Baby Alpacas

If you have been following my posts for awhile you may remember a post from last November about a “Teeny, Tiny, Farm-ette”. In that post I introduced a friend’s little farm where he tends to Silky Chickens, alpacas, pygmy goats and horses along with dogs, cats and a parrot or two.

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About a week ago he called me to ask if I still liked taking pictures of baby “critters”. Of course I said yes. At the time of the call he had a 2 day old Alpaca baby. I couldn’t go visit right away so the baby was about a week old when I got there.

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The baby had a friend, another baby Alpaca that was 2 weeks old and an”older” friend that was about a month old.

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I was surprised how big they were for so young but as grazing animals they would have to be able to get around quickly if they were in the wild to escape predators. I had a chance to pet one, not just take pictures and I understand why they are so valued for their wool. They are so soft and fluffy. They are softer than they look.

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Mama didn’t like too much attention being showered on her young one but she behaved, no spitting but she did stick out her tongue once to show her displeasure.

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They had more baby pygmy goats but when I went into the pen they crowded around me so much I couldn’t get any pictures. They were funny as they tried to chew on my jeans and nibble on my sneakers.

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As I was preparing to leave I found out that some baby “silkies” had just hatched so a quick stop by the nest box yielded a picture of this tiny chick.

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It’s easy to see how Animal Planet can make a series called “Too Cute” about baby animals because they are just that…too cute!

Breakwater Vineyards

Leaving the wine casks behind we returned to see what Jeanne had in mind to show us. She led us to another barn where we could see a small chicken coop and some fencing.

 She began calling and suddenly a head popped up, and then another and then some goats came into view followed closely by the rambunctious kids.

Oh they were sooo cute.

One of the mama goats climbed up the fence and tried to eat my shirt sleeve. After some sweet talking and ear scratching she seemed to “zone out” and released the clothing, content to just stand there while I cooed and scratched. Goat Whispering! 🙂

Jeanne explained that Breakwater Vineyards was committed to being environmentally  conscious. She envisioned a time when she would be able to make goat cheese to offer for sale along with her wines.

The chickens seemed happy next to the goats and Jeanne confirmed that they were good egg producing hens.

The animals are all part of the goal to be closer to the natural world and utilize the land’s resources more effectively.

The Vineyard is about 5 minutes from downtown Rockland, Me. The name Breakwater Vineyards comes from the mile long barrier that protects the harbor called a breakwater. A portion of the profits of the vineyard are donated to help the restoration efforts of the historic lighthouse.

More than 3000 grapevines grow on the 32 acres of farmland that make up the winery. It is well worth the stop if you’re in the Owl’s Head area.

If you are a oenophile (wine connoisseur) I’m sure you will be interested to know that there is a Maine Wine Trail for Maine Vineyards just as there is a Coastal Wine Trail of New England covering southern Massachusetts.

There are 19 wineries on the Maine Wine Trail.  They offer wines that range from Fruit Wines to Distilled spirits.

If you are interested in more information you can check out www.mainewinetrail.com

and don’t forget the winery that introduced us to all of this. www.breakwatervineyard.com

As much as we enjoyed this little visit, the afternoon was passing quickly and we still had quite a drive ahead of us. It was time to say goodbye and hit the road again.