Farm Chatter

 

September 1 , 2008

Fall is on it's way! The evenings are getting cooler and the days shorter.... all signs that summer is coming to a quick end. We are enjoying watching our little herd of cria pronking around the pastures, there really is nothing like it!

On the home front, the kids are back to school and we begin to get back to the normal school routine, all this as we ready for the fast approaching fall shows!

You will find us at the Big E alpaca show, the New England Coastal Classic, and the Empire Extravaganza, and don't forget National Alpaca Farm Days!!!

Check the news and events page for more info! KJ

 

 
  Dimaggio has started breeding and he is quite obsessed with the girls! He can often be found checking out the prospects.
   

June 8 , 2008

Shearing day has come and gone and the alpacas are much happier! Especially with this recent heat wave. Matt Best of Best Shearing (www.bestshearing.com),and Jeremiah Squier, of Twist of Fate Spinnery (www.twistoffatespinnery.com), along with our terrific shearing crew, did a wonderful job getting all 35 alpacas shorn in a quick and organized fashion. We appreciate it.
Two more cria have arrived here at Hunter Hill. Photos coming soon!

More exciting news here at Hunter Hill Alpacas is the future expansion of the alpaca farm. We are in the process of clearing land and have plans for an additional structure and pastures. It is really an amazing process to watch and it is very exciting to see it all unfold.
Check back for future updates on our progress!

May 3, 2008

 Things have been busy here at Hunter Hill! It is spring cria season, and here is our first, baby Zephora! A nice little girl. She was born on a friday morning causing a slight delay of our arrival at work and school!!
Winnie, this lovely gray girl owned by my Mom and Tom, attended both the North American and Mapaca Alpacas shows. She took a first and a second place and was shown by my Mom!
We had a great show season, and were thrilled with the performance of our first crop of Fiber Optic Cria! Please contact us to set up a drive by breeding and let one of your girls make you an Optic cria for next show season!!!
MAPACA, was a girls weekend. My Mom and my sister Lynn accompanied me to the show, and we only took little girl alpacas!!! Our friend Ruthie was there from New Hampshire, so we all had a chance to catch up and hang out. In addition to the alpacas taking halter ribbons, it was our first foray into the fleece show. Valentina, took a first, and Dimaggio took judge's choice for Best Prepared Fleece!
  Stayed tuned for our shearing escapades later in May!!!! KJ

 

March 30, 2008

Only a few days left until we head out for the North American Alpaca show! It will be a busy week here as we try to get both the alpacas and the people ready! See you there! KJ

Hay, hay, hay, and more hay..... just about 8.5 tons! Saturday was hay day at Hunter Hill Alpacas. We had an early morning delivery and with the help of friends, neighbors, and Mike the hay man, had it all unloaded and stacked pretty quickly! The alpacas are loving their new hay and come running when they see me come out with a new flake!

March 16 , 2008

Spring appears to finally be on the way! We are getting ready for spring cria and shows. We set up the maternity ward today so keep a watch on the alpaca cam! I have been trying to do some knitting by attending a weekly Tuesday night "Stitch & Bitch" here in Bristol. I have met a really terrific group of women there and they are more than happy to help me along with my small projects! (I am not a really great knitter!) Hi Ladies!!!

January 28, 2008

Is it summer yet? I have had enough of this cold, snow and ice! The alpacas are loving it and do not find seem to mind at all. Everyone is looking great in full fleece, getting rounder by the day!

Registration for the spring shows has begun. It is hard to believe that show season is just around the corner! We are planning on attending the North American Alpaca Show up at the Big E fairgrounds, as well as MAPACA in Harrisburg, PA. Hope to see you there! KJ

December 15, 2007

Isabella posing for the holiday photo shoot!

Today we are in the midst of an icy Noreaster! Earlier in the week we had over a foot of snow! The alpacas don't seem to mind. Steve used the snow blower to make some paths for them and they seem very content! Today it is icy sleet and wind! Is it summer yet?

We finally did the holiday photo shoot last weekend. For those of you who have not had the pleasure, it is not easy to get two girls and a heard of alpacas to all pose nice!!

Silly girls with the giggles!

We wish you all a blessed, healthy and happy holiday season!

 

 

November 7, 2007

Fall has finally set in and the temperatures here are dropping! It is definatley alpaca wear weather. The show season has wrapped up and all the fall cria have arrived. It is hard to believe that it is time to think about the holidays. Thanksgiving weekend is Holiday Open Farm Days here at Hunter Hill. Check the events page for details more details and plan to stop by.  

 

October 10, 2007

I can't believe it is October already! Things have been very busy here on the farm. September 29, 2007 was National Alpaca Farm Day across the country. Governor Rell and the Mayor of Bristol both Proclaimed it National Alpaca farm day here in Connecticut! We had a great event at the farm and even had a visit from NBC 30 TV!! Thank you to everyone who had the chance to stop by!

That same weekend we were also up at the Big E alpaca show! We had a terrific show and our Cooper took the Black male Color Championship!

Hunter Hill Dimaggio took a second in a tough class of white juveniles! Keep your eye on these two when they hit breeding age
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July 9, 2007

Hunter Hill Alpacas has added a green Honda Element to the family. It is the new mobile breeding vehicle! Fiber Optic had his first trip this past weekend!

Please check out our spectacular males and let us bring them to you!

Welcome Fiber Optic's Joya! She was born on July 2, 2007 on a nice summer day! She is so shiny she almost glitters in the sunshine!

June 10, 2007
At long last, Marilyn Monroe and Fiber Optic bestowed upon us a beautiful little girl I call her the Princess!! She is soft as a cloud and very dainty. She loves to have her neck rubbed.

I have tried to explain to Marilyn that Princess is my baby too, and most of the time she puts up with me, but sometimes she just gives me that look. . . . . .

The rest of the cria herd is doing well. They have completely taken over the pastures and love to pronk around together.

It really is amazing to just sit and watch them play. We are so very blessed to have these wonderful animals in our lives.

The Alpaca Life is Good.....

 On a "fibery" note, I have made my first knitted/felted bag out of alpaca yarn! It is a nice size tote bag and it turned out terrific!

 

 

June 3, 2007

It is cria time again at Hunter Hill. On May 22, 2007, Esmerelda graced us with a delicious little brown boy! (Steve has named him Buster Brown) Son of Black Storm! He is a feisty fellow, and is already giving the older crias a run for their money!

 

Fiber Optic is at it again!! This time, a spectacular dark brown little girl, born June 2, 2007, at 22 pounds! Mom is our black dam, Sweetness. This is sure to be one fine cria.

Madison had a soccer game at 8 am, and she and I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and missed the whole thing!

 

Now if Marilyn Monroe would just cooperate and deliver her cria . . . instead, she is enjoying torturing me, and keeping me waiting! As they say... Patience is a virtue.

 

  

Of course, while we find this all very exciting, the rest of the gang are napping in the sunshine!

 

Life is good!~

May 20, 2007

Since shearing, we have had a few very cold and rainy days. Today we had a bit of sun and everyone was thrilled to get out onto the grass!
Just hanging out

All that sun is exhausting!

May 16, 2007

Shearing day has arrived! This year, maybe the first year ever, we actually had fairly dry alpacas! Things got underway around 9:30 a.m. with Marilyn Monroe. She was the first of the 25 alpacas to be shorn! We had a terrific crew helping out, and couldn't have done it without them!!! A BIG thank you to Kim, Pete and Cathy, my Mom and Tom, my sister Lynn, and Janet and Mike from Alpacas at Red Fox Run, and of course, last but not least, the shearer, Matt Best! We got everything done and had some fun too!

 
The above photo shows Montgomery, one of our cria, stretched out getting ready to be shorn. To the left is the "after" photo! Everyone was shorn, even the little guys!

May 9, 2007

The whole Gallagher family, and a few alpacas went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to the MAPACA Jubilee at the end of April. We had a wonderful time and the alpacas all did well. Madison and Reese entered a "make an alpaca" contest for the kids, and both won in their age groups! They were thrilled.

The cria are all doing well, growing by leaps and bounds. We have moved them in with the main female herd, and put our next group of expectant moms in the "alpaca cam" pen.

Shearing day is May 16, 2007! 		 

April 22, 2007

It has been a busy week! Tuesday Treasure had her very first cria, a little boy with fantastic fiber, which is no suprise since he is the son of our 8 time color champion stud Fiber Optic! He is growing like a weed, and Lily is thrilled to have someone to romp with! It makes life so much more fun..

Then today, Mysticality decided it was her day! A gorgeous dark silver gray male arrived at a whooping 23.5 pounds! Wow! He is the first cria out of our multiple ribbon winning male Black Storm!

Check out the alpaca cam to see the three of them romping around the pen.

Beyond cria news, Madison and I took a ride up to Still River Mill yesterday and dropped off 54 pounds of alpaca fiber! Come fall, we will have lots of wonderful alpaca yarn in the store! Start planning your projects now!! KJ

April 15, 2007

Tax day and a miserable storm here on the East Coast. I has been raining buckets all day long. Lily has been showing off the latest Hunter Hill cria fashions, changing sweaters and coats several times a day to make sure she stays warm! She is quite the fashion plate! KJ

April 13, 2007

Lily is adjusting nicely and even making some new friends!

Miss Niblet and Valentina say their hellos!

April 11, 2007

Welcome Easter Lily!! I had planned her birth for Easter Sunday and was all ready with my easter egg colored sweater. However, as we all know, these things can not be planned! Lily was not quite ready. She held out until Tuesday morning! She weighed in at 17.4 pounds! She is Fiber Optic's first cria and she is gorgeous. Full of spunk and energy.
Having the alpaca cam is wonderful, it allowed the staff at my office to watch Lily being born while I was speeding home in the car!!! When I eventually made it to the computer, I had an email from a friend that said "I think I see a nose and toes!" I guess she did! KJ

 

LIFE IS GOOD!

February 20, 2007

It is cold! Not too much snow this year, but a nice ice storm on Valentines day. We are still dealing with the remnants of ice! The alpacas don't seem to mind very much. When the temps, and wind are very bad, they stick close to the barn, but are quick to come outside at the smallest glimpse of sunshine! The biggest issue has been the water faucets in the barn freezing. That means we are back to lugging buckets of hot water from the kitchen sink!

We are anxiously awaiting the start of the spring birthing season. We will keep you posted on our new arrivals! We have been working on an alpaca barn cam. We are still working out the bugs, but you can take a peak here: Hunter Hill Alpaca Cam. KJ

November 9, 2006

After a full day of rain, today brings warm weather again! It makes it easy to forget that winter is just around the corner. The cria are all growing like weeds, and enjoy pronking around the pasture together! They are all weaned, and adjusting just fine. KJ

October 12, 2006

There is a chill in the air this morning and evidence that fall is officially here. The alpacas are enjoying the cooler weather and spending most of their time outside! Open farm days last weekend were lots of fun and we met many terrific new people. Thank you all for coming, and as always, please email or call with questions! KJ

 

 

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