Feels Like Winter on the Farm

Although the calendar doesn't say it's winter . . . the chill is definitely in the air in Tioga County! We have had snow off and on for the past month, and as you can see some is still lying on the ground. The pups (Sophia and Ariel-- left to right) have really gotten big (about doubled in size since we brought them home), and they are wanting Cody to come in and play here in this photo.

The alpacas don't enjoy being kept in the barn much, but they have a little bit of space to move around out in front of the barn.

Next you can see Bonnie lovin' up on Amber who usually is right by your side come feeding time and any touching, petting, or sometimes kisses from Amber herself are free for the taking. She looks like she was thinking, "okay, okay where's the grain?"

Here you can see them at feeding time when everyone was getting in their "assigned areas" for feed.
There are two females who like to get as much as they can from the others(Angel and Amber), so they are penned up alone, and then Honey and Shiprah are separate because Shiphrah is still little. Another spot is for two of the other females, and the bigger crias get to eat together as well. This seems to be the best plan to keep everyone fed well without too much spitting or squealing at the dinner trough/pans.

Last, I leave you with a "Got Milk" photo of Joey after he rinsed down his oats and grain from a trip to the milk bar. *wink* See the milk under his lip? It was all white and drippy. So cute! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you too are staying warm.

More photos soon

It will surely be a COLD day at the farm, but I hope to show you some more pictures really soon! Kelly will be visiting the farm today, and she is sure to take a few photos. :D

Stay tuned!!

Empire Alpaca Extravaganza

The Empire Extravaganza in Syracuse, New York was definitely interesting and a new experience to all of us from HGA. There were over 1000 alpacas entered, and many of the big name farms were there. So the competition was steep.

It was rather cold and rainy on Saturday, so we were happy to be inside yet a bit soggy going from one building to the other for the shows. Cody showed Wonders Peaceful Warrior in the halter show and a performance class, but the competition was good in the bay black class, and in the performance shows Warrior just was not in the mood to perform. He seemed to be more interested in other alpacas than doing what was required at the time. Hence, no ribbons were won at this show for him.

On the other hand, Dark Knight's Templar stood true to his bloodlines and brought home a first place ribbon in his dark silver gray class. He truly made us proud. He was handled by Bonnie again at this show, and you can see Templar, Bonnie and Cody in the photo above.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shiphrah take 2

Here are a few more pictures of Shiphrah from the farm. Kelly had the pleasure of helping with this little cutie this weekend and was able to get some photos to share with you on line. Shiphrah is doing well and is seen here with her mama, Honey. She has gained almost a pound since Thursday, as she weighed in at 20 pounds 10 ounces this morning (10/25/2008).

She is really looking forward to playing with the other crias, as she is very curious as to what goes on outside of her stall. She has been out off and on, but it was rainy and nasty here today, so she and Honey remained inside all day. Hopefully sunshine will help to dry up the mud, and tomorrow will be a more enjoyable day for everyone.

Thanks for stopping by, and leave us a comment if you would like on our newest addition to the farm.

Busy week

Wow, it has been busy at the farm. Leonard has shoulder surgery. Then while he was recooperating, we had our last birth of the year last Thursday when little Shiphrah was born. Here is a picture of her, but the color is off quite a bit, as she is really pretty dark (like a bay black). She was rolling in the dust/dirt earlier with her mama, Honey, so maybe that made her look more brown than black as well. We are planning for the Empire Alpaca Show in Syracuse, New York this weekend, so things are still quite hectic. We hope to be back with pictures soon of some ribbons from the boys again (say a prayer for us, as this is a bigger show than last) :D

Ariel and Sophia

Here are some pictures of the newest editions to the farm. They are two Great Pyrenees pups (actually sisters). We chose to name the all white one Sophia, which stands for angel whose name means wisdom and the other little girl with gray ears, Ariel, which means Lion of God, angel of protection. Sophia, the one to the right in the first picture is very loving, energetic, and doesn't seem to stay still long enough for a picture. Ariel is more laid back and watches to see what her sister is going to do first (I guess a bit of a follower).

Pics from Farm Day

The fall colors were out and coloring the countryside beautiful shades of reds, orange, and yellow. Although last weekend was a bit of a washout during Open Farm Day, we did have 9 visitors on Saturday between showers, and a couple of phone calls on Sunday asking to stop by and visit another weekend. Since the alpacas were pretty soggy and the dusty the usually adorn themselves with to keep the flies away had turned a bit muddy, we thought that was a good idea, too.

Typically the alpacas do not like to be out in the rain and will head to the barn, so having them away from the barn and the rest of the herd was a little bit distressing to them as well. We started out with Templar and Warrior in the first kennel out of the pasture and in the fresh green grass where it was more level for visitors to see them, but Raphael just was not happy that his buddies weren't in the pasture with him. So we had to bring him along too. They like to be together for sure (herd survival instinct I guess).

Then we brought Angel and Naveah down so the visitors would be able to see a cria and dam up close and possibly feel how soft her fleece is.

We had a table set up with raw fleece and some handmade items, and the other table to show the different grain, supplements, and feed that the alpacas are fed. There were hot dogs and drinks for refreshment and balloons for the children.

All in all, it was a great day for our family to get together and teach others a little bit about an alpaca farm. We can't wait to do it again!!

The picture above looks to be the crias playing tag. (Left to right) Noah, Joey and Nevaeh. They like to run around the tree and stop there like they are hiding from one another.

The bottom picture shows Zack and Joey. These two pal around together a lot. You don't usually see one without the other unless they are both nursing at the same time. Ironically, Zack is the white one with the brown mama in the picture. Joey is the brown one, and his mama is Amber, our white female.
Below: A little grazing and playing in the afternoon after the rain.

National Alpaca Farm Day Open House

Event Name:
National Alpaca Farm Day Open House

Date:
September 27, 2008 - September 28, 2008

Location:
Please see our map/directions page
159 Wormer Hill Road (Rt. 249)
Westfield, PA US

Description:
Come join us at our farm to meet our alpacas and our 4 crias, that are only a few weeks old! You will see what heavenly creatures they are. We have only been in the business a year, but what an awesome year it has been. We have doubled our herd and have enjoyed every minute of it. So come check out their shorn fleece,put your hands on them and learn how to care for them and so much more.

Cost: Free

Expected Event Size:
# alpacas: 12 # attendees: 500

Event Website:
www.heavensgatealpacas.com

Contact:
Bonnie & Leonard Klingman
(570) 376-4026
blazinbonnie@epix.net

His name is Zechariah

It's official! Leonard decided we are definitely naming our newest male cria HGA Faleen's Zechariah (but we are calling him Zack). He is named Zechariah after John the Baptist's father.

I failed to mention in the last post that Zack's dam (shown here in the picture) is Faleen, and his sire is Fleecy Dale Captain Courageous.


Thanks to everyone for the replies and suggestions for the name. We will keep them in mind if we have another little boy. We have one more maiden to have her cria this fall. Honey is due in October, and although we are hoping for a girl (a happy, healthy cria will be just fine too).


Thank you all and God Bless!

Busy times on the farm

Well, Joey came along this past Friday, and then today . . . we have another little cria to add to the HGA family.

This morning (Wednesday) Faleen had a male cria too. So all of our original girls (Amber, Serena, and Faleen) have had boys this year.

Well, we are at a loss for another boy name, and Leonard wanted a turn at naming a cria . . . so we are waiting on a name for this cute little guy.

There is only one rule -- it has to be related to Christianity and/or The Bible. Any suggestions?

Meet Joey!

We had a new addition last Friday, August 29th on the farm. Here are a couple of photos of Dark Knight's Jehoshaphat (as in Jumpin' Jehoshaphat we had another boy!) LOL We are calling him Joey for short, but we think he will be a terrific little male for the show ring. His sire is Dark Knight, and his dam is Amber.

The first photo was right after he was born, hence the wet, curly look to him, and the other picture shows you his true color after he has dried off a bit in the sunshine. It was also the day after his birth. He is weighing right around 21 pounds now (fairly good sized for only a few days old), and he and Nevaeh are getting along well. She is just now his size, so she seems to be doing well for a little preemie. I hope to have more pictures of the two of them to show you soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Nevaeh, how do you say?

Well . . . a few of you have asked me how do you say that? We had heard of spelling heaven backwards for a pretty little girl's name by a church friend of ours, and although we loved the way they said it we wanted our little girl (okay, really our little cria) to have a unique name of her own, so . . . we decided to pronounce her name as Nee-Vah. This keeps it shorter in the 2 syllable range like Hea-ven itself is. We also thought it was a little more unique and still keeping with our Heavenly names we are planning for all of the crias born on our farm.

While Nevaeh seems to be doing well and looking just adorable, she is having some difficulty gaining weight. Please keep her in your prayers that she continues to nurse well from her mama and put on weight so that she grows up to be just as beautiful as she is to us right now.

Blessings to all of our readers,

Welcome, baby!!!

Look at what we were surprised to find last night around 10 p.m. Angel gave birth to her first cria, HGA Angel's Nevaeh. She weighed in at 13.9 pounds, but she is about 2 weeks earlier than expected. Crias are usually born with their teeth, and they are considered a preemie if they don't have them. Well, this little girl doesn't have hers through the gums yet. She is one little sweetie though, but what babies' aren't, right?! :)

Still a little wobbly, but trying to lay down like her mom does.

Ooh, oohhhh, I think I am standing. Yep, she found her footing and was standing on her own. Go little, Nevaeh, we are all cheering for you, little one!!

Some photos of the girls

Here are a couple of photos I found of the girls from the farm where they are being purchased (SunRose Alpacas). Bonnie and Cody are bringing them home as I type. :) We are all very excited to see them.

Honey is a 2-year-old light brown maiden with very dense fiber, great coverage and a super brightness in her crimp. Her conformation is excellent and is shown to it's best advantage with the regal presence she exhibits in every move. She is always standing tall and square with a curious but confident expression.Honey's pedigree is literally a Who's Who among the alpaca elite. Her sire is a Dom Lucilio son, and her dam is a Curly Calib daughter and Pisco Sour granddaughter. Her paternal grandfather, Royal Fawn would be proud!

Angel (Eyes) is a dark fawn daughter of Maple Brook Bravado. Both her parents are multiple show winners. Her grandparents include Peruvian Bueno, Hemingway, Peruvian Chocolateer and Peruvian Fuego, all elite bloodlines. She has dense crimpy fleece, nice luster and a nice square frame with correct conformation. Angel has a wonderful personality, frequently sidling up against me when she wants her back scratched, and once you find the spot you're stuck because she'll stand there until your arm falls asleep! A beautiful girl with a beautiful disposition and expecting what will have to be a beautiful cria by Snowmass Casanova's Zorro in the next couple of weeks!

Two new females

Two maiden females will be added to the farm this week, so stay tuned for some pictures of our new additions. We don't have any pictures yet to show you, but Bonnie and Leonard went to see them on Saturday, and they will be bringing them home this week. One is Angel and the other Honey. Angel is due by the end of August, so we will have another cria on the farm as well. Won't Noah be happy to have someone to play with. Poor little guy has been picking on his mom and Aunt Faleen (maybe I should say poor girls), so a new little someone to romp and play with will probably be a fun addition for him as well. Then Faleen and Amber will both be giving birth the beginning of September, and then I believe Honey is due in October. So stay tuned for more pictures . . .

Thanks for visiting!

Professional photos from the CNYAC

Here are the two professional photos that were taken at the Central New York Alpaca Show in Weedsport, NY.