Our newest addition!

Here is our new llama! Arethusa is Bella and Winny's grandmother. She is 13 and is a good mother and is in great physical shape. She is a dominant llama so it is interesting to see her enter the hierarchy with our girls. Bella and her are learning a lot about each other. Winny's knowledge of other llamas has expanded by 50% since her arrival and is fascinated in Arethusa. It is good for Winny to meet other llamas to learn about proper herd etiquette. She is very touchy with May and Bella - and not all llamas tolerate that! Its cute to see Winny follow Arethusa around. When Arethusa turns around Winny turns tail and runs to May to nurse.After only a few hours, Arethusa took over the shelter and the hay pile! We will expand the shelter soon for the four of them :DWelcome Arethusa back to White Mountain Llamas. Look for updates in October about how she does at the Fryeburg Fair!

The Arethusa Connection:
When Hana and I were 4 and 10, our mother home schooled us, enabling us to go to work with her. In the spring, she cared for the gardens at the Bungay Jar Bed and Breakfast in Easton, New Hampshire. The owner at the time, Kate, told us to run around the side of the inn and meet the new guests. Hana and I did not know what to expect. We came to a tall fence, face to face with two llamas: Arethusa (at the time, Tosha) and her half sister, Tangiers. They were the first llamas Hana and I had met. Later that year they had crias, Fabyan (then Black Powder) and Salvador Dolly Llama. Arethusa stayed at the Bungay Jar until welcomed to the White Mountain Llama herd in Jefferson, New Hampshire, about two years later. When the original owner of WML passed away Arethusa went to live in Charlotte, Vermont on the Smith Family Farm. Our Two Sisters Gardening and Landscaping business has allowed us to expand our food and fiber production. Arethusa was generously given to us at a time when we can afford to care for her and welcome her back to the herd! Arethusa and May and Bell were all in the original WML, herd five years ago.

Lots of thanks to the Smiths, Deb, and Joanna for helping us with our growing business! Thanks for visiting our blog!

Want an Angora? Get a free fiber lesson!

Here, Hana is giving Gabby, a first-time rabbit owner, a lesson in rabbit care. Hana is holding Terra Madre (Gabby's new bunny), while Gabby holds Orion. Hana is showing her how to clip Orion's nails and how to care for her fiber.

Pictured here are Hana, Gabby, Sarah, and Sage. We had such fun with Vinca, Orion, and Terra Madre during our fiber and rabbit care lesson!

Here, Gabby learns to card wool. She is working with wool we brushed from Vinca.
Now Gabby learns how to spin! She gets her drop spindle ready... look at her yarn!
She practices with sheep roving, and it gets longer... and longer!
Now she is ready to try spinning the angora wool!

Good job Gabby!

They opened thier eyes!

Here are a few of Dusty's first litter, a little more than one week old! Their eyes are open and their ears stand up! There are 5 blacks, 1 brown, and 2 agouti - all for sale! (We cannot tell gender until they are older).

White Mountain LLambs!

Gabe and I went to retrieve lambs this past weekend! We were generously given three lambs, 2 male, 1 female. They were born in February, so are already quite large. These lambs are part of a project for school. It will allow me to study heritage breed animals - by raising them! I will do an oral presentation on my experiences for the class Biodiversity in Agriculture, this autumn.

Picture below is Connie, one Mom, with her two female lambs. Here is Polly with her two male lambs:
Here is Polly next to one of her lambs - he is almost as big as she is!This is their friend the turtle, that lives next door. Gabe and I went down to get them, not knowing how to bring them back. Between a few professor's advice and the Green Mountain College junk wood pile and tools, we managed to scrape together a few panels to keep the sheep in the truck on the ride back. It turned out to be quite strong, and combined with a rubber mat underneath (for maximum hoof grip), it made a pretty good little travel "crate" for the three lambs. There was even still room for our bikes in the back!
The lambs were quite bewildered when we put them in the truck. They were quite calm the whole time and welcomed the pastured when they met the llamas at 8 AM. Here are the sheep in the truck:

After much debate and cruising the pasture with the sheep, the llamas, Hana, and I, we decided on a lovely spot on top of the hill that was flat enough to put the sheep fencing. Until we put up the sheep fence they hung out in the llama fence for a few hours enjoying the company and free-choice grass.

The sheep get a little cracked corn in the morning, enabling Hana or I to stand near them while they eat, getting them used to us. The lamb below is the female whom I have dubbed Clover. The next down is Valentine (to remind me of the experiences I had in Italy). The largest male is named Lego (short of Leg 'O Lamb).

Hana and I have been experimenting with sustainable and grass-fed fiber production systems with our llamas and angoras for the past five years. In the summer of 2007, we also began to experiment with food production with rabbits, chickens, and ducks. This past year at college I took animal husbandry courses, specializing on raising grass-fed livestock. So this year we have expanded. These sheep will be slaughtered sometime this autumn, along with several chickens, and with success, several rabbits as well. If you have any questions about how we slaughter or our food production, feel free to email us at whitemountainllamas@hotmail.com.

Thanks for your support!

First Day with the Halter!

Today, I was catching up on grass and weed clipping. We took care of a few chores that were not taken care of for the past few weeks while we were traveling. We decided to try a little halter on Winny for about five minutes today. She was very good about the experience and I think we left it on long enough for her to not get upset while wearing it. Usually llamas are not halter trained until about 4 months of age. I am eager to walk may and Bella out of the pen and get them grazing in other places. In order to do that safely, I would like to be able to have a halter on Winny as well. Her training has officially started! She is taking all of our handling of her very well, and she is a sweet little girl who comes up to visit every time we come in the pasture! She has a great personality thus far!

Here is Winny, getting used to her new halter: Here, Winny puts up with me hanging on to her to remove the halter:
Here is proud Mama getting a nice scratch and massage! We had a good reunion!


Please see the advertisement below for our angora bunnies.

Rabbits for Sale!

White Mountain Llamas proudly presents two Ethan x Rosie bunnies. These angoras were born on May 25, 2008 and are ready to go to new homes! The coloration are agouti and black. Both are females. If you are interested please email us a whitemountainllamas@hotmail.com. Each rabbit comes with a free fiber lesson of choice (from spinning and felting to knitting or weaving).Here, Hana presents the agouti female: Here, Hana introduces the black female:

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