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Yarnauwi Farm

~ Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

Yarnauwi Farm

Tag Archives: alpacas

The drop: lambing season begins!

27 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by Joel in livestock, planning

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

alpacas, farm, lamb, livestock, seasons, sheep, southwestern Fleurieu, spring

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A young ram lamb takes shelter with its mother.

After weeks of expecting a lamb at any moment, the season has begun with five dropping at once! Fathered by the late, great Damara x Dorper ram Pecorino (sheepish in all but his appetites, he came to an untimely end after over-doing it on lupins), these little crossbreeds have a distinct Damara bearing and appearance, with their floppy ears and dappled coats. While the alpacas typically have an adolescent aloofness, now that there are lambs about they’ve switched into vigilant mode, keeping a close eye on their young charges and leading the flock to water and fresh pasture.

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After starting the flock with Wiltshire Horns, we found that this breed didn’t exactly relish our pre-treed (ie. open, windswept and exposed) environs, so we’ve started breeding the flock towards hardier, less selective grazers like the Dorper and Damara that also offer a yield in meat and hides. So with last year’s lambs being Wiltshire Horn x Dorper, these are all of the above, but mostly Dorper. As with virtually every aspect of this farming project, it’s an experiment!

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Year of the Sheep: Introducing Pecorino

15 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by Joel in livestock

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

alpacas, events, farm, livestock, photography, sheep, southwestern Fleurieu, summer

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Despite his noble bearing, thus far Pecorino has demonstrated a rather sheepish personality.

With the Year of the Sheep just around the corner on the Chinese calendar, it’s fitting that we’re celebrating the arrival of Pecorino. Pecorino is a Dorper-Damara cross ram, adopted from our friends Stefan and Amanda from their property at Inman Valley. Although our Wiltshire Horn-Dorper lambs have been pretty unfazed by the blinding summer heat, their Wiltshire Horn mothers have not fared so well. Enter Pecorino and his robust African desert-survival genetics and fat-tailed energy-storing mystique. Continue reading →

Alpaca makeover: our first shearing

08 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Joel in livestock

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

alpacas, craft, farm, livestock, seasons, southwestern Fleurieu, summer, textiles

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The before shot: full-coated alpacas from Yarnauwi and Whistling Pig mingle before their makeover.

Our alpacas Fidel and Ernesto have tolerated the heat for some weeks now, so there was general celebration when their shearing day arrived. Unfortunately, it also happened to be a searing, humid afternoon when we attempted to load them onto the trailer to transport them down the road to Delamere’s stunning Whistling Pig Farm where the shearers would meet us and clip our respective animals. In the past, we’ve thought of Fidel and Ernesto as compliant, if a little aloof, but that afternoon, with the sun beating down, they flatly refused to step aboard the trailer. We bribed, cajoled, pushed and persuaded in every way we could think of, but they just sat down in the grass, leaned against the trailer tailgate, and ignored us. Thankfully, the shearers were passing, and in a matter of seconds had them aboard on their way to Whistling Pig.

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Ernesto takes a professional interest in Fidel’s trim. 

Continue reading →

New Flock on the Block

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by Joel in livestock

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

alpacas, farm, fencing, kangaroos, livestock, planning, sheep, southwestern Fleurieu

The new flock of Wiltshire Horns, watched from afar by the alpacas.

The new flock of Wiltshire Horns, watched from afar by the alpacas.

Just as the last rays of sunlight slipped below the cliffs, Asher and I arrived at the block with the final trailer-load of livestock. It had been a massive day of zig-zagging across the southern Fleurieu, transporting our small flock of Wiltshire Horn sheep and alpacas from Hindmarsh Valley to the farm. Driving along Range Road in the late afternoon light, we did our best to not think of the wedge-tailed eagles picking over the lambs as some kind of omen. Continue reading →

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