Robs Alpaca Blog and Video Diary - Wellground Alpaca Stud

I have finished stripping, 1st video diary of 2012

2012-01-23T14:37:00.002Z

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of video diaries in recent weeks. Hopefully you will enjoy the 1st video blog of 2012, a few clips of our new gang of female weanlings.

Sorry no Blog, I've been stripping......

2012-01-12T14:07:00.002Z

Hi everyone, sorry there has been no video diary lately, nor many blog posts for that matter. I have to admit I have been playing.

The weather has been mild, the alpacas are all well and I have taken advantage of the peace and quiet to take some time out for me. I have been involved in a 'winter project' to make the track car less like a road car and more like a race car. As the late founder of Lotus Racing once said, "The secret is to add lightness".

I started two weeks ago with a lovely looking car like this.....

Now it looks like the vandals have been at it. Anything that isn't needed has been stripped out and thrown away, no longer do I have any luxuries, no airbags, no electric windows, no electric mirrors, no seats..... Seats comes later. I am having new race seats built for it. I have sold the original seats, so if I want to drive it now, I have a deck chair on hand ;o)) I have received a bit of stick on Twitter about this, my 'winter project' is being referred to as my Scrapheap Challenge. Sandra, you can see my knob is still very much in place.

The glass windows (Except windscreen) have been replaced by Polycarbonate windows, the electric window motors, speakers and inner door cards stripped out, new ultra thin alloy door cards replaced. It's serious you know.....

Meanwhile, Samson has no idea what I am doing climbing about in the car. He thinks it's pure madness brought on by my age.

He's probably right ;o))

Happy New Year Everyone

2012-01-01T18:10:00.003Z

Sorry there have been no video diaries for a few weeks, but we have been having a lovely quiet Christmas and thoroughly enjoying the alpacas and wildlife on the farm. We have had our old friend the Great Spotted Woodpecker back several times a day. I finally remembered how to use the still camera and grabbed a pic for you.

I have been spending quite a bit of time with friends and family between Christmas and New Year working on the track car. It's a 'winter project' involving a lot of ripping out of unnecessary heavy things in an attempt to make it go faster. OK, OK, a diet might be easier, but stripping out bits of car is more fun than eating rabbit food, you understand ? No, I didn't think you might :o((

Right, I am back off into the garage to twiddle some spanners and rip out more carpets and roof linings and things, it just leaves me to say have a fantastic New Year everyone. Despite all the glum news regarding the recession and the global downturn, I think 2012 will be a very good for us alpaca breeders. I have a very good feeling about it. Call me an optimist if you want, but don't for one second think I am wrong. Have a good New Year everyone...........

Weaning alpaca cria, preparing for a storm and Christmas Greetings

2011-12-12T17:43:00.000Z

We have recently weaned a group of 5 alpaca cria. They are settling in their new paddock. There is a big storm coming in tonight, so the weanlings, the cria and their mothers as well as the stud boys come into their winter accommodation away from the worst of the weather.

Feeding the birds and the alpacas on a cold winters day

2011-12-07T18:07:00.000Z

It's the bleak mid-winter here and it's bitterly cold. See the video of the birds feeding and the alpacas having their evening meal at Wellground Alpaca Stud.

Stunning mid-fawn female offspring by Lionheart

2011-11-23T18:25:00.001Z

Today I have received two stunning photographs of fleece from a young female alpaca sired by Eringa Park Lionheart. I thought you might like to see them.

The muddiest alpacas in the UK ? Maybe...

2011-11-18T16:41:00.000Z

It's an alpaca mudfest at Wellground.

Alpaca sales , mudbaths and motor cars.

2011-11-12T18:12:00.000Z

It's autumn, the rain and mud arrives and the alpacas are loving it. See the video for more

Our fawn alpacas are offered for sale.

2011-10-30T14:22:00.003Z

The news is that we are no longer intend to breed fawn huacaya alpacas. We intend to return to a specialist role in breeding white huacaya alpacas with elite Australian bloodlines.

As a result we have decided to sell our elite fawn huacaya alpacas. Here they are.

Rasputin has died - Rest in Peace little fella

2011-10-27T12:32:00.005+01:00

Yesterday afternoon at 12.00 we arrived at the Equine Hospital to collect Rasputin. They said he was well and ready for collection.

We brought him straight home and he had a nice clean bed for him and his buddy to relax in. On our arrival home, we immediately noticed he was not quite right. He was not eating and he was groaning quite a bit. We naturally presumed discomfort to the limb that had been surgically rebuilt. We rang our own vet immediately, they prescribed pain relief which we collected and administered straight away.

But to no avail. at 9.45 last evening Rasputin died in his pen in the barn. We were naturally horrified at this sudden unexpected turn. It was very quick, I cannot tell you how fast his condition deteriorated. We were devastated.

This morning our vet David Hollingsworth carried out a Post Mortem examination, the result was in no doubt. Massive ulceration and hemorrhaging of the third stomach C3. The cause, well who knows. But stress related for sure. Maybe stress from the pain of his injury, from the movements to Hospital, from the General Anesthetic, from his recovery period. We will never know of course, probably some or all of those things were a contributing factor. He was being treated with products to counteract stomach ulcers, as alpacas are known to have problems in this area. On this occasion it didn't work.

Well, we tried everything we could to save this lovely young boy. Sadly to no avail. Some times things are just not meant to be are they.

We'll be back soon.......

NewsFlash from Wellground - A Whiter Shade of Pale

2011-10-24T17:41:00.001+01:00

An update on the injured Rasputin. Plus a news update from Wellground Alpaca Stud.

Rasputin Update

2011-10-22T15:00:00.005+01:00

Hi all,

Just a quick update on Rasputin. His surgery went well yesterday, the surgeons replaced the dislocated leg and bolted a heavy nylon suture through the leg bone securing the joint to the scapula. Basically an internal fixation. They also removed an area of floating bone that had come away from the scapula itself. I have X-Rays of before and after that are quite graphic in nature, so I won't post them on here.

His affected leg is in a sling, retained in the cush position. This will remain isolated for about 3 weeks.

This morning the vet reports that he is up on 3 feet and moving around freely, eating and drinking. He is reported to have a bright eye, something that had been lacking due possibly to discomfort.

We hope to have him (and his buddy) home again sometime next week. Looking good so far,

Sorry no video - Rasputin very poorly

2011-10-21T12:20:00.002+01:00

Sorry to all the blog watchers looking for a video diary with our latest news.

Rasputin's injury has become much worse and he has been at the Equine Hospital for the last two days, undergoing major surgery this morning to rebuild his dislocated and fractured shoulder.

I haven't got the time or emotional capacity to create a video diary at the moment. We returned Rasputin to the Equine Hospital this week for updated X-Rays to discover the injury had deteriorated despite confined box rest. He has a large team of surgeons and anesthetists working on shoulder reconstruction as I write this. I am very nervous as long periods of General Anesthetic are historically not kind to alpacas. Never have my fingers been so crossed.

A nasty alpaca injury to poor Rasputin

2011-10-17T17:12:00.000+01:00

Two days before we were off on Holiday, Rasputin was found laying injured in the paddock. See the video for more.

2011 GWR Alpaca Fleece and Yarn Show

2011-10-02T14:28:00.004+01:00

The 2011 GWR Alpaca Show on Saturday 1st October was a huge hit. See the video to see how the show was presented.

On a personal note, we were delighted that our herdsires sired three of the six Champion Alpacas including the Supreme Champion.

Amazing Dancing Alpaca - Strictly Come Dancing with Alpacas - Bratton's Got Talent.

2011-09-17T12:26:00.002+01:00

Britain's got Talent, or should it be Bratton's Got Talent, as our stud male Lionheart starts to dance for his supper. Strictly not Dancing actually, but it looks similar .

A day out, collecting Lionheart from Harefield Alpacas.

2011-09-13T21:32:00.001+01:00

Today I made the long trip north to Harefield Alpacas on Merseyside to collect Eringa Park Lionheart who has been working at stud. Whilst I was there, I was given a sneak preview of some lovely young future herd sires that will be available in the spring.

Ultrasound Pregnancy Scanning in Alpacas

2011-09-11T10:13:00.002+01:00

We have our own ultrasound scanning equipment at Wellground Alpaca Stud. We scan all our pregnant female alpacas to confirm pregnancy throughout the breeding season. I thought I would make a short video diary about the latest ultrasound scanning session here.

Farm to Yarn - Taking our alpaca fibre for spinning at the mill

2011-09-06T11:49:00.002+01:00

Autumn is arriving with a bang, the weather is very wet and windy here. Today Les and Sandra took all the alpaca wool to the Mill in Cornwall. We have sold out of yarns and desperately need more.

Poetry with Alpacas - September, a time to pause for thought.

2011-09-04T17:23:00.002+01:00

September at Wellground Alpaca Stud is our favourite time of year. When the workload reduces and we get time to just sit and enjoy the alpacas. A poem by Rob Rawlins about September.

We have updated our 2011 cria page on our web site. If you'd like to see all the cria born at Wellground during this summer, go to http://www.wellground.com/

Buckingham's Babes - An alpaca cria update

2011-08-27T15:34:00.001+01:00

A quick update on the last three cria born at Wellground, all female, all white and all by Cambridge Buckingham. Bootiful.

The final alpaca cria born at Wellground in 2011

2011-08-25T17:17:00.001+01:00

Finally our last cria is born for 2011 at Wellground Alpaca Stud. A lovely solid white female cria from Cambridge Buckingham.

A quick update from the Wellground Video Diary

2011-08-22T19:13:00.001+01:00

Wellground Lismore Lass is a solid white female cria who had a bit of a rocky start to life. This video is a update on her progress.

A difficult alpaca birth with a happy ending

2011-08-16T15:52:00.001+01:00

Not all alpacas are born easily, neither do all alpaca mothers readily feed their new offspring following birthing. Yesterday we had a difficult start to a little life that has a happy ending.

Welcome Home to Wellground Close Encounter

2011-08-14T19:05:00.000+01:00

Wellground Close Encounter returns home following a successful summer away at stud. Karl Birch from Willowbank Alpaca Stud in Leicestershire brought Close Encounter back in his new alpaca trailer.

A Wellground Cria Fest

2011-08-12T19:45:00.000+01:00

Just a small sample of our 2011 alpaca cria so far.

A fabulous new female cria at Wellground

2011-08-06T16:15:00.001+01:00

Today we have been blessed with the birth of a fantastic female alpaca cria at Wellground Alpaca Stud. A solid white female cria called Wellground Eriska.

A very hot day - time to prepare for winter.

2011-08-03T20:28:00.000+01:00

It has been a very hot summers day at Wellground Alpaca Stud, the cria are enjoying the sunshine in the paddocks, but we are getting ready for winter already.

Work Experience at Wellground Alpaca Stud

2011-07-22T15:33:00.001+01:00

This week Cathy has joined us to work on the alpaca farm, as part of a work experience scheme. Cathy is hoping to train as a veterinary surgeon in the future and was keen to learn as much about alpacas and camelids as she can. Watch the video to see Cathy working at Wellground Alpaca Stud this summer.

Featuring our 3 young future Herd Sires

2011-07-19T21:46:00.000+01:00

With a brief break in alpaca cria being born at Wellground Alpaca Stud. I thought it would be good to give a first introduction to the three young future herdsires growing up for work next year. Our 2010 breeding plan was to specifically create a new herd sire, one for ourselves and maybe a few for others. These three young males represent the pinnacle of our breeding success in 2010.

Some of our 2011 Alpaca Cria at Wellground Alpaca Stud

2011-07-15T16:48:00.000+01:00

Just a little update on the latest five alpaca cria born at Wellground Alpaca Stud in 2011. With more cria due soon, view the video to see how we are doing so far.

Don't pay the Ferryman

2011-07-09T19:20:00.000+01:00

Another cria born today, this time a mid fawn male cria from Cambridge Buckingham and Eringa Park Caramela. Wellground The Ferryman is a strong young cria. See the video for more.

A female cria from Little Miss Advocate

2011-07-08T19:51:00.001+01:00

Finally after 372 days gestation, Little Miss Advocate gives us a lovely mid fawn female cria. See the video for more about the new cria Wellground Kerrera and an update on Wellground Lady Linnhe.

A difficult start for our new cria, Lady Linnhe

2011-07-04T17:34:00.000+01:00

A new female alpaca cria is born at Wellground two days ago. But all was not right, it was a difficult start for this young lady who needed lots of support and care. After a hard weekend feeding and providing medication, she is improving today. See the video for more.

Sundance Kid and Lilly Pilly

2011-06-28T16:59:00.000+01:00

Another Alpaca cria born at Wellground today, now we are on a roll

2011-06-24T12:32:00.011+01:00

I hope you enjoy the video diaries.

Rob