Sunday 7 September 2014

Jet -The Greedy Alpaca


Jet is a lovely Alpaca who is completely in love with food.  She's always the first to the feeding troughs and is always pushing to the front to be hand fed.  I noticed the last few evenings that the hen food feeder had been tipped over and all the feed had been eaten.  I wondered what or who it was that could be knocking it over, well yesterday morning I realised exactly who it was......  I had fed the Alpaca and the hens and went inside for some breakfast, I watched to see Jet walk around to the hen food, I didn't see her knock the feeder over but went to check and sure enough, she was eating the hen food after knocking over the feeder.

This morning I moved the feeder under the hen shelter (pic below) and this was jet trying to work out how she was going to get her fill !   She was looking for ages before finally giving up....... 


Thursday 14 August 2014

Amira - What a beauty


This is the youngest of our herd, Amira.  



Being Followed


This is Eclipse following me as I wander off while talking on the phone.


Premiere - What a handsome fellow.


This is Premiere, we think he is just a stunner, but then we would wouldn't we!







Not only is he good looking, he really enjoys being tickled on the chin and behind his ears :


Herd Photo

Eden Valley Alpacas - Group Photo

from left to right:

Amira, Bonita, Blanche, Premier, Eclipse & Jet. :-)




Thursday 31 July 2014

Eden Valley 'Amira' is born

This is 'Amira' who was born on Monday morning.  It was quite an interesting birth for me because it was all head and no legs to begin with, that is until I decided I would intervene.  I called the vet but by the time she arrived, which wasn't too long later, everything was fine and no veterinary assistance was required.  Very pleased with myself.  A big thank you must go to Barbara from Beck Brow Alpacas, who gave support and advice, much appreciated.  






Wednesday 25 June 2014

Eden Valley 'Eclipse' is born

This is 'Eclipse', born this morning.  She is feeding well and mum (Jet) is also doing well.  Jet did an amazing job of giving birth in the field and it wasn't long before Eclipse was running round.  We're looking forward to watching how she plays with 'Premier' who is now a week old.



Wednesday 18 June 2014

Eden Valley Alpacas - First Newborn 'Premiére' Arrives


Well, Eden Valley Alpacas has got it's very first newborn,  this little fella 'Premiére' was born at 8:15am this morning and is so far doing well.  I fed the girls this morning and said that Blanche's teats were looking full so perhaps the arrival would be today or tomorrow, I was then just about to about to leave for work when Gemma shouted "Dad, either Blanche is giving birth or she's going to poo in the shelter!" which for our girls would be a bad thing because they are very clean and very particular about toileting in the same place 'outside' the shelter.  We went to have a look and the legs appeared, quickly followed by the head.  It didn't take long before he was out. What an experience and I felt just as nervous as when the kids were being born!

It's been a bit of a strange day with him having to be bottle fed colostrum, because Blanche's teats were protected by wax, this was sorted with a little help from Beck Brow Alpacas - thank you so much Barbara.  Here's hoping that he finds Blanche's milk bar very soon.







Wednesday 28 May 2014

The Whites come to visit

This is me with my niece Mia, topping the field, we wanted to get it done before the weather turned.  This was Mia's first ever tractor ride!  Having alpacas is turning into a lot of fun......







Eden Valley Alpacas, First Shearing Experience


The first picture below is Blanche being Sheared for the first time at Eden Valley Alpacas.  Lets just say she didn't enjoy anything about the process!  

When the shearer turned up just as the light was fading, we weren't sure what to expect.  The two guys were very efficient and had obviously got their routine fine tuned.  They worked very well together and after setting up their trailer they proceeded to manhandle our girls one at a time onto the shearing board which was resting on the back the trailer as seen in the picture.  The legs were restrained and the shearing/toe clipping commenced.   

There was quite a lot of spitting going on but we managed to escape unscathed.  Jet was quite calm throughout the ordeal but Bonita and Blanche were clearly not happy at all.





Below are the girls this morning, looking very different, we now have over 5kg of Alpaca fleece to sort out and as we're new to the whole business I'm trying to find out what's the best thing - any advice would be welcome.




Saturday 24 May 2014


Gemma and I testing the new topper



Our Girls



Close up of Jet


Wednesday 16 April 2014

Another Lazy Morning at Eden Valley Alpacas


The girls are relaxing after their breakfast.  The hens stay near them most of the time now, running back to their coop to lay their eggs or grab a mouthful of corn.  It's really funny to see them running and they can pick up some speed.




Tractor Arriving

Well, when you have a few Alpacas, there are a few things you may need, a Tractor being one of them.  Here is our new (very old) one arriving, with me at the wheel.


Matthew helped by opening the gates.


Then there was all the mud to get through.



Saturday 5 April 2014

Lazy Saturday Morning


The girls having a morning nap. They do look funny when they have their heads down.



Sunday 30 March 2014

Feeding the girls Apples



We were sitting in the conservatory enjoying the wonderful sunshine while watching the girls, Jet, Blanche and Bonita playing and rolling around in the field. Gemma started to wonder if Alpacas liked apples, she thought that Barbara (Beck Brow Alpacas) had said that they did.  A quick google confirmed that it was worth try.

As always, Jet is always the first to be interested in food


Followed closely by Blanche


Who quite liked the taste of apple! 





Thursday 27 March 2014


Sunset over Eden Valley Alpacas, what a glorious sight, even if I do say so myself. :-)

Morning Meeting



Here are the girls this morning, having been fed they obviously felt the need to have a get together and discuss what's on the agenda for the day...........

Monday 10 March 2014

Feeding Time


Feeding in the shelter


What a glorious day here at Eden Valley Alpacas, it's nice to feel some warmth from the sun.  Jet, Bonita and Blanche are certainly enjoying the dry weather.  Here's a picture of the girls being fed in the shelter this evening after running across the field. 

Saturday 8 March 2014

The Hens move in!

The hen house is now in the field behind the Alpaca Shelter


Today we moved the hens from our back garden into the field, we wanted them to have a much wider area to roam because their pen had become very muddy due to the rain this winter.  The Alpacas seem to be scared of them.  We hear that they are good at keeping foxes away so we hope they understand what their new role is.  We are just hoping that they know where home is tonight when it gets dark........

Our Alpacas, Jet, Blanche and Bonita are settling in well, we moved them into the 'other' side of the field this week and they've enjoyed exploring.  They are closer to our house and our neighbors.  They seem to like watching what's going on.

They're enjoying the recent sunshine and are often caught rolling around, something that is quite funny to watch.




Thursday 6 February 2014

Escape!

Today we had our very first alpaca escape, when Jet managed to get on the wrong side of the field.

The field we keep the alpacas in is split in half, and the alpacas are in one side. We left the gate separating the two halves open, while we went to check they were okay before going back inside. Only Jet spotted the open gate, and sprinted out.

To get her back in, first we tried herding her with our bodies. That really didn't work. Then we tried a bucket of food. That worked a little better, but still she wouldn't come too close to us. Next we went to get a long stretch of rope, to try and herd her in. She kept trying to come under the rope! But eventually we got her back through the gate.

I think we learnt our lesson - Always close gates!

By the way, Jet is fine, only every time someone is near the gate she'll run over to you. I guess she wants to go to the other side again!


Monday 3 February 2014

Welcome!

Today, we had exciting new arrivals into the family - Alpacas! We own 3, Bozedown Bonita, Bozedown Blanche and Ardo Jet, from Beck Brow Alpacas.

They arrived this morning, and after shepherding them into the field with rope, they started to take in their new field.


Bozedown Blanche, standing guard.
Blanche seemed to step into the role of matriarch, watching over the others whilst they feed and explore. Once she had gone into the field shelter, the others were happy enough to follow.
Bozedown Bonita posing for the camera.

But she does look a bit confused here! 


Bonita loves her carrots! It took her a while to eat out of our hands, but once she did, she was fine around us. She's really quite sweet, and calm, and seems to like Jet a lot.

Ardo Jet, looking very cute.
Jet didn't look fussed at all about the move! She was the first to eat a carrot out of your hand, and didn't mind you going near her. It seemed that Jet was following Bonita around tonight; when we went out tonight to check they were okay, they were lying right next to each other. When you go to hand feed another alpaca Jet will come over and catch you off guard, sticking her head in the bucket!

Hopefully they'll be more settled tomorrow, after spending another day with us!

Eden Alpacas