It really hasn’t been much of a winter; however,the warmer temperatures and lack of snow have made farm work and animal care easier. We look forward to shearing day (Anyone out there want to help??) and the arrival of our two cria due in only 2 months!

And now it is time to reduce our inventory of alpaca items to make way for new items. It’s a great time for you to stock up on next season’s gifts or something special for yourself because we have a special coupon at the bottom of this email; $5 off on all purchases $25 and over.

Remember alpaca is special because it is soft as cashmere, stronger and warmer than wool, and not as itchy. Come and feel for yourself!

Our farm store is stocked with locally produced alpaca yarn, rovings, and some handcrafted items. We have a variety of alpaca socks, gloves, shawls, sweaters, and children’s apparel. For those of you who are handcrafters, we have quilting and comforter batts just waiting for your next project.

A a new item that we are excited about is felted alpaca boot liners made from local fiber. These are cozy and extra warm, and only $7. Stop by and take a look. Bring your family and friends. Stay awhile and visit with the alpacas.

Hope to see you,
Steve and Susan Rice

For an outing that is great for kids and adults visit Craigieburn Farm Alpacas. Sip hot cider, enjoy your holiday shopping, and meet the beautiful creatures that provide this wonderful fiber. Alpaca if as soft as cashmere, warmer and stronger than wool and not itchy! Our farm store features elegant Peruvian sweaters, shawls, jackets, hats, socks, gloves, alpaca teddy bears, and locally produced alpaca yarn and roving. If you are into making a quilt or comfortor, we have locally produced twin and queen sized batts. 243 W. Pelham Road, Shutesbury, MA. You can also always call us to visit on another date.

Alpaca and Grandson

We will have an open farm and farm store on:

Saturday and Sunday, 11/27-28 and 12/4-5/2010

10 AM – 4 PM

Experience alpacas and shop in our farm store.  Alpaca is soft as cashmere, warmer and softer than wool.  And it doesn’t itch!  We have yarn, roving, scarves, hats, gloves, shawls and more. New this year are quilting and comforter batts made from our own alpacas and local wool blend.

Visit us at 243 W Pelham Rd in Shutesbury.  413-253-4485

For directions click on the contact us link.

Make sure you visit our farm store while you are here.  We have some new yarn that wasn’t here for the holiday season; a beautiful dark grey from Damascus and Celebration; a nice light fawn from Saladin and Violet; a beaufiful brown from Annamia; and a true black from Euphrates and Palmyra.  This could also be one of your last chances to get some alpaca socks, gloves and whatever to keep you warm the rest of this winter.

We will be open Saturday and Sunday, November 28-29, and December 5-6, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. You can also come any other time or date, just call ahead to be sure someone is here. Call 413-253-4485.

This year we have chosen to name our babies after early 20th century fictional characters from children’s books.  Babar had a difficult start to his world.  There was a slight dystocia so he and his mom had a difficult time with his arrival.  We were lucky to have a local midwife familiar with farm animals help us out with the delivery.  Babar was not gaining weight, so we started giving him goat’s milk every two hours. Babar’s next challenge was his front legs.  He had contracted tendons which made him walk with his front knees bent.  He then developed a limp on his left front leg.  After we tried our own version of physical therapy, Susan took him to a vet and he got a split pictured here.  Our grandson, Hayden, also broke his arm and we wanted his cast to look like Babar’s, so they both have purple appendages. 

Babar with splint

Babar and Hayden

Babar’s last  challenge (we hope) is high IgG level is low.  IgGs are immunoglobulins that we is supposed to get from his mom’s colostrum within 12 hours after birth.  He didn’t get enough, so we gave him llama plasma.  I’ll spare you the details on how this was done, but you can ask me when you visit.

Mike Mulligan is doing very well.  He weight 16.4 lbs at birth and just 3 days later, he is over 19 lbs.  He has been bounding around the pastures.  He is a very cute boy with a white spot on his nose.

Mike Mulligan

Mike Mulligan