New born criae (alpacas)

Born on the 4th of july!

Well!

After 12 months pregnancy two of our imported girls (Belgium and England) have given birth. Two little girls were born.

The first, a very beautiful chocolat (rare) brown, was born on friday 3th of july. We decided (Marieke and I) that this was the first year (2009) we really are seriously breeding for better genetics. So we have to "come up with a system for naming". We agreed to give the new born alpacas a name by the year they were born, using the alphabet.
All alpacas born in 2009 will get a name started with an A. 2010 With a B and so on...

So we call our brown girl: AOL (stands for Alpacas of the Lowlands): Aoibheann Princess of the Lowlands.
Aoibheann means "beautifull" in Irish. It is pronounced as EE-ven.

On saterday our Belgium mother was on strike. She give us a very bright little white girl. She was racing on our fields and making contact with the other mares where the brown cria was staying with his mother and was sleeping on the grass.

We named her: AOL: Ailbhe Duchess of the Lowlands
Ailbhe - meaning "white, noble, bright". It is pronounced as Elvy

She has a very soft fleece (feels realy unique and very straight and beautifull legs).

On sunday we had a better look on her and we saw that she has blue eyes. Hmmm, just our luck! I'll get back on this subject in a future topic.... BEW's - Blue Eyes White Alpacas. I tested her..., and she is certainly not blind or deaf. Well that's a relief!!!

And of course always check the placenta. It has to come off in several hours. But better is in half an hour after birthing.

Geen alpaca's mee naar Hapert

Aanstaande 21 en 22 maart is het zover. Voor de 2e maal wordt dan de Alpacashow gehouden in Hapert. Met name Jan van den Acker en Yvonne Verbeek zijn grote initiatoren van dit geweldige evenement.

Dus mensen allemaal naar Hapert aanstaande zondag.

zie http://www.alpacashow.eu/

A new logo for "Alpacas of the Lowlands"

The new logo for

"Alpacas of the Lowlands"

Marieke has designed it...

www.alpacasofthelowlands.com

Pregnant or Preg-not?

Today we scanned three of our girls...













Photo 1.
From above you see a full foetus. Left is his/her chest and righthand is the pelvis.













Photo 2.
From aside you see the heart and lungs in the thorax (chest).

Alpacashow in Hapert (2009)

We will be present at the Alpacashow in Hapert in march 2009.
You can visit our stand and see how alpacablood is collecting (on farm) and transfered into plasma for earlyborn (neonatal) criae. It is possible to buy your own mobile plasmarotor (professional). Or you can make an appointment with us to visit your "farm".
We are looking forward to meet you...!

SEE OUR STAND FOR A COMPLETE VETERINARY SERVICE

Marieke and Leo van Merwijk (DVM)
Bata4en - Animal Clinic
Alpacas of the Lowlands

Alpaca Futurity Show in England

The English coast is very beautifull (even in the winter).

This week we (my wife Marieke, our four kids and myself) made a beautifull trip across the south of England. From Hoek van Holland to Harwich we did by ferry (Truckersdivision - with our kids - they never saw 4 kids a wife and a trucker in the Truckersclub on board). We first delivered our trailer by Classical MileEnd Alpacas in Tiverton were we bought some beautifull ladies... (see former article).

Then we stayed for a few nights at Mazzard Farm in Ottery St. Mary. The Mazzard Farm is owned by a dutchman called Ruud and his lovely wife Jacky (and their girls Jasmijn and Amber). We travelled to Cheltenham and stayed at the Clarence Court Hotel (very old building).

At Friday we went to Coventry / Stonely Park were the agriculture bussiness is gadered...

We did go to the FUTURITY SHOW (for alpacas). It was great happening.

At saterday we went back to Tiverton to pick up our alpacagirls. It was a pleasant trip and a great adventure for our family. We will do this more often...!

English versus Dutch

In the last months it became clear to me that the dutch market for breeding high quality alpacas is very little at this moment. Therefore I decide to focus on a bigger audience..., which means that I translate my blog in english in the future. There will be a lot of language/writing problems, ha, ha... But I'll try to evolve!

Yours sincerly,

Leo van Merwijk (DVM)

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Alpacas are delightfull, beautifull, exceptional creatures of nature.

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Last week Marieke (my wife) and I (and our little babygirl Lieke) went to England by plane (easyJet). Jet is one of my former assistents, but she wasn't easy (in many ways to explain?). We visit Chas and Rachel at their alpacafarm in Tiverton (Classical MileEnd Alpacas) http://www.alpaca-uk.co.uk/. Two great people who are willing to help us by selling some beautifull alpacagirls. So we are happy now...

I'll ask some foto's to show (of) my harem (of alpacas).

Many greetings,
Leo

www.alpacasofthelowlands.com

This drawing of an "Allocamelus" was published in England in Edward Topsel's 1658 History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, but it was taken from a Dutch work of 1558. This "Indian Sheep, out of the region of Peru" had a neck "as white as any swan" while "the colour of his other parts was yellowish." The "most gentle and meek beast" was brought to Antwerp and "afterward given to the Emperor." Along with this reasonable patter is the comment that "it is probable that it is conceived by a Camel and a Mule."

http://www.mcn.org/2/oseeler/llama.htm


http://www.alpacasofthelowlands.com/
Waarom alpacas of the Lowlands

Alpaca's zijn leden van de kameelachtigen familie uit Zuid-Amerika waar ze worden gefokt, vooral in Peru, Chili en Bolivia. Ze zijn meer dan 5000 jaar geleden gedomesticeerd. Ze werden zeer gewaardeerd door de Inca's (plaatselijke bewoners). Hun vachten stonden bekend als de "gouden" (ook vanwege de hoge prijzen). De vachten en wol werden gereserveerd voor de luxe kleding van de Koninklijke families. Oorspronkelijke alpaca’s werden beweid op de laaglanden (LOWLANDS) in goed georganiseerde fokkerijen, maar tijdens de Spaanse verovering, werden de alpaca’s verdreven door schapen en runderen evenals de boeren (Inca’s) naar de grote hoogte van de Andes.
De strenge fok regimes gingen vervolgens verloren en de overlevende alpaca’s kwamen in handen van arme boeren die in de hooglanden van de Andes leefden. De abrupte omschakeling vanuit een streng geregelde fokkerij naar een houderij door bewoners van de hooglanden veroorzaakte een extreme achteruitgang in de kwaliteit. De alpaca’s bleken gelukkig in staat om te overleven ondanks de extreme omstandigheden waarin andere gedomesticeerde dieren zouden sneuvelen.


Pas in de 20e eeuw zouden alpaca’s opnieuw worden gekweekt in gecontroleerde fokprogramma's.


Omdat gedurende de geschiedenis is gebleken dat de hoogste kwaliteit wol en alpacas zich bevonden in de Lowlands (van het Andesgebied) hebben wij de naam voor ons bedrijf hierna vernoemt. Tevens is het een verwijzing naar de Laaglanden (Lowlands) zoals Nederland ook wel bekend staat tegenwoordig…


Alpacas of the lowlands
http://www.alpacasofthelowlands.com/

Geboren

Vorige week weer twee alpaca's geboren. Prachtige diertjes, maar helaas weer hengstjes.

Dus nieuwe bloeddonoren erbij voor de toekomst...

Nu ook plasma verkrijgbaar

Bloedtransfusies bij alpacas!

Bij premature (te vroeg geboren) criae (veulens) is de overlevingskans vele malen groter na intraveneus of intraperitoneaal toedienen van bloedplasma (van alpaca's natuurlijk).
Vanaf heden bieden wij plasma aan voor verkoop aan houders van alpacas. Het is wel prijzig, maar de overlevingskans voor uw prijzige alpaca(merrie)veulen is vele malen groter.
Informeer naar prijzen en voorwaarden.
info@bata4en.nl
Groeten, Leo