Autumn marks halfway
I’m certain I’m not the only one saying “how is it October already?”
This year is speeding by, and I can now say that we have a one year old daughter too. No longer a teeny tiny baby, but a bouncy, babbling toddler who loves nothing more than chatting away or getting muddy helping to look after her animals.
Looking back over her first year, there have been some incredible moments, including taking her first steps in front of some customers during an introduction before their picnic, picking leaves off of trees during alpaca walks and joining us during glamping changeovers, making them just a little harder and longer (namely having to clean the full length mirror more than once).
Now it’s time for us to navigate through childcare in France as we start her off at creche. At the time of writing this we’ve not yet picked where she’s going or even how many hours a week she’ll go for, but it’s important to us that she starts socialising with those her own age, and also starts hearing more of the beautiful french language from native speakers to help her navigate her own language journey. Yes, I’m looking forward to her being bilingual, but no, I’m not looking forward to her correcting my grammar and pronunciation constantly. Hopefully there’s still a long way to go until that starts!
For the alpacas, we’re halfway through the husbandry year, which we mark the start of with shearing, which is usually in April. A couple of weeks after shearing, we start the annual vaccination programme and other care jobs and preventative treatments for the herd. Now we’re halfway through their fleece growth and I’m usually grateful that I do not have to search through their woolly fleeces to find the perfect spot for the needle. However, this year I do, as there is a virus currently causing concern for ruminating animals throughout Europe, called bluetongue disease. This affects sheep, cattle, goats, camelids such as alpacas and wild ruminants such as deer. The situation is constantly updating and has worsened over the last few months and so, we had made the decision to vaccinate our alpacas, even though this decision came with a very large price tag, having discussed the situation with our vets, it was the right thing to do to protect our animals.
Walk the alpacas
Would you like to walk the alpacas around a 13th century chateau?
Walk the alpacas around the chateau
It’s a wonderful experience with the calming affects of spending time with the animals and the beautiful Chateau de Sanzay
Will hugging Astrid through her vaccines
Strain BTV-4/8 of the disease has been around for many years, but has recently had a new outbreak. With BTV-4/8 having made its way across France from the south, and now the new BTV-3 strain approaching from the north, it was time for us to take action and we were fortunate to receive both vaccinations for our herd by the time of our appointment with the vet. It is not a disease that can be passed on to humans, and is very unfortunate for any animal to contract, as it’s passed primarily through infected midges.
We then also start the autumn and winter months vitamin and mineral supplements for them all too, to ensure happy and healthy alpacas. Yes it’s true that their healthcare is complicated, mainly because they’re not native to Europe, but to us they make it all worthwhile.
An odd landscape change for us this month; we will clean and put away our 4m high and 7m wide glamping tent. The place looks so bare without it and I miss seeing the tip of the bell tent up high with the trees once it’s gone. Whilst I don’t like wishing time away, I’ll be eagerly awaiting when we’re able to pop it back up again, but for now we will carefully look after the equipment and areas, and hope that this season’s weather isn’t too harsh on us, although I am looking forward to embracing the season of slow cooker meals, hot drinks and of course the start of the 2024 alpaca wool knits, but that’s a story for next time!
Secluded, peaceful, private, revitalising, and wholesome
These are just some of the words that describe the unforgettable experience that Donna and Nick had at La petite Ferme d’Alpagas Sanzay during their stay.
From witnessing ‘Buddy’ the baby alpaca being born to exploring the surrounding areas, their 6-night stay was filled with many precious moments.
We are thrilled that they had such an amazing time and we can't wait to welcome more guests to our farm!
Knitted adult headband with a front twist design, created to keep you warm on cold days. Approximately 2 inches wide.
Made at the farm, from the natural colour and fibres of our beautiful alpacas. You have complete traceability of your product from animal to garment. We ensure a high welfare standard for our alpacas, giving them the very best care and enriched lives. Alpaca wool is a hypoallergenic fibre which is 5 times warmer than sheep wool as it's so well insulated. It allows your skin to breath whilst keeping you warm. As well as this, the reason for it's luxury label is that alpacas have a very low micron count (thickness of each individual fibre), so you can wear all our wool without itch or irritation to your skin. The fibre is odour resistant, has anti-bacterial properties and is water resistant, so perfect for all your winter activities.
These products are homemade by Sophie at the farm, and we only use wool from our own herd, so you know exactly where these have come from. Our current available wool is from Holly, Clove, Blossom, Rohini, Blaze and Pepper. Check back soon for more alpacas/colours.
For orders to the UK, please contact us by email hello@lapetitefermedalpagas.com