It's Mate Night!

Journal Entry 28, 7/28/2022

When I arrived, Cindy, owner of Alpacas at Windy Hill was giving an informal tour to a long-lost friend & friend's sister, daughters, & two grandkids.  Cindy was catching her up with expanded vision of Alpacas at Windy Hill breeding operation along with several of the new programs being planned related to ranch land management & continued expansion of educational partnerships. 

Project of the Day

When the visitors left, we returned to the OB pasture's "observation chairs" arranged in the shade under the pepper trees. There were a handful of other familiar friends deep in conversation with Don, the ranch manager.  As we sat down to the right of the group, Cindy pointed to an unopened box and declared to me, "This is today's project!"  She opened the box & emptied the contents onto the ground.  We proceeded to assemble a two-container composter.  One of this year's plans is to start building regenerative land management practices of which composting is a key part.  Though this is a household-level composter, Cindy thought it would be good to reacquaint herself with composting practices & learn how to produce the best quality of compost.  She plans to apply what she learns to the larger ranch-wide scale composting initiative she intends to implement over the course of the next year or so. 

First, we attempted to build the composter without instructions (they were only available online). Eventually we figured it out. Now that we built it, how do you use it? Turns out, the instructions are also only available online. On right, Cindy sending the “How to Compost” instructions to herself.

The Mating Game

After completing the composter project, we rounded up & moved five females & two males from their larger fields into smaller pens in preparation for breeding later in the day after the weather cools down. The trick was to have the females' pens far enough away from the males' pen so as to not trigger the males too early.

The males rounded up were Michael the Archangel who won many 1st places & Sicario who also had significant wins during last spring's show season. (See Alpaca Road Trips 5/12/2022 Journal Entry for a list of Michael & Sicario's impressive winnings.)  Both of the males (less than 18 months old) were rounded up from a field next to Max, the ranch's primary male who's over 15 years old & a seasoned pro at breeding.  He was so agitated when we released only Michael & Sicario, he tried to climb the fence! Whether they were aware or not, the young boys were set to have a busy night, as each breeding takes about 30 minutes!  That's 1-2 hours of effort per each male, both of whom are kinda new at the mating game!   

Three of the females are participating in a "spit test."  They've recently been bred & a "spit test" will determine if it actually took. If the female spits at the male as he attempts to mate, she's likely already pregnant & will not allow him to breed her. If they don't spit, a full mating session with the male will most likely transpire. The other two females haven’t yet been bred this season, so a full 30-minute breeding session with one of the males is anticipated.

On left in foreground is “The 2022 Mating Roster”. In the background are the females lined up for mate night. In middle pic are Michael (left) & Sicario (right). In right pic, Sicario gazes at a field of females. I wonder what he’s thinking.

Weekly Cria Report - Crias Born Since July 22

From Upper Left: Seminole Wind w/ tawny brown girl Luna Eclipse (b.7/23); Sweet Caroline w/ white boy (b.7/23); Umbra w/ boy (b.7/24). From Lower Left:  Destiny w/ light brown girl (b.7/26); Truffle w/ dark brown boy (b.7/27)