December 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Christmas, Snow, Weaning

Decorations are up and preparations are made for our annual Christmas event. Christmas Time Gathering, Saturday, December 6, 2008 10 am – 5 pm, here at the farm. It’s a great time to meet the alpacas or see how much the cria have grown since you were here last. Check out the new product available for Christmas gifts. We have jackets in stock along with all the awesome items that we normally have like sweaters, hats, scarves and capes.

November 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

It's a Tie, Preparation, and Fibre

Our cria race is over and it’s a tie with seven girls and seven boys. Our nine spring cria were made up of five girls Vaunne, Willow, Xaquita, Yasmin and Zoe, and four boys Ashton, Zohan, Yanni and Xavier. The five fall cria were two girls, Alexis and Brooke, and three boys, Vincent, Windsor and Usairis.

October 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Lindsay Fair, Cria, Manure, Thanksgiving, Deliveries

Wow, what great weather we had for the fair! We had a change in plans and left the alpacas at home this year, I am sure they appreciated that. Our booth was well attended anyway with our entire product line on display as well as educational panels and a slide show of this years’ cria. Thanks to all who came by to say hi and also do some shopping. I am sure we will see many of you at the farm before Christmas as well.

September 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Events, Cria, Manure, Jobs

We launch into September at a run with the start of our fall schedule of events and farm activities. Preparations for the Lindsay Central Exhibition have started; who do we take, what inventory, new displays and information, booth layout and location all need to be considered.

August 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Luxury, Quality, Special Sale

Alpaca fibre is up to eight times warmer than sheep’s wool, can be soft as cashmere and comes in 22 natural colours. Simply stated it is AWESOME! Alpaca fibre is also highly receptive to dyes and holds colour extremely well. We have knitted goods from mitts and gloves to sweaters and coats, and everything in between, available in both natural and dyed colours. Over the years we have made many of our products and also rely on other sources including local crafts people and a women’s co-operative in Peru that supply us with many of our 100% alpaca, hand knit, natural colour articles.

July 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Gender Race, Breeding, Heat

The spring cria race is over with the girls in the lead five to four. The race will be continued in September with five more births due. We finished going A to Z with the girls using Vaunne, Willow, Xaquita, Yasmin and Zoe. The boys have finished Z to A and started over again with Ashton, Zohan, Yanni and Xavier. Three cria were born on the same day, a first for our farm, it was exciting and exhausting. So far, the cria have weighed in from 17 to 26 pounds each and are; solid white, white with markings, solid black and fawns. They are all entertaining to watch as they play with each other and with us.

June 2008
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Race, Names, Fleece

The race is on as the cria births have started and so far it’s a tie with one male and one female. However, the boys have completed the alphabet from Z to A with Ashton as the 2008 male. The girls are not far behind going from A to Z with Vaunne as the 2008 female. There are still 11 more due so the race could go to either gender. No matter what, the outcome watching a cria hit the ground running, happy and healthy is still as awe inspiring as it was eight years ago.

May 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Ribbon, Naked, Manure

We are celebrating! Arbor Mist Bar, or T-Bar, took 2nd place in his class at the Alpaca Ontario Annual Show held in Orangeville in April. He was very well behaved and showed well.

Shearing has begun so drive by to see the many naked alpacas grazing in the fields. We have done our shearing early to avoid heat stress. This also gives us the opportunity to observe activity of the cria prior to birth. It is amazing how much easier it is to shear when the animals are totally dry.

April 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Show Time

The weekend of April 11-13 is the Alpaca Ontario Annual Show, held at the Orangeville Fairgrounds. This show is open to the public, with free admittance, both Saturday and Sunday. This is a great opportunity to see many top quality alpacas on show. Judging is based on fibre quality, colour, fineness and consistency through the coat as well as confirmation. Classes are divided by gender, colour and age, starting as young as six months. We are preparing to take just one alpaca this year, although we have participated since the very first show in 2002 and brought home ribbons every year.

March 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

We have been busy moving all of the snow away from the barn in order to avoid flooding when it thaws. The alpacas have also been busy with fleece growth and, upon closer inspection we have noticed that some are in need of toenail trimming so that will be next on our agenda.

February 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Yes, alpacas spit!

Usually an alpaca will spit when threatened or in defence of its space, typically at each other but I have been caught in the cross fire from time to time.

There are times when you hope an alpaca will spit, particularly a female.

January 2008
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Hum, Hum, Hum

‘Tis the season of snow, rain, sleet, freezing temperatures and humming alpacas. We have started our weaning of the 2007 cria so there is a little more humming than usual going on in the barn. The dams seem relieved to have the little ones out from underfoot and now they can put their energy into regained weight and strength for the 2008 cria.

December 2007
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Winter Preparation

The poly panels are in place, providing the girls with a bright area in the barn while blocking the wind, blowing snow and driving rain. The rubber floor mats will give some insulation from the cement floor and with a little extra hay out they can snuggle in on cold nights and munch away at the same time. Heated buckets guarantee the availability of drinkable water.

November 2007
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We would like to thank all of the special people who have helped with this years project, fencing. The posts to the north of the barn are in and we are now working on the wire. We are installing a non-climb 2”x4”x6’ perimeter fence, in order to protect the alpacas from outside threats, with 4’ interior fence to give us better field rotation and more secure areas for those growing boys who are very interested in the flirting females on the other side of the fence. We have dealt with all kinds of weather while doing this. The ground has gone from rock hard, due to lack of rain, to total wash outs from the occasional downpour.

October 2007
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Plan, Participate, Complete

It has been a very busy summer and the fall will be no different. All our fall cria have arrived with the girls out numbering the boys five to two. This brings the total cria crop for 2007 to 18 with 11 boys and seven girls in various colours and combinations of colours. We will now start our breeding for fall 2008, choosing each pairing carefully as we have in the past to constantly improve each generation.

August 2007
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Who, What, Where, When and Why?

Salem Alpacas was established in 2000 with five alpacas and they are still here. There are now over 50 on the farm, many from our breeding program but also some boarded with us. During the past seven years we have bought, sold and bred alpacas. Our aim is to; raise quality, healthy alpacas suitable for a high-end fibre industry, to produce quality products and to educate the public. We have participated in various craft shows with our awesome variety of products and have a booth at the Lindsay Fair in the Agriculture awareness area. We have participated in the Farmfest tours with hundreds of visitors each weekend of the event, Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, the Historical Society Garden Tour, the Lilac Festival of Lindsay and are open daily to the public, school trips and bus tours as well as agricultural groups and 4H.

July 2007
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Cria watch is on. We have been on duty watching for the cria, our newest arrivals. They have been arriving weekly, as expected, some early, and some late and yes, some right on schedule. There have been a variety of colours from pure white to fawn, brown and black. The boys are winning the gender race with eight males and only two females born so far. Routine cria care on our farm includes; two needles on Day One, Vitamin A&D and also selenium. We weigh each cria daily for the first two weeks and gradually shift to monthly weigh-ins along with all the others. This allows us to monitor for any problems and gets the cria used to being handled.

June 2007
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Yes, they are naked! The alpacas at our farm have all been shorn revealing some skinny looking creatures. While shearing we have the opportunity to judge our breeding program as we have hands on time with the fibre. Many of the animals look quite different as markings were hidden beneath the immense fleece. We can now send samples off for testing which will give us statistics on the fibre of each animal. We also weigh the fleece and record information on each animal every year. As hoped we did get them done earlier this year than in the past and they have enjoyed some warm days and sunshine. They are also taking great pleasure in rubbing and rolling.

May 2007
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

Salem Alpacas participated in the Alpaca Ontario Annual Full Fleece Halter Show on Sat. April 14, 2007 at the Orangeville Agricultural Fairgrounds, Orangeville Ontario and is celebrating its’ ribbon winning alpacas and more.

Salem’s Leah took 3rd place in the Juvenile Huacaya Female-Fawn (older) class; her sire is Jupiter and dam is Chance.

March 15, 2007
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Salem Alpacas Imprints

As winter fades, the snow melts and spring makes its presence known. The alpacas sense good weather is on the way. The cria are romping and wrestling with one another, adults are lying out in the sun, and boys are trying to get the girls attention over the fence.

Our Easter Open House is Sat. April 7 & Sunday April 8, 2007 10am – 5pm.