It has been a beautiful fall at Hickory Ridge Farms.  Most of our crias have arrived and we are very pleased with them.  When we let them out into the big pasture they had so much fun playing together.
 Don't get left behind!  Check out more of our fall pictures are in the Photo Gallery.



*     *     *     *     *


September 2011
Although we still have some work to do on the "Girl's Barn", we have moved a pen of girls over. 
They are enjoying their new home and we are enjoying all the space!

 



*     *     *     *     *

July 20, 2011
All of our fiber from this spring's shearing in back from the mill.
Check out our "Fiber Sales" to see our new rovings and yarns.

*     *     *     *     *
 

Chore Time  -  January 2011

It generally works out best for us to do chores in the evening.  After supper Don, Seth and I head to the barn.  It has been cold here lately - highs staying below freezing and overnight lows in the single digits.  Paco-vicunas tolerate cold well but they are smart animals and like to stay in the barn when it is nippy out.  The pacos are shooed outside while Don cleans the girl’s side of the barn and Seth takes care of the boy’s side.  I fill the hay feeders and the water buckets and check to make sure everyone has mineral available.  Large round hay bales are the easiest and most economical way for us to buy hay.  A bale is brought into the barn and tipped on its end.  We just peel it away in layers and feed it out.  The boys get straight brome hay and the girls get an alfalfa/orchard grass mix.

 The last thing to do is give our nursing mothers a scoop of grain.  This is our favorite part of chores.  While the mamas eat their grain the babies are all in one pen.  Here we can sit and watch them. It is an opportunity to look at each individually, making sure all is well.  As I sit on the hay feeder some of the crias prefer the far end while others munch on their hay right beside me.  Triton chews on the torn spot on the knee of my coveralls while Legacy pulls the gloves from my pockets.  Victory bounces around bumping into everything.  She is as full of energy as her mother was.  A few weeks ago, Favour watched us nervously from the far side of the pen.  After just a few days of showing her she can trust us, she is perfectly content eating her hay a few feet away.  Learning the balance between too much people contact and not enough is important.  You do not want the crias to fear you but you can go too far and imprint them so you are not respected as a person.  The mamas have finished their grain so everyone is put back where they belong.  One last check to make sure all are snug and happy and it is time to head to the house for some hot chocolate.

  The walk to the house is dark and the stars twinkle brightly.  If we did not have chores to do at night, this grandeur would have been lost to us….we are content.      

*     *     *     *     *

 

We have just revamped our website.  We hope you enjoy the new look. 
A special thanks to our son Isaac!  December 11,2010

 *     *     *     *     *

In October 2010 Hickory Ridge Farms shared a booth with Switzer Land Alpacas and Paco-Vicuñas at SOAR (Spin Off Autumn Retreat) in Delavan, WI. We had a great time visiting with spinning enthusiast from across this country and abroad. Paco-Vicuña roving went home to Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada as well as every corner of the United States.