The Alpaca Mall

It is almost April and I have been getting Spring fever.  At 7000+ feet in Colorado it is too early to plant flowers.  So I decided to fill my planters with a few colorful faux flowers.  Emilio is my livestock guardian dog that kept from the last litter of pups (aka grizzly bear).  Emilio decided that the flowers were not what he wanted to leave in the pot.  Understand, he is not 2 years old yet so we are in the teenage years of a dog.  I caught this cute picture of Emilio playing keep away with my faux daisies.  I did finally get the flowers back, but I am not sure if he will leave them in the planter or not.  LOL!!

I have been using processed Alpaca compost since I began raising these wonderful animals 8 years ago. I have always had faith in the compost since I was the one that processed it. When I say “processed” I mean that it was properly aerated, hydrated and turned. This process allows the manure to correctly and completely compost. If you just let it pile up and do not process it, it is nothing more than a pile of manure (crap)! Properly processing the manure allows it to heat up sufficiently to kill off pathogens and to properly decompose, making it safe to use.

This year, I decided to conduct a little experiment. I started several pots of various seeds for my own aqua-ponics garden. More about aqua/hydro-ponics later. I started by placing seeds, per package instructions, in different pots. The first group of seeds were placed in a seed-starter mix. For the second group of seeds I used a 50% compost and 50% seed mix for the soils. I planted both groups on March 2, 2011. I kept the soil mixes damp and placed the pots in front of a south facing window in the kitchen. During the day I would open the curtains and at night I would close the curtains. I chose not to use “grow lights” due to the added expense of electricity.

I was so excited to see lettuce sprouts on March 8, 2011! To no real surprise, it was the 50% compost mix that sprouted first. The package says “seedlings in 7-10 days”. The seedlings in the 50% compost mix emerged in 6 days!!  I now have documented proof of how good Alpaca compost, not manure, really is.

Most “Guard” Dogs have been bred to be personal protection dogs taking commands from their master.  Maremma livestock guard dogs are selected and bred to make their own decisions to deal with dangerous situations in the absence of a master.  Due to this ability to think on their own, they are likely to think the postman is stealing the mail not delivering or the handy man is attacking the property with the tool in his hand.  The Maremma herding dog can be a good protector of children, but it might think a running, yelling and screaming child is being attacked by the visiting friend.  In other words, to live easily with a Maremma you have to be able to foresee situations which look “potentially dangerous” to your dog.  It is strongly recommended that you have a place to put your dog out of harm’s way.  This can be an escape-proof room, dog run, fenced yard, or a shipping cage.

I was looking for an organic compost that I could find right here in Colorado.  I wanted one that I could use for my new plantings when I landscaped my yard last year.  Organic composting was important to me especially with my vegetable plants.  I wanted to be sure there were no chemicals added.

I realized that the perfect compost for me to use was Alpaca Compost.  The results were amazing.  Here is the mixing guide I used:
Potting Mix- 3 parts soil /1 part Alpaca Compost mixed thoroughly
Gardens/Flower Beds- 2 inches Alpaca Compost turned into 5-6 inches of soil

This year I will be using this method for my bushes and trees:
Top Dressing over existing gardens- spread Alpaca Compost lightly 1/4” over area

Check out     http://www.c2alpacas.com/html/compost.html

for information on the Lab test results for Alpaca Compost using U.S. Composting Councils Approved Methods.

The vet is performing the health checks on the puppies that were scheduled to leave last Saturday, the 6th. Two went to Oregon and one went to California. We used a play pen to keep the puppies out of the way until it was their turn. So we put the vet and Christiann in the play pen! As you can see, the puppies would have been in the middle of everything.

We are finally receiving some snow. We got about 8″ on Saturday night with more expected over the next few days. I had to push some snow with the skid loader so we could get the cart out for feeding, otherwise we would be feeding hay with sleds. That is not fun, since we have to haul about 300-400lbs of hay to the Alpacas. I also had to dig a path to the hay stack as the bales are 3′x3′x8′ (900lbs) and are stacked 3-4 high.

Click Bred for fleecing to see CNBC clip on Alpaca Breeders in the United States

Bred for Fleecing

Alpacas will be the focus of a CNBC news report… and it’s airing tomorrow, Wednesday, February 2!  They could not tell us the exact air times, but said that typically Jane Wells’ reports run in the 8am ET hour, with various hits throughout the day.  The story will also rerun on CNBC.com. Read the rest of this entry »

We had a couple, Greg and Sandy Smith and their daughter come by and look at the two remaining male puppies. It was fun to try and catch them then mark their ears with nail polish. It makes it easier to identify them and match appropriate micro-chip. We took the two puppies and put them in the yearling male Alpaca pen. Both the puppies and Alpacas were very curious about each other. The puppies got out of that pen and then went over to see Pete, their daddy. Pete was not to sure about them.
They selected Carlos. He is very much like his daddy, Pete.
It is always a little hard to see animals leave the ranch. We are very selective to where any of our animals go, whether it is an Alpaca or a Maremma dog. Carlos will be very spoiled and well cared for. The Smiths already have Maremmas and several Alpacas. We have known them for years.