Girls love tractors!  I spent a good part of the day on Saturday working with the tractor and our new disk harrow.  The plan is to get the back half of the middle pasture seeded and growing.  I looked and researched a good grass for this part of Texas and for our somewhat unpredictable periods of extreme heat and extreme drought.  What I have come up with is this:

The information I found says that this improved forage-type bermudagrass is a warm season perennial adapted across the southern 1/3 of the U.S. from California to Virginia.  Cheyenne II can be used for both grazing and hay production throughout the spring and summer months.  It establishes rapidly and provides cover in 45 to 60 days under desirable growing conditions.  It is extremely drought and cold tolerant.

Here’s the part of our back pasture that we’re working on:  this is the first part of the disking, next we will be adding alpaca compost, then redisking.  When we spread the seed we will also be putting down a good nitrogen fertilizer to promote growth.  I am hoping that this work all pays off.  We will have to depend on irrigating since the rain is so unpredictible.  But I hope that in about six weeks I’ll have some pretty little green blades of grass to report to you.  Looks pretty dry and dull now,  but give me some time…..

Our lovely Kubota tractor and new disk harrow.

In the last week or so we have been moving alpacas around.  We have four females due with fall cria and I have been wanting to get them all in one pasture.  Starting last Monday, I did fecals on the ones I wanted to move and they were clear so we sent them on their way to the new pasture.

So, we moved Fayette and Bell (who aren’t pregnant yet) out of the pasture with the three experienced moms who are due in November and moved Angelina (first time mom) who is due in December in to that pasture.  I think it will do Angelina good to witness three births before she has her baby.  Seriously, I wonder if it will help her?  It makes me feel better, I know that much.

Open Ranch at Hill Country Alpacas

Celebrating National Alpaca Farm Days 

Please join us! 

Saturday, September 27, 2008

10am – 4pm

858 Moffett Road

Medina, TX

See the alpacas, watch spinning & fiber  

demonstrations, yarn and retail alpaca products 

 available  

830-589-7750

It’s just plain hot lately.  These are the dog days of summer……but chores are always there no matter the weather.

We just finished cleaning all of the pastures as we are awaiting a big rain this weekend!  The rain will be good for the pastures, and the compost piles will be helped by rain, too.  It has been so dry.

I just took a look at our new ‘weather station’ and the temperature has now dropped 10 degrees and there is a wind blowing in.  Come on let’s RAIN….

What did you used to do on a HOT day in the summer when Mom wasn’t able to take you to the swimming pool, or your neighbor with a pool wasn’t home….did you just get out the sprinkler and have a blast?  I did!  This was before Slip ‘n Slide, and all that stuff – we just had a plain old hose and sprayed each other.   Well guess what, alpacas like to cool off in the sprinkler, too. 

I don’t know if you can see it or not because when it first gets turned on all of the alpacas run – and I mean run – to be the first one in the sprinkler.  We are having a terrible drought down here in South Texas, so along with cooling off the alpacas, the grass is getting some much needed water.

As you can see even the little ones participate in this experience.  Some like it more than others and some will just get in the water because mom did.  And wouldn’t you know it, right after they get as wet as they want to be they immediately go to the nearest dirt pile and roll.  Glad it’s not show season!

That makes me wonder if kids even play in their neighborhood in sprinklers anymore.  I know I don’t see kids play jump rope or hide and seek or all of those fun games I used to play when I was a kid.  We used to stay out until it was dark playing all sorts of outdoor games.  We knew when it was time to get home when Mom whistled for us.  Boy, could she whistle!!  Now, I guess the kids get a text message….

Don’t want to sound old but, my how things have changed!  Speaking of change…… do you know that sometimes change isn’t for the better?  Things could be worse!  (my little political announcement for the day).

As we were out in the pastures feeding and doing various checks on the alpacas this morning, I noticed a wild turkey out in the middle pasture where the females and older nursing crias are.  It was at the back of the pasture away from the alpacas and no one had noticed it yet.  Luke, our maremma LGD, was in the small pasture next to that one just watching his charges, enjoying the cool crisp morning that we were having. 

One by one the alpacas noticed the turkey.  One girl would head toward it and then another.  If you know anything about herd animals, once one decides to go somewhere, whether it’s out to graze or to check something out, all of the others usually follow.  As the alpacas all started looking and then walking toward the turkey, Luke noticed and went in to action.  He stood up from his sitting position and ran back and forth.  When he thought that the turkey could be a problem for his girls, he immediately headed toward the part of the fencing that he can go under and took off to the back of the pature.  He ran past the alpacas and continued on toward the turkey. 

By this time all of the boys in the adjacent pasture were excited and they began running the fence line and hopping on their back legs with front legs waving in the air.  Really, I think they were more excited about the girls in the pasture next to them than they were the lone turkey.  Now, everyone was on their way to check out the turkey.  Luke was out in front and as he got closer, the turkey flew away, but he had done his job - he had ‘protected’ his alpacas from trouble.  He sniffed around where the turkey had been walking and when satisfied that he had done his intended job slowly trotted back to the paddock where he got praise from us.  Good Boy Luke!

No cria yet….

I have checked on the pregnant girls three times today and everyone just seems to be so content grazing.  Both crias moved in utero, so that makes me feel good.  We’ll just keep waiting. 

Justine - due April 28     Day 343 into pregnancy

Victoria – due May 21    Day 320 into pregnancy

If you have dung beetles in your pasture – you have a recycling ecosystem and that’s a Good Thing!  When we first moved to our ranch, I noticed these beetles working on our house dog’s dung piles.  It is rather interesting to be standing in the yard and have a swarm of flying insects start swirling near you.  When it first happened to me, I thought the flying insects were flies, or bees or something like that so was ready to get out of their way.  Then as they came in for a landing in a very curious circular movement, I discovered that they were landing right on the dung pile and were just beetles.  They work quickly and in no time have a section of the dung cut away and are beginning to roll it.  Head down and back legs doing all of the pushing they get that dung ball moving very fast for a little beetle. 

This guy below has already cut away his little ball of dung and has separated it from the rest of the pile.  He is sitting on top of the ball, but soon will be rolling it away.

There are actually two beetles in this picture – can you find both of them?

Sorry you’re looking at poo, but the dung beetles are kind of fascinating.

Something I found on the internet -

Yesterday in our church we prayed for rain.  There are hay fields, goats, cattle, sheep, horses, crops and alpacas in our area so rain is certainly necessary for our community.  Last night we got almost one inch of RAIN!!!  We are so thankful and I hope we will continue to have this rain throughout the spring.

In an earlier blog I had talked about watering…looks like I won’t have to do that for a while.  I will keep updating with pictures and hope that soon I will be able to post a picture of beautiful grass pastures for the alpacas.

An added benefit to good rains here in Medina is that the Medina River is especially beautiful after a nice rain.

Just look at those gorgeous old cypress trees that line the river!  Great place to tube…