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Say hello to our newest addition, Becca!  Our good friends at Sleeping Monk Farm are retiring and selling their herd. We learned a lot from owners Sue and Bob about alpaca genetics over the years and their 27 years of breeding for "fineness of fiber". So, when Sue approached us about acquiring Becca, it didn't take long for us to decide to bring her home knowing she will contribute nicely to our program of producing high quality fleece. It just so happens that she is Pepper's cousin, which was the "icing on the cake," and we are excited to welcome her into our herd. Becca is now the youngest member of our herd. She's two months younger than Indie, who turned two in July, and Rocky will turn two on September 4. Becca will turn two on September 11 this year. Now that she's here on the farm, we're just starting to get to know each other -- so we don't know her full personality, just yet. But she is already showing signs of a sweet, curious, and gentle temperament - and she is eating from our hands already, which she hasn't done previously, according to Sue. We're excited to see her blossom. Since she's just arrived, she's exploring her new home, learning our daily routine, getting to know new herd mates, and watching the barn cats and chickens with great curiosity. In the meantime, please enjoy the below video of her arrival on the farm There will be updates on her progress on YouTube, so be sure to subscribe to our channel to keep tabs on her.
Our farm tour season will be winding down at the end of September, and we still have a few openings available. If you're local, we'd love to introduce you to Becca.
2 Comments
I admit the headline is an exaggeration, but what happened last night could have caused significant damage to the alpaca’s hay supply if I had not caught it when I did. And it was a chain of events that led me to discover the stupid mistakes I made, too. New England just completed a four-day heat wave in the 90s, and the weather going forward is looking comfortable in the 70s and 80s with no humidity. The alpacas were enjoying the balmy temps and spent all day grazing in their pastures. It truly was an ideal day! So, yesterday seemed like a good day to wash and hang dry our comforter that’s been on the bed up until the heat wave.  Baxter, Rocky, and Ace enjoying the summer day It’s also been consistently warm in the evenings (60 - 70s), so it’s typical for the alpacas to spend the night in front of the fans, and last night didn't seem like it would be any different, so I didn’t bother to check my weather app to confirm. This was my first mistake. During the summer, I do a couple of paddock check-ins before going to bed: The first check-in is around 7:30 - 7:45 p.m. (as the sun is setting earlier now), to make sure all the chickens are in their coop for the night, I collect the alpacas’ feed buckets, top off hay racks, and water buckets one last time. The second check-in I do around 8:30 - 8:45 p.m., to secure the barn cats’ kitty door and do a final walk-through to observe the herd to make sure everyone is all set. And last night, I disrupted that order. That was my second mistake. During the 7:45 pm check-in, I put the chickens in their coop and went back into the house so we could finish the 'whodunit' mystery we were watching figuring I'll take care of the rest later. Well, I didn't make it back outside until after 9:00 pm, and I was very tired. I latched the kitty door in the barn and moved on to the paddock. I noticed it was much cooler outside (I had on a light jacket) and only two alpacas (Razzie and Genny) were near the fans, while the rest were scattered throughout the paddock, but I kept all the fans on anyway thinking the temperature wasn't really going to change. I gathered the alpacas' feed buckets, brought them into the barn, and decided to skip the hay, and just top off the one water bucket nearest the barn. I took one last look around to survey the herd and went to bed. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. feeling chilled. The temperature had dropped to 55 degrees, and our lightweight blanket wasn't keeping me warm. I was cursing myself for not putting the comforter in the dryer last night (it was still hanging outside), as I put on a pair of socks and grabbed another lightweight blanket in hopes to warm up. It was in that moment that it dawned on me that the fans were still on and now pushing cold air around. Now wide awake, I decided to get up, go out to the barn and turn off the fans. We won't be out there for another 3-4 hours to do barn chores, and there was no point in keeping the fans running because none of the alpacas would be in front of them. I put on a fleece pullover and the nearest shoes I could find and walked out to the barn, turned on the lights, and entered the paddock. Sure enough, every alpaca was kushed outside on the ground, under the stars in the cool night air. I turned off the fans in both the boys and girls' paddocks and walked back inside the barn, and that's when I noticed it. A large dark mass on the floor surrounded the hose reel and appeared to be span across the discarded hay-ridden floor towards our hay storage. Taking it all in, my brain was trying to understand what I was looking at when I noticed our water hydrant was still in the 'on' position. I had forgotten to turn it off when I topped off the one water bucket at 9:00 pm. Ugh!! The water nozzle at the end of the hose has a steady drip, so when it's off, we keep the end of the hose in a 4-inch-deep pan to collect any runoff -- and now it was overflowing. I quickly turned off the hydrant and grabbed a push broom to clean any contaminated hay on the floor away from the stacked bales and saw the waves of water I created as I pushed the hay into piles. Next, I got an empty water bucket and shovel and scooped as much water as I could collect so that the floor would dry out.  When I finished, it only amounted to about 5 gallons of water. So in the big scale of things, it wasn't as bad as it seemed at first, but it definitely would have gotten worse if I hadn't gone out to turn off the fans. So a crisis was averted: the stacked hay bales were saved from disaster (phew!), and I promised myself not to break the evening routine for the sake of an unsolved mystery (because we fell asleep and didn't find out who the killer was). |
Concerns / Returns / Exchanges / Refund policy
Concerns
Please contact us by email regarding any concerns. We appreciate the opportunity to correct any errors we made.
Granite State Alpacas is not responsible for any manufacturer's defects.
Exchanges
If you wish to exchange an item, the item must be in its original condition as it was at the time of purchase. Alpaca socks & insoles are not eligible for exchanges if they have been worn or tried on.
Returns & Refunds
You may return a purchased item to us with proof of purchase within 14 days. The item must be in the same condition as when purchased (i.e., new & unused) to qualify for a refund.
Socks & insoles are not eligible for a return/exchange if they have been worn or tried on.
You are responsible for the return shipping costs of the returned item. Once the returned item is received and confirmed to be in its original condition, you will be refunded the purchase price of the item.
Returns after 14 days are not accepted.
Concerns
Please contact us by email regarding any concerns. We appreciate the opportunity to correct any errors we made.
Granite State Alpacas is not responsible for any manufacturer's defects.
Exchanges
If you wish to exchange an item, the item must be in its original condition as it was at the time of purchase. Alpaca socks & insoles are not eligible for exchanges if they have been worn or tried on.
Returns & Refunds
You may return a purchased item to us with proof of purchase within 14 days. The item must be in the same condition as when purchased (i.e., new & unused) to qualify for a refund.
Socks & insoles are not eligible for a return/exchange if they have been worn or tried on.
You are responsible for the return shipping costs of the returned item. Once the returned item is received and confirmed to be in its original condition, you will be refunded the purchase price of the item.
Returns after 14 days are not accepted.
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