Ezekiel - Pulp Fact

Sep. 16, 2019

Karma. That’s what most of us have said at one time or other when we hear of a terrible incident that occurred to an individual or group of people. And if Karma is behind everything that happens, what did Hilltop Farm do to deserve its fate.

What has brought this on, you might ask. Well allow me to retort. On 27th August this year a cria that we called Ezekiel was born to this world. But it was anything but a straightforward birth. In initially he appeared to be in the perfect position, his head and front legs were out and it was up to his mother, Isabella, to push a few more times and he would be born. But little Ezekiel was gasping for air. Our vets HGM Veterinary Services in Tullamore were called immediately and with a little help from the staff at Hilltop Farm, Ezekiel arrived just as our vet did. The cria was still gasping for air and Catriona blew into his mouth and suddenly his breathing regularised somewhat – but not entirely. The vet got there and examined Ezekiel and found that there was fluid on his lungs and he also noticed that the umbilical cord was not intact. Somehow it had been ruptured in the womb and this had caused the little boy to gasp for air. Under normal circumstances he would have been getting his oxygen from his mother. The vet explained that this lack of oxygen most likely would cause him to have a reduced mental capacity. However, within half an hour of being born Ezekiel was up on his own four feet and walking around – Staggering might be more correct. All seemed to be heading in the right direction. But Ezekiel did not drink from his mother because he didn’t know he was supposed to. Why you might ask. That was the first sign that he was in fact slightly brain damaged – it was now up to us to bottle-feed the little boy.

To look at Ezekiel walking around the paddock you would not have thought he had less of a mental capacity, but just a little quirky. And because of the attention he was getting from us, he was more inclined to hang around with us that the other alpacas. He would run to meet you at feeding time. He always recognised the bottle. We always tried as best we could to include his mother in the process so that a bond could be formed between Isabella and Ezekiel – but alas nothing ever came of it. She looked after him every day but he didn’t recognise who she was. Occasionally she stood for him to drink from her but he just went about his own business, nibbling at everything except what he was supposed to.

After a couple of days, his breathing deteriorated and the vet confirmed that Ezekiel had developed pneumonia. Even after the injections he had given him to clear his lungs.

We took turns every night to stay with Ezekiel out in his shed. We had to be sure that he wouldn’t go out in the cold air and of course to ensure he got his quota of milk. The little boys was so playful and believe it or not, he never once stepped outside the shed. Sometimes he would just sit and stare at the wall but then we realised that some of that time he was asleep even though he always sat up perfectly straight.

Soon however his breathing deteriorated and it became audibly harsh. After trying some things out, it became clear that his breathing was much better when he stood and incredibly he learned a trick. When we would count one, two, three up, he would get to his feet and stare proudly either at us or at the wall of the shed. Either way, he was visibly happy.

Our vet had been out several times to see him and tried absolutely everything to rid Ezekiel of his pneumonia. Very early, before sunrise on Friday 13th September, the icy cool air was getting the better of the little boy and so we decided to bring him into our house. Yes, we had a baby alpaca in our sitting room. He was so content. He sat on a blanket in the middle of the floor and watched television. He stared up at the screen and it looked for all the world as if he knew what was going on. He even waited until he was brought out to the front lawn before he did his poo. A toilet trained alpaca.

Ezekiel nibbled everything in the sitting room to his heart’s content. He often stood there, ears pricked up with that proud face showing.

But the following day, Saturday, he became lethargic. He spent a couple of hours at the front of our house in the fresh air. The vet had dropped out to see him that morning and though he looked a little better that the last time he had seen him but he still explained that there was a harshness still in one of his lungs.

Ezekiel slept on and off that day both inside and outside the house. He was getting progressively weaker and at 3:41 on Sunday morning he passed away after a two and half week struggle with an immovable pneumonia. The quirky little cria with the strongest will to live and the cutest little face was gone.

But what did we do to deserve this fate, or what did that little animal do to deserve the circumstances he was faced with. If that was Karma, which we don’t believe it was, what did we do to bring it on.

Alas, even though little Ezekiel has passed from this world he will always be in our minds. He was the alpaca with the slightly reduced mental capacity that could entertain us, learn tricks and be so obedient. We might never see the like again.

All at Hilltop Farm

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Now this is what we do

Jul. 29, 2019

When people come to visit Hilltop Farm one of the questions that is asked regularly is, what do you do with the fleece? Unfortunately we have done very little with ours. That answer then leads to; what is the point in having alpacas if you cannot gain something from them? That is a fair enough question especially if you are someone who wants to get into alpacas just to make a living.

In our case, our animals are now self-sustaining in that they don’t cost us anything to maintain. That might just sound absurd but it is true.

The problem with creating products in Ireland with alpaca fleece is that there are no woollen mills in this country. Britain has several well established mills but then the cost of transport over and back has to be taken into consideration and unless you have a large amount of animals, it’s not really cost effective. However, we are planning to create a product with some of our fleece that is not being created anywhere in Ireland at the moment. There will be more on this when we move into production…

But how is Hilltop Farm sustainable? It’s people who make it so. Every weekend and even on the occasional weekday evening we have visitors coming to see our alpacas. But it’s not just having a look; oh no, it is an alpaca farm experience. It starts by visiting the paddocks, meeting the docile animals and getting to rub down some of them, some of whom even go so far as to lie down at your feet while you caress the silky, cloud-like fleece on their backs and necks. When you have met them all, you may then bring some of them on a quiet stroll. Finally, the log cabin is available for light refreshments – tea/coffee/water and something light to eat while talking about anything and everything including alpacas. A new venture into visits has also commenced with a visiting equine school and, believe it or not, a hen party. Yes, a hen party who had book their visit well in advance. They stopped at Hilltop Farm on their way to their final destination. Both were fabulous successes.

We can almost guarantee that you will have a smile on your face and maybe even a light fluffy feeling within you as you leave Hilltop Farm Alpacas to go home.

Why not come to Hilltop Farm and experience the experience and similar to us, you might even want to embark on your own adventure into farming.

Until again

Alan and Catriona

Positivity is the secret!

Jul. 8, 2019

‘If you have livestock you have deadstock’, is a saying within the farming community. Having been raised in a town myself, it was not something I would have heard, or understood for that matter. That was until this summer. Here at Hilltop Farm Alpacas we started breeding from our own for the first time and most of the cria (babies) born this year would be our own. By the 29th June we were due to have four cria on the farm. But this is not the case. Two of our babies died, one at birth, the second – at four days old.

The first cria suffered a complication during the birth. The mother (Cloud) had a twisted uterus making it difficult to birth her baby and when the vet eventually managed to help it out, it had lost its fight and died because of the stress it had suffered during the process. The second cria was born to Apollo with fluid in one of its lungs and the high levels of humidity made it difficult for the little one to breathe easily. We did everything we could for the little one, but it wasn’t enough, Mother Nature had other plans. These two cria were named Evolution and Empress.

But it hasn’t been all doom and gloom. We have had two healthy cria – Eureka and Elijah – with one more expected in late August. You just have to accept that not everything will go your way and for some unknown reason the ‘powers-that-be’ decide that harmless creatures be taken from their bereaving mothers. But that’s just how it is. We have to enjoy what we have and just remember the ones that are no longer with us.

However it must be said that the two crias that we have are pure bundles of joy and we will undoubtedly have hours of amusement with them.

Until next time

Alan and Catriona

Things are about to get busier

Mar. 23, 2019

Hilltop Farm is busy at the best of times, but now it is about to get a little busier still. Oh yes it is. Things are happening here apace. One of our girls is due to give birth for the first time and it could happen any time from now on. It's a little unusual for a cria (baby alpaca) to be born this early in the year, but she and the male got a little frisky when we weren't expecting it. These things happen and how it came about was completely unexpected. We are on watch her all the time now to make sure everything is as it should be for the mother-to-be. but you know what they say about watched kettles.

But that's not all that's happening at Hilltop Farm. Oh no it's not. Just last week we entered into agreement with a company called Weddings Ireland who have put us on their magazine (online and hard copy versions). We already had two weddings booked for this year and the growing interest looks like that number might just increase. We were excited and delighted to have been placed on Weddings Ireland and hope we continue our good relationship with them.

And that's not all because today, we completed our Outhouse, our outdoor toilet, that works like the outhouses that were the norm in olden times in this country and possibly many others as well. All the waste deposited in the outhouse will be disposed of naturally - in keeping with the environmentally friendly alpacas. Visitors to the farm will be able to use the outdoor toilet from now on. Visitor numbers have began to increase of late so the completion of this construction couldn't have come at a better time.

But that's still not all. We are currently waiting for the delivery of a small Log Cabin which will be our tea-room and area where visitors can come in and talk about alpacas if that what takes their fancy.

Oh yes, we are stepping it up at Hilltop Farm and if you are interested in visiting us, don't forget to contact us to make your appointment. Please also see our Reservation Form on www.hilltopfarmalpacas.com if you wish to book some of our photogenic alpacas for your wedding.

Until later

Alan and Catriona

Nature Calls It!

Dec. 17, 2018

Over the last couple of days we have been experiencing some terrible weather. Its not that we're not used to it because the recent storm was the third named one since November - Storm Deirdre. It included gusts of wind of up to 130km/h, torrential rain and even hail showers.

A favourite past-time of us people from Ireland and the British Isles is to talk about the weather and we like to complain about how bad the forecasters are at predicting our weather. But we don't seem to take into account that most of our weather can be localised events and that the rainfall 15 miles down the road could be completely different to what we experience. We even depend on apps to help us out, but then our battery and we are left with nothing.

But that's not the case with the animal world - which does not have access to any of out technologies - but they seem to know when bad weather is on the way. Watching our alpacas, we see them moving before a torrential rain shower or high wind. They always seem to know the direction the wind is going to come from; they find shelter.

During Storm Ophelia I observed our alpacas lying in the middle of their paddock during the height of that storm. I decided to go out to see if they were alright and as I approached them I saw that they were sitting with the heads forward a little just beside a small rise in the ground. I went up to them and bent down close to them to find that the wind was skirting over them completely. Meanwhile as I stood up again, I was nearly blown off balance by the 140km/h gusts.

How did they find that spot? How did they know there even was such a spot in their paddock? There was a shelter in the field but they decided to use what had been provided by nature itself to combat what Mother Nature was throwing out.

But then I realised that Nature knows best. My experience of this is with alpacas and how they can accurately predict what weather is on the way and how they can deal with it without needing to construct a barrier to keep me safe and sound.

Nature Calls it and alpacas will provide you with advance notice of the on=coming weatherr. These are fabulous animnals and there are many reasons why they should be studied and loved.

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