Poop Scoop

National Alpaca Farm Days ~ September 27 & 28 ~

Sat, 6 Sep 2008 09:23:42 -0700

We’re getting read for visitors!

We’ve been busily preparing for your visit!

Please join us to celebrate National Alpaca Farm Days on September 27 & 28, when we join with 2 more neighboring farms, Alpaca Shire & Alpacas of Sonoma. All the fun happens at:
Brookfarm ~ Alpacas in the Valley of the Moon!

Here’s what we’ve been up to in anticipation of National Alpaca Farm Days ~

The boys supervised as Mark put the final trim on the herdsire shelter.

Nicco and Tessa supervised the final trim going up on the alpaca shelter.

And the girls think it’s all looking mighty nice!

Debbie has busily finished a couple more knitted/felted bags to sell & our very first yarns arrived back from the mill (see photos and details of these products on previous post).

Fiber was shipped out to be processed into alpaca rugs to sell & we expect to arrive very soon.

Ball caps are in! (See photo in previous post.

Debbie and Vicki had the opportunity to hone their hosting skills at Cal Expo, the California State Fair. And Harvey became a celebrity as a Plein Air Artist chose him as her subject that day.

AND We all stood back to take a few minutes to look around and enjoy it all.

Ahhhhhh . . . night time
~ a time to relax and plan for yet another exciting day at Brookfarm! And, yes, this was a beautiful night sky recently here in Glen Ellen.

We hope to see you at:

NATIONAL ALPACA FARM DAYS
September 27 & 28, 2008
9:00 AM ~ 5:00 PM
Right here at Brookfarm
8150 Sonoma Mountain Road
Glen Ellen, California

And Stay tuned for:

Fleecy Fun Fiber Foray ~ Watch for Brookfarm there!
October 11, 2008 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sonoma Community Center Building and Grounds

Co-Sponsored by SCC and Redwood Empire Handweavers and Spinners Guild
The Sonoma Community Center has forged a new partnership with the Redwood Empire Handweavers and Spinners Guild to introduce a variety of opportunities to experience and learn fiber arts.

Newest Product At Brookfarm

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 23:22:01 -0700

Ball Caps and More!

Natural, home grown, yarns (no dye) in beautiful rose grey & cream colors.

Hand knit and felted bags made of natural Brookfarm
alpaca.

Soon to be featured ~ Woven rugs of natural Brookfarm alpaca.

And for the spinner in the group ~ Raw Fleeces & roving.

See You Soon At ...

NATIONAL ALPACA FARM DAYS

Where you can visit 3 Sonoma Valley alpaca ranches all in 1:

Brookfarm

Alpaca Shire

Alpacas of Sonoma

September 27 & 28, 2008
Right here at Brookfarm.

Newest Additions ~ Girls ~

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:00:23 -0700

Keeleigh & Lady Liberty
Pninah joined the Brookfarm team about a month ago. She arrives from Alpaca Shire and is the sweetest little girl with dark black eyes, nose, ears and feet. Pninah will give you kisses from time to time and is very curious. We hope to show her at the Monterey Pronk in September this year

Pninah

Keeleigh comes to Brookfarm from Oak Valley Alpaca (OVA), and is seen here with OVA proprietors, Rick and Pam, and Keeleigh’s cria, Lady Liberty, just two days old.
You have to view the WebGallery of Libby pictures:
Libby WebGallery

Rick, Debbie holding Libby, Pam & Keeleigh

Lady Liberty (Libby) was born to Keeleigh on July 3rd, barely days after we signed the contract on the purchase of Keeleigh. We couldn’t be happier with both girls. Keeleigh brings a gentle disposition to our herd and another white dam with exceptional fiber to round out our offerings of color choices to prospective buyers.

Libby is Keeleigh’s first cria, and Keeleigh immediately proved herself as an excellent mother, birthing easily and providing lots of milk for the cria. Libby was up and nursing in no time and putting on weight like the little firecracker she is. And we couldn’t have been more pleased to welcome this sweet little brown girl, again to complete the color selection at Brookfarm.

Stop by soon to see our newest additions!

I wanted to share the final result of the bag I was knitting on the trip to Black Sheep Gathering. The felting process (agitating in warm water) shows you the beautiful result. The accent yarn at the top edge and around the middle of the bag is lost somewhat in the felting process, but I really like the way the white shading transitioned into the
brown/grey color at the center of the bag. Pretty cool, huh?

We are sad to report that Zita, the new female Maremma, returned home to her original owner. We found that she and Tessa both would not back down as the alpha female and it was not a good match for Brookfarm. But we are happy to report that Nicco and Tessa are working quite well together to protect all the critters here at Brookfarm. Thankfully for us, as the neighbor reported seeing a coyote on our driveway recently!

We close with a reminder to Save The Date for:

NATIONAL ALPACA FARM DAYS

September 27 & 28, 2008
Right here at Brookfarm.

Watch for more details soon!

BSG ~ Black Sheep Gathering

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:45:49 -0700

BSG or bust ... Here we come!
Wow; our trip to Black Sheep Gathering was a ball of fun and I will definitely do it again; at least every couple of years. It was hard not to come home with an angora bunny or some fiber sheep or goats, or a drum carder...... Of course I took some classes and bought some stuff!!!! :-)

But my dear friend and fellow alpaca breeder, Vicki Arns, was my chauffeur extraordinaire and our first stop was in the town of Montague near the Ca/Or boarder. What a beautiful lavender farm she found, and the backdrop of Mt. Shasta was spectacular.

As I walked through the sheep barn, I was amazed by all the different breeds; large, small, white, spotted, horns, no horn, many horns! The displays were varied as well and this one from Silver Creek was beautifully displayed -- love the color!

At BSG we were able to take classes, find some time to spin, spend time with friends, and meet new ones, and just experience the magic of fiber and all it brings.

I was so fortunate that Vicki did all the driving. It’s such a bummer that I am not the best long term driver. It’s funny how I don’t get sleepy when I’m the passenger; unlike when I’m the driver -- watch out. And... because I was the passenger, check out my Vintage bubble bag I’ve nearly completed. It’s the black,grey/brown, white bag featured in the photo. This is all natural colored alpaca from our coop, AFCNA, with the exception of the tad of sparkly in the top edge and center purled area. This yarn I picked up in Ashland when we made a stop at Websters yarn store.

I think these are the Jacob Sheep, with two sets of horns;
a set going straight up in the air, and another set that looks almost like ears.

In the neighboring barns to BSG was the Emerald Valley Alpaca Association Alpaca Marketplace and Fleece Show. There were some animals on display and lots of fleeces; not to mention yarn. I was able to do some research on sales of whole fleeces and by weight, so watch for some Brookfarm fleece sales soon. Meanwhile, the all-time award winning Brookfarm’s P. Rock of Gibraltar, aka Rocky, took a blue ribbon for his 2008 fleece ~ 1st Place; Yearling Fawn Huacaya Fleece. I was so nervous when the judge was giving her oral reasonings, as she talked about poor fleeces, lots of breakage and tender fleeces. One of her examples looked exactly like Rocky’s fleece and I was very nervous. But alas, my worries were for naught! :-)

Vintage Bubble Bag (Knit)
~ Not yet felted

Back at BSG, the fiber crafts entered into the show were fabulous. And the judging was such that the judge was making her comments in public, as she was judging and her assistant was taking down her comments. This would never happen at an alpaca show as the fiber judging is in private and then awards announced in public. This cute little guy took a blue ribbon in the felted category. Can you believe how creative this artist is? And all with fiber??

Well, I think I’ll close with a photo collage from BSG. But, we’d love to get your comments on the Blog! :-)

HAPPY SUMMER!

Clockwise from top:
Vicki and Diane gabbing at Diane’s alpaca yarn booth;
A beautiful beaded shawl in my project list, made with alpaca/silk blend in this gorgeaous rainbow of colors (Deanna’s Vintage Styles);
My Nicky Epstein felted wisteria purse in progress - completed the dark green leaves on the way to BSG;
A beautiful rainbow roving, which was heavily discounted!!!
My new orifice tool for Emeline (my spinning wheel) -- I think that is what you call it!
And in the center photo; fabulous alpaca yarns at the Alpaca Marketplace.

Save the Date ~ National Alpaca Farm Days

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:52:53 -0700

Join us at Brookfarm on September 27 & 28, 2008. Watch for more information soon!
Brookfarm will be open to the public for the very first time on National Alpaca Farm Days ~ September 27 & 28, 2008. We hope you will mark your calendar and join us for our first open house and to celebrate this National recognition of the Alpaca. There will be lots to see and a fun day to be had by all. Stay tuned for more details soon!

On Saturday, June 7th, we welcomed to gentle beasts to Brookfarm: Zita & Nicco, Maremma Sheepdogs (Maremmano Abruzzse) to join Tessa with her guarding duties.
Top photo: L-R; Nicco, Zita

Bottom Photo: Tessa in front; Nicco & Zita in back

We were looking for a working partner for Tessa, as LGD’s work best in a team, and we preferred a more mature dog rather than a puppy. Nicco and Zita were on the lookout for a new home because the present ranch owner was getting out of the goat business and wanted to find them a good home. All the human and maremma partners in the deal felt it best to keep Nicco and Zita together. They are both sweet dogs, with all the wonderful characteristics of the Maremma. Nicco is a 20 month neutered male and Tessa’s littermate, Zita is a 4 year old female. Within one week they have integrated very well into Brookfarm and are a welcome addition.

Debbie and Sarah participated in WWNIP Day (World Wide Knit in Public Day), to promote the art and craft of knitting. It was niece Kiana’s 8th birthday party for the family and we were enjoying a delightful evening on their back deck, relaxing, snacking and enjoying family. We were knitting and telling the gang that today is World Wide Knit in Public Day, when brother Dan asked, “World Wide Knit a Puppet Day?”. We all had a real good laugh with that comment. So... did anyone knit a puppet yesterday?

Sarah Knitting in public with Alura observing! (or is that a puppet?)

The herdsires and Boer goats are pleased to be enjoying the newly fenced in 3/4 acre at the southern most end of Brookfarm. And what a beautiful fencing job by Mark and nice addition to our ever growing project. There are two new enclosures, with plans for another cross fence at the existing herdsire pasture, which will give us 6 separate pasture areas, as well as a couple of smaller pens near the barn.

Debbie will be spending a few days at the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon; taking classes, and entering the fiber competition at the Alpaca Marketplace and Fleece Show. We will show Rocky and Harvey’s fleeces.

Happy Father’s Day one and all!

Debbie & Mark and all the critters of Brookfarm

Happy Memorial Day

Mon, 26 May 2008 15:04:40 -0700

A busy weekend, and a brief entry...
Well, it was a busy Memorial Day weekend for us, but every moment was treasured. Debbie was just sorry to miss sister Nancy’s graduation in California on Saturday. Congrats, Nance!

On Friday, Alura graduated in Oakland from Samuel Merritt College with her Masters of Science in Nursing, Nurse Practitioner. She was also awarded the “Outstanding Student” award for her campus, which is a selection process of the instructors. We are so very proud of her.

Then I flew out to Sandy Utah that same afternoon, while the rest of the family was celebrating Alura’s accomplishments with food and drink at a local Oakland restaurant. The event in Utah was the AOBA Nationals where Debbie would show Rocky. This was a wonderful experience that she did not expect to have due to the other special happenin’s of the weekend. But a dear friend and fellow alpaca breeder offered to transport Rocky for us, so the decision and coordination was much easier. The trip was worth the experience. There were some exceptional alpacas to see and some fabulous fleece’s in the fleece competition. The competition in Rocky’s class was very stiff, with 14 yearling male fawn Huacaya alpacas and we did not get a ribbon. But as the judge looked at Rocky’s fleece, he shook his head and said, “There’s not a bad one in the group”, and he appeared to be very torn with his selection process. But, it was the experience of attending the show that made us winners.

Then we were blessed with a visit from both girls over the weekend. Sarah had been looking over fleeces and trying her hand at sorting from the class she and Debbie took together on Mother’s Day, and Alura and Stephan shared a slideshow of over 700 photos from their recent trip to Southeast Asia, and told us all about the near miss with the cyclone in Myanmar. What an experience to remember!

Our best to all on this Memorial Day!

Debbie & Mark and all the critters of Brookfarm

Rocky at Nationals Sandy, Utah Expo Center

Ribbons & Fiber

Fri, 23 May 2008 20:56:31 -0700

Rocky takes 1st place at California Classic in Pleasanton, California!
Did we mention Spring in our last post? Oh my gosh, it is popping out all over; and in more ways than you can imagine. Did anybody say busy? That is actually in all caps -- BUSY, Busy, busy! That is how it is at Brookfarm these days.

Another 1st Place for Rocky

Let’s start out with the exciting news. This all happened the last weekend in April. Yes, the Rockster, better known as Rocky, Rock Star, and officially registered with ARI (Alpaca Registry Institute) as Brookfarm’s P. Rock of Gibraltar (The “P” indicates he is full Peruvian), took a blue ribbon, 1st Place, at the 2008 California Classic in Pleasanton, CA in the Yearling Fawn Male class. That now gives him a resume with a 3rd Place in his first show as a Juvenile at the 2007 Cal Classic, and another 1st Place and Reserve Color Champion at the Monterey Pronk in September 2007. For those who don’t quite get the color champion thing: A “Color Champion” is when they bring the 1st and 2nd place winners from all the age classes of one color and gender back together into the ring at the end of the that last class, and then a Color Champion and Reserve Color Champion are selected. So Rocky came back in along with the 2nd place of his Juvenile Class (6 mo-1yr), as well as the 1st and 2nd place winners of the Yearling, Adult, and 2 and older classes. Usually a total of eight animals; most very studley looking males. Then the judge picks the Color Champion of all those (1st Place). At this point, all the other 2nd place animals are excused with the exception of the 2nd place animal from the same class as the Color Champion just chosen. Then they choose the Reserve Color Champion from those 4 remaining animals, and that is Mr. Rocky himself from the 2007 Monterey Pronk.

Watch out boys, AOBA (Alpaca Owners & Breeders Association) Nationals, here he comes in late May. Wish us luck. It will be the experience of a lifetime for both Rocky ad Debbie in Sandy, Utah. Thanks to Uncle Rick for offering up some extra pen space and transporting the special cargo so Debbie can attend Alura’s Master Degree, Nurse Practitioner graduation ceremony, and then hop on a plane to Utah that evening to meet up with the Rockster! Way to go Alura!

While on the subject of ribbons, each of our pacas brought home a ribbon of one color or another at the Cal Classic. We couldn’t have been more pleased. Sidian (Midnight Obsidian) was the first to show on Saturday morning. Oh my gosh, what a fussy boy he can be. He missed his pen mates something terribly and was all anxious and jumpy, but we made it through and held our composure -- both Debbie and Sid! The judge awarded Sidian a Fifth Place; and we think yellow is a nice color to go with his true black fleece. And the next day Harvey (Harvest Moonstone) received a Fourth Place and Dasie Mae a Sixth Place. The judge commented that Harvey was a “spinner’s dream” with the brightest fleece of the group, and the most uniform fiber with consistent character throughout. Dasie Mae had incredible staple length and a very soft handle, in the judge’s eye. As we walked into the wring, the judge commented, “Now that’s white!”

Guess you might like to know we have a new “kid” at Brookfarm. We call
s/he an alpaca -- close enough. Mark and Chris are placing the new “one” in place and s/he will don our Brookfarm banner. This new friend was graciously donated from our neighbors Mimi and Frances, and we are thrilled to use it as a marketing piece along Sonoma Mountain Road.

Debbie is doing some halter training and is introducing Dasie Mae, Sidian and Harvey to the new kid.

And by the way, Debbie’s trip to Alpacapalooza, “three days of Peace, Love and Livestock!” in Puyallup, Washington, was a good won. She worked as a gate keeper for ESS and got to learn more about the inner workings of an alpaca show. Great people, wonderful show, but freezing weekend -- can you say “five layers of clothes”! Brrrrr!!

Brookfarm’s Harvest

We had a fabulous harvest/shearing day on May 2nd,
and brought in over 59 lbs. of fiber!

Mark started the week by moving all the alpacas to the
inner pastures where there was less vegetable matter.
We cleaned up the barn and blew out any dust and
debris, and did a bit of cleaning the pacas ~ and yes,
that did include the use of a vacuum in a couple of
instances. Sarah was here to assist in the fiber collection
process. Here she is relaxing with Mark before all the
action got under way.

We opened up two of the pens in the barn so our shearer,
Steve Murray, would have plenty of room to work. Three
fiber collectors/sorters worked along side Steve as well to separate the fleece into different grades (qualities) for later use.

Dasie Mae was first on the list, and here is little Harvey getting his annual hair cut. We shear once a year in early Spring so that the alpacas are cool during the summer and have the bulk of fleece during the colder winter months.

22 alpacas were shorn in all; 11 from Brookfarm, 6 from Alpacas of Sonoma, and another 5 from a neighboring ranch in Kenwood. But we left Rocky in full fleece for the AOBA Nationals in late May in Utah.

A huge thanks to our Shearer, Steve Murray, and our helpful crew, Sarah, Mark and Heather, and another Mark from the Kenwood ranch. Thanks for the visits from Mike and Karen and their two grandsons, Sam and Mason, and Matt and Marie and their two sons, Matisse and Malone. The boys got a big kick of watching the action. And thank you to Vicki and Don for stopping by that day too!

Ah a little rest a relaxation for the wearing after a day of shearing.

And our three naked crias: (L-R) Harvey, Dasie Mae and Sidian.

Nationals, here we come!

Our best to you,
Debbie & Mark and all the critters of Brookfarm

Spring 2008

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 08:10:11 -0700

A sunny day under the willow tree between veggie garden and alpaca barn.

Mark and Debbie can’t believe it is almost April already. Time just seems to fly by these days. So much so that the “Blogger” has fallen a bit behind. Not that we have a schedule or anything, but after all the activity in 2007 we thought we would try to Blog once a month or so to keep it all relevant and interesting to everyone in cyberspace following along and hoping to learn a bit alpacas and possibly stop by Brookfarm for a visit. So thank you to my long lost niece, Charlotte, who visited this past weekend, and encouraged me to write a Blog entry. She said, “You could write it about Pearl and the fact that her baby still hasn’t arrived”, or something like that.
Thank you, Charlotte!

You’re probably thinking, “But you started your last entry with something about
alpaca poop!” Yes, that is true. Actually, our lives are a lot about alpaca poop
these days, and that keeps us very humble and helps us to find ways to put it
to our benefit. But more about ‘paca poop later.

So on with the Brookfarm news for the first quarter of 2008. We started the year
out with visitors on New Year’s weekend. A couple from Southern California,
Chris and Andrea, as well as their friends and infant daughter, were planning a
getaway in the Russian River area and wanted to visit us. We had a delightful
visit on a clear afternoon, and hope they will be back again sometime.

We attended a fabulous Camelid Symposium at UC Davis, and came home after
2 days with our heads swimming, but with the opportunity to spend an evening
with Alura and Stephan in their cozy home. So our 2nd year started off grand.

A couple of our early winter storms were quite torrential this winter. Storms
seem to stall longer over Sonoma Mountain and we’ve had two weekend Charlotte helping out.
storms where 6-7 inches fell in a couple of days. That is not the usual case
and we have learned we still have some grading and trenching to do to
improve runoff around the alpaca shelter. Although the alpaca don’t seem
to mind a bit provided they can get under shelter. It’s the pooping in the
barn that we are having trouble accepting for those couple of wet months.
Although we are told this is natural.

February was a fun month. Debbie joined Ravelry, an online fiber community for knit and crochet ethusiasts. It takes 2-3 weeks to get invited into the community once you sign up, but it is worth it. Then it was off to Stitches West, the premiere fiber conference on the West Coast in Santa Clara, CA, with Alura, Sarah, and friend Tiffany. Ravelry had this cool Passport book so you could stop at several participating vendors and get your book stamped. When complete (Debbie was the only one to complete her book) you turned in a page to be entered into a drawing. Well, we didn’t win anything, but it was fun just the same. But we all shopped! We had a blast, and are planning to stay overnight next year so we don’t get quite so exhausted and so we can see everything.

About this same time we became agistors. Agisting is the term used in the alpaca business for boarding animals at your farm. Friends and local alpaca ranchers, Mark and Heather and family, aka Alpacas of Sonoma, were moving and needed a temporary home for their 6 male alpacas. We had just constructed the shelter for the herdsires and were about to move Rocky and Jasper to this new area. It was still a soggy time here at Brookfarm, but we were up for the challenge and were happy to help friends in need. After a month of the typical quarantine period, we introduced the new boys to Tessa, our LGD, and Rocky and Jasper. Rocky and Jasper are now in with the “big boys” and everyone seems very happy and content. The herdsires have a nice large pasture, which we have divided in half so we can manage the grazing and do some pasture rotation.
Rocky and Jasper in with the “big boys”.

Sierra takes a ride on J.D. while visiting her herdsires.

We’ve had more visitors too! Local
Kenwood alpaca owners stopped by
during one of our torrential downpours
to visit. We will be doing our annual
shearing together here at Brookfarm and
it was a pleasure to meet Glenn, Mark
and their adorable daughter, Sasha.

We also had a visit scheduled in early
February with the editor of
“Living the Country Life” magazine and
website, but a nasty storm in their part
of the country caused the trip to be cancelled. Our heads were swelling at the prospect of this visit. Imagine, Tessa had a radio interview, and then a magazine/internet business wanted to stop and see little ole Brookfarm Alpacas. Maybe another time.

Hay delivery
On another note about Brookfarm visitors, Sarah’s friends and spinning instructor, Kristine, along with Adrienne & Cleo (the Daschund) spent an afternoon with us from Berkeley. Sarah took spinning classes from Kristine, who has her own naturally died yarn and fiber business, A Verb for Keeping Warm, and was also a vendor at Stiches West. We had a lovely visit, and of course they were both very interested in the alpacas and fiber. Kristine helped Debbie with some of her hand carding technique and shared with us that Sarah is becoming quite the spinner. Sarah’s finished product proves it, and she has already purchased her own spinning wheel too. Take a look at Sarah’s handspun at this link! And see the alpaca yarn Debbie spun up and the alpaca she knit and felted. What shall we name the new paca?.

The first part of this year has encompassed much time skirting our alpaca fiber so we can ship it off for processing into yarn or rovings so we can spin our own yarn. The fleeces are nearly ready to ship off and Debbie has learned a bunch in the process. We are nearing our 2008 shearing in May so it will be good to have this processed by then. Then Sarah and Debbie can spin up some alpaca yarn and feature our own homegrown and processed alpaca yarn at our local yarn shop, Sonoma Yarn.

Did we mention yet that we feed our alpacas only the finest orchard grass hay and super premium alpaca pellets from Dynamite Specialty Products, of which we are now distributors. Dynamite mineral pellets are milled to maximize the production of fiber in the process of breeding. Dynamite Marketing Inc. has been producing alpaca feeds for over 15 years and recently reformulated these pellets to include improvements in ingredient and technology. So although this feed may be “new” the longevity and track record has been proven through years of breeding and animal health. Let us know if you would like to try Dynamite Alpaca Pellets. We’re trying out the Dynamite dog food too.

Most recently we have been planting some of the hardier plants into our vegetable garden. Mark spent several days emptying out the oldest of our alpaca poop compost bins. It had settled nicely and was full of rich organic matter teaming with worms. So into the raised beds it went and now we have some greens, onions, and a few other things growing. If those hungry sparrows would only move onto their Spring habitat, we’d be happy. They are taking their share of the leafy matter and we hope the plants survive until the birds migrate, which should be soon.

Right next to our veggie garden is the hen house. The chicks we added to the flock last Spring began laying a few months ago and we are getting some beautiful brown and bluish/green eggs. Yum!

Speaking of eggs, Debbie’s niece, Charlotte, visited for four
days over Easter weekend. Charlotte lives near the Oregon
border and we haven’t seen her in about four years and so it
was wonderful to get to know her again and give her the
opportunity to spend some time with the entire family. We
colored eggs together (here she is with Debbie’s sister, Nancy),
she helped us spit test Pearl, Debbie taught her to knit, and
we all just hung out and chatted. We can’t wait for Charlotte
to come back for a visit this summer and spend more time
with the family.
Is she? Isn’t she? Shall we take bets?

We mentioned earlier that Charlotte suggested Pearl be the subject of our Blog entry. Well, we didn’t want to focus on Pearl too much, because we have disappointed ourselves in our breeding. Our vet will be here on Tuesday to confirm, but we believe Pearl “slipped” her pregnancy, a term used in the alpaca industry. Apparently this can happen as late as 5 to 8 months along during the 11.5 month gestation of a camelid. Pearl had been tested in July and the progesterone level from the blood test confirmed pregnancy. So when her due date of March 4th approached, Debbie noticed few signs of impending birth, and for that matter even pregnancy. As you can see, she is a large girl, and with all that fiber this time of year and the gastric movement of the 3 stomachs, it was hard to notice if anything was happening. But Pearl is now nearly a month over due.
This is not too terribly abnormal for alpaca, so we are trying to keep hopeful. Today Pearl is at 371 days, but she hasn’t broken the record yet. Wish Pearl and us luck!
Before you can halter train, and especially after a vet visit when you are locked in a pen for 1.5 hours,
there are certain important things to tend to...“Poop Scoop”!

We have just begun to halter train the Fall crias so they are ready for their first show and our first one of the year, the California Classic, at the Alameda Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, CA at the end of April. The kids (cria) have been weaned from their mothers, which is typical at 6 months of age, and are just getting introduced to wearing a halter. They aren’t quite ready to walk on lead yet, but it’s getting close. Basically, we are building their trust and using this time that they want to be with their moms to shower them with tender love and kindness and soft strokes around the head and cheeks. It seems to be working. All three of them have grown so much. Dasie Mae is a ball of white fiber. She is a bit of a pig pen this time of year, but her soft locks have consistent crimp throughout her body with good amplitude (that is the deepness of the crimp). Sidian is black as coal, and oh so curious. He’ll put his nose right up to yours, as long as you don’t stare into his eyes or reach out to touch him. He is gentle and sweet. And Harvey has fiber to die for. It is very dense and ultra crimpy, which are highly sought after characteristics of alpaca fiber. He is another Jr. Herdsire at Brookfarm, along with the studley P. Rock of Gibraltar, fondly known as Rocky.

Rocky, Mark and Tessa enjoying a sunny February day.
Harvey (rose-grey) on left below; Sidian (black) on right, and sweet little Dasie Mae (white) below.

The first part of April Debbie will be off to Alpacapalooza, “three days of Peace, Love and Livestock!” in Puyallup, Washington. Stay tuned for a report on this show in another post.

Our best to all our fellow alpaca enthusiasts, family and friends.
We welcome your visit to Brookfarm so give us a call or send us an email and we’ll set up a time to show off the alpacas, and Tessa too!

Debbie & Mark

Rocky and Debbie doing some halter training

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Peace & Goodwill to All Our First Anniversary!

Fri, 4 Jan 2008 01:02:08 -0800

Peace sign on Alpaca Shelter

December has come and gone, but not without the opportunity for all of us here at Brookfarm to reminisce a bit over the wonderful holiday had with family and friends. That’s not to say that there wasn’t plenty of poop to scoop, vaccinations to administer, a herdsire/goat shelter to finish, and some knitting and spinning to do! Somehow we crammed it all into the month of December.

But first We couldn’t resist sharing sharing one of the formal shots from Sarah and Chris’ wedding that just arrived. The day, June 30, 2007, was such a special day and a focal part of our entire year. This captures the moment beautifully and we are so proud to have been able to share the event with our lovely two daughters and their wonderful husbands. Not to mention extended family and many friends. Sarah was just radiant and Chris was oh so handsome. They both know how to plan a fun party!

L-R: Mark, Debbie, Chris, Sarah, Alura & Stephan

We started December off with Debbie’s company party for Sonoma Valley Bank. The theme was western, which gave her the opportunity to wear the shawl she finally finished -- 2 years in the making, off and on. (See bottom photo)

That helped us to get in the Christmas mood. Of course getting Dasie Mae to stand still long enough to be donned with a Santa hat added to the fun. What a little duct tape won’t do to stick a hat on an alpaca? :-)

Of course then there are the two new additions ~ Al and Paca. They appeared one evening just after dark. We couldn’t help bet take them in and give them a home under the redwood trees where there is nice lush green grass for them to enjoy.

Around mid-December, Debbie headed off to neighbor and knitter extroardinaire’s home, Anita Watson. There Anita hosted the knitting retreat ladies for a holiday gift exchange; or as Debbie calls them, “The Knittin Nuts”! Debbie’s Secret Santa, Cathie Cooper, knit up this beautiful alpaca scarf to keep her warm and cozy all through the winter.

Then, we got to follow all that on December 23rd by hosting our annual family Christmas gathering. Four of Debbie’s seven siblings arrived with 6 niece and nephews in tow. Not to mention some of Chris’ family, cousins Steele, and assorted friends.

A fun time was had by all and the alpaca hats seemed to be a big hit!

Back Row, L ~ R: Sarah, Alura, Jecca
Front: Nephews & Nieces Danny, Matisse, Cameron, Malone, Kiana & Joshua.

We finished off the evening by breaking out the sparklers held over from Sarah’s wedding since it was too hot and dry to risk them in June, breaking into the Jansons’ gingerbread house, and enjoying a hot fire in the fire pit on a cold full moon evening. It was a perfect weekend.

On Christmas Eve, cooks Mark and Sarah did most of the prep and
created a beautiful meal of enchiladas, chili rellenos, beans, and all
the fixin’s with everything from scratch, sauces and all. Debbie and
Sarah added flan to the mix for dessert.

Then Alura donned the Santa hat for Christmas morning and it was
an alpaca Christmas all around.

How many photographers does it take to get a Christmas photo?

A belated Happy Holidays and a very Happy and Healthy New Year to you.
Thank you all for helping us to see our one year anniversary with Brookfarm!
Debbie & Mark

And They Call Her Emeline

Sat, 1 Dec 2007 22:24:15 -0800

Fall is about over now in Glen Ellen, although our weather has been somewhat mild with a cold spell here that there. Who would would guess that we are quickly approaching winter. These last rains, and the persimmon tree laden with fruit, give a sure sign that winter is around the
corner and soon the days will begin to grow longer so we can look
forward to all that those days will bring. But for now, there are still a
few things to get done around Brookfarm.

You could say that we are still in the building stages of the Ranch.
The Boer goats now have a dry place to bed down. This shelter
will also serve the male alpacas when the need arises, which is
very soon considering how feisty those boys have gotten around
the girls. As you can see, chief Ranch Manager, Mark, is at his
handy work again!

And a little pink vet wrap on the tail is sure to do
the trick and to assure a girl cria in about 11.5
months. Just like the last cria; right Miski?

Miski’s annual date with Glacier at Oak Valley Alpacas

L-R: Mark, Sierra, and Trent Sowinski

Lily wonders where dad is taking her this time.
Why to Derwydd for a date with Akupana, of course!

Meet Emeline. Debbie and Sarah made the drive to Santa Cruz to pick up Emeline, our new (to us) Ashford Traditional spinning wheel. Emeline is about 30 years old or so, a far as we can determine, and in very good condition. She has a beautiful cherry-wood finish and looks quite at home in the living room. Sarah and Debbie have both had some success at spinning and are looking at getting some of our alpaca fiber processed into rovings to save the time on carding.

Contessa di Brookfarm ~ Tessa.

What fun we had trying this Santa hat on Tessa and Dasie Mae.
Neither were too thrilled with our efforts

Tessa found herself chosen to be interviewed on our local radio station, KSVY 91.3, as one of Sonoma’s “working dogs”. (Debbie does the talking -- imagine that?) You too can listen ~ link below and on our “News” page. The program is Pet Talk by local Vet, Rhonda Stallings. It is a full hour program so please be patient with the download time. It’s pretty interesting if I do say so myself. Thanks to dear friend Bobbi Cole who was one of many to make song suggestions for the show. You see Rhonda always asks the interviewee to bring in a song for the break. I was searching iTunes for an Italian song about dogs, but alas, was having no success. Bobbi emailed me and said, “It has to be Bella Notte from Lady and the Tramp. I found a soundtrack version that I purchased the night before the show, burned a disk, and voila... it was perfect. Tessa and Debbie hope you enjoy!

Tessa’s Interview ~ KSVY Radio 91.3 ~ 11/29/07
Due to the large size of this file, it has been temporarily removed. Email us if you would like to receive a copy.

Article in the Sun about Tessa

To finish off this entry, we close with a word about family ~

Alura Lin is in her last week of school and will have her Nurse Practitioner’s license shortly thereafter. She has worked long and hard in her studies, and is very deserving of her accomplishments. We cannot wait to see her grow and blossom in her new role, which she has been well suited for since a wee-one.

You go girl!

Fall 2007 Happen'ins

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:35:34 -0700

Fall is such a beautiful time of year. Even though the days are getting shorter, the beautiful colors in the vineyards and garden all but make up for it.
And speaking of vineyards, Mark was able to get out
between the raindrops and do some picking. Look at
these colors!

Since we had a bit of a heat wave after those last two spells of rain, which each brought us an inch of rain, it’s time to work on the drainage around the back of the barn.

Some recent milestones include Tessa reaching one year
of age. She is an integral part of our farm operation,
and believe it or not, her late night barking allows us
to sleep at night! .... especially with recent threat of
predators nearby ~ Mountain Lions!!!

Our first girl cria, Dasie Mae, is all girl. As you can see here, no one dotes on her. Then there is our handsome rose grey Harvey. Here he is giving mom, Carmen, some lovin’.

A Recent Farm Visit 11/7/07

The Cahill Boys Visit
L-R: Grumps Mike, Unca Chris, Mason, and
“My-Dad’s-a-Carpenter-and-he-can-figure-out-how-to-turn-this-tractor-on” Sam

All we did was glance away for a moment and there he was, Mr. Sam Hagerman had the controls of JD. That be John Deere in Brookfarm speak. Note: the lights are blinking and every knob he could find was pushed, pulled, twisted, and explored. There’s no fun going on here!

I think Sam is our new ranch hand!

Not only does Sam know how to work the tractor, he was not at all shy about feeding the alpacas, the goats, and the Koi. Luckily I had a hold of the back of his shirt so he didn’t go for a swim.

And all fun aside, some work does get done around here! Hay is brought in, the powerbook is updated with important vaccination records. Yes that is a powerbook; and Yes, Mark can type!

Then there is important knitting, and what better place than out on a sunny weekend day with woman’s best friend, Lance, and a glass of red wine. The beer belongs to the photographer!

And everyone has to eat!

Until next time......

Our First Girl ~ Dasie Mae

Thu, 4 Oct 2007 21:44:17 -0700

Born 10/4/07: My first day on this earth. - Yep, mom/Debbie missed another birth! I am named Dasie after Mark’s grandmother. the matriarch over the Brookfarm eggfarm, and Mae is Debbie’s mom’s middle name ~ two wonderful women. Miski gave very little warning, unlike Pooh and Carmen. But what a sweet and welcome addition to the two boys born within the last few weeks!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s off to the Pronk we go...

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 23:02:35 -0700

L-R: Rocky, Debbie, Terry, Lily (hiding behind Terry), and Kaitlyn
The Monterey Pronk is one of two alpaca shows hosted by , the oldest regional alpaca breeders association in the Northern hemisphere and home to the oldest alpaca bloodlines in North America of which we are a member. We participated in the California Classic in Pleasanton in April, where Rocky got 3rd place in his class, the other show hosted by Calpaca. It was our plan all along to attend the Pronk, but things were difficult to coordinate and figure out. First and foremost, we had our first three crias to be born on Brookfarm due right around the Pronk. Great timing you say? Secondly, Mark was scheduled to ride the CCC (California Coast Classic) during this same time.

So what to do??? Sarah was planning to be our Farm Hand for the weekend, but she had her company picnic the same weekend, which was actually a weekend at a couple of houses at Russian River. Could it get any more complicated?

Well, I think the Neonatal class we took in July made me even that much more anxious. What if a baby came while we were away and the mother needed assistance? I trusted Sarah fully to be here, but I could barely count on myself or Mark to do any kind of repositioning of baby in stress, let alone my sweet Sarie!

Generally, you allow 345 days for gestation of an alpaca. But you give it a 20 day window of 335-355 days without a worry; and a friend just had a girl at 400+ days. So you see, mother nature cannot be second guessed. We did much calculation in August to try to give us the best guess scenario on each of our girls, based on their history. Who knows, maybe there is a pattern we can count on, or shoot for.

Sweet Lily going through some halter training prior to the Pronk.

Pooh, the first expectant mom, appeared to have a 350 day average, which would put her at about 9/21/07. Carmen was next, although we did not have all her birthing records, and we were shooting at 352 days for her at 10/1/07. Then that left Miski, who appeared to be an early bird. She averaged 331 days for her first 3 birthings, so we estimated 10/6/07 for Miski. So the Pronk was on September 28th and 29th and if all went well, we’d have one cria on the ground before we left, and two more to follow right after we returned. NOT!!!

So thank goodness Miss Pooh’s baby was early. She shot her 350 day average and came in at 338 days with Brookfarm’s Midnight Obsidian (Sid or Sidian for short) on 9/9/07, a true black boy. Then Miss Carmen was not about to wait for no Pronk to happen. That Harvest Moon got her going and at 348 days, and the day before we both headed out in our separate directions, she delivered the most gorgeous rose grey boy (Brookfarm’s Harvest Moonstone “Stone” or maybe “Harvey”), with a bit of assistance from Mark. So Carmen was only 4 days off our target, but before the Pronk -- very good! :-) I’ll fill you in on the Miski later in this post.

Our three companions for the show: Rocky, Lily, and Katie.

It was on September 10th that cousin Terry (& hubby Bob), came by to see the little black boy. As I was telling her how I would be traveling solo to Monterey, pulling the trailer loaded with 3 alpacas, I said, “Want to join me for a fun weekend in Monterey at an alpaca show?” Her eyes twinkled and she said she would consider. She had a complex schedule to work out as well, but she did!

So here we are loading up for the trip. Mark hired Mike Brown to make these cool gates so pacas do not escape when you drop the tail gate, and he also created a divider so we could keep the Rockster away from these sweet, young, innocent girls! The guys at vet check were very impressed with our “custom trailer”!

And away we go, with
“Thomas” as our navigator
to guide our every turn.
It was the “motorways” that
were so confusing ~ but
that is another story.

Sarah had all the instructions she needed, especially for the new grey baby to weigh him morning and night to make sure he was getting his colostrum and nursing well. (She did an absolutely fabulous job driving about 300 miles that weekend back and forth from Russian River for her festivities. I think that girl needs a promotion!.) Mark would not leave till the afternoon so he could monitor things for a bit to see that baby was doing well.

I could not have asked for a better “partner in crime” than Terry. She was my navigator, ranch hand, statistician, you name it, she anticipated it and had it done before I could even mention the word. And all with a smile. She seemed to be having a blast!

A few words of encouragement from Grandpa Rick.

Then the judge does her thing.

And Saturday went perfectly. Rocky showed at the end of the day and ...
VOILA! A Blue Ribbon for the Rockster!
Full Fleece Huacaya Juvenile Male - Fawn

And then about an hour later, drum roll please....
Reserve Color Champion - Full Fleece Huacaya Male
(Out of 25 males ranging in age from 6 months to over 2 years old.

And then on Sunday , we had a wonderful surprise. Mark, Bobby Briones (Terry’s brother), Bear and Merrell (2 other CCC riders) rode into the Monterey Pronk barns, for a visit. They would be stopping just down the coast for the night on this leg of their ride, and invited us out to Lulu’s on the Monterey pier for lunch. I was so into my weekend that I didn’t even know Mark’s schedule this year. So this was such a nice surprise. And timing couldn’t have been better because the judging was just about to stop for a 1-hour lunch break. When judging resumed, we would be the second class to go with the grey girls.

Albeit anti-climatic after Rocky’s wins on Saturday, on Sunday afternoon Lily (2 year grey Female) and Kaitlyn (Yearling grey female) earned a 2nd place, and a 5th place ribbon each, respectively.

All in all, a very respectable performance for Brookfarm and a trip well worth all the preparation and anxiety! Wahoo!!

A Beautiful Rose-Grey Boy Harvest Moonstone ~ “Harvey”

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 22:17:29 -0700

Carmen gave us starts and fits, having lost her mucous plug 10 days earlier. All the humming set us up for several 1-2 hour staring sessions. As Mark put it, “I’m getting tired of staring at Alpaca butts!”

Anticipating Miss Pooh's Cria ~ “Sidian”

Sun, 9 Sep 2007 21:40:23 -0700

We found that the gestation for an alpaca is calculated anywhere from 345 to 350 days. Although the rule of thumb is to take 345, and then allow for 10 days before and 10 days after as a starting point. This we learned from renowned alpaca Vet, Dr. Larue Johnson, in a Neonatal class we took one Saturday in Grass Valley about a month ago. The program was quite informative and pretty scary. The afternoon lab was spent all gloved and aproned up, dealing with a dystocia (difficult birth) by working on dead crias to practice repositioning for a successful and safe birth. And you thought we were in this for fun!☺

So a week ago we did some research to find the breeding dates and date of birth of each of Pooh’s prior crias so we could determine her average gestation. We came up with an average of 350 days. That moved her original due date of September 16th to September 20th. But Debbie had a hard time believing there was that much time left. She noticed Pooh’s udder becoming enlarged about a week ago. Alpacas have virtually no udder at all, just four tiny teets. Although “bagging up” typically can be a sign that something is about to happen, it may also mean nothing.

Then there is the bulging that can occur. Lord knows we saw some bulging occurring. But this usually subsided when Pooh stood up. Debbie told Mark that Pooh would deliver on Sunday, September 9th, just after he left on a trip and then Debbie would be left with all the midwifrey herself!

Saturday, September 8th:
We looked for all the signs we were told to watch for: lack of eating (not Miss Pooh), being stand-offish (nope), rolling to help position the baby (well maybe a little), and lots of humming -- CHECK✔

All day Saturday Pooh hummed. She hummed incessantly. Sarah and Debbie listened to Pooh hum and watched her bulge Saturday evening. Then everyone left, and Debbie and Pooh were all alone with 3 doggies, and 8 other Alpacas.

So Debbie stayed out at the barn until 8pm to listen to the humming, even though she knew that the majority of alpaca births happen somewhere between 7:00 AM and 2:00PM. This they say is genetic from their native lands in high altitudes where nights are freezing. By delivering during daylight, the cria’s damp body will not freeze and has a chance to dry and warm before the night sets in.

So at 8PM Debbie came in the house for a late dinner, but left the barn lights on so she could check on Pooh one more time. At 10Pm everything looked fine and “nothing” was happening.
 Sunday, September 9th:
At 7:00AM Tessa got her breakfast in the barn, like every other morning, and there was still some humming, but not much else going on. So Debbie began to believe Mark and Sarah and relax and let nature take its course. Besides, Pooh wasn’t due to deliver for 2 more weeks or so! So Debbie decided to take care of some business in the house, do some laundry and clean out the fridge. About 2 hours later, Tessa alerted Debbie with her barking. There was Miss Pooh, and her two other pregnant pen-mates Carmen and Miski, standing over Pooh’s black cria, which must have just been delivered because he was still covered in the fine membrane sack that crias are born in.

Dog Days of Summer

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 15:40:02 -0700

Yes, its the dog days of summer and Brookfarm is up and at it!