Three Girls Farm

three girls farm's photostream

2011-04-30T16:11:00.001-04:00

three girls farm's photostream on Flickr.

Three Girls Farm wins at OABA Alpaca Fest 2010

2010-11-15T16:42:00.004-05:00

This November, we took two cria to the OABA AlpacaFest in Springfield Ohio. We very happy to say that they both won a ribbon. Our bay black juvenile girl, Dance Magic, took a blue ribbon, her second win in as many shows! And our true black juvenile girl, Dark Star, took home the 2nd place red ribbon. It was a very competitive show, and we were very happy with the results.

Meet Libby, our newest cria.

2010-11-15T16:36:00.003-05:00

This spunky little alpaca is very dense with the finest handle. She's only a few months old, but it looks like she may turn out to be a silver grey. When you down in that fleece, you can start to see all those grey fibers...only time will tell.

Fall 2010 yarn production

2010-10-21T20:41:00.005-04:00

Three Girls Farm has just received the latest production of our Lopi yarn. We are very happy with the blends we chose this time around. We blended fleece with 3% merino to create some beautiful colors. We also had some fantastic results blending grey alpaca with merino. I must say, I dont often see cottage made yarn of this quality. I can't wait to get knitting. A limited amount is for sale along with Constance and Hunter Black that we still have on hand.

Yarns and Stuff is up and running!

2010-09-11T09:03:00.002-04:00

Ever say to yourself... I want some of that awesome yarn from three girls farm! Well now you can buy it! By following the link in the sidebar (Yarns and Stuff), you can go directly to the new site, and buy yarn, as well as hand made projects from Beth and Carly. So... go check it out now! (cause I know you want to!)
The Web address is threegirlsfarm.webnode.com

2010 Great Geauga County Fair

2010-09-03T11:42:00.003-04:00

This years Great Geauga County Fair was a huge success for the three girls of Three Girls Farm. Carly took 3 blue ribbons and a 2nd in 4H Alpaca competitions. Taylor took 3rd place with her delicious peanut butter cookies, second ribbon in as many competitions. And last but not least, Beth won a blue ribbon for her hand knit patriotic baby sweater, hat and mittens and a second place with her childrens "kitty hat". Not bad for a couple of country girls.

Three Girls Farm 2010 Yarns

2010-06-24T21:07:00.004-04:00

2010 Yarns Done!

2010-06-24T21:04:00.004-04:00

A beautiful 2010 crop of yarn, our best yet. After a season of raising the alpacas, shearing their fleece and manufacturing into beautiful yarns, this is the result.

Three Girls Farm, Spring Cria "Magic"

2010-04-30T09:54:00.001-04:00

Three Girls Farm, Spring Cria "Magic"
Originally uploaded by three girls farm

Today was shearing day at Three Girls Farm. While the rest of the crew was getting shorn our newest cria Magic runs and pronks through the field.

Newest Member of the Crew

2010-04-17T11:36:00.005-04:00

Say hello to Magic!
The newest member of the crew is ready to have her pictures shared with the world. These pictures were taken when Magic was very newborn, so as you can imagine she is much bigger now! Magic was born on March 24, 2010 from our beautiful Darcy and shows great promise already. She is growing up fast and looks to have great fleece that is as curly as can be!

And don't forget about all of our other alpacas as well! Here are some recent pictures of the rest of the herd!
Constance:

Simoni:
(if you are wondering how in the world Simoni can see anything with that hairdo, then the answer is, no she cannot see anything... she has to lift her head way up high to be able to see)
Chica:

Ines:

Simoni and Chica together:

2010-04-16T21:33:00.000-04:00

Chica Blanca!!!!

Back Up and Blogging

2010-04-16T20:56:00.000-04:00

Well it has been quite a while since there has been an updated blog post. Too long in my opinion, so to kick off being back up and blogging, I am going to post plenty of photos to keep you busy for a while, and melt your heart at the same time. Some of the photos may not be the most recent, but they are cute nonetheless. And Simoni last summer! (Note: Simoni has grown immensly since these were taken!)

Simoni Shorn

2010-04-16T20:19:00.000-04:00

Our long awaited spring arrival is here!

2008-05-19T22:13:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a big day for us. After 359 days of development, Sunshine came to light up our lives. She weighed in at 19.3 lbs. and is almost an exact replica of her mother, only more dense and crimpy. She is not only beautiful but very spunky! Girls just wanna have fun!

Almost Home

2007-11-05T14:59:00.000-05:00

I have not kept up on blogging as I had hoped I would. A lot has happened in the last few months. I'd like to think we have been so busy preparing the farm, that blogging was put on the back burner, so to speak. Anyhow, The barn and fence are up. We even have hay and grain ready for consumption. We need a few more temporary fencing panels. The big hold up right now though is waiting for Darcy to be breed to Michaelangelo, and confirmation of Nebula's pregnancy to PLF Peruvian Calypso. The breeding took place November 2. Calypso is a very handsome, half accoyo, full peruvian, rose grey son of Accoyo Peruvian Grand Master. We are very excited to see the outcome of this match. I wish we didn't have to wait a year!

Constance

2007-11-05T08:15:00.001-05:00

Constance
Originally uploaded by three girls farm

Super dense, crimpy to the point of curls, Constance shows all the marking of an award winning alpaca.

Beth and Constance

2007-11-05T08:13:00.001-05:00

Beth and Constance
Originally uploaded by three girls farm

Born a month early and weighing only 14 pounds, Constance is turning out to be a beautiful cria with dense crimpy fiber. A lot of care from Ed & Beth proved to be just what this beautiful cria needed. Now weighing 35lbs. Beth wont be able to carry her much longer.

Constance & Darcy

2007-11-05T08:08:00.001-05:00

Constance & Darcy
Originally uploaded by three girls farm

Darcy Dakotia's new cria Constance. Check out that beautiful fleece! What a pair.

Darcy's AOBA National Conference Fleece Entry

2007-06-05T21:44:00.001-04:00

technorati tags:Darcy's, fleece, alpaca, black, blue, ribbon

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She's Still Winning

2007-06-05T21:21:00.000-04:00

We are so proud of Darcy Dakotia because at almost four years old she is still winning the blue ribbon at fleece shows. Her beautifully fine, dense, lusturous fleece won a blue ribbon at the AOBA National Conference Fleece show.

The AOBA National Conference was very interesting. We attended a lot of seminars conducted by industry experts. Dr. Norm Evan's talk on the benefits of skin biopsy was particularly interesting. We have biopsied both Darcy and Nebula and are anxious to get the results. I can understand now what a valuable tool the skin biopsy can be in guiding our breeding program.

This was our first time at the conference so there was no standard to judge it by, but I couldn't help overhearing some disgruntled long time members gossiping about the high price of attendence and other issues with AOBA that I can't recall right now. I guess once I get my feet a little wetter in this I'll understand the politics more. Unfortunately politics play a role everywhere!

Untitled

2007-05-01T20:27:00.001-04:00

cria with very protective mommy

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Spring has arrived

2007-05-01T20:20:00.001-04:00

Ariana and Bossanova's cria

We have been in the midst of so many wonderful things it has been hard to take the time to record it all. The best thing of is the birth of Ariana's beautiful cria, today May 1st. She is a gorgeous 14pound (looks like rose gray).

Yesterday, several animals were shorn by Mary Jane. She does such a fantastic job. Darcy was the first to go. She was very calm as she had a nice spa treatment. Ed trimmed her teeth while Mary Jane trimmed her hair. I think she must feel a lot better now. Ed also took a skin biopsy. We are looking forward to seeing the test results. Ruthanne helped me sort Darcy's fleece on my new sorting table that worked out just fine. The fleece is going to AOBA nationals at the end of May. It sure is beautiful and I can't wait to work with it.

Last weekend I went to a Marty McGee Bennett clinic that was very informative and encouraging. I highly recommend a Camelidynamic clinic for all alpaca owners. I truely am fortunate to be getting my training from the best people in the business. Every day is a learning experience.

We think we finally found the right person do grade and prep the barn site. We are on his list and expect him here early next week. That means the barn is not too far behind. The grader also has connections with a hydroseeder. My next job is to research the proper plant mix for the pasture.

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Am I Halter Trained Yet?

2007-03-29T16:27:00.000-04:00

I have been working the past couple of weeks training Nebula and myself. Halter training is a skill. Sort of like training a dog. I have learned a lot and it is getting easier, but I still have a lot to learn. One thing I have learned is that alpacas are pretty smart animals. They catch on very quickly and constantly test us humans. I'm trying to learn how to read her behaviors and mannorisms. She really is a sweetheart but I guess we all have our limits. That may be why she spit at my face when I stopped her and stooped down to talk to her about staying behind me. Lesson one: Stand tall and control the animal with body language- they don't understand english very well. Getting in their face is inviting a spit. I have to admit I saw it coming but I was too late to stop it.

I will go to the barn today and walk with her one last time before the KY Classic. Mary Jane has been extremely helpful. I could not have done any training without her. She handles the animals very well. I aspire to be like her one day. We are leaving TOMORROW and Mary Jane will not be there for support so I have to get used to this and do it on my own. I really need to stop letting the animal take advantage of my good nature, but she is so cute and too smart!

Smile and say Hey!

2007-02-11T20:04:00.001-05:00

technorati tags:alpaca, alpacas

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Peruvian Nebula in the barn

2007-02-11T20:03:00.001-05:00

Don't mind me, I'm just eating lunch.

Nebula

An afternoon at the dentist

2007-02-11T20:02:00.001-05:00

This afternoon we were lucky enough to assit Ed in a little dental work. Alpacas need there teeth trimmed regularly as routine maintenance. We sedate them to ease their anxiety.

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Nebula in the sun

2007-02-11T20:01:00.001-05:00

Nebula loves the cold weather and snow. We didn't see her in the barn because she was outside playing in the snow! That is some dense fleece on a beautiful girl. We can't wait to show her off.

Barn Plans

2007-02-04T12:41:00.001-05:00

frosted window on a cold winter day

2007-02-03T14:28:00.001-05:00

Halter Training

2007-01-28T20:21:00.000-05:00

We have spent a few days the last couple of weeks getting Nebula used to wearing a halter. First we just layed gloves on her back so she would get used to having something against her body. Then we put her halter on for a couple of minutes another time. Last week MJ put the lead on her and let her get used to it. And, yesterday Carly walked her in a small circle. Nebula is so sweet and gentle. She loves to have her neck and back of her ears rubbed.

We are still modifying the barn plan to be sure to include enough windows and doors in all the right places. I think we decided on painted steel for a building material. It is less expensive than wood and also easier to maintain.

Darcy

2007-01-17T20:50:00.001-05:00

Our first Alpaca Darcy

Our new field

2007-01-17T20:47:00.001-05:00

When can we get a barn?

2007-01-14T17:17:00.000-05:00

We met with a renowned pole barn builder yesterday. He is working on a price for a 24'x36' pole barn with an 11'x36' loft storage area. There are overhead doors on north and south side. Two sliding doors under the overhang on the west side. and one slider on the east side. The overhang is 6'x24'. It runs to a small tack room on the end of the building. I'm waiting for the guy to get back to me on cost. He says it is cheeper in the winter because labor is less. (apparently they are all looking for something to do this time of year) Also, the price of lumber is expected to go up this year do to a slow building season last year.
The area where the barn is going to be needs to be grading because it is a little high. The grading guy just left. He will get back to us on prices in a couple of days. With all of the rain coming down the last few days, there won't be any grading this week! I'm very curious about the prices of these things. We may need to adjust the barn size depending on the price.
If it stops raining, the girls and I are going to go over to the barn and start halter training Nebula. I can't wait.

Soil amendments

2007-01-07T18:12:00.000-05:00

After our soil was tested, we found out what we really knew all along. Our pasture is very acidic and not the proper PH for orchard grass. So this morning, bright and early we spread 500 pounds of lime on a mushy ground with a common household lawn spreader. It was hard work but at least we feel like we are making some progress. This winter has been so mild that it seems like fall. The ground hasn't frozen, so it just felt right to go ahead and apply the lime while the opportunity was there. We need to add potasium and phosphorus too, but that will come in the spring when we add another 500 pounds of lime.

Welcome

2007-01-07T18:11:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Three Girls Farm blog. It is my pleasure to record and share the daily practices of starting an alpaca farm. So far it has been lots of fun.