Southern Alpaca Group: Events

FIBRE DAY On Sunday 20TH September

Sue Blacker from the Natural Fibre Company will be coming to talk to us about fleece processing and show us examples of yarns and goods produced. There will also be a demonstration of how to sort a fleece as well as help with sorting fleeces.

The Natural Fibre Company need a minimum of 20 kg in each colour for processing. However colours can be blended - for instance red brown and fawn makes a lovely strawberry beige yarn. If you would like to have your fleece processed bring it with you for Sue to collect. If you don't have 20 kg, it may be possible to join together with another member to make up the 20 kg minimum. Let us know on the form below if you are thinking of bringing fleece and we will try to put together some groups.

There will be handspinning and weaving demonstrations and an opportunity to buy equipment if you fancy having a go yourself.

Arrive 11am and bring a picnic lunch - if the weather is wet we will go to the pub for lunch! The Day will be free for SAG Members.

At Meon Valley Alpacas, Grooms Cottage, Midlington Hill, Droxford SO32 3PU. Click here for a map.

Click here for a booking form.

VETERINARY TALK TO BE PRESENTED BY GINA BROMAGE ON MONDAY 12TH OCTOBER 2009

THE VILLAGE HALL, DROXFORD, Nr. SOUTHAMPTON. 1030 for 11 am Start

Gina Bromage will be keeping us up-to-date with the latest developments in camelid veterinary practice including an update on the TB situation. Gina will also be including a report from the International Camelid Conference held in Galway in August.

The talk will be free for SAG members and will be followed by lunch - at members' cost - in the pub next door which specialises in Indian cuisine but also serves the usual pub-grub.

Click here for a booking form.

The Southern Alpaca Group Annual Vet Day Report by Debbie Thorne. 8th December 2008.

My husband (Nigel) and I received our first alpacas on 4th October 2008 - a group of 7 - a wether, 2 pregnant females with cria at foot and another female with cria at foot. The crias were between 5 and 9 weeks old.

I had concerns about the change in behaviour of the youngest cria after we had her and shared these with the breeder. However, on 19th November, she started to show worrying symptoms and signs and 22nd November her mother abandoned her and she was near to death! With the help of a friend who is a vet and a lot of hard work, we saved her. Whilst she was sick, we were delighted to see that the Southern Alpaca Group was having its annual vet day soon with time allocated to "The Cria - birth to 6 months."

We met a warm reception at Droxford village hall, festively decorated, and a hot cup of coffee - most welcome as it was bitterly cold! We then had a 2 hour lecture given by Gina Bromage, which was excellent! She informed us about lots of practical issues and gave us the latest updates on these issues. These included parasitic infections - signs, symptoms and treatments-; skin conditions; latest info about TB and blue tongue vaccines etc. She gave a comprehensive whistle-stop tour of birth to 6 months in the life of the cria. This included how to stomach tube feed a cria needing supplementation. This caused a lot of squirming in seats, but is the best way of ensuring adequate supplementation of feed. We were proud of ourselves having had to already do this!

Following her talk, I bombarded Gina with questions about our sick cria and she was very helpful and I am off to buy her book ASAP!

We then walked to The White Horse Pub for lunch - delicious curries on our table! Great fun meeting new people, sharing stories and picking up useful hints and tips!

Afterwards was an incredibly useful session, by Westpoint Vet Group, at Meon Valley Alpacas on an array of useful practical tips; from field management to body scoring, to how to give a subcutaneous injection! Nigel and I wished we had all this knowledge before! They were very helpful in assisting me to understand how to body score and to give an injection. That might sound easy, but the first one squirted straight through! The second one was fine!

We arrived home at 4.45pm buzzing with all the information we had acquired in one day! We were greeted by our 11 year old son who felt it was so lovely that we had this common interest to share!

A couple of days later we were e-mailed a copy of Gina's lecture notes! That was the icing on the cake - to have those for permanent reference!

All in all, Nigel and I would like to thank everyone involved so much for such an enjoyable and informative day!

I can never again say that he doesn't take me out to lunch!

PS our cria has been given the diagnosis of rickets, likely to be due to nutritional deficiency in pregnancy. I am pleased to say that she is well on the road to a full recovery already!

Best wishes to all, Debbie Thorne