A new CONTEST is going to be launched very soon! I am working on the details right now!
How would you like to win this beautiful hand made bracelet with “Moon” beads, butterfly beads, and a very special needle felted alpaca fiber bead!
Stay Tuned For Details!
Handmade Alpaca Fiber Beaded BraceletHandmade Alpaca Fiber Beaded Bracelet
Yesterday was a day spent with the alpacas, it was shearing day! Once a year in the spring the alpacas get all their winter “fluff” (fleece) shaved off just like sheep. The fleece can then be sent off to be cleaned, dyed, and spun into beautiful yarn. Alpaca fleece is the finest there is, unlike sheeps wool which is itchy, alpaca fleece is softer and warmer and does not itch like sheeps wool. It is also hypoallergenic because it lacks lanolin.
Shearing an alpaca is quite the task. Alpacas weigh around 200 pounds. It takes 2 men to wrangle them to the ground for their “haircuts” and they fight and scream and spit the whole way. Needless to say, they do not like to be sheared! Special measures must be taken to insure the animal stays safe as well as everyone involved in the process. The easiest way to get the job done is to tie off their feet and stretch them out using a pulley system. This way the animal becomes almost submissive and it can be easily rolled from side to side. The legs can also be sheared easily this way with no kicking. We use old socks (clean of course) to put over the animal’s mouth to avoid getting spit on, because I tell you, they spit like crazy and they can spit far too! If you’ve never been around a spitting camelid, you’re lucky, because it smells awful!
While the animal is tied down, they also get their teeth filed if need be, hooves clipped, and maybe a vaccination or a wound tended to. This is the perfect time to give each animal a thorough once over to check for anything abnormal.
Alpaca ShearingAlpaca Shearing
Alpaca Shearing, look at all the fleece!Alpaca shearing, look how thick that fleece is!Alpaca Shearing
I first wanted to WELCOME all our new viewers today. Especially those who have come by way of Egg Carton Labels by ADozenGirlz. I hope you enjoy our site and please feel free to ask questions, or leave a comment.
I also wanted to show you all our 1 week old Coturnix Quail Chicks, we have 3 at the moment, and direct you over to our Quail tab for more info.
These are what’s going to hatch out of the eggs we shipped to Egg Carton Labels by ADozenGirlz (you can find her on facebook), be sure to like her page while you’re there and let her know we sent you:)
1 week old quail chick1 week old quail chick next to a realistic in size toy strawberry1 week old quail chick in comparison to a realistic in size toy strawberry
This is what 84 eggs in lockdown looks like! 64 are Standard Brown Coturnix Quail, then Serama Bantam, Chicken and Runner Duck! I’ll be egg-cited who hatches!
84 eggs in lockdown
Here it is, the finished quail coop! My husband did such an awesome job and the quail are very happy in their new home.
Quail Coop
Today is the day! If you haven’t already entered to win our awesome fertile quail egg giveaway, there’s still time, but hurry, contest ends at 9pm tonight!
For those who are just tuning in, all you have to do to qualify is, like our facebook page and subscribe to our blog and you could be our winner who will be selected at random.
Good Luck Everyone!!!
You’ve probably read yesterdays post on The Tale Of The White Quail and learned that with my last hatch of quail we were pleasantly surprised with 4 white quail, which is very rare! I wanted to point out that these ARE NOT Texas A&M Quail. These are from 2 standard brown Coturnix Quail. I also wanted to point out that in yesterdays post, I mentioned that a friend of mine who got her fertile hatching eggs from me, also hatched out white quail! That being said, I would say that chances are good that if you are our lucky winner in our first ever CONTEST with the prize being 2 DOZEN FERTILE HATCHING COTURNIX QUAIL EGGS, you too could be the lucky owners of these rare and beautiful white Coturnix Quail! Remember all you have to do to win is “like” our facebook page and subscribe to our blog and 1 lucky winner will be picked at random on Friday at 9pm. Good luck everyone!!!
White Coturnix Quail
With our last hatch of quail we were pleasantly surprised to have hatched out 4 white quail from standard brown coturnix! Apparently this is rare. Unfortunately we found that they were challenging to keep alive and 3 died for unknown reasons. Then, a friend of ours hatched out some eggs she had from her quail which she originally got from us, and also hatched out a couple white ones!!! She was challenged in keeping them alive as well:( She and I decided that our 2 white loner chicks needed to be together. Today the 2 are 5 and 6 weeks old and last night when I went to check on them, I found our first egg from one of them! So egg-citing as you can imagine! So, we now know that at least 1 of them is a female. The other is still unknown because they’re white, whereas, the standard brown is easy to identify males from females which I will explain in another post later on. Here are pictures of the strangest egg I’ve seen to date and a white quail, notice the brown patch on the quail.
Egg from a White QuailWhite Coturnix Quail
We are experiencing some technical difficulties with the site today, please be patient with us while we work to correct them. Thank You and please accept our apologies.
If you grow a garden, you know all too well about insects eating your plants. Here’s a tried and true method I use that works very well and the best part is it’s chemical free!
After watering your garden, sprinkle your plants with either cayenne pepper or chili powder. It’s that simple. Neither one harms your plants but keeps the bugs away! You will want to reapply after watering or rain but I only do this once I notice the bugs are back.
Pumpkin Plant Flower6 foot tall tomato plant