Blackberry 1, Mower 1/2

We are clearing the last field so that we can fence it for pasture. It has been left for three years, which in the Pacific Northwest means it is over run by blackberry. It may not be as quick as Kudzu, but it gets points for tenacity and those thorns! Rented a brush mower to clear just the new fence line. That is not going to happen. The canes wrapped themselves around the wheels and the blade to bring the mower to a halt. Now to rent a guy with a tractor to brush hog.



The alpacas love the blackberry leaves and in their pastures they keep the blackberry under control - eaten to the ground. Thought if I could just get the thing fenced, I would let the pacas out to clear the rest. They did not read the book that says they are grazers. Mine are browsers, they eat anything they can reach with those long necks and prehensile lips. Everything except thistle. But that is another story.

Blackberries try to take over my back yard every year too. I chop it back to the fence line twice a year. So far it has not advanced, but if one takes their eyes off it, it will take over the house.



This is a view of the back of the property - we have blackberry - anything that is not a tree and is green is blackberry.



Looking at one of the 5 foot posts being overrun by the blackberry.

Ranch First Aid Kit

First aid kits are nice to have until you have someone bleeding or broken and then they are indispensable! I like to be optimistic that injuries will remain rare on the farm. We rarely have them, so it is not at the top of my "to do" list to plan for them. Most of what happens around here involves the bumps and scrapes known to most mothers of five year olds. Sad to say, the bumps and scrapes are mine!

After attending a first aid class for alpacas, I got to thinking about the things I use or might need in case of an injury. I put together a kit from what the vets recommended plus a bunch of stuff that I use.

Needles and syringes. I stock 1/2 inch 20 gauge and 1 inch 18 gauge needles with 3cc syringes.

Stethoscope. I bought a Littmanns because I can't hear a thing out of the cheap ones.



Thermometer. I like the bendable ones, never can tell when the alpaca will jump around.

Gloves



Garbage bags. These are great for transporting a placenta or heating up a cria in the bath. Put cria in the bag - head out- immerse in warm water until temp comes up. Also good for a prolapse.

Lubricating gel. Goes with the thermometer or if you need to help a cria being born.

Chlorhexidine (Novalson) scrub and solution. Cleaning wounds or disinfecting navels.

Gauze sponges. Looks like a small gauze square, but really soaks up liquid.



Telfa. This is a non-adherent dressing. Put on raw spots that you don't want the bandages to stick to.



Cotton rolls. Used for bandaging.



Cling. Used for the outside of a stiff bandage.



Vet wrap. Used for bandaging or wrapping tail when breeding. This stuff can be wrapped too tight. Practice on yourself to get a feel on how tight is tight enough.



Towels and blankets. Many uses: wrapping up wounds, breaks, cleaning wounds, drying off crias.

A sheet, preferably waterproof, that has emergency info on it: Vet name, phone number, address, and normal info. Think of your ranch sitters when making this out. They may not know what is normal.

Any medications that your vet feels is good to have on hand. Check to make sure that it has
not expired and that you are storing it porperly.

Bandage scissors. Can trim bangs as well as cut off bandages. These are the ones with the rounded ends.



Paper and pen to write down the info for the vet.

Human first aid kit. I use a Red Cross one.

Duct tape. Can use for a great variety of things, but it wraps nicely around a towel if you need a third hand on something, it can hold bandaging in place if you can't get the hang of vet wrap or cling. Don't wrap too tight!

Paper tape, or white tape. The stuff the hospitals use to tape everything down.



Cell phone

Waterproof container to put everything in. This keeps the dirt as well as water out of your supplies.

I bought most of my supplies at Valley Vet, but I am sure there are many other places to get these things.

Thoughts upon Winding up the Shearing Season

As we wind up the shearing this year, I realized that we have accumulated quite a bit of specialized stuff that goes with the shearing process and owning alpacas.

We have used the shearing table for at least 9 years. Hundreds of alpacas have been sheared on this table as we sheared for others. It has a couple of dents and scratches, but it works every year. It allows us to shear with as few as 2 people. More are preferred, but in a pinch, 2 can do it. The ability to do toenails without a fuss and trimming teeth makes this a must have in my book.



The chute is invaluable for weighing the alpacas or shearing them if you are alone as I was last year. Most of our alpacas know the drill and will walk on, wait a bit, and then back up. It is comical to watch them when I wasn't quick enough to get the weight and have them get back on the scale. "What, I just did this!" is the look I get. You can also do toenails and teeth in the chute.


MSA makes the chute and the shearing table we use. The customer service has been great. When we loaned out the shearing table one year, the belly band was cut. No problem, they sent us a new one right away with instructions on how to uninstall the old one and put on the new one.

Heininger shears have stood up to many years of shearing. No problems, they always work. While they are heavy, they are workhorses.


The tooth-a-matic is a new item we bought last year. This tool is a fast and easy way to trim teeth. The dremel tool is handy for fighting teeth, but on the larger teeth, it is easy to overheat the tooth. You can find it here: http://www.thealpacarosa.com/toothamatic.html

Those orange toenail snips. Doesn't everyone have those?


First aid kit. I recently attended a class on alpaca first aid. The kit has some handy items in it, and you can buy them from most of the alpaca stores. I added a flashlight among other things. Emergencies seem to happen when you are least prepared. I also added a bunch of stuff that I found while looking at the horse first aid kits. A human first aid kit is a must have too. I will talk about this more in length in a future blog

A blower is nice for a couple of reasons. It blows out the fiber and gunk from the cutter/comb between shearings. You can blow the fleece while still on the alpaca to get out some of the dirt. If you have sand, the shearer will love you if you do this. Do not blow out show fleeces!

Handy links for Shearing and afterwards

Shearing

This site has specific instruction on how to shear the parts of your alpaca. Nice to have to start out with. http://www.gatewayalpacas.com/alpaca-farming/alpaca-shearing.htm

Here is another video about setting up your shears. It covers some new topics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezqyUQzfqCs

Skirting

Place your fiber on 1"x1" mesh , wire or plastic that has been attached to a frame. The mesh openings allow the dirt, any vegetative matter and second cuts to fall through. A second cut occurs when the Shearer comes back over an area that he/she has already cut. You skirt one side of the fleece and then turn it over and do the other side. Pull out any fiber that is coarse, excessively dirty, or very different in length from the rest.

Skirting Table instructions

http://www.hawksmountainranch.com/skirtingtableinstructions.html

Washing

Once you have the fiber picked clean of debris and second cuts, you are ready to send it to a processor, or wash it yourself. I use a multiple wash process

If your washing machine does NOT agitate on the rinse and spin cycle, then use that. It makes it so much easier. We do not want to make a felt lump of your nice fiber! So if your washing machine agitates, do not use it.

Fill the washing machine with warm, think baby bath warm, water. Add some shampoo or gentle dish detergent. Swish this around with your hand. Now add the fleece, a bit at a time. Dunk it so that the pieces are wet and don't float on the top. Keep adding the fleece until your machine is full, or you run out of fleece. Swish the fiber around a bit to make sure the shampoo is distributed and everything is wet. Let it soak for about 5 minutes then spin the water out.

Remove the fiber from the machine. Fill the machine like you did before, with the warm water and shampoo. Add the fleece and swish. Let soak, then spin.

Now I take a bit out of the machine and put it in the sink with clear warm water. If it is still dirty, repeat the cycle. If it is clean, then take the fleece out of the machine and fill it one more time, but this time, don't add any shampoo. This is your rinse. Swish the fiber a bit and spin out the water.

Now spread it on a screen, the skirting table you built - you built one didn't you? - or put it on a clean sheet to dry. Turn the fiber over occasionally to help it dry. I live on the wet side of Washington, so sometimes this is a challenge.

If your washing machine is not appropriate for this, then the steps are the same, it just takes some ingenuity to get the fiber a bit dryer than soaking wet when you repeat the steps. I have done this process in the sink and the bathtub without too much stress and excessive water all over the bathroom and myself.

Engaging Alpacas

On average, our alpacas do a pretty good job of ignoring me and going about the business of grazing. They are rather excited about sweet feed and new hay, of course, but it doesn't seem they're really dancing in celebration of my food-procuring abilities.

There are times that our alpacas engage me on a personal level, though, and that's always an interesting experience. I say it's interesting because they seem to be on a completely different mental plane. With dogs, you know where you stand fairly well...after all, they are one of the oldest animal relationships humanity enjoys, and they are by nature pack predators (ergo possess that problem-solving intelligence us predators share). To an alpaca, however, such simple procedures as poop-scooping are a mystical experience. If I keep at it long enough, eventually most of the alpacas will come and stare at me and the rake with a sort of aimless curiosity. Similarly, a new feature to a field is thoroughly sniffed, taken as an opportunity for new games, and eventually accepted and ignored.

It's a bit difficult for me not to anthropomorphize this experience, imagining the alpacas displaying human curiosity and playing human games. I think it's just as much a mistake to assume they are playing thorugh some predetermined psychological process, however.

Really, I think that's a big part of the fun of raising animals of any sort, and especially animals of as removed a mindset as alpacas. What is it that ties us, as living creatures? What games do we enjoy playing? How do we relate to eachother, and what is the content of the character of that relationship? Ultimatly, this too is an aimless curiosity, done for the fun of pondering with no intention of answering with finality.