A day on the alpaca farm

Well, we welcomed Sir Richmond in our earlier blog post, (view here). And here he is in action! 

The other alpaca's are in a seperate paddock whilst one wether intriguingly watches over and one cria thought it would be fun to join in.  Luckily for us, our gentle stud, does not mind the interference.  He is way to focused "singing" to this maiden. 

As alpacas are induced ovulators they are stimulated to ovulate by the act of mating. The male sings (orgles) to the female during the act of mating and it is believed that this also encourages ovulation. A female ready to accept a male will “cush” (sit down) and allows the male to mount her. One who is pregnant will run from him and spit at him. This is called “spitting off” and is a useful tool in determining whether a female has previously ovulated, or is pregnant.  Otherwise stick to the tried and tested method of ultra sound and/or blood test to determine pregnancy.  And very importantly, record all mating dates as 11.5 months later, you wont be able to recall anything! 

Turn on your sound to hear the famous male alpaca “orgles” love song.

Find out more about Little Valley Farm alpaca's here and when we have them available for sale as pets. 

Welcome Sir Richmond

Well, I wanted to introduce Sir Richmond to you all but Richmond had other things on his mind. So in all his glory.....  Welcome Sir Richmond, our working stud!   He was brought onto the farm and did not disappoint.  Straight to the job and no mucking around with this fella. 

Maiden Merribelle was the first female to greet him and sit down for him very quickly. Too quickly, I thought, but our maiden lady, had been waiting way to long. 

I was once told by a breeder many years ago, that alpaca's like to be pregnant.  Gosh, I thought, that's weird right? Well after nearly five years of breeding alpaca's at Little Valley Farm, I can see, they do like to be pregnant.  The girls temperament changes once they are pregnant and I usually notice the change a couple of months in.  

The breeding girls are usually serious and too busy raising their cria or working out how to steal as much hay as possible from each other.  Well, the herd of wethers we have, are just too entertaining. The wethers are usually rolling about the grass, leg wresting each other or just trying to get involved in the courtship process! (That's another video for later!).   Wethers are fun and entertaining so we usually have a small herd of them, one for protecting our girls and two, because they are just great farm-tv. 

Keep an eye on our page for when we have wethers, cria's and pregnant girls coming up for sale. Our herd is growing ever so quickly and our fleece and genetic's are improving every year. 

They are lovely natured alpaca's and some love a cuddle but mostly they love the bucket of feed.

Click here to see our current Little Valley Farm livestock sales. 

Alpaca Feeding Time: Chicken Take-Over

When chickens and guinea fowl succeed! 

Why we have an alpaca farm? →

We think the video says it all!  Daniela hanging out with Neve-Maria. We breed friendly, healthy and gorgeous huacaya alpaca's.  

We are the only huacaya alpaca breeder in Wollombi Valley.  Contact us for alpaca's as pets and we also have milled and raw fleece available for sale.  

Little Valley Farm : Alpaca Farm : Wollombi Valley

Moving the 'Red Rattler'; T4615

We are often asked just how our little Red Rattler made it to the farm. At about 30 tonnes and 20 meters long it was not an everyday event. 

Fortunately for us it was stored out near Dunedoo for almost 20 years in dry arid conditions that did not weather it too badly.  

So here we now located at Little Valley Farm in the Wollombi Valley.   Its now a perfect farmstay place and also used a couple of times as year as our garlic planting, sorting and curing deck. 

You can now enjoy this rustic and unique farmstay experience online click here 

Perfect match - Hut & Train to accomodate 2 couples or 4 people

Our Train and Shepherds Hut each provide a bedroom with different advantages. 

During Summer the Hut is mostly under the shade of Eucalypts by the creek line. This spot is cool during the day and makes the most of the long days and summer grasses. 

During Winter the days are short and the making the most of the Hunter's brilliant sunshine is far more important. At this time we'll move the Hut by the Train, closer the amenities and shared deck and bathroom. 

This only leaves our guests with one problem; where to sleep? 

The Hut: we love sleeping in the well insulated cosy hut with brilliant barn doors and classic old windows. The small space warms up nicely with two people, and the cosy double bed and quality mattress always ensures a good night sleep.

The Train: uses the end compartment of the train, with frosted glass and old shutters. The comfy bedhead is made up of the old SRA train seats. With a queen mattress and plenty of donna's or blankets even the uninsulated train keeps you very warm. 

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Alpaca Grooming Day

Keep an eye on our Facebook page for the next Grooming Day. You will be taught how to handle, hold and cut alpacas toe nails. We do this every three months and if it has rained, its even better as their toenails are lovely and soft to cut, making the whole process nice and swift. It’s also the day to check their fleece, teeth, eyes and give them a cuddle or two. 

Daniela with Bianca, Sophia and Zoey taking a casual walk around the paddocks. 

Fun fact: Alpacas come in two types: Suri and the huacaya . The huacaya has a wooly, dense, crimped fleece — like a teddy bear, giving it a very wooly appearance.  The suri's are long, shiny and dreadlocked looking.  At Little Valley Farm, we specialise in the huacaya.  (Pronounced wah-KI-ya).

Photo courtesy of Jim Merchant

Meet Sophia and Loren

Our beautiful girl, Sophia arrived at Little Valley Farm about over four years ago.  She was so pretty with her glamorous fluffy ears and long skinny legs. She was glam but over the years, she become goofy and oh so playful. She went from Sophia Loren to Lucille Ball! 

She was soo goofy in fact, we wondered what she would be like as a mother.  Well, our girl did not disappointed.  She produced a lovely little fella named Loren and then a second male, one year later. She is now feeding and caring for her new cria and loves being a mum. I do have to say, these animals are wonderful with their young and all day and night long you hear mum calling for her bub when they wonder to far. Its just simply lovely having little cria about. I think Sophia, would agree with me. 

Here is Sophia and her bub. 

Lilly and her bub born around the same time. So we have double trouble pronking about the farm. 

Contact Little Valley Farm for alpaca sales from wethers, females with cria-at-foot and pregnant females.  Training days on how to care and maintain alpaca's can be arranged. Simply email us your requiremnets and we will send you a quote. 

Drought impact in Hunter Valley likely to extend into winter as farmers stock up on hay

Daniela Riccio's Little Valley Farm interviewed by ABC Newcastle regarding the drought in the Lower Hunter Valley. 

As you can see from the images, it took its toll on the farm but my cattle and alpaca's remained nice and healthy, thanks to us hand feeding the last year.  Me... well, I look exhausted by the 43-45 degree summer days.  Click on the link to read the full article. 

Words and images courtesy of Robert Virtue, ABC Newcastle. 

LAGUNA FARMER FORCED TO BUY FEED FOR OVER A YEAR, AS DRY CONDITIONS BITE IN HUNTER

Well here, I am again, looking rather exhausted during the summer drought. The ABC Newcastle was here to interview us and several other farmers about the lack of rainfall in the Hunter Valley. 

Click on the link to read the full article: https://www.facebook.com/1233newcastle/posts/10155957223377591

Photos and words courtesy of Robert Virtue, ABC Newcastle

Dry Drone!

On a stinking hot day in January 2018, Doggie Drone visited our farm and we just managed to stand out in the stinking hot sun for twenty minutes otherwise we were going to roast away!  Anyways, Perry captured how dry our little farm is during this drought. I do have to say, looking at vid from this angle, the farm was looking worse than I thought and yearned for some rain and long long green grass. 

And as I write this, we are still waiting for rain. Still waiting!

Thank you to Perry for this amazing drone clip.

Hunter Magazine

Little ValleyFarm featured in the Hunter And Coastal Magazine. 

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From globe trotter to alpaca farmer - am sitting trying to work out how I got here? 

From globe-trotter to farmer

Listen to our podcast on Little Valley farm. A big thank you to Cultivate Farms and Regional Voices for this podcast. 

After 15 years travelling the world Daniela and her husband decided to pursue a lifelong dream and start their own farm in the Hunter Valley.

After many years of discussion and study, Daniela and Euan now run Little Valley Farm and they’re part of the Visit My Farm initiative to show other city-dwellers the beauty of ag.

Listen here: https://regionalvoices.podbean.com/e/from-globe-trotter-to-farmer/

This month is supported by Cultivate Farms.

https://regionalvoices.podbean.com/e/from-globe-trotter-to-farmer/

17 MUST DO HUNTER VALLEY EXPERIENCES

Little Valley Farm featured in Wine Selector Magazine.

LUSH LAVENDER

Daniela Riccio bought Little Valley Lavender Farm five years ago and while she still grows over 100 lavender bushes, the farm is mostly an organic garlic producer, alpaca breeding base and fleece retailer, bee keeper and miniature cattle grazier. It's is also a part of the Department of Primary Industries' Visit My Farm program, whereby city slickers can spend a day learning about farm life.

Words and images courtesy of Shonagh Walker

Agriculture tourism project aiming to break down city-country divide in New South Wales →

On 16th March 2017 Little Valley Farm was featured on the ABC Newcastle radio and internet regarding the 'visit my farm' programme.  Daniela Riccio was interviewed by Robert Virtue of the ABC.  Click on the link to watch the video. 

Photos and words courtesy of ABC Newcastle, Robert Virtue. 

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