Indiana Alpaca Invitational
On April 8, 9, 10, we showed three ARI Registered males: Mathias, Gregory and Benjamin,at the Indiana Alpaca Invitational in Fort Wayne at the Coliseum. Gregory got a blue ribbon award(first) and Mathias got a red ribbon award (second). Benjamin was in a large class and did not place. We showed the three together in the Breeder's Best Group of Three, and received a fourth place award, pink ribbon. We were particularly pleased with the judge's comments about Mathias. She said he had "by far the finest fleece in the class". She would have liked to have placed him first, but he is small and she wants to see 'more size' on him. She said he surely had a bright future.
Halter Training
We are now halter training our two youngest females - Collette and Silhouette. So far we are just walking in the barn, but next week we will walk in the pasture and the next week we will move out into the yard and walk around the house. They need to be ready to go to the Heartland Classic in Indianapolis on October 1st and 2nd..
4-H Alpaca Club
The Vigo County 4-H Alpaca Club was a great experience for us, the 4-Hers and the alpacas. We took the alpacas to the fair on Sunday morning, but by Monday afternoon it was so hot, we had to take the animals home. We sprayed their tummies with cold water and got them cooled off. We took them back on Thursday and had the show at 4:00 Thursday afternoon. The judge, Carman Jackson, did a great job, and the 4-Hers as well as the audience learned a lot about alpacas. The alpacas who were chosen by the 4-H club members really benefited from the extra handling they received. The animals remained on our farm, and the 4-H club members came regularly to feed, scoop poop, and practice walking their alpacas with their halters.
Alpaca Care
The heat has been hard on all of us (animals and owners). We are certainly glad that we have large fans in the barn which are set to turn on when the temperature reaches 78 degrees, and sprayers in the pastures which turn on every 2 hours so the alpacas can cool their tummies.
Our next birth (cria)is expected around September 3rd. Cocoa is the mom and the sire is our own Demetrius. This is his first and we are eager to see the result of this pairing.
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Lookout Farm 
