Recovering from summer at the farm
I hope you all had a fabulous summer and enjoyed holidays, visitors, making memories and soaking up some sun. Let’s not forget September still counts as the summer so enjoy every moment.
At the farm, we welcomed hundreds of visitors who were all seeking fun with their favourite people and discovering the alpacas. The glamping was full throughout July and August, which meant lots of check-ins where guests first step into the seven metre bell tent and say “wow!” That never gets old for me, I love it.
With the gite full too, we balanced life through changeovers, doing our experiences with the alpacas throughout the day, and having our first summer fun as a family of 3, with Emilie discovering the joys of paddling pools, ice cream, cousins to play with on their summer holiday and local summer fetes.
We also welcomed three new alpacas to the farm at the beginning of July, so we had to get used to the new dynamic of the herd and the new recruits too, to know what was normal for them as well as trying to make them feel at home and used to us and our visitors too.
The new alpacas are exciting for us, not only because we love everything about alpacas, but these ones are slightly different too. There are two breeds of alpacas; huacaya and suri. The huacaya alpacas’ wool is what you typically think of when you think of alpacas. It grows like a teddy bear (ok, perhaps more like a sheep, but I like to think of them as big teddy bears!) Then you have the suri breed whose wool, similar to the Baudet du Poitou, grows into dreadlocks. The wool of the suri alpaca is hugely sought after being super-fine and produces a beautiful lustre when spun.
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
Becky, Brooklyn and Grouse
One of the new alpacas, Brooklyn, is a pure suri. Whilst the other two, Grouse and Bezzechi, are hybrids of the two breeds. Typically speaking, creating hybrids is not usual in the alpaca breeding world and it takes 9 generations after creating a hybrid to make alpacas bred “pure” again. However, if like us, you’re not in the alpaca world for breeding, but for pleasure and the passion of the wool, it makes sense to know that this hybrid wool is the best of both worlds and creates something incredible. I’m so excited to start working with Grouse and Bezzechi’s wool, but I have to wait until late 2025 for the pleasure, as the first time we shear them will be spring 2025.
The three newbies integrated beautifully into our herd and seemed to thrive in their new small world in Sanzay. Enjoying warm days being fed by groups, lazing under the shade of the walnut trees, being sprinkled in cold water to help keep them keep cool and being fed treats over the fence by our glamping and gite guests too. The rest of the herd appeared to relish in having new friends, especially having new younger alpacas to make their place in the hierarchy higher than it was before.
A seaside break for us to re-energise after the busy summer holiday
Now September is here, we took the time to have a little rest and have our own holiday, thanks to some wonderful farm sitters who kept everyone happy and safe whilst we took a well-earned rest. It’s also time for the alpacas to rest too as the way I see it is if we need some quiet time, so do they. Now we’re back, we’re quite busy again with accommodation bookings. September seems to be the new high-season and I understand why.
We will now catch up on the landscaping and rest some fields, start to think about putting away the glamping for the winter season and the knitting will start for our winter produce.
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