barn
Dan has been working most of the summer to build a lovely set of stone walls just opposite the paddock and barn. Our land from our back yard to the barn slopes downward gently and it’s along this line that he has been creating a(nother) place for me to garden in. The top portion is flat and we’ve discovered it is a great place to make a little patio and set up a picnic table set to sit and watch the alpacas. For now, we’ve placed a folding mat and some chairs from our camping days onto the freshly leveled dirt at the top of the new wall, and sip coffee. The alpacas don’t seem to mind us watching them and go about their quiet ways.
Some mornings when I go into the barn to check on our alpacas, I start wondering ‘what goes on in here at night?’ Their fan is pushed over onto its back blowing air up to the ceiling, the hay bale feeder (i.e. heavy) is pushed several inches over sideways, the outside feeder is also pushed sideways, there’s water on the floor under the buckets, there’s fresh spit on a wall or post or someone’s neck, a post for the temporary fence is bent over, the poop-shovel-and-rake is knocked down, and their communal poop piles are well, not so communal. In the summertime we usually have all the windows in the house open and our bedroom balcony door also faces the barn; you’d think we’d hear if a ruckus was going on. Yet apparently they’ve made up because all the alpacas are cushed together!
Another wonderful thing about having male alpacas, especially the younger ones, is they play a lot! They chase each other, climb all over each other, roll around together, nibble each other’s ears and toes, and other general good-natured wrestling. It’s always fun to watch, another simple joy of alpaca life. They usually play in the pasture but sometimes in the paddock or barn. Like most other alpaca activities, it’s pretty darn quiet out there.
As they mature this playtime occasionally turns into a bit of actual fighting. We’ve had our lovely little herd here for just about a year now and up until recently it’s all play. Julio and Guinness, our geldings, are both 7 this year and watch the goings-on between Bo, Coty, and Arlo in bored amusement, if they watch at all. Bo is a year older than Arlo and Coty and is now starting to define his place in the herd. His intentions are usually directed at Coty, who is one very tall alpaca. I’ll hear the scuffling and heavy breathing associated with playing and go to the window to watch. Suddenly, it gets serious with loud squawking and grunts and serious rough-housing, complete with pushing and shoving and real biting. Then, in true alpaca form, some serious spit starts to fly.
Oh my god, my alpacas are fighting! I holler out the window “Hey boys ~ play nice!” They’re alpacas and therefore ignore the crazy, hollering human. I run outside with Stella underfoot, put on my barn boots, and in my hurry usually trip over Stella or my own feet (happens every time!). As I’m running down the path to the barn I continue to call out to them “Bo ..... Coty ..... No fighting! Stop that!” By the time I get to the fence they’ve usually stopped. I go in anyway to give them a stern stare and remind them that this is a nice farm; we only play nice here. Thankfully I’ve never had to physically pry them apart and the fighting has only happened a few times. Coty will look at me like “what did I do?” and casually start eating grass or hay. Bo will stand there with his lower lip down, drooling green slime and unable to move his mouth for a few minutes; it’s the camelid reaction to spitting. It’s not pretty. I remind him that he could be eating hay too if he just stopped being mean to Coty, and that he looks silly and undignified with his lower lip hanging down like that.
Other alpaca people have told me not to interfere, that it’s normal behavior and the boys need to work it out amongst themselves. And there I am running outside at the first sound of a possible fight hoping to nip it in the bud. Oh well!
It’s August, and those lazy, hazy days of summer are upon us. Humidity and afternoon showers and thundershowers are here. Considering the past few years, I feel a bit odd saying this ..........we could use some rain! Not a lot, but the gentle showers we’ve been getting are refreshing and most of the rain is happening overnight, creating a picturesque early morning fog. Things are starting to green up again in the pastures and all the boys are out grazing in the cooler mornings and evenings. The hot afternoons are what we now call ‘siesta time’ where the boys cush in the barn and paddock areas in the shade and take long naps.
We set up our farm so that we could see into the barn and pastures from the back windows of our house. It’s such a beautiful and peaceful sight for us, watching our gentle alpacas graze the fields as the seasons change.
This is the view from our kitchen on this foggy morning:
And this is what we see when we stand on the balcony off our second floor bedroom. The fog clears up quickly as the sun comes up.
Look at the beautiful stone wall Dan has been building near the fence line! Our veggie garden is just to the left of this picture. It’s still hard to imagine that this new stone wall and all the pasture area, and most of the side yard up from the barn, was covered in thick woods just 2 years ago.
Some days, during the quiet times of farm life, we like to reflect on the wonderful things and the simple joys that have happened and continue to happen to us. We sit back with a big smile and thank God and the Universe for all of our abundance.
Being thankful is a simple joy. Being thankful is good karma.
To some, we seem to have so much; to others, we seem to have so little. To us, we are just grateful, and continue dreaming of a wonderful future full of simple joys and that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
This is the usual scene in the barn in the evenings when we arrive to do chores. The tack room door is in the upper right corner of this picture, and the fan is to the right of the door, just a few feet away. And there's the gang all cushed in front of the fan! The fan not only helps to cool them down, but it also keeps away those nasty mosquitoes and horseflies, making their lives much more comfortable. Happy alpacas = healthy alpacas.
We’re really late this year planting the garden. Usually I like to have everything planted right after Memorial Day weekend, but this year we’ve moved the garden to the back yard, near the corner of the pasture fencing, and behind the old shed that was here when we bought the property. A garden near the garden shed sounds logical! And now the hose will reach every part of the garden easily, and I can see it from the house. Dan built 4 more 4 X 12 garden boxes, and we’ve moved 3 of the 4 from the old garden in the side yard. The last box has some rogue lettuces and scallions that sprang up on their own (I love when that happens!), my huge garlic chive plant, and my really, really, huge oregano plant. I’m waiting for the lettuces to bolt and the scallions to be ready to be picked, and then I’ll figure out how to best move the oregano plant and then we’ll move that last raised bed. The oregano plant is more like an oregano bush, and I want it to continue to do well.
We filled up the new boxes with compost from the local nursery, and I’ve been busy planting and planting. I’m hoping that because I’ve planted a few weeks late, and during the week of the summer solstice, that the bugs will be few and far between this growing season. Dan put in several stakes around this new garden area, and tied white plastic trash bags to them. This is my neighbor's trick to keep away the deer; hopefully it will work for us too! What a beautiful week we’ve had, these longest days of the year, warm and breezy and perfect for planting.
Now I have 8 large raised bed boxes, arranged somewhat in a square, with a four foot path going down the middle both ways, sort of like 4 small squares with 2 raised beds in each. I wanted the paths to be wide enough to accommodate the garden cart. The north side of the garden is the side closest to the pasture fence, and Dan will probably build me a long, narrow garden box, and eventually I’ll grow vining veggies there, like sweet peas or maybe pole beans, with some morning glories mixed in. Around my veggie plants I’ve always planted marigolds and petunias, both for bug control as well as color. Bright red tomatoes are great, but we won’t see them until late August!
The little garden shed that is here was surprisingly painted purple (!). It’s in need of some repair, mostly to the roof, but basically serves its purpose. Dan even thinks he may be able to build a small chicken coop right off the back. Fresh eggs!
The best part is that I’m really close to the alpacas now. Coty and Arlo love to graze together at this far end of the pasture. I can see right into the barn and watch the others cushed in front the fan, my ‘vampire’ alpacas that they are on these hot days. I call out to them easily, and they all look up at the sound of my voice. They watch me curiously, as I work in the garden, Stella sleeping in the cool grass under the maple tree nearby.
The other night Dan and I went out to the barn, excitedly chatting about the day’s events. As we entered the barn, the alpacas all ran up from the pasture, knowing full well that it’s dinner time. I opened up the tack room door and reached inside to turn on the lights. As I turned around, Arlo was walking into the pen. And out of the corner of my eye I saw a rather large mouse, a very large mouse, crawl up and over the pen wall and run back down.
I screamed so loud that I’m sure our neighbors up in Canada heard me.
I’ve always been a lover of all animals. But to be totally honest, rodents just aren’t at the top of my list. This is especially true with rodents that could be categorized as very large mice. I’m usually a sensible 40-something woman, but at the sudden unexpected sight of a very large mouse I lost all control, screamed bloody murder, and shut myself into the tack room.
Dan is normally calm, but my screeching really irks him. I was all but hyperventilating trying to explain to him what I saw. He kept reassuring me that it was indeed just a very large mouse, harmless, it’s gone, so it’s OK to come out, and please stop screaming. Good idea, as my throat was now hoarse. I slowly opened the tack room door and stepped out. Dan looked rather annoyed. The alpacas hadn’t moved and were staring at me with that ‘Where’s our dinner?’ look. Even the barn swallow that’s been living in our barn hadn’t left its nest. I had only scared away the very large mouse.
Now in the evening Dan always enters the barn first, waving the flashlight around all the edges, tells me the coast is clear, and turns on the lights. I peer in slowly checking all the edges myself, before I come in. For several days there were no new signs until one morning when there was a very large hole dug against the tack room wall, right next to the water spicket, which seemingly went under the tack room into the abyss. I was good and didn’t scream, but had to run back up to the house to get Dan to inspect it. He thought I was panicking again and reluctantly agreed to come out; then he saw the size of the hole. He quietly said, ‘Hhhmmmm, I guess you did see a very large mouse the other night. I’ll get the traps.’ He returned with mouse traps large enough to catch a small squirrel. I figured it was best not to ask why. He set both on either side of the tack room and now we wait. It’s been several days and no signs yet that the very large mouse has returned.
A barn cat is looking better and better, after the barn swallow is done nesting.
I’ll keep all of you posted, loudly I’m sure.
Warning: Pardon me for stating the obvious, but please be sure your alpacas or any of your livestock cannot access mouse traps!! And please, no poisons!!!
Alpacas are curious and they certainly will inspect a mouse trap. One trap is set in the pen which is attached to the tack room, and we’ve secured the pen door shut. The other is set under the tack room from outside, with rocks around the opening and I pulled out the few blades of grass nearby. This side of the tack room is also in the area that had been sectioned off.
It’s springtime so it’s time to work on the pastures again. Dan had done such a good job last summer, york raking up the ground to smooth it out for us to plant grass seed. They say the best seed for alpacas is orchard grass, but we planted a horse pasture mix which includes orchard grass and many other grasses. Alpacas are browsers while they graze, and isn’t variety the spice of life?
The grasses did come up again this spring and after a long winter of just hay, the alpacas are loving it. Pastures are continual maintenance, and the healthier the pastures, then the healthier the alpacas. First things first, we separated the east side of the pasture in half with a zig-zag. We used some temporary sheep fencing, those plastic poles, and 2 strands of wide electrical tape. There’s no need to electrify the fence as it is just temporary, to divvy up the pasture for resting and re-seeding. We’ve also used this fencing near the main gate, separating off an area of about 10 x 20 feet, as added assurance when we enter and exit that no alpacas will suddenly decide to wander off. It’s worked just fine. Until now!
Last weekend it wasn’t very windy and with on again, off again showers it was perfect for adding lime. Dan spread about 40 pounds of lime onto that separated, little pasture area. I’m sure we could probably use a ton more on our clay soil. Lime is great. It helps to alkalize the soil, the first step in growing good soil and healthy grass. In another week or two, we will re-seed, and keep the alpacas off until the new grass is in and several inches tall. Already the grass on that side is greener. Alpacas generally respect fencing but two things will get them to find a way to the other side: open females, and greener grass.
Arlo is still small for his age, but he’s a brazen little dude and all personality. One day doing barn chores I realized that he wasn’t with the herd. A quick look around, and there he was, just on the other side of the temporary fencing. I couldn’t figure out how he got over there. The fencing hooks up to the barn wall with handles so I undid the handles and walked over to him. He kept grazing. I put my hands on him and coaxed him gently, ‘C’mon Arlo. Let’s go back with your brothers.’ He wouldn’t budge! I continued to coax him and with every couple of steps, he’d take another bite of grass. We were only a few feet away from the fence line but it took me almost 5 minutes to get him back!
Coaxing Arlo out of the fenced-in side is now a daily ritual. Although now, instead of staying up by the barn, he obstinately goes right into the middle part of the pasture. And he’s a spunky little guy! He does the same thing with Dan, takes a few steps, takes a bite, takes a few steps, takes a bite, and then he scoots under the lower tape, doing the limbo. So that’s how he’s getting in! We’ll have to put up a third strand of fencing or the new grass won’t stand a chance.
This past Thursday was our first shearing day here on our little farm. We have agisted our alpacas for about 2 years so we are familiar with the whole shearing process, and our shearer has sheared our alpacas in the past, but everything is different when it’s being done on your farm for the first time! This is still our first year having the alpacas here, so everything is a new experience.
Pam was here (thanks Pam!) to assist and also to sort the fleeces, and another nearby alpaca farmer volunteered to help and stopped by too. Thanks Janet!
Everything went surprisingly well. On Monday the weather forecast was calling for rain for a few days, so late that night we had to lock the alpacas into the barn. With a run in shed, that means putting up tarps! Dan had just finished making a gate which we’d thankfully hung up on Sunday; now we had a way to enter and exit the barn easily. So one stall had the gate and the other three had tarps. Even though my 5 boys had 6 stalls and are wimpy about rain, they really dislike being locked in the barn for days! I got spit on more than once (thanks Guinness). But my reward for green slime on my face and in my hair was dry animals on shearing day. Dry, clean fleece is imperative for shearing a usable product.
I had enticed the boys into the pen with pellets before everyone arrived. Funny how they fall for this every time! They were all humming quite loudly watching us while we set up mats and extension cords, bags for gathering and separating the fleeces, and flattened cardboard boxes to kneel on.
We decided to shear our boys from darkest to lightest in color, because our fussiest boys are the darkest. Our shearer is extraordinarily kind to the alpacas; we wouldn’t have it any other way. Still, I’m sure the alpacas are a bit frightened even though it’s ‘all over with’ quickly. Julio, being bay black, was the first. Our tough alpha male screeched like the dickens the entire time! When he was done we scooted him out to the pasture, where he stood up on the dirt pile near the fence to watch his herd mates. Guinness, then Coty, then Arlo, were next and all accepted their fate quietly, albeit reluctantly. Bo Jangles was last, and we went through several rags cleaning up his mouth from all the spit.
The alpacas sniffed each other for hours afterwards, as if they were all different alpacas. And they stayed out in the far pasture all day. It was a sunny, cool day with a strong wind and I know they were cold. When they saw us in the evening they did come running in to the barn without being called. They all ate their pellets in record time, and dashed off back into the pasture. Yikes boys! We weren’t going to lock you up in the barn again! A few minutes later, in the dusk and growing darkness, all the boys began to pronk around the pasture, led by little Arlo. It was a glorious sight.
My fluffy, teddy bear-like alpacas now look like Dr. Seuss characters, or aliens!
Well this is certainly not my nor Dan's favorite picture of ourselves, but look at Bo Jangles! Doesn't he look fantastic!
I would have loved to have presented a 'before' picture, but as you can imagine Bo Jangles was not exactly in the mood for posing after hearing his fellow herdmates screeching. I'm surprised he willingly stood for this one. As soon as Dan released him, he ran out of the barn to join his buddies in the pasture.
I'll post about our experience during our first shearing day soon.
I would love to have all summer days just like today - mid 80’s with lots of sun and a gloriously strong warm breeze. Stella has been chasing butterflies, running like a puppy on too-long legs. When she gets hot she finds a cool spot in the dirt under my car or in the grassy shade from the trailer. Daffodils and forsythias are blooming. I can see the daylilies all popping up, their tips a deep green. Birds are everywhere this time of year, singing cheerfully while they gather up supplies to build nests. This morning I could hear the familiar rubbing noises on the outside of the logs here in the den. That noise is a mama robin, building a nest on the criss-crossed corner of our log cabin, in the shade of a large maple tree. Lately we’ve been seeing a smaller bird flying in and out of the barn also carrying grass and such in its beak. This type of bird built a nest in the barn last year, up in the ceiling peak near the light. It built a smaller nest in the next light to watch over its babies’ nest, and it would often perch on the fence nearest the barn to watch Dan and me. It’s not really gray yet not really green either, but never stays still long enough for us to get a good look. Anyone have any idea what type of bird it could be?
I wouldn’t be concerned normally about the alpacas on a very warm day like today but they are still in full fleece. Shearing Day isn’t for another few weeks. They must be roasting in those wool coats! My feet were definitely toasty today in my Muck boots (time to get those purple clogs!) I checked in on them again at noontime and everyone looked the same as any other day so that’s good. I put out another bucket of cold water from the well pump for them. Not that I really think 5 non-breeding male alpacas would drink 10 gallons of water in an afternoon, but I felt better! I was going to put ice cubes in the water too but then I know I’d be concerned that they would swallow an ice cube whole and choke, thanks to my wild imagination, so an extra bucket of water it is.
The boys are still not too sure about their new bale feeder, except for Guinness, always except for Guinness, aka ‘Grumpy’ on our little farm. He’s never shy when it comes to being fed! Guinness will gladly munch and munch from the hay feeder, and fuss loudly and sometimes spit when another one of the boys comes over to eat too. Even Julio walked away today, too hot to fuss back. Eventually Guinness will walk away too; then the others will approach. The bale in this new feeder is going down, down, down, so I know it’s not just Guinness eating from it, even if it seems that way sometimes. This new feeder is in the barn under the awning in the shade, so I’m happy to see them eating hay in the shade while the afternoon is so warm.
For morning chores, I usually don’t go out to the barn until at least mid to late morning. From all the rooms in the back of the house, we can see straight out into the barn and pastures. I can clearly see the hay feeder and can easily tell how full or not full it is. Now that the snow is melted, the alpacas usually spend the early morning as the sun is rising wandering about the pastures, casually grazing on whatever is starting to sprout. We don’t have any pregnant females or newborn crias to worry about. Nor do any of our boys have any ongoing health issue. The nights have been above freezing so I know the water bucket is not frozen. Since we just have ‘non-working’ males here on our farm, I can usually drink my coffee and do my computer work before heading out to the barn for morning chores.
The first thing I do when I head out is check the water bucket, empty it and re-fill it with the water pump in the barn. I only bring down jugs of hot tap water in the evenings now. The boys were all cushed here and there and Arlo as always got right up to greet me. As I walked across the barn over the straw to the middle post where the bucket is, something looked strange to me. Very strange. Julio was cushed by the wheelbarrow, chewing his cud, watching me. Ditto with Guinness over by the hay feeder. Well that wasn’t strange; that’s normal of them. I literally turned around slowly in a circle, looking around, very confused, trying to figure out what it was that was different.
Then it hit me. AHA!!! For the very first time since the alpacas have come home to our farm, 7 whole months ago, overnight nobody had pooped in the barn! It was a pleasant surprise indeed.
“Oh what good, good boys!” I kept on telling them, while I changed the water in the bucket and filled up the hay feeder. I took a quick look out into the pasture and saw a beautiful green haze of grass sprouting up. I walked back into the barn where everyone was loudly munching hay and said again “Oh what good, good boys!” And Guinness promptly walked over to the middle stall, and un-surprised me.
Like most people, Saturday mornings are usually reserved for household errands, such as going to the bank, post office, grocery shopping, and a dump run. Now every month or so, we fill our Saturday with farm errands as well. On those mornings we sometimes also say ‘well, what the hay!’ and go out for breakfast as well.
Farm errands generally involve going to our local feed store and simply picking up a bag of alpaca pellets. Sometimes we’re also running low on other necessities like electrolytes for their water or minerals, and sometimes we’re in need of another pair of gloves or tube of a de-wormer. I always eye the boot selection. Usually, though, we like to just walk around and check things out and talk with the wonderful owners. This couple loves animals and is always interested in what our alpacas are up to. We happily oblige and try not to babble on incessantly. With every conversation we’ve had with them, we learn a little something.
From there we head out to another fairly local feed store to pick up straw, when our local feed store is sold out. This store has the same, but different, stuff stocked and is also a hardware store (gotta love small New Hampshire towns!) so we poke around there too. This particular store is also really into feeding outdoor birds and I’ve always enjoyed looking at all the different feeders on display, located right next to bags of dog food. When our prior dog had gotten older and developed sensitivities, this particular brand of dog food was the only one that would make her feel better. I always think of my beloved Critter when we come in here. Soon they will have starter chicks and ducks hatching, set up in metal boxes like tall structures with lights, resembling stacked trays and grow lights for starting seedling plants. I know that’s the way it’s supposed to be done but it has always looked so odd to me. They usually have a good selection of dog toys and treats so we always pick up a little something for Stella too, who is usually waiting patiently in the truck.
Some Saturdays we also need to pick up hay. Our little tack room probably could not store a year’s worth of hay so we pick up hay every month or two. We also need space in our tack room for the metal trash cans which store the alpaca pellets, wall room to hang halters and leads and the feed bins, and the small ‘work table’ in the corner. We put these things along one half of the tack room and the 30 or so hay bales along the other. The rest of any hay we purchase is stored in our garage and we wheel it down with a dolly as needed. We put the few bales of straw we purchase in the corner of the pen, although lately the alpacas have discovered that rolling in an opened bale of straw is lots of fun!
Last Thursday, New Hampshire, and most of New England and New York were hit with yet another seriously strong storm. The weather forecasters talked about it for days; you’d think the apocalypse was coming. They’ve been pretty wrong quite a bit lately so I didn’t think too much of it. In the afternoon the heavy rains and wind started up, the back of our cabin started to leak in odd places, and I knew that this time their forecast was correct.
In the past 3 years since we’ve started our farm, Deerfield and the surrounding towns have been hit with record rains, flooding conditions, collapsed roads, record snowfall, a tornado, a severe ice storm causing extensive statewide damage, power outages lasting weeks, a phone outage (due to flooding) lasting a month, etc. etc. This last windstorm once again caused extensive property damage, downed power lines and trees, flooding, impassable roads, and power and phone outages for days. This is getting all too familiar.
The power went out late Thursday night. The winds were so loud we couldn’t sleep, the strongest winds coming about 1:00 a.m. Friday. We were curled up on the couch all night in front of the woodstove, bleary eyed. We heard the most god-awful noises but with no power we couldn’t turn the outside lights on and it wasn’t safe to go outside. At first light, around 6:00 a.m. I ran out back and started calling out to the alpacas, who were all huddled behind the tarps we put up. Within seconds they all came running out looking excited to hear my voice! All were fine and the barn appeared intact. We did have minor roof damage to the house, branches down all around, and trees down in the woods. And, oh yes, no power nor phone, again. The Governor declared a state of emergency, and told us to plan for an extended outage, again.
It’s easy to become despondent and anxiety ridden, and I was on the borderline. As Dan and I drove around looking for somewhere to get water for the alpacas and saw all the damage around town, we quickly changed our spirits to all that we were and are thankful and grateful for. We continue to keep thinking about all that we are grateful for. Gratitude keeps us focused on the important things. In the big scheme of things, nothing really bad happened to us. We are just fine. We have neighbors and friends and co-workers who were not as lucky as us.
We are so happy and grateful that we were not injured, nor were any of our animals, we are grateful that our house and barn and fencing were not really damaged and that no trees fell on them, we are grateful that no windows broke, we are grateful that we had supplies and daylight to repair the roof quickly, we are grateful that our cars and trailer and tractor were also not damaged, we are grateful that the house stopped leaking (it stopped raining), we are grateful that no power lines fell on our property, we are grateful that the sump came within three inches of the top (i.e. it did not overflow!) and that the cellar stayed dry, we are grateful that we have a friend who offered us water for the alpacas, we are grateful we live in a town that has water available for livestock in emergencies (how great is that!), we are grateful that we’ve always enjoyed heating our home with a woodstove, we are grateful that the right situations fell into place and an electrician was able to come out to wire the house properly for a generator, we are grateful that we finally got said generator running, and we are grateful that the phone and internet service were up within 3 and half days. We are very grateful that we were out of power for only 48 hours this time.
We will always get a good laugh at how the power came back on less than 5 minutes after we got the generator running! Now that we have a properly installed generator for such emergencies, we’ll probably never lose power again!
We are grateful in advance for that.
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