The Beginning

Welcome to Jack and the Alpacas! This blog is going to chronicle me, Bev Ann, my husband Bill and our very spoiled dog, Jack, as we adventure into the world of alpacas! 

For some of you this is the first time you've heard of us, our dog or our alpacas.  For some of you, it's old hat already.  You've been with us as we talked about getting them, picked them out and named them.  For me this blog is a journal recording our adventure with the alpacas from the beginning, through the learning, the loving, the everyday care and the joys of adding these three boys to our family!

Starting at the very beginning!  Our love of (oops, better say, my love) llamas and alpacas began around 1986 when we were on the Livestock Committee with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Llama Show first began. I was invited to be on the Committee by Susan Tellez and the love affair began!  I loved their soft fiber, their sweet faces and dreamed of the day I could own one.  Didn't even know then that you can't own just one!  Not like potato chips, this is really true - they're pack animals and you really can't own just one! We lived in the heart of the city and large animals were not allowed, so I worked on the committee and thought it would never be a reality for me.

Pancho posing.

But, three years ago we moved to the country!  And the dream surfaced once again and we began to look at them seriously a few months ago.  In December we found a wonderful alpaca ranch and the owners Laurence and Donna helped up find the perfect alpacas for us.

Lefty on the move.

Two had not yet been named and so we got to choose the names and settled on Pancho and Lefty! They are both just shy of being a year old.  Our third boy is Sammy and he turned two on January 15. Choosing them was the easy part and just the beginning.

Smiling!!!

Lefty is the white one (great fiber for dying bright colors), Pancho is the solid brown one on the right (fibers will dye in rich colors
and Sammy is the one with the white face!  Who can resist that toothy grin!!!! Not me, he won my heart with that smile. His fiber will be used naturally or it too will dye in rich dark colors.

Stable under construction!

 As I said choosing them is the easy part! Next comes the fencing, the building of a stable area, preparing the pasture, halter breaking (done by Laurence), learning about food, handling, medical needs, trimming nails, protection and shearing among a number of other things (some known and some not).  Of course, protection is key and that includes from predator animals and poisonous plants!  So much to learn and so much apprehension, but so much excitement, too!

Jack and his ball.

Now the name of our blog is Jack and the Alpacas, so I must mention Jack Daniel Victory, the resident ruler of the house!  Jack will be nine in May and he is King!  We've let him go back to the area we're building for the pacas (abbreviated name) and he's certainly smelled some new smells when we've come home from visiting the boys, but he has no idea what's going to happen to his happy home!  The first time I walk out of his little picket fenced yard and into the pasture with the pacas, he's going to freak out!  That is a given.  He's a mommas boy and he doesn't even like sharing me with Bill, so you can imagine how he will feel when he sees me with the boys as we affectionately call them. We will definitely introduce them slowly and try to make it a smooth transition for everyone.  He doesn't mind our three sheep, but then they don't move! He did thoroughly check them out when they arrived in the yard.

Bluebonnet Hills barn cat.

The un-moveable sheep!
 Look real don't they? 

Up at the ranch they have a barn cat and the young pacas in the barn with her don't mind her at all, but out in the field when she followed Donna and me, I watched one of the pacas literally chase her back to the barn, so I'm sure they won't want Jack around them, but we'll see.  They might surprise us - both the pacas and Jack!

Hardworking man!

We had part of the cross fencing put up a few weeks ago and Bill and I worked on the shelter area this weekend. Looks like Bill is the one really working, guess I was supervising!  Oh, that's right, I was taking the picture for posterity!  LOL

We still have lots to do, so mid-February is probably their move in date. I even mowed the back acre yesterday!  Earliest mowing in my three years - but need to keep down the weeds - don't remember this being in the "introduction to alpacas" book I read!!!!!!

This is going to be a journey for sure, with lots of work, laughs, fun and yet to be determined experiences.  Hope you'll join us on this wild ride!