The Alpaca Camp has been a huge success, the kids and I have had a wonderful time with the animals and their fiber.  I have sheared many alpacas and crias this summer and that has all come to an end as I have ruptured a disc in my back.  I am doing better but not going to over due it for the rest of the season.

The Mainely Alpaca Shop at Hanley’s Market at the intersection of Route 129/130 has been open on Saturdays from 9a-1p and the customers are beginning to come in.  We have a little shop with lots of unique items.  Stop by and see the alpacas and the shop.

We will be celebrating Open Farm Day with Stone’s Edge Farm in Newcastle, Pond Rd (Rte 215).  They are having several farms come together in one place, lots of fun, food and animals.  Stop by on July 25th, Sunday, from 9a-4pm.

The Maine Fiber Arts Tour weekend is coming up on August 6, 7th and 8th.  We will have the farm open and have our store items here for purchase.  We will have farm tours, spinning demos, felting demos and lots of talk about alpacas.  Alpacas are for sale also.

We have some hay in the barn and the alpacas are enjoying what little pasture they have.  We are expecting another cria at anytime and another in October.  They are much anticipated births.

Hope everyone is having a great summer and you can make it by for a visit.

Ethne, our silver grey maiden, delivered a beautiful classic dark silver grey female on May 13th.  I hurried home for the birth and she was already out when I got there.  Mom was attentive with lots of milk and within a couple of hours, Edith was up and nursing.

As you can see we have a theme going on, “All in the Family”.  Hope are next birth is Gloria.

I will post pics soon!  Going to the Northeast Livestock Expo May 21-23rd at Windsor Fairgrounds.  Stop by and visit, lots of fun activities going on.

Here’s a look at what we have planned for 2010:

Maple Syrup Sunday is March 28th. We will be at Rice’s Farm in Walpole with alpacas and products. Stop by and see us and enjoy some great food cooked with maple syrup.

TSAF Armstrongs Darla and Kilblaan Farms Midnight in Moscow will be going to the North American Alpaca Show on April 1-3. I have high hopes for Darla, she has dense, crimpy, fine fleece, perfect bite and nice conformation. Midnight has long staple, fine, crimpy true black fiber, she lacks some density but has the fineness. This will be her one and only show and then we will breed her this spring.

I am learning to shear and will provide cria shearing for local farms this summer.

Two Sons will attend the NorthEast Livestock Expo at Windsor Fairgrounds on May 21-23. We will have alpacas there, product and our alpacas will participate in a borrowed showmanship class with the youth at the event. This is a great venue to learn about all types of livestock.

Two Sons will attend the Maine Fiber Frolic June 5 & 6 at Windsor Fairgrounds. We will have raw fiber, roving, stuffing, yarn and clothing accessories and other alpaca products made on our farm.

Two Sons will have a farm stand at Hanley’s Market in Bristol on Saturdays 9a-1pm starting in June. This will be a stand with alpaca items, jams, market bags, soaps and more. Of course we will have a couple of alpacas there too. Come on by and meet the alpacas.

Two Sons will also provide a Summer Alpaca Day Camp for kids ages 9-14. On Wednesdays, July 7, 14, 21 and 28th. Participants will spend the day working on the farm, handling alpacas and learning about their fiber. Classes are limited to five participants and the cost is $100 for the day 8:30am- 3:00pm.

Maine Open Farm Day- Sunday, July 25th. Two Sons will be open 10-4 for visitors. We will have spinning demonstrations, tours of the farm, refreshments and of course our store will be open.

So we are gearing up for a great summer season. Of course we will have shearing on April 24th with Jay Mariacher from Lee, NH followed by birthing season. We have four cria due from April 29th -June 20th. We are anxiously awaiting the new arrivals, spring brings so much excitement and life to the farm.

If you have considered owning alpacas, there is plenty of opportunity to learn and visit. We hope we can assist you in making a purchase and bringing alpacas into your lives.

The shearing has been completed and the fleeces have been sent to the mill. We had a great day on May 17th. Jay Mariacher is our shearer and we had help from our neighbors, friends and family. Looking at the fleeces and seeing our beautiful harvest really made me realize how well we have been doing in improving our animals.

We have two crias on the ground. Nessie gave birth to Trident- Nickname- “Denny” on May 21st. This was our third birth on this date and the second time that Nessie has delivered on May 21st! He is a little instigator and couldn’t wait until our next cria came along so he would have a buddy to play with. Luck Charm came into the world with some hard work but what a trooper he was. He is a beautiful crimpy boy. Mary Rose has been a great mom to him, very sweet, nuzzling him and keeping a close eye on him. We have one more cria due in August to Meina and sired by Great Rock Armstrong, a multi-color champion. 

We have been breeding for next year. We bred Dori, Ethne and Pearl this year for their first crias next spring. It will be wonderful to see their offspring. We will have grandmothers on the farm then.

We opened the Maine Alpaca Barn with Blue Sky Alpacas May 16th. We are located at the Maine Heritage Village on Route one in Wiscasset. We hope you will all take the opportunity to come by and see all the the new items we have added to our inventory. We have pet beds stuffed with alpaca. Your dogs and cats will love them. We have many scarves, woven and knit. We have beautiful, soft sweaters and tops and many other items. Check out the shop page on the website for more information.

We have one more show this Spring.  We will travel to Syracuse for the Northeast Alpaca Expo on May 1 with the same three animals.

We also are preparing for spring crias and shearing on May 17th.

Happy Spring!!!

We had another successful weekend over Columbus Day.  The alpacas enjoyed the visitors as much as we did.  They came up to greet the visitors and were very interested in the children.  With the cool crisp air, we have started to get the barn ready for winter.  We have put straw down for bedding.  The alpacas lose heat under their leg pits and the straw helps keep them off the cold ground.  All the alpacas enjoy rolling around in the straw when it is put down.  They seem very happy with the new living arrangements.  We will by open by chance and also the weekend after Thanksgiving for holiday shopping.  We will also be at the Holiday Bazaar with our yarn and hand made alpaca items on November 22nd.

September 27, 2008

Well the rain held off and we had over 50 visitors at our farm today. The alpacas were on their best behavior, definitely interested in all the activity going on. The cats were our welcoming party and enjoyed all the friendly petting. Our visitors enjoyed the spinning and felting demonstrations, commenting on all the different ways alpaca fiber can be used. We are all tired but very happy with our first open farm day. We are expecting rain tomorrow so we will see how it goes. We plan to be open on Columbus day weekend, October 11 & 12th and I have a booth at the Holiday Bazaar in November at the CLC YMCA. Thanks to all who visited and learned something new about alpacas.

August 23, 2008

Wow, where did the summer go? We have been very busy. After deciding to stay in Damariscotta, we needed to clear land and put up permanent fencing, plant grass, improve our barn area and get ready to open to the public with our farm store. I was fortunate enough to have several helpers this summer. Aaron, a summer youth worker, came two days a week and worked hard on the fencing and planting of grass so that we have two nice pastures for the alpacas. He also helped with alpaca care and farm chores. My sons Nicholas and Alex and husband Randall worked on barn improvements, clearing the land and getting up the fence. We are definitely getting into shape around here. I am looking forward to National Alpaca Farm Days when we open to the public for the first time September 27 and 28. We plan to have alpaca items for sale as well as a spinning demonstration and of course a farm tour showing off our alpacas.

On July 1, Jade gave birth to Otto. His sire is Quarry Ridge Zorro. He weighed 21 lbs. He is true black with two fawn spots behind both eyes, give him an interesting appearance. He has the big bold eyes and his fiber is developing nicely. Jade was re-bred to our Opus Magnus for a July 2009 cria.

On August 19, Meina gave birth in the pouring rain to Nemo. His sire is CTF/FMA Wolverine. He weighed 18 lbs . He is a strong, playful cria out running around only hours after birth. He has a gorgeous head and his fleece is dense, crimpy and lustrious. His coloring I believe is a dark fawn. His markings are identical to his mothers. Meina will be bred to Great Rock Armstrong for an August 2009 cria.

That ends this seasons births. All the alpacas are doing well and we will finish up our farm improvements by winter. Our alpacas are happier for the increased space and run and jump for joy when they are released to the pastures each morning. We are truly a happy place around here.

May 31, 2008

Mary Rose gave birth to a 16.4 lb male cria out of Aureus Magnus on May 30, 2008. We named him Militia. He was up and going within an hour and nursing well. Mary Rose has turned out to be a wonderful mother. Flo has been growing like a weed and racing around the paddock. She is so happy to have a playmate. She is so adorable and full of spunk.

The farm continues to be a work in progress. We have been clearing land to put up more fencing and a separate area for the boys. They get very excited with all the females right next door. They really need a bigger space. We have had all the animals out of the small pasture we have and they are very happy out there. They graze and sun themselves. The neighbors have been visiting. Word gets out pretty quick when you have babies on the ground.

Today we bought a trailer to customize for the alpacas. I have been transporting the girls in my PT Cruiser and while it has worked well, it is time to get a trailer. Our last trip in the PT included Nessie with her preemie cria Flo and she hummed very loudly all the way. We took her into the vet waiting room with Flo and she quieted down. She must have thought we were going to leave her. She got back in the car and didn’t make a noise all the way home. She was certainly happy to be back on the farm. Taking them in a trailer next time will be much nicer for all of us.

May 24, 2008

We thought that Mary Rose would have the first cria this spring but much to our surprise, Nessie delivered a female cria on 5/21/2008. When we arrived home from school all the alpacas were standing at the fence line looking at something. I went out back to find that Nessie had delivered a few minutes before. I sent Alex inside to get some towels and I got the cria kit out. Cria was trying to get up and was grunting. She looked small. Temp was 96F. I had Nessie’s due date as 6/24/2008 but after shearing we realized that she was bagged up and I rechecked the dates. Nessie must have become pregnant when we were getting Opus to start breeding and we allowed Aureus Magnus to settle her because Opus was a slow learner. So here we are with a premature cria, floppy ears, walking on the pasterns but full of spunk. We warmed her up with blow dryer and put on a cria coat when the temp got up to 100F. At 6pm the cria was up and nursing. Her weight was 14 lbs. I checked on her every two hours for the night and she was up and nursing well. We named her Flo. She is a beautiful light fawn cria sired by Aureus Magnus rather than Opus Magnus. This experience has been one that has taught me to be prepared for anything.

We are still watching Mary Rose, she is at day 347.

May 17, 2008

Today was shearing day. We had eight animals to do and all went well. Jay Mariacher was our shearer. We had help from family, friends and neighbors. The weather was a little iffy but we got it done with rain. We could see that Mary Rose is close to delivering and we had a surprise, it looks like Nessie will deliver soon too. She is bagged up with wax tips on her udders. This time of year is so exciting on the farm. The shearing, the arrival of crias and are whole world has been transformed to green.

We have put up the temporary fencing so that the alpacas can get some grass. They really enjoy it. When I looked out earlier, the boys were all sunning themselves in the field. The black flies have been out and it seems to bother the dark animals more than the light ones. I use natural bug spray and rub it on their ears.

We are planning on clearing some more land for pasture. That is the next project. It is a wonderful time of year. Hope you will plan a visit to the farm.

March 20, 2008

Happy Spring!

Things are finally starting to thaw out. I can see the ground. This is a good time to be thinking about Spring activities like shearing. Have you lined up your shearer yet? If not, they can book up quickly, especially if you want them done on a weekend. We use Jay Mariacher from Lee, NH. He was recommended by Matt Best who is well known in the industry. If you are planning to shear your own alpacas, visit alpacaed.com for educational opportunities coming up to learn how to shear your own animals. This can save you some money if you have a lot of alpacas to shear. Another place to find a list of shearers is to look on AlpacaStreet. You can also ask other alpaca farms who they use.

Once you have a date scheduled, plan to have extra help on hand for the day of shearing. We use our garage because of the big open space and the need for electricity to run the shears. You will also need to have an anchor to place the tie downs. My shearer brings mats with him to lay the animals on, you will want to ask if the shearer provides these, most do but you don’t want to get caught. You will also need clear bags to store the blankets in as well as the seconds from the neck and legs. Always save a little bit of fleece from your animals to show interested customers. Also if you plan on doing micron analysis, you will need to take a 2 inch sample from the mid side of the blanket and place that in a little baggie to send it in. I send my samples to Yocum- McColl.

Shearing is stressful on the animals so having a shearer that can complete an animal in 10-15minutes is desirable. After the shearing your alpacas may shiver and that is ok, they are adjusting to the changes. Make sure you have a place where they can get out of the weather. If you are shearing crias, make sure that the mother watches as this is done and then give them some time together after to get reaquainted. It may take a while. You will want to have a cria coat that belonged to the cria before the shearing to use if they are chilled. If you have an older animal, you may want to have a coat available for them as well.

If you will be sorting your fleece on shearing day, have some tables available. We have built our own tables to use. We have a frame with chicken wire covering it and place it on two saw horses. This is an economical way to go.

Ice! Living along the coast exposes us to having rain or freezing rain even after a snowstorm. This winter has been particularly icy. The alpacas are at risk of injury with these conditions so we have had to be hyper vigilant this winter. What we we have found to be most helpful is purchasing traction sand from our local Hancock Lumber store. It comes in 70lb tubes that is dry so it doesn’t freeze in cold weather. Alex has been out on a regular basis spreading this sand to keep the pen area safe for the alpacas.

We are also in the middle of weaning the crias. This has been a challenge for us because of the limited space we have currently. We put the crias together in a panel gated area during the day to get them started and then we kept them in their own area without the opportunity to get back with their mothers. They were upset in the beginning but adjusted quickly. A good weaning time is when the cria has reached approximately 6 months old and a weight of 70 lbs.

 Keep checking back.