When the corn is as high as the Sequoia tree in the hen yard....

August has been a busy month here at Windy Hill.  Zurich says she is just watching the show.  LOL!

These lucky girls, Polly and Mary, got to take 3 of their favorite boyfriends and hop a plane to Maui this month.  Polly is particularly interested in learning the Hula and some Hawaiian songs.  She is such a well-rehearsed singer.  Ever since she was a cria she has sung to me every time I put a halter on her.  I understand she is loving Maui. 

The Travel Brochure is what convinced them to go.  This is the view from their accomodations on the slopes of Haleakala.  Trade winds and an ocean view made it particularly appealing to them, as well as the endless supply of green grass.

The boys were very excited about having their own little house in the middle of the pasture.  Mo is dying to learn to surf, but he has had to do some breedings before he can go.  Work before fun.  😎

Just as Dr. Jana was retiring and moving to New Mexico, Dr. Katie Nenneker arrived on the scene!  We are so thrilled to have her available to treat our alpacas.  I've already learned some new tricks from her.  What a sweetie. And she tells me that in the next month or so, they will have a small animal  mobile vet in their practice as well.  That is music to my ears with LGD's and other pets here at the ranch.

Dr. Nenn's truck was designed by her firefighter husband.  It has all the bells and whistles, like it's own generator and water supply, so she can even go to remote locations with no services available.  It's pretty cool.

This last week we needed to x-ray an alpaca's jaw.  It was very exciting to watch as Dr. Nenn and her assistant Kim did an x-ray in the chute, and then seconds later, we were able to see it appear on the screen in clear detail.  What an amazing picture! You can see sinuses and tooth sockets and all kinds of stuff!

Because the picture was so clear, we were able to determine that the tooth root abscess had not cleared up completely and needs an additional round of antibiotics.  I'm still amazed-- it was so simple!

This week I want to highlight Scarlett-- the oldest alpaca on the ranch.  Scarlett is officially 24 years old!  She wins all the awards for Oldest Alpaca at Windy Hill.  She has her own pasture--not because she needs it, but because she wanted it.  I put her in with her usual buddies and she crawled through the fence to have her very own space.  She gets baths and extra feed in the morning, because as she says, she deserves it.  Good Girl, Scarlett!

Here are some red, white and blue flowers for the Labor Day Holiday.  💗

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

RUG BRAIDING CLASS 

This coming Saturday, 

September 12

9:30 - 12

$45 per person, 

all materials included.

Join us to learn to braid alpaca rug yarn. 

 Teacher Alyssa Hamilton will show us how to make a 13" chair pad.  

Once you get the hang of it you can make round and oval rugs for your home or for sale.

They are so comfy to stand and sit on!

RSVP to Alyssa Hamilton-- 805-443-7160

We still have about 6 crias be born.  Although I have enjoyed Cria Season this year and love all the babies, it will be relaxing not to start each day with wondering which mom is going into labor and what we can expect from them.

Here is Nancy holding her new little girl, Gertrude.  Nancy leased Italia last summer and now has her very own beautiful cria!  Gertrude was her grandmother's name.  

Congratulations, Nancy!

Kelly and John bought Peppy not long ago, and here is Kelly with her new baby girl, By the Dawn's Early Light, AKA Dawn.  This is a beautiful outcome from Peppy and Admiral.  Look for her at the shows next spring!

Here are Gerald and Colette with their new baby, Wait For A Miracle.  Miracle is a well-earned name.  

When her mama went into labor a couple of weeks ago, Tracy and I became concerned that she wasn't making enough progress in her labor for the amount of time it had been.  I got a glove and some lube and went in to investigate.  I discovered a situation that I had dreaded for 20 years.  I found 2 hocks and a tail instead of a nose and 2 sets of toes.  It was a tail-first breach.

Add to that the combination of Dr. Jana just having left town and Dr. Nenn being on vacation and it because the Perfect Birthing Storm.

We had a good team, though.  Tracy held mama's head while I got my clean glove on.  I thought through all the training over the years on what to do, then put my arm in and set about to push the baby back into the uterus so that there was enough room to get the legs turned around, one at a time.  After I had the legs out, I handed them to Don and said, "Pull and don't stop!"  He had to give it everything he had, but he got her out AND SHE WAS BREATHING!  We gave her CPR and mouth to mouth, and she started to breathe well on her own.  It was truly a miracle!

See Miracle swimming on YouTube!

Don and Ellie made a quick transport trip to Northern California a week ago.  They stopped at Ellie's brother's house to go fishing, then on to Grenada to pick up 3 alpacas for Helen (see her pick up vehicle below) and to Alpacas of El Dorado to pick up the 3 girls I left for breeding in the spring.  We are very excited about the outside breedings and new bloodlines.  The girls were glad to see the green, green grass of home, and Helen was thrilled to have her first alpacas! It was a great trip.  Tracy and I stayed home on Cria Watch. We had 2 while they were gone, but none so dramatic as Miracle.  (Whew!)

Sometimes in the summer when the corn is high, mamas get tired of standing on demand for feeding.  Wayra and Weimea worked out a compromise. LOL

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND 

from all  of us at Alpacas at Windy Hill!