The 'blog has been pretty pathetically quiet of late, but this time, it's not my fault! ... The site was having issues, and, after spending several hours crafting a post only to have it erased multiple times ... I got frustrated and stepped away for awhile.

Let's hope the issues are resolved, because I'd like to share with you this story:

This is Why We Do This.

On a day like today, when it's 10 degrees out with substantial wind chill, you can sometimes start to question the "why" of this whole farming operation ... So the timing of this photo was completely perfect.

I received this yesterday from a client, and it absolutely made my entire day. This is Paige Smith, a young lady with a heart condition, posing with her buddy Thunder and wearing a sweater that was knit (by Melissa Olsen) entirely from the yarn made from his wool.

Thunder was the first grey cria born on our farm. He had a very hard birth in the middle of a rainstorm, and it took him several hours and a LOT of help from me (and his alpaca mom) to get him up and nursing. At first, he seemed to have it all: Beautiful type, structure, sweet temperament, and a stunning fleece. All of that meant that I was extremely attached to him, and hoped to keep him forever, but as he grew, he went down at the pasterns and therefore was excluded from our herdsire row. That was a little heartbreaking, so I was thrilled when Paige and her family volunteered to give him and a couple of his buddies a wonderful pet home.

Thrilled enough that he had a great home ... But to see that his beautiful fleece is being used to its full potential (WAY better than I could ever do) -- that's just totally amazing, to me.

And that's why we do this.

HUGE thanks to Paige's mom Renee for sending this photo.

Stay warm, everybody.

Yes, Virginia, Riddler makes tuxedo grey. Oh my goodness, does he ever.

Um, yeah. She's a girl, too. Her name was going to be "Shiner" (see closeup face photo), but I've since decided that Ka-Boomie is a better one. She is a Ka-Boomie. A big one.

With alpacas, I have come to realize that the ability to produce a given color is a pretty big deal. This took me a long time to wrap my brain around, because I'm used to other species, where color genetics kind of, sort of, ya know, make sense. (To me, anyway.) In most other species whose color genetics I am familiar with (horses, cattle, rabbits, chinchillas, rats, hamsters, dogs, cats, most species of snake ... I'm sure I'm forgetting some), one can generally look at an animal's color, look at its parents' colors, think about the way those color genes are supposed to behave, and arrive at what will generally be a fairly accurate prediction as to probable color outcomes (setting aside the proclivities and generally unpredictable nature of genetics in general, which will always act as permanent wild-cards). Alpacas, unfortunately, seem to be the exception to this rule. Alpaca color genetics appears to be unlike that of most any other species we are familiar with. They seem to want to adhere to the color-production equivalent of a drunk guy throwing darts backward, over his shoulder, hoping that he hits the dartboard and not the skee-ball table next to it.

This isn't to say that alpaca color genetics will be forever shrouded in mystery, mind you. It won't be. Genetics is genetics, a science like any other. It's just to say that we really don't have a good handle on it yet.

Thus, we return to the (rather irritating) fact that it can be very difficult to predict whether a particular individual will produce a particular color, even when, by rights, it ought to be damned obvious. In the case of fawn alpacas, I have come to learn that it is almost never obvious. Some fawns will make Tuxedo Grey every time they are bred to it. Others, not so much.

I had a good feeling that our boy Riddler would be one of those lucky ones, but really, it was just a feeling. Nothing about him really suggests that he "should" make Tuxedo Grey. In general, the fawns that tend to make Tuxedo Grey are those that have the Vicuna pattern (darker topline with a white belly). The solid fawns seem, from what I've observed, to be more likely to produce more fawn, or brown, but not so much grey.

Riddler is a riddle, though, like so much to do with alpacas. He's a solid fawn with blue eyes, and he's a pretty freaking awesome animal, and oh yeah, today, while I was at work, this little gal was born. Her name is Ka-Boomie.

Like many (most) farmers, Farmer Kitt has an off-farm job. Farmer Kitt is lucky enough to have an off-farm job that allows for a lot of time on the farm, but, alas, it just can't quite be all the time.

Farmer Neal is a full-time farmer. This means that he gets to see way more Stupid Cute Farm Animal Stuff than Farmer Kitt does. Farmer Neal does not own a cell phone, so, unlike the majority of us in the "Millennial" generation, he does not have that instant camera in his butt-pocket to capture these events, so they are often relegated to the realm of lore. In this case, though, the Stupid Cute Farm Animal event was so Stupid Cute, and of a sufficient duration, that he was able to capture it using Farmer Kitt's Serious Digital Camera -- and now, Farmer Kitt is able to share it with you.

Behold! ... An alpaca cria who has climbed up onto a hay bale, and is now very confused. (These are the things that entertain Farmers like us. Who needs Netflix when you have cute fluffy farm animals?)

You may have noticed a dearth of posts lately. Part of this is because it's summer, and we're busy as -- well, you can fill in the colorful analogy of your choosing, but suffice it so say, summer is busy. Part of this is because I typically mainly share exciting baby posts on the 'blog ... And lambing season is over ... And we just finished up a run of about five or six or seven fawn or white alpaca cria. It's always lovely to see healthy cria, but if they aren't going to make anyone's radar as far as the "wow" factor, they don't typically make the 'blog.

Well, that fawn/white streak was broken last week with a bang. This little gal came out of a very unimpressive dam, a huge, kinda homely, older female who is a minimal appaloosa (she looks white from a distance, but she has a few spots and is proven to produce harlequin appaloosas). She came in a package group along with some more impressive relatives, and I almost sold her right away, but something told me to hold onto her. Maybe it was because I knew her daughter and granddaughters and knew that they were quite impressive animals. Maybe it was because I had that feeling.

I bred her to Riddler, our blue-eyed fawn boy who has been hitting it out of the ballpark, and debated listing her for sale, but never quite got around to making the listing. Maybe it was because I was busy, or she wasn't photogenic enough to get a good picture of. Maybe it was because I had that feeling.

When this little one landed, I knew ... Yeah. It was because I had that feeling.

This is Riddler's first appaloosa cria, a most-definite keeper. (She may even be that ultra-rare alpaca who carries both harlequin appaloosa -- from her mom -- and pinto -- from Riddler, with his blue eyes -- time will tell.) Please welcome Howling Hill Sudden Epiphany.

There are times, in alpacas and in other species, when a young male will have "stud presence" from birth: an upright stance, big bone, totally correct conformation, and a general attitude that just says, "Hey, look at me!"

... So, you know that you're looking at a keeper when you look across the paddock at such a brand new cria and think, "Yup, that's gotta be a boy -- nice one, too" -- then examine said cria and discover that you are WRONG.

This little lady is Howling Hill Molly Hatchet, and SHE is not going anywhere!

... You know how sometimes you're having one of those really "off" days? One of those days where nothing is going right at work, and your timing is all off on everything, and nothing you do quite seems right, like something about you is just totally off-kilter?

... Then you go home and you realize that that pregnant alpaca that you were really worried about, that you had actually almost written off in your mind because you weren't sure if she was going to be able to successfully birth her cria, the one that you actually figured might not make it through labor -- you realize that that alpaca is trying to give birth, and there's a nose out, and you realize that she and the cria just might make it after all?

... And she looks at you, and literally ASKS for help, making this little high-pitched noise and following you around and telling you that, no, she can't do it on her own and something is wrong --

... And so you help her get the head out, and it's gasping, like they do when they're healthy, and it seems fine and you think she should be able to get it out on her own now but no, she is still asking for help and something is still wrong --

... And so you "go in," feel around, realize that both of the front legs are folded up and tangled around each other and that this is going to be a reeeeealllllllly difficult presentation to correct --

... But the alpaca keeps asking for your help --

... So you do it?

... And you know how, when the cria is out and looks healthy and it's already trying to stand up, and the dam is exhausted but fine, and you know she's going to make it, and you are covered in bodily fluids and your arms are sore because correcting a dystocia like that is NOT easy, but you did it, and the mom and baby are safe --

You think that maybe --

Possibly --

It is conceivable --

That everything will be okay.

... Because if you DON'T know that feeling, that is a damn shame, because there is no better feeling in the world than that one.

... This little guy probably won't make anyone's herdsire row, but that's okay. He's adorable and healthy, and, most importantly of all, his dam is a superlative mother with tons of milk. She even moved her leg out of the way to make it easier for him to nurse -- something I have never even seen in experienced alpaca dams, let alone a first-timer! (I have seen sheep do this, but never seen an alpaca do it.)

Yesterday, we were finally able to welcome our first cria of 2017 to the farm. Our absolute favorite alpaca of all time, the famous Sparky, finally gave out and revealed what she was hiding ... And ... OMG LOOK AT HIM

... Please welcome Jimbo Hunk, future herdsire and farm rock star!

Jimbo GOT THE MEMO and he is not only a dramatic harlequin appaloosa, he has huge bone, awesome coverage, and what looks like it's gonna be a pretty cool fleece. This dude is a stud and he KNOWS it ... This is one of those cases where I was glad to see a boy!

He is sired by one of our very first, and still favorite, studs, Grand Torino (AKA Sammy -- exciting side-revelation: Sammy can make harlequin!). Sammy was chosen as the traits that he has been passing on to his offspring complimented Sparky perfectly. It is so thrilling to see a carefully-planned breeding decision pan out this well!

Shearing #1 happened last Saturday. (Yes, we have three shearings this year ... That's what being a large alpaca farm does to you.) It was mostly pregnant females, so the real powerhouse fleeces are forthcoming, but we did shear out one cria who revealed a truly incredible transformation.

Remember Francesca Fiore, our very first ever Harlequin Appaloosa cria? ... Well, she'd been looking mighty fawn of late (though the tell-tale dark silver grey on her back legs still gave her away as Harlequin). I was honestly wondering if she might wait until her 2nd shearing to give us that coveted grey blanket.

NOPE.

Check it out .... This is what the Harlequin Appaloosas are all about, man.

... We have ~20 females bred for the potential to produce Harlequin Appaloosa this year, so expect many more of these transformation photos in the future ...

Yessiree!! Been awhile since we've had an "Our first --" post!

This little dude made his way into the world early this morning, and he represents Our First Spotted Lamb. He is as yet unnamed, but I'm pretty sure he's a keeper. His dam, Silent Babette, is a pure Harlequin, and his sire is our super-spotty Babydoll Southdown, Ike.

Babette and baby are currently hanging out in our chinchilla room, where the lighting is sub-optimal, so the pictures kind of make them look like swamp monsters rather than adorable sheep ... But trust me, they're cute in reality.

Yes, folks ... It's finally here. Two years in the making.

Howling Hill Farm is proud to introduce AppaloosaAlpaca.com (also HarlequinAlpaca.com, which will redirect there as soon as the web servers get their act together) -- your source for all things Harlequin Appaloosa Alpaca.

This website is primarily informational, because I am a nerd and enjoy writing about animal genetics. However, it does also showcase the Harlequin Applaoosa portion of the Howling Hill farm alpaca herd (still being added), as well as any available Harlequin Appaloosas we may happen to have for sale.

So, please do browse the site, and enjoy. Sure did take me long enough!