Cor blimey so that's what the world looks like....

Haircut today for TOFT Toledo. He is one of the last Cria to be weaned and we are waiting for him to start eating hard food before we take him away from Mum. Having observed him closely we realise that he is eating hard food when it is in front of his nose or we hand feed him but he doesn't seem to be aware of the food in the trough. We think this is because he can't actually see it. Some of these elite superfine Cria get a little fleece blind as they are carrying a fantastic amount of fleece on their face in the first year. This tends to even out and clear the eyes as the alpaca matures but the weaners often need a touch of the Vidal Sassoons around about now. Today I obliged on TOFT Toledo and he will be a happy boy tomorrow once he acclimatises to the fact ther is a whole world going by around him.

Excellent BAS Nationals in fleece and hatter for TOFT

Great show, great weekend and a great result for our little show team. We had Seven TOFT entries in total and acheived 6 rosettes, 2 firsts who went on to achieve Reserve Champion. In addition one of our agistees SNAPDRAGON Tamar acheived 3rd in the Junior Light Male.

TOFT Timogen- first in class and Reserve Brown Champion

TOFT  Tornado - first in class and Reserve Light Champion 

TOFT Torranaga- 4th in class, Intermediate Fawn Male

TOFT Tenacious- 4th in class, Junior Fawn Male

TOFT Typhoon- 4th in class, Junior Brown male

TOFT Manilla-      3rd in class,Intermediate Fawn Female

In the BAS Nationals Fleece we entered three fleeces in total and achieved two first and one second.

TOFT Nashira- 1st in Adult Female Light

TOFT Torranaga- 1st in Junior male  Fawn

TOFT Tamburlaine- 2nd in Junior Male Fawn

In addition one of our agistees Tanya  Davis   acheived a third place in the Junior Male Brown with TOFT Kleef. Congratulations Tanya and Kleef.

All in all great results for TOFT Alpaca Stud in a seriously competitive show with almost five hundred entries. A massive TOFT thanks to Freya and Linda for getting the animals into the ring in a real professional manner looking their best. Another to the show organiser Barbara Hetherington of Beck Brow Alpacas and her team of stewards and helpers who did a magnificent job in keeping the show moving and on time.

Hey ho Off to the Nationals we do go...

TOFT show team were brought out of the shed by Freya this morning, early doors, for an airing outside for a couple of hours before journeying to the International Centre Telford for the British Alpaca Society National Show 2016. 

It is virtually impossible to judge alpacas when they are wet so we shed them up to keep them dry as a bone for a few days before the Nationals. At the Nationals we have fans blowing over them whilst they are in the pens to stop them 'sweating up'. This gives our show team the best chance they've got of competing for the medals the rest is up to them! Here's hoping? 

The show kicks off at the International Centre Telford tomorrow at the crack of sparrow fart and ends around 4pm on Sunday. Over 500 alpacas have been entered making this the biggest show in Europe. It is open to the public if you fancy an alpaca fest. Don't forget to come and say hello to TOFT if you do.

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All tucked up for the Nationals

With the weather report threatening Snow and all sorts over the next couple of days we though it best to shed up the TOFT show team ready for the Nationals on Saturday. With over 500 entries at the National Show this coming weekend competition will be fierce. So we had better look our best. Alpacas don't show well in the wet. There is no lanolin in their fleece, when they get wet they get wet and dry themselves in the wind the minute the rain stops. Their fleeces have the ability to absorb over 30% of their weight in water so it's a bit like rubbing you hands over a wet dishcloth judging them when damp. Impossible. Anyway that's not a problem for TOFT we have them in the fed shed all tucked up against the elements for the next few days. Friday they go off to the International Centre Telford for the British Alpaca Society National Show. If you fancy seeing the very best the Uk has to offer you need to be in Telford 8am -5pm Sat and Sunday this weekend. Don't forget to come and see us if you get there. We wish the best of luck to our livery alpacas from Snapdragon and Arre alpacas who each have an entry in their weekend. They will be travelling with the TOFT team to Telford and we hope retiring with a rosette. 

High rise estate erected at TOFT....

What a day yesterday at TOFT for me and 'Bird-box Billy' aka Edward Lord. 

Together we knocked out a dozen new bird boxes and a bat box in Grandad's new workshop. It's rustic high rise accommodation for the bats and wee birdies at TOFT this season. And the bats well...first time we've ever made a bat box. The joy of explaining the mechanics to my three year old apprentice was simply priceless. "They land on the bit hanging down, grab hold of the wood, then crawl up the hole Dandad?" Apparently  he told his Daddy all about it when he got home and he had it all right too. Will the bats take up our offer of free accommodation? We shall see.

Widdy is a great Glue man dipping the perches in the white stuff and then putting them in the holes. Then of course he tested each one for robustness with his new hammer. "They all passed the test Dandad" 

The wee birdies will be spoilt for choice deciding where to live at TOFT this season.

We got half a dozen hung up last night before light stopped play and hopefully we'll get the rest up tonight when he comes in from nursery.  It simply must be done. Perfick! 

It's a bit chilly but we've plenty of chomp....

These dry cold days of winter at TOFT are ideal for the alpacas. Somehow they all look a lot more grown up as the dark days of winter begin to recede. It's probably the 4 inches of fleece they are carrying which rounds off the picture. 

At TOFT Whenever the weather allows we get the hay feeders open first thing in the morning and close them at dusk allowing the alpacas access to plenty of easy chomp all day long. There's not a lot of nourishment in the grass at this time of the year so the more chomp we can get down them the better.

Happy dry day.....phew! BAS National only a week away.

The National show is only a week away and as luck would have it we have hit a dry cold spell this week at TOFT. The alpacas love every single minute of it. These are some of our TOFT Intermediate boys who were practicing their 'strut' in the cold walking up and down the fence line showing off their masculine presence trying to impress the wee weaner females who were feeding at the time on the hard standing.

Their fleeces dry real quick in this weather and the cold makes their follicles 'ping' and they truly look magnificent in these kind of conditions. We shall be penning the show team up in the shed as soon as the weather looks like turning. Our elite boys and girls deserve to look their best next weekend at the showcase of the year. The British Alpaca Society National Show 2016 at the Internatinal Centre Telford. Friday and Saturday 8 am onwards. Let's hope TOFT do well, certainly the show team have a look and feel about them- we shall see.