Day in the life...
Every day's a little different, but here's a sampling from Kristie's weekday and Brion's weekend. As you can see, you'll enjoy early mornings on the farm, often watching a sunrise while you feed your alpacas. But you won't need to spend all day in the pasture either. Alpacas need a bit of time, love, and attention every day but they don't require your 24/7 presence. It's a lifestyle that rewards your time and energy without demanding all of it.
Kristie – Typical Weekday
6AM – Wake up, make coffee, and read the newspaper. Turn on TV monitor that shows what's happening in the alpaca barn.
7:30AM – Outta the house. Walking up to the barn. Feed the alpacas grain and refill hay troughs. Check their water. We clean up in the stalls and outside the barn daily. Also, whenever we are in the barn we observe the Alpacas, count heads, and assure that they all look healthy. Alpacas are stoic animals and don't readily show they are "off", so observing them daily is important.
8:30AM – Depending on the age of the alpacas, we might train the crias to be haltered and led. Also, depending on upcoming events, we might assess fiber on show animals, check teeth or toenails, or ready the farm for visitors or planned events. After all is done at the barn, we might run errands to get supplies or just go back to the house for administrative work. Could be record-keeping, signing up for shows, or unrelated work.
5:30PM – Same thing as the morning. Feeding Alpacas and getting them back in the barn area.
Brion – Typical Weekend
5:45AM – wake up and make coffee
7:30AM – Outta the house working with Kristie
8:30AM – On the tractor replenishing hay and grain in the barns. Cleaning up pastures. Seeding, spreading straw. Trailering work - such as picking up hay/grain, transporting alpacas to shows, or for breedings, etc.. Breed females during breeding season, or check to be sure pregnancies are progressing. Doing one significant maintenance project or just fixing all the stuff I broke earlier in the week: fences, rakes, etc.
12 NOON – Long relaxing lunch
2PM – Quittin' time. If you're always working, you don't enjoy it. You're not exhausted at this point, but you're tired in a good way.
