Martin checked the girls an hour before there was no sign that Skylark was about to produce. Born at 2pm, this handsome, jet black little boy is Pipit, all Skylark's cria are named after birds Raven, Wren, Robin, Ani, Kitt & Swift.

Interested in Owning Alpacas - Open Weekend 6th & 7th July

Interested in owning Alpacas

Come to our

open weekend         

 6^th & 7^thJuly

  11am – 5pm

JandJ Alpacas

Silverdene Farm, Main Street,

Dry Doddington,

Newark, Notts NG23 5HU

www.jandjalpacas.co.uk

Martin & Clare  01400 281315

Little Chick

This is a photo of the last speckled sussex chick to hatch yesterday. He was still stuck to his shell when his mum decided to take the other 8 chicks out into the pen, leaving him in the nest, on his own & really cold. Martin found him & after a bit of warming up from the hair dryer & a few hours wrapped in a towel on top of the boiler he was fine. 

Little chick late last night just before he went back to his mum

Nottinghamshire County Show 11-12 May 2013

Well what a weekend. 
In the end we were the only herd to make it to the Nottinghamshire County Show  this year. 

We had checked out our pitch the week before & were amazed when we rolled up to the gates at 8 o'clock to see a row of caravans there. Luckily, as we do not take up too much room, there was a perfect space for us on the end where a tractor & trailer was parked. 'Just move the tractor & we'll set up', but the keys could not be found & it took an hour & a quarter to move it, so if we were looking a little frazzled & rushing to set up on Saturday morning, this is why!

After this little hiccup we had a wonderful weekend, talked about the alpacas & their amazing fleeces, had all our scarves etc on show & they sold well. Our spot next to the Yellow Gate was perfect & Magic, Swift, Blade, Wallace, Sparkle & Daley were very good.





The weather could have been a lot kinder, at one stage Martin was hanging on to the gazebo pole to stop it from flying away but we & the scarves remained dry :)

Nottinghamshire County Show

Getting ready for the Nottinghamshire County Show on Newark showground this weekend. There is not going to be an alpaca show but there are going to be 3 herds of alpacas. We are going to be one of them, taking Magic & Swift who are 11 months old & 10 month old Blade, Bruno, Wallace, Sparkle & Daley. 

The alpacas are in a different area this year & we will be next to the yellow gate near the forestry area. 

So come along & say hello.

JandJ Magic

JandJ Swift

JandJ Blade

JandJ Bruno

JandJ Wallace

JandJ Sparkle

JandJ Daley

Spring Alpaca Fiesta

Last Saturday we got up at 4am for our journey to the Spring Alpaca Fiesta. We decided that we would take the black girls this time, McKenna who is an intermediate, Swift & Sparkle who are juniors. The black junior female class was so large it was split into 2, very unusual for black classes to be this large, so we were delighted that JandJ Swift came away with a 3rd rosette.

James in the ring with Swift

Swift with her rosette

My favourite lambs

Silverdene Melody

Silverdene Marigold

Silverdene Martha

Silverdene Mitzee

Lamb Creche

It's snowing well here, 8.30pm & we have 2 ewes lambing at the moment, 15 have lambed already & I am feeding or part feeding, 4 lambs. Just blogging while I wait for the milk to warm.
Look what I found on my tea time feed, the lambs had managed to squeeze through a gap in the last pen & made themselves a really warm lamb creche :)