Managing in the Heat

Our herd sire and dairy queen hide in the shade on a July morning.

Managing in the heat this month has been a challenge for everyone. During the heat of the day most of the animals disappear into the shade--under a building overhang, beneath a vehicle, in the cool of the woods--and only venture out late in the day.

Heat stress leaves Marcie, our dairy queen, panting heavily by mid-morning. Heat stress caused, I believe, one of our alpacas to miscarry. Although I did not find a fetus, she transitioned from clearly pregnant to clearly barren overnight. Heat stress even finds the hens panting when I encounter them about the yard.

The only creatures who appear immune to the heat are the guineas. We appear to be down to two now, but those two can be seen busily scooting about the property--crossing fields back and forth, and popping out and back over fences--with their heads down. They are always focused on their work which they take very seriously. I guess, then, we can credit them for the relative lack of ticks we have about the farm of late. It's always nice to be able to do tick checks without finding any offenders attached.

The alpacas and goats down a tub of water laced with cherry-flavored electrolytes daily. While the container stipulates that the electrolyte-water be the only source of water provided to the animals, I ignore that directive. The ruminants drink it dry daily, even though they have access to a number of automatic watering troughs around their pastures.

If only one could capture and bottle the summer's heat, to be taken out and savored midwinter. Now that would be a treat worth canning and preserving!

Shearing Day at P&CW Farm

An alpaca, tied to the shearing table, being relieved of her fleece.

The weather was so hot on shearing day that Gerdi had to travel to our farm with her helper for the alpaca shearing. I was afraid to put the animals in the small trailer and ask them to travel an hour and a half in this baking heat. We were grateful that our new shearer was able to make the trip.

Unfortunately, with the steady heat for the past few days, the alpacas' coats have been wet and much of the fleece was not even worth trying to salvage. While I should have been packing the animals with ice bags beneath their armpits, instead I ran the sprinkler. And although we have fans in the barn, it is so low and close that the alpacas have not been housed up there for some weeks.

Newly-shorn alpaca gals rest in the shade within easy reach of electrolyte-laden water.

We appreciated the work that basically saved our herd from perishing in the heat, and the bushels of good advice imparted by the shearer and her helper. Since their visit, we carefully spread out the fleeces that we chose to keep and were able to dry them in the sun before they could mildew in a bag. The alpacas were so glad to be relieved of their coats that they quickly forgave me for the indignity of the shearing experience. None was eager to be separated from the herd, then tied to a tabletop and clipped; all were smiling, though, by the time they were released from the table.

I'm beginning to think that it was unwise for us to bring alpacas to this climate. Indeed, by the time the shearers left, I was about ready to crumple in the heat myself. I cannot imagine how tough this weather is for animals better suited to cooler climes.

July is Too Hot for Coats

Alpacas stand in the sprinkler's spray to find respite from the heat.

Some days it feels as if I run and run without getting anywhere, and while this sounds very much like I might have described life before moving to the farm, the result is very different. Indeed, while I may spend afternoons shifting fences around to keep animals contained and still rotating from pasture to pasture, some larger chores have been allowed to slide--with potentially dire consequences.

As busy as I have been filling kiddie pools and running sprinklers for the alpacas, what I should have been doing was finding a shearer--and getting him or her to the farm in the Spring. Now Summer is here and our shaggy ruminants who evolved high in the cool Andes are suffering. Luckily I crossed paths with another caring alpaca farmer when I was at Edwards Feeds recently. Alarmed to hear that I had yet to engage a shearer, he gave me his wife's card and told me to call her for a referral to the woman they use. Thank you!

Now our alpacas have  an upcoming appointment with a Miss Gerdi. She sounds like a lovely woman, and the alpacas and I are eager to make the trek to her farm this weekend.