Spring is in full bloom not only for the season but babies as well!

What an exciting start to the day on the farm today!  Babies Babies everywhere!  We are so pleased and thrilled to welcome our first baby boy to the farm courtesy of Chardonnay!

Please say hello to ........

Merlot



Just Born



Proud Mama - Chardonnay

Merlot was named by grandson Brandon Cole - Age 16.  He states he wanted the name Merlot

because it's a wine as well just like Chardonnay!



Brandon



Say Hello to Miss Roxie!

This past Thursday, May 23rd we were excited to welcome our 2nd Cria to the farm.  Miss Roxie was named by our nine year old Grandson, Caleb Pachulski who chose Earth Angel's baby to name.  Earth Angel is a very proud and protective mommy!



Earth Angel



Just Born



Roxie - One Day Old



Earth Angel, Roxie & Caleb

Sheena & Roxie have become fast friends and love to run the pasture together.



Miss Sheena
10 Days Old



It's Baby Time!!!

What an exciting day on the farm.  Not only were Dad, Jim & Paul busy getting fields ready for planting and running errands for parts to repair tractors and equipment, but Miss Dixie decided she was going to add some much anticipated excitement to our day! 

Dixie has presented us with the very first Cria born on our farm.  This was Dixie's very first pregnancy.  Not only did she have an easy delivery, she has taken to motherhood like a natural and is enjoying bonding with her new daughter.

 

Please say hello to Dixie's gorgeous daughter.



We have 8 grandchildren in our family and each grandchild has been given the honor of choosing a pregnant Alpaca and upon the birth of her cria the added privilege of giving that baby a name they've chosen.

The 2nd youngest granddaughter, Kassey had chosen Dixie.  Kassey is 5 years old and is our animal whisperer.  Kassey has a very special gift with animals and they respond to her in kind so it seems so fitting that she was given this special baby to name.  

We'd like you to meet:

Kassey & Sheena

Our Alpacas have been Shorn!

Shearing day has come and gone just in time for the recent warm weather we've had, much to our Alpacas relief!

We were very excited and nervous about our very first shearing here at Cannon Creek Alpacas!  After a long day of cleaning and prepping for the big event and some unexpected delays we have declared the overall experience a huge success. 

The following pictures are of our Beautiful girl, Dixie who has the most beautiful white fiber:

Before Shearing

 

     Being
     Shorn 

After

I highly recommend Biosecure Shearing for your shearing needs.  Led by lead shearer Micah,  he and his three man crew not only did an amazing job of shearing our Alpacas to show quality perfection but they also handled each animal with the utmost care, especially all of our pregnant females.  Thankfully none of our girls were too stressed about the situation that they went into early labor!

Say Hello to the New Additions to our Alpaca Family

Today has been an exciting day on the farm with the arrival of our 5 new Alpacas.  We welcome three beautiful females, two of which are pregnant and due anyday.  We also welcome two handsome males to add to our stable of Herdsires!

Introducing Our Females:


Chardonnay



Dixie





Tootsie



Introducing Our New Males:



Corky



Duke



It's Shearing Time!!!

When spring arrives so do the traveling shearers!!!  Our Alpacas will be getting much needed "haircuts" this Saturday, April 27, 2013!  Shearing is done once a year and gives relief to the Alpacas throughout the summer.  Too much fiber on an animal can cause heat stress which can lead to death.  Looking forward to actually being able to participate in this event this year on our farm!

Is Spring Around the Corner? Ask our Mommies to Be!!!

If you have any kind of animal whether they are pets or livestock you can almost always determine by their behavior if something is coming or going to happen.  Or maybe it's just plain old tired of being inside.

I believe animals can tell by changes in the weather if say a storm is on the horizon or say the season is changing as in spring is almost here!

Today was such a beautiful day here on the farm even if it only did reach 36 degrees.  The sun is shining and you can almost feel spring in the air.  Even our female alpacas were in a playful mood today.  They couldn't wait until that barn door opened and they ate their breakfast to step outside and enjoy some of that sunshine!

Once that pasture gate was opened they had a spring in their step and danced out to have a grand frolic with lots of rubbing against trees, kicking up their heels from one end of the field to the other and of course rolling on the ground and just feeling good!  Sunshine is a wonderful thing!

Wishing all of you a warm "Spring" in your step!

Sad News

It is with a sad heart that we announce today that we have lost one of our male alpacas due to an illness.  After a long weekend of struggling with being ill an despite our best efforts to save him, "Rocky" gave up the fight and passed on.  RIP Rocky, we will miss you!

"Rocky" - 2nd from the Left

How it All Began

Cannon Creek Alpacas was established on March 12, 2012.  Owners are John & Joyce Pachulski Jr.

Joyce and her sister Jean Padron of San Antonio, TX inherited their Parents, John & Helen Van Driel's farm in Ada, MI upon their passing.  With hopes of returning the farm to it's former working status, John & Joyce, knowing of their children's love of the farm as well, decided to enjoy their retirement with their children and grandchildren.  They spent many hours researching how they could make their dream come true!

John had the idea of raising buffalo as a way to make it a productive working farm.  After careful research and field trips to a buffalo farm nearby they came to the conclusion that although selling buffalo products could be profitable it wasn't a good fit for their family as buffalo are a dangerous breed, especially where their grandchildren were concerned.

After reading through a Country Living magazine they found an ad about Alpacas which piqued their curiosity.  Upon more research they decided to visit a local Alpaca Farm in Walker, MI with their children and grandchildren to see if this would be something they would be able to make a go at.

They met Tim & Jane Talbott of Grand Alpaca Company and their herd of more than 150 Alpacas and fell in love not only with the Alpacas, but Tim & Jane as well.  After working with Tim & Jane along with their daughter Debra Cole for almost 6 months learning about not only the daily care of Alpacas but also the ins & outs of the Alpaca Business they decided to take the plunge.

Thus Cannon Creek Alpacas and a new family legacy was born. 

Cannon Creek Alpacas now has 7 pregnant females and 5 male Alpacas.  Four of the females are expecting babies, known as Crias, this April/May 2013 and three crias are expected to be born in the Fall of 2013.