Cria update

Our newest little cria is growing stronger every day. We're pretty sure she was born at least a week to 10 days early because she was so weak and her ligaments were so soft when she was born. However, she is running around the pastures now and making new friends. She and Rosie are quickly becoming BFF's.

Here are Rosie and Autumn Shadow - they are about three months apart.

And here is a photo of Phoenix taken today - he is now almost four months old.

We have two more females that are due any time now. Here is Dazzle, who is pretty much taking things in stride, just lounging around eating. It looks like she has swallowed a basketball (or two)

And then there is Dee - who is not the least bit happy about how she feels right now. Her ears are almost always back like this lately.

 

Dee doesn't look as big as Dazzle does but it is because Dee hasn't been sheared so her wool covers her baby bump. And, Dee is larger and has more capacity than Dazzle so she doesn't show quite as much as Dazzle. Which one will deliver first?

And, another photo of little Autumn

Thank you for visiting Split Rock Ranch!

Another new cria at Split Rock Ranch -

Yesterday was a great day here at Split Rock Ranch. Yesterday morning I discovered the very first freshly laid egg by one of our Rhode Island Red hens! She was soooo proud of that egg!

After doing chores and while I was filling water tanks, I noticed that one of our females, Chalcedony, was laying by herself off in "the birthing corner". I observed her getting up and trying to poop but not much came out. Then she would go lay down and roll to her side for awhile and then back up. Then she would stand and act like she was trying to poop again. I knew she was in labor. I came into the house to get towels and the "birthing bag" that contains iodine for the umbilical cord, etc. I was going to come back in and grab the camera but by the time I got back out to check on her the nose was already presenting so I just got some of the other female llamas moved to another pasture to give Chalcedony some space. Soon the front legs and head were out and I just went up and wrapped a towel around the baby and caught it as she was dropping to the ground. I was thrilled - it is a girl!

 Above: Newborn cria with her Dam

We picked up the cria (baby llama) and moved her over to a small area where we always put the new moms with their babies so they can bond and nobody will step on the new baby that way. We caught Chalcedony and put her in with the baby and gave her a bucket of water, some hay and some grain.

Here is a video of the brand new baby.

And here is a photo of the little girl today.

And a close-up

We haven't decided on a name yet. We are considering Onyx, Obsidian, and Ebony. Onyx and Obsidian are related to Chalcedony and are both black substances.

But since she was born on the first day of Fall, the Autumnal Equinox, we are also considering Autumn.

Wordless Wednesday

Another llama for our show string - Wheatfield's Spencer

While we were at the LOCC Fall Classic Llama show and the Rocky Mountain Regional Llama Show over Labor Day weekend, we fell in love with this young male llama. His name is Wheatfield's Spencer. His owners/breeders are retiring and getting out of the llama business so they wanted to get their animals placed into new homes.

Spencer was already entered into the LFA Fall Harvest Show and the LFA Futurity Show on September 16-18 so we agreed to have them show Spencer at these shows and we would figure out how to then get Spencer here to Colorado from his home in Kansas. Spencer came to Colorado yesterday with some friend's who live 20 miles to the west of us; they had also attended the LFA show and sale so they brought him back home with them. We went to pick Spencer up last night.

I fell in love with Spencer's color and his adorable face. His color is a gorgeous rose gray and the fiber is incredibly silky soft.

Just look at his fiber!

Spencer placed first in his class and then took Grand Champion Heavy Wool Male at the LFA Fall Harvest show!

I checked Spencer's other placings that I could find on-line and see that he also placed first and Grand Heavy Wool Male at the Nebraska State Fair this summer.

Stay tuned for more of Spencer as he grows up here at Split Rock Ranch!

Rosie is looking awesome!

Split Rock Champagne & Pearls, aka "Rosie" (I was going to name her Roses, Champagne & Pearls because she looked pink when she was born but that name is SO big, we just decided to call her Rosie and shortened the name to C&P) is now almost three months old and is growing up nicely. Her fiber is not as pencil locked as it was when she was born but we're hoping the lock structure tightens up as she ages. And, her fiber is this incredible champagne color now with silver and dark gray points.

Our new puppy - River!

You might remember that I did a post back in April regarding the passing of our little toy poodle, Gigi. I was totally devastated by her passing and have been grieving for months. We wrestled with the idea of getting another puppy but wanted to put some time behind us before doing so. We considered getting a mini Schnauzer puppy and I even found a puppy here in Colorado that I fell in love with - look at the heart on his side!

But, hubby was hesitant to get another small dog for several reasons. We have heard that Schnauzers can be big barkers. Strike one. We have heard that Schnauzers can be snippy with other dogs. Strike two. I don't want to get a little dog with "small dog syndrome". Strike three. So, as much as I adore this little puppy, we decided that he just wouldn't fit our current lifestyle.

Then we went to a llama show over Labor Day weekend and some friends of ours had brought their black standard poodle with them. He is a gem. It really made both of us miss our little Gigi. So, we thought perhaps a standard poodle might be the best choice for us. We really missed the poodle personality - they are so smart and so easy to train. After we got back home from the llama show I started doing an internet search for standard poodle puppies in Colorado and found a breeder who lives less than two hours away from us. She had two dogs listed in her ad - one of them was a black male standard poodle named River, which was exactly what we were looking for. I emailed her and asked if River was still available. He was. Long story short, after being told that River might be sold on Friday, I woke up Saturday morning to an email saying that the breeder refused to sell River to the person who looked at him Friday evening and if we were still interested we were welcome to come visit. We went and saw River and both of his parents, along with his parent's pedigrees and fell in love with him. River is calm, sweet, laid back, fun loving, obedient and a stunning dog with excellent conformation. I haven't been able to get good photos of him since we brought him home because he rarely sits still for more than two seconds when I'm trying to photograph him. So, for now I'm sharing his photos from the breeder.

Here is River's paternal grandsire, JC Pioneer's Kaiser. Kaiser was the #1 standard poodle for 2003/2004 - he was the first silver standard poodle to achieve this!

Saturday morning while we were getting ready to leave to go meet River we got a call from the shelter saying that it was time for our foster kittens to go to the vet for their neuter surgeries on Monday. So, it was good timing because now I don't have to keep track of a puppy and two small kittens!

New Foster Kittens!

We have two new foster kittens. A little gray and white male named Squeakers and a solid black male named Stormy. Both are long haired kitties. They aren't related but they came into the shelter a couple of days apart so they were fostered out together and they have become best buddies. Poor little Squeakers was found in someone's crawlspace all by himself. He had a litter mate but a dog killed it. ;o( So, needless to say, Squeakers came to us terrified of dogs. However, he is getting braver and braver around our two dogs so we think he'll eventually be fine to place in a home with dogs.

Here is Squeakers, lounging on his little bed on hubby's desk in his home office.

 

And here is Stormy with Uncle Munchkin. They are snoopervising.

Cria and Goat Update

Sorry its been awhile (again) since I posted but I've been super busy around the ranch and keeping up with the auction for my niece on Facebook.

I wanted to share some additional photos of the little Nigerian Dwarf goat kids I got recently. These little guys were both born in April so they are a little over three months old now.

This is Gladiator

And this is Darrel

They LOVE to climb and jump on things. I put this ramp up to the top of their house and they love to run up it and then jump off and run back to do it again and again and again.

Today when I went out to check on things, I found the two of them curled up sleeping in the shade on top of the chicken run. Darrel was asleep on the tarp at one end and Gladiator was curled up sleeping on board that I have sitting on top of the run to protect the opening into the chicken coop from rain. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me and as soon as they realized I was outside, they woke up and jumped off, running to me to say hello. They follow me everywhere like little puppies. They even wag their tails like a dog! They really are very cute. Sometimes annoying...but cute.

And here are some updated photos of Phoenix and Rosie. They are grazing while Rosie's momma, Minnie Pearl, is resting.

And here is Phoenix with his half sister Dazzle (they have the same dam) drinking out of a puddle after the rain.

And here is Rosie, posing for me. I finally managed to get several great photos of her standing still!! We are more and more impressed with Rosie every day. She has such incredible fiber and the color is awesome. Her personality is absolutely precious. We just love her!

We should have at least one more cria in late September/early October. Dazzle is bred to our silver ALSA Halter Champion, Tempis Fugit.

 

Sorry, she was very busy eating and drinking!

Online Auction to Benefit my Niece, Alena

I am holding an online auction on Facebook for the next week or more. The proceeds of this auction are to benefit my niece, Alena, who is recovering from uterine cancer. She had surgery in late June and is unable to work for six weeks. She had to borrow the money to have the necessary surgery to remove the cancerous tissue. Her insurance would not cover the surgeon's fees and those fees needed to be paid up front before the surgery would even be scheduled. While she is unable to work, she does not have paid vacation or paid sick days so she is without any form of income for six full weeks. This means she does not have the funds to pay even her basic necessities of rent, utilities and food. So, I decided to do not only the Chip-In event for her, I also decided that an auction would be a great way for people to get some beautiful goods and the proceeds would go to a very good cause.

In the auction are some handspun and hand painted yarns that were donated by a wonderful customer and friend, Cassandra.

And a handspun skein of Falkland wool yarn spun and donated by Marlea in Wyoming.

Also up for bids is a hand dyed skein of wool dyed and donated by Lydia of Prairie Fire Soapworks & Fiber - on ArtFire.

Also available is some extremely yummy olive oil donated by Kitehawk Farm: Kitehawk 100% Organic Arbequina Olive Oil - 250 mil bottle. Estate grown and milled at Kitehawk Farm, located on the lovely central coast of California.

And two big boxes of soy wax scented tarts for use in a tart warmer - each box contains 25 two ounce (2.0 oz) tarts (over three pounds of tarts!) donated by Auntie Di's. You can find Auntie Di's on facebook, on her own website and on Etsy.

Another gorgeous item up for bids is a stunning chalcedony bracelet handmade and donated by Patty of Broken Teepee Designs in Montana. Broken Teepee Designs is also on Etsy.

I donated a first shearing llama cria (baby) fleece. I normally would never sell a cria fleece but I wanted to donate something that I thought would sell well and this fits the bill very well.

My niece, Alena Scott, is a also very talented artist. She makes some incredibly beautiful mosaic pieces of art. Some of these pieces are available for sale right now in the auction on Facebook. Here are her pieces available in the auction:

A mosaic candle holder

A candle holder or candy jar (has a lid)

A mosaic frame that holds a photograph of a rose (taken by Alena)

A gorgeous patio table or tea table

And a framed mosaic wall piece titled "Green Mask"

Other people have donated items to the auction and I will be adding those over the next few days as time allows. I will be adding some Mary Kay cosmetics, handmade earrings, a handmade angel "ornament" and other items.


A huge thank you to everyone who has donated items or money to the Chip-In Event! The outpouring of kindness, generosity and love has been amazing and the entire family is extremely grateful for everything that everyone has done to help. Of course, all the prayers are very much appreciated and have made such a difference in the healing process.

If you are interested in bidding on any of these items, you can find the online auction HERE.

Catching Up

I apologize for not posting much lately but I've been pretty busy. Our daughter got married on June 25th in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Manitou Springs, Colorado. The weather was perfect and the ceremony was very touching.

Here is the happy couple.

 

The week after the wedding, our new chicken coop/house arrived. Mid-May I got five Rhode Island Red pullets. One chick died within a few day, most likely from shipping stress, and another one died a couple of weeks ago and I have no idea what happened to her. I found her dead in a box in the chicken run one morning. So, we have three pullets left. They are growing like weeds! The first week, I swear you could watch them grow right before your eyes. I would check them first thing in the morning and then throughout the day and every time I looked in on them, they were bigger than the time before. Once I moved them outside to their run, they grew quickly and it was a lot easier having them outside, rather than inside in a large cage (a lot less messy in the house!) They slept in a pet carrier in the run until we bought The Chicken Hilton for them. They wouldn't go into the new house so I picked one of the girls up and set her inside. She came squawking out of there like a bat out of you know where! Hmmm...so the first night they slept in their crate. I decided I hadn't spent all the money on The Chicken Hilton just so it would look good next to the run, so I removed the crate and put some of their food inside. They weren't buying it. So then I put a light in the house and they at least trotting up the ramp and had a look inside. Then, I got an ear of corn (their favorite treat) and broke it into a small piece and a larger piece. The small piece I dropped on the floor just inside the door. They all fell on it at once. I then set the larger piece all the way across the house on the floor and soon one at a time they came in and started eating the corn. Now they love their house and spend every night in it and are sometimes in it during the day, just chillin'. They are now 9 weeks old and look like chickens, not chicks. Rhode Island Reds should start to lay eggs when they are about 4 months old so they're about half way there. The chicken house has a nesting box attached to one side of it with three nest sections in it. We purchased a second nesting box that can be attached to the other side of the house at a later date when we have more chickens.

Here is The Chicken Hilton. I cut a section of the chicken wire from the run just large enough for the little door on the opposite side to flop down, creating a little ramp for them to use to enter the house. I stapled the chicken wire to the side of the house so nothing can squeeze through and get into the run or the house.

Here's how it looks with the second door open. I am not letting them out to free range yet as they still aren't big enough.

And here is how it looks from the other side of the run. Notice the chicks playing in their water pan. I put a paving brick in the center of the pan to hold it down and to give them something to stand on. They love to play in the water.

And above is a close-up of the chickens - sorry, they're all mooning us!

Next post I'll tell you about another recent addition to the ranch!

Please Chip In

My niece, Alena, was diagnosed in April with uterine cancer. Because she does not have medical insurance that covers the surgeon, they would not schedule the surgery until she came up with the money. She was able to borrow the money for the surgery and had that surgery on June 24th. She is not able to work for six weeks so is unable to pay for her rent, utilities, food and living expenses. I have set up a Chip In account for her in the hopes that we can get enough money to pay her expenses until she is able to return to work. I would also love to be able to get enough donated to help pay back the money she borrowed to get the surgery.

The surgeon told Alena that she believes she got all the cancerous tissue during the surgery so radiation and chemo will not be necessary. This is extremely good news, especially since over two months went by between discovering the cancer and getting the surgery.

Alena is a very talented artist who makes beautiful mosaic pieces. I will post photos of some items that she has for sale so if you would like to purchase them, the money will go towards her expenses.

Here is Alena with her three daughters.

Anything people can donate would be greatly appreciated. Even $1 would be helpful to help offset her expenses and medical bills.

And, of course, prayers and positive healing energy are always appreciated! 

Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity!

Rosie is growing up!

Here is a photo of little Rosie that I took yesterday. I just love the color of her fleece! And that face...she's such a cutie pie.