Fall Outlook

It was great being home this summer, as I could do tons of things with the llamas whenever I wanted!  It won't be nearly as easy this fall now that I'm back in Michigan for school, but I'm going to do my best to keep going with llama shows and fiber events!

First on the calendar is LamaFest, which is this coming weekend!  It is held at the MSU Pavilion: Friday evening and all day Saturday and Sunday.  I won't be able to actually show a llama this year, but I'll be around Saturday to help with the fiber show and walking fiber.  It's a great show, if you're in the Lansing area you should check it out!

Annie and Ralph at the 2011 LamaFest show.

Next is the Shelby County Pioneer Fair back home in Shelbyville, IN.  It is being held at the fairgrounds in town, Sept. 15-16.  I'll be there (in costume!) spinning on a walking wheel and selling some of my handcrafted fiber items.  There will be lots of things to see and do (hand's on stuff for kids too!), so stop by and say hi!

A example of the handknit items that I will be selling at the Pioneer Fair.  I'll also have handspun yarn and handwoven rugs and scarves.

The next Saturday after that is the Meridian Township Heritage Festival in Okemos, MI.  It's actually a lot like the Pioneer Fair (not quite as cool, but at least they're trying!).  Once again I'll be there spinning (not in 1800s clothing though) and selling fiber items.  The farmer's market is also being held at the same time, so it's a great Saturday event!

My set-up at the Meridian Township Craft Marketplace last summer.

October 13 is the first of two llama shows for the fall (where I actually get to show llamas that is!).  A local 4-H club is putting on a double ILR-SD llama show (halter and performance) in Crawfordsville.  I'm planning on bringing the boys (Ralph and T), as well as debuting Kara in the show ring for the first time!  Hopefully I can find some time to work with her on the obstacle course and get her pack trained...she has a great performance personality!

Let's hope Kara poses this well in her halter class at the shows!

And last but not least is the North American International Livestock Expo in Louisville, KY, Nov. 2-4. This is one of my all-time favorite llama shows, and I'm so glad I get to go again this year!  It's been at least 6-7 years since I've shown there!  This one's a little more expensive, so I'm just taking Ralph and Kara.  Kara probably won't be as good of a showmanship partner as T would be, but I'd rather show Ralph in open alpaca performance!  Either way it will be a great show!

The last time I took a young cria to show at the NAILE.  This is Autumn Hill's Charity at just over 5 months of age, and she did quite well!  I hope Kara will do just as good!

So that's a bit of what's going on in my neck of the woods this fall...what are your plans?

I also have a lot of fiber projects in mind to work on this fall.  I have at least 3 knitting projects that I need to finish before Christmas, and I have 2 sweaters (one with handspun yarn that also needs to be spun!) that I want to knit!  Plus a big tapestry weaving project that also needs handspun yarn!  I'm going to be busy, but it should be fun!

Two of the "donors" of fur for my tapestry weaving project...it is all natural dog fur!

FOR SALE: Overman Bluff N Fluff

It's sad to have to do this, but the time has come to look for a new home for Bluff.  The herd is moving to central NY next spring/summer, and I have to downsize as much as possible.  I'm keeping Bluff's gorgeous daughter, Kara, to carry on the legacy in my future breeding herd.

Bluff at ~6 months of age (Fall 2006).

Bluff is definitely one of the coolest llamas I've ever purchased, and she is still one of my favorites on the farm.  I bought her in 2008 from Doug Overman of Overman Llamas in Otterbein, IN.  She was only halter trained, but she had a very calm disposition and I knew she would be easy to train.

Bluff at ~1 year of age (Spring 2007).

A family friend showed Bluff at her first show (Kentuckiana Classic) just a month after we purchased her, and Bluff placed 2nd in a very competitive halter class.

Bluff in April 2008.

A couple of months after that I showed Bluff for the first time at the Allen Co. Open show, where she placed 1st and Grand Champion in halter!  I was over the moon!  We also went to the Ohio State Fair, where she placed 2nd in her first Novice performance class!

Bluff and I in Adult Showmanship at the 2008 Ohio State Fair.

Shortly before the Allen Co. show we bred Bluff for the first time (to MRLF Ridge Runner- our ALSA Halter Champion herdsire at the time), and Bluff entered the "mom" portion of her life.  In June 2009 she gave birth to Autumn Hill's Rainier, who has since gone on to win Champions in halter and place in many competitive Novice performance classes with his new owner.

Bluff and Rainier at the 2009 Indiana State Fair.

Bluff and Rainier getting ready for the costume class.  Bluff is the one covered from head to toe!

Rainier at ~2 months of age (Summer 2009).

We bred Bluff back to Ridge later that fall, and in October 2010 she delivered Autumn Hill's Iliamna (aka Lily).  Lily was almost perfect in every way, and it was devastating when we lost her to a cruel dog attack at just 3 months of age.

Lily and Bluff, Fall 2010.

Desperate for a Bluff/Ridge baby to keep for myself, we bred Bluff back to Ridge one more time, and Autumn Hill's Karakoram (aka Kara) was born this past April (2012).  She is even more colorful than her two full siblings, and I hope she matures just as well as Rainier has!  She shows a lot of potential, and has her mom's fabulous personality.

Kara and Bluff, Spring 2012.

Kara and Bluff, Spring 2012.

As much as I hate to see her go, Bluff deserves to be more than a pasture ornament.  She has an extremely friendly personality, and would make a great Public Relations llama.  You can touch her anywhere, and she isn't spooked by large crowds or loud noises.  She would also make a wonderful 4-H or open show llama.  She's already obstacle, pack, and costume trained, and would have potential as a driving llama.  With a little bit of practice she would be amazing!  And with all of the gorgeous crias she has produced, Bluff also would make a great breeding female.  She has good conformation, huge stature, and tons of presence.  Her fiber is gorgeous and she passes on her sweet personality.

Bluff, Winter 2008.

So you can decide...what could Bluff bring to your herd?  I'm asking only $500 for Bluff, which is much less than what she is worth, especially with her training.  And to the right home, I would even consider lowering her price.  She is a one-of-a-kind llama, and deserves to have a home that can appreciate that!  Visit our Facebook page, or call (317-979-2669) or email (llamapyr 25 @ earthlink.net) (get rid of the spaces!) for more information on this gorgeous girl!

And last but definitely not least...her bloodlines.  Her sire is MSF Ringmaster...a Tuna Catcher son from the famous Mark Smith Llama Farm!  Her dam is a beautiful white Chilean girl, who throws a lot of gorgeous female crias!

Bluff's sire, MSF Ringmaster.

Bluff's dam, Chilean Fluff & Buff.

Final Touches on State Fair Projects!

The battle is finally over... my state fair projects have been turned in!

I was better this year than most, I decided it was better to cut down on the number of projects that I entered rather than go overboard.  I entered 6 skeins of yarn and 4 knit projects.  My angora yarn looks rather shabby, but the other skeins look pretty good!  And I absolutely love how my knit projects turned out.

Felted llama.

Knit angel, after starching and before assembly.

Now I get to start prepping for the llama portion of the fair, and get back to knitting other stuff!  The llama show at the Indiana State Fair is next weekend, August 3-5.  We'll be there with 4 of 6 llamas!

Skin Issues

Skin issues are not uncommon with llamas and alpacas.  Over the years we've seen our share...bare noses, scrapes and small sores, bare spots on the legs, etc.  Usually they're not anything to worry about, but it is important to watch for warning signs of infection or parasitism before choosing a treatment.

This spring I noticed two of our girls with small skin issues.  Bluff has two little spots of elephant skin on the "armpits" of her front legs.  They're not red or inflamed at all, just dry.

April  has developed quite a few bald spots on the bottoms of her legs (where the hair is short).  Again there is no sign of infection or parasites, and the skin underneath looks completely normal.  I have a feeling it is just a symptom of old age (she turned 18 yrs old in April), but I decided to try and get the hair to regrow anyway.

The dark spot in the middle is Bluff's elephant skin spot.

The pink spots are bare skin on April's back legs.

Big bare spot on the bottom of April's back leg.

I did a bit of research, and came up with a few key ingredients that I wanted to put in my "skin mix".  Vitamin E oil, tea tree oil, and MTG (a commercial horse liquid skin product) made the list.  I also ended up adding in some udder balm (for cows) and natural diaper cream (for babies).  Between them, ingredients include zinc oxide, lanolin, oils, and moisturizers.  I decided to make 2 different mixes...a liquid that I could spray on April's legs, and a cream that I could rub on Bluff's "armpits".  The liquid was mostly the MTG with a bit of vitamin E and tea tree oils; the cream was mostly the udder balm and diaper cream with some vitamin E and tea tree oils.

My ingredients.

I haven't been very good about applying the products to the llamas so far, so I can't really comment on their effectiveness, but they are easy to apply!  I'm hoping to see good results by the end of the summer.  Now I need to make up more of the liquid mix...I've run out already!

Abby Update!

It's been awhile since I've talked about Abby!  She's very much enjoying being home with my parents' 4 other dogs.  She was also enjoying having a huge backyard to run around in at night and on the weekends...that is until she started eating/getting stung by bees/wasps and we found out that she's allergic!  On 2 different occasions, we looked out in the yard to see a very swollen Abby...not good!  We rushed her to the emergency vet clinic (~20 minutes away), where they gave her injectable benadryl and steroids to bring down the swelling in her face and throat.  So now Abby doesn't get to go outside in the summer unsupervised...  We've since seen her chase flies around the house, so its pretty easy to understand how she would get stung by bees!

An important note for dog owners...if your dog shows signs of an allergic reaction, you can force feed them liquid benadryl...same dose as you would for a child.  **Disclaimer: I'm not a vet!**

Abby, AFTER the benadryl and steroids!  It looked worse!  Both eyes were completely swelled shut!

I think I've mentioned this in the past, but Abby and I are taking a dog agility class this summer (along with my mom and her Australian Shepherd Kaya).  We've had 3 classes now, and Abby is doing pretty good for the youngest pup in the class!

We've been working on a lot of basics, including agility heeling (the dog should follow the handler, on either side), lining up on either side of the handler, learning to target with their nose and feet, and standing on a perch.  Heeling and lining up isn't much fun to practice, but Abby loves the perch game!  I've taught her to put just her front 2 feet on the foot stool in our living room, and also to sit completely on top of it.  Next step is to get just the back 2 feet on the stool.

"Front Feet!"

We had to start by getting Abby to completely sit on the larger foot stool, then work down to the smaller one.  Now she will completely sit on the small stool.

As far as real obstacles go, we've learned the tunnel, raised plank, a short dogwalk, and a ladder.  During the last class, we even got to do a mock course of 5 obstacles.  They went over the raised plank, over "jump bumps" (practice jumps that are on the ground, not raised), and through tunnels.  Abby did both runs off lead...the first was almost perfect but she got spooked a bit by a new tunnel the second round and it took a second try to get her through it.  But she did great!  Mom is going to borrow a few llama obstacles (the ladder and raised plank) for the dogs to practice in the back yard this summer.  We're also going to buy one of those pop-up laundry baskets (like they sell for college dorms) and cut the bottom out of it to make a tunnel!

The ladder and raised plank that we're going to borrow for the dogs to practice on.

Hot, Hot, HOT!!!

It is absolutely miserable here at our farm in central Indiana.  The llamas are definitely not happy with the heat!

Bluff gets really miserable in the heat.  Its not uncommon to find her open-mouth breathing when it is over 90F, even if she's laying in front of a fan.  And it seems to be genetic...poor little Kara is not happy either.  Luckily she has developed quite a taste for electrolytes in the water!

Kara does love her water!

Getting a big drink!

Electrolyte lips have replaced milk lips!

If you've got animals, be really careful and watch them like a hawk.  We're hosing down the llamas every 2-3 hours when possible, and making sure they have tons of fresh water.  The fans are on full blast, and we put hay in the barn to keep them inside rather than grazing outside.

The main herd in the barn.  From L-R: Duque, Ralph, T, and Bluff.  (Kara's behind Bluff, April's in her own pen for a few weeks.)

Luckily no one has shown any serious symptoms of heat stress, but Bluff is showing weird symptoms due to a lack of exercise.  She's developed edema in front of her udder and between her back legs.  We opened up one of our extra pastures last night to encourage her and the rest of the herd to graze out there at night while its cool.

Bluff's edema swelling in front of her udder.

We've got 1 more day of hot weather to come (106F tomorrow!), but then it hopefully will cool down, at least to the high 80s.

Llama Biography #6: Little May Flowers

I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures when I'm out doing things with the llamas, but I'm really going to try harder!  Until I have some cool new pictures to talk about, I'll share another of our wonderful llamas with you.

Little May Flowers, Spring 2005.

The sixth llama to join our herd was Little May Flowers, aka May.  She was the first cria born on our farm.  April (Alder Crest April Showers) gave birth to May on May 9th, 2000.  We came home after school that night and found May laying in the poop pile!  She started off looking a little rough, but she quickly grew into a gorgeous little girl.  She had the most gorgeous fiber too!

Little May Flowers, Summer 2000.

May's dam, Alder Crest April Showers.

May's sire, Taj's California Sun.

May wearing a bandana, Summer 2000.

May's gorgeous locked fiber, Spring 2005.

May was also the first cria that I got to train from the very beginning.  Luckily I had learned a lot about training with Sheba, so May got off to a good start.  Once May was a year old, I showed her in 4-H and open shows.  We did pretty well together, especially the second year.

May's first show, Spring 2001.  We won Showmanship!

May's first show, wearing her gypsy costume.  We won the class too!

May and I at the 2002 Indy Open show.  We won Showmanship and placed well in performance.

Another costume...May was such a good sport!  Summer 2002.

May and I after winning Showmanship at the 2002 Indiana State Fair!

May and I at the 2002 Great Lakes Regional.  We were 2nd in Showmanship!

Once May was 2.5 yrs old, we decided to retire her from showing and let her be a mom.  We bred her to a beautiful white male (SHAG Guido), and 11 months later she gave us a little boy, Autumn Hill's Blazing Starr.  May wasn't real sure about being a mom for a few days and we had to bottle feed Blaze, but she caught on eventually.  Blaze went on to grow into one of the nicest crias we've ever had.  His little sister gave him a run for his money though!  Autumn Hill's Trillium, sired by our (then) new herdsire Randallama's Cherokee, was a fabulous little girl.  We bred May one more time, this time to our younger herdsire, AAL Navarro.  We were a little disappointed with the resulting cria, Autumn Hill's Camissia, but she grew up quite nice.  Shortly after Camissia was born, we sold May and Camissia to be alpaca guards.  May was bred back to Cherokee, and had another gorgeous little boy.  I'm still sad that I sold her!

May's first cria, Autumn Hill's Blazing Starr.  Winter 2003.

May's second cria, Autumn Hill's Trillium.  Fall 2005.

May and Trillium.  Talk about a carbon copy!

May's third cria, Autumn Hill's Camissia.

May and her final cria.