Open Farm Day at Pamelamas

Pamela Drew steps out of a small barn in Arundel, buckets in hand. She sets them down so she can open the gate.

“They were looking at me with hungry eyes,” she explains, gesturing to the animals behind her.

It’s Monday afternoon and Drew has just returned from her day job at Kennebunk Savings Bank. Now, dressed in shorts and a yellow polo shirt, she has just finished feeding her 16 alpacas.

The remnants of a hot steamy July day are fading into a calm cool Maine evening. Drew is getting ready for the weekend when she will introduce her alpacas to the public during the statewide Open Farm Day.

Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. participating farms across the state will open their gates to the public for fun, education and to raise awareness about local farming communities. Drew’s farm, Pamelamas LLC, is located at 233 Limerick Road. Besides showcasing her animals, raw fleece and yarn will be for sale to the public.

Drew calls Open Farm Day her “coming out.” It’s her first year participating in the event.

“I really have no idea what to expect,” she says.

An avid knitter, Drew became interested in alpacas about 10 years ago. She says she is the least likely in her family to farm or raise livestock, but here she is raising a herd of curious animals that produce a fiber similar to wool.

After five years of intense research Drew bought three male geldings in 2001.

“I’ve been a knitter since high school,” Drew says, “I began to see the finer points of sheep’s wool versus a manmade fiber.”

During the early part of the 1990s she came across a llama farm. She attended a few events, but decided that llamas were too large since they can weigh more than 400 pounds. Drew kept doing research and discovered a magazine that featured an article about alpacas. She had never heard of alpacas before and her interest was sparked immediately. They were first imported to the United States in 1984 for their luxurious natural fiber and once held an elevated position in ancient Incan civilization.

“Alpacas are a great investment,” she says. “I got started with a small herd. In some years to come I want to retire from my day job.”

Currently she is selling some of her baby alpacas, which can command up to $20,000 for a breeding quality female and much more for a strong sturdy breeding quality male. When she decided to start raising livestock, she needed more land. Drew moved from a small half-acre lot, bought property on Limerick Road, built a house and a barn and became an alpaca farmer. Each spring she has the animals shorn for their raw fleece, it’s then spun into yarn, something Drew is still learning to do. For the time being she send it out to a mill.

“I thought I’d start small with three animals,” Drew says. “I’d never raised livestock before.” She adds that it’s very common for people who have never raise livestock to start with alpacas.

“I didn’t go ho-hog with a full barn,” she continues, “because I just wanted to try it. After a year with the geldings I was like ‘I think I’d like some females.’”

On hot days, like Monday, Drew has friends come by to hose the animals down so they don’t overheat. Sometimes she comes home during her lunch break.

“They love to run through the hose,” she laughs, “one of the babies hasn’t quite caught on yet.”

She describes her alpacas as “rather cat-like.”

“They’re very observant,” she says. “They don’t miss a thing.”

She says the animals can be somewhat standoffish, but are ultimately very curious and very nosey creatures.

“If you’re doing anything different they’ve got to come and see what you’re doing,” Drew says.

Drew says her alpacas don’t spit at people unless provoked.

“They spit to communicate amongst each other, to establish pecking order,” she says. “They don’t spit indiscriminately. They don’t normally spit at people but you can get caught in the crossfire”

The alpacas hum to communicate with one another and have distinct names and personalities, says Drew. Moms hum to babies, babies hum to each other.

Drew calls the animal’s fleece very warm, but not as heavy as wool.

“The great thing about it is it’s light weight,” she says.

She’s currently working on knitting a shawl. She has also knitted a sweater and some socks. Drew says alpaca fleece is really catching on; even Reny’s sells socks made from the animal fiber.

Drew and her “sweetie” John Jellison, run the farm together, though Jellison lives in Kennebunkport. She says some tasks, such as trimming the animals toenails takes two people.

“This would be quite a challenge for one person alone,” Drew says.

She calls 16 a good number of animals and says she doesn’t see herself getting anymore. Caring for the is a full time job, with a long list of details such as remembering shots, feeding time, haying, cleaning the manure and trimming their nails.

“There is some work to it,” Drew admits. “I’ve never had a horse but I’m told that alpacas are a lot easier, and you get this great fiber to go with it.”

She calls her alpacas “wonderful animals” and can tell all 16 of them apart. Monday evening steps into the pen, when she approaches the animals they step away. “They want everything on their terms,” she explains.

Arwen, her “baby” nuzzles her nose and lets Drew stroke her neck. She says the animals really have no interest in leaving and the protective fencing is more to keep out predators, such a coyotes and stray dogs.

Drew is committed to her herd.

“The life span of these animals is 15-20 years,” she says. “I don’t take that lightly. It certainly has turned out to be an amazing adventure.

To get a full list of farms participating in Open Farm Day visit getrealgetmaine.com.

By Brandi Neal
Editor

First Show Jitters

It was a dark and stormy day in October 2005 when Pamelamas LLC kicked off her alpaca show career. It was really, really dark and stormy, and dreary, and gloomy, and wet, and windy, and clammy, and raw, and …………fill in the blanks with all those words that describe bad weather. You get the picture – the weather was really horrible. Even the ducks wore raingear. Pardon the clichés, but I will challenge anyone to dispute this as an accurate description of the New England Coastal Classic Alpaca Show 2005. The weather in Maine in October is not usually THIS bad, but those of you who were there know that I am not exaggerating, and probably have your own stories about the weather at this particular show.

I came to be interested in alpacas from the fiber side of things, as I am a knitter. So halter showing is new to me, and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to jumping into it. It looked kind of scary to me to put myself in the spotlight, line up and be “judged”. I knew I needed to get over this hurdle and get some showing experience, and I had put off showing long enough. This show is practically in my backyard, making it the logical place to start. So, with anxious trepidation, I had registered for the show in August thinking that October was very far away and I really didn’t need to worry about it until then. I would be showing an adult male, Alpin, and a yearling female, Misty May, in halter classes. I would also show their fleeces, along with Piper’s fleece.

And now, show time was here. The weather had been showery all day. I spent some time at the show helping to set up, and wondering if my show animals were sitting out in the rain or possibly rolling in the mud. When I got home to load Alpin for the trip to the show, he was actually fairly dry. Misty May arrived with Chase Tavern’s animals, as she was boarding there at that time, and she was in good shape also. Ah, it was a good sign to have caught such a lucky break on such a lousy weather weekend. We had gotten off to a good start.

Our arrival was uneventful, with the exception of Alpin not wanting to get out of the van. He hadn’t wanted to get in, and now he didn’t want to get out. With some pulling, and pushing, and tugging, and waiting, and pleading, we finally managed to get him to jump out. Getting the animals settled in their pens, and setting up my farm display went well also. I made sure the alpacas had hay and water, and I left them to go home for the night.

On Saturday the stress began to mount. I waited anxiously all day for Alpin’s class to be called – waited, and waited, and waited some more, checking the showbook periodically to make sure I remembered which classes I was in – until almost 4 pm when they announced “That’s it for today!!” What a letdown!!! The first day is over and we didn’t even get into the ring yet. Wow, tomorrow is sure going to be a busy day. Alpin should be called within the first two or three classes, and Misty May is entered in a yearling class, as well as Bred and Owned. To make the day even more hectic, I had entered them in Produce of Dam when I realized at the Exhibitor’s meeting that they were eligible, and the show officials allowed late entries for this class. Oh well, there’s nothing to do now but try to keep my anxiety at a manageable level and get a good night’s rest. I got Alpin and Misty May comfortable in their pens, and left them for the night. I hoped the alpacas weren’t getting too spooked by being in unfamiliar surroundings, and the weather sure didn’t help any, with the wind howling and the rain pounding.

On Sunday morning I hurried to the show, ready (NOT!) for whatever the day had in store for me. Sure enough, Alpin’s halter class was called within the first few classes. We lined up and tried not to be nervous. We were next to last into the ring. The Judge looked us all over, and put us through our paces – face forward, turn to side, etc, etc. After more looking everyone over, the Judge began to make his selections. He placed his first through fifth choices, and then went back and forth looking at Alpin and one other alpaca. He motioned to the other entrant for sixth place. Rats!! We didn’t place. We were disappointed. Actually I was disappointed. I think Alpin was just glad to leave the ring.

But the day wasn’t over yet, and there was much more in store for us. The day only got better from there. We waited some more, and finally Misty May’s halter class was called. It was a class of seven, and the Judge put us through the drill as before and then whispered the placings to the Ring Steward. The Ring Steward pointed to the first place finisher, then nodded at me and held up two fingers. Second place!! Misty May got second place! Oh my God, Misty May got second place!! Wow, this was worth all the anxiety of the whole two days. As I left the ring, clutching my red ribbon, the gatekeeper spoke to me to not go far, as I would be going back in the ring very shortly for the Championship class. That’s right, all the first and second place winners are eligible for the Championship class. Wow, I was sure going to get even more experience in the ring today. We didn’t place in the Championship class, nor in the Yearling Females Bred and Owned, but it didn’t matter. We kept waiting, savoring the second place win, until the Produce of Dam class was called. With some help from a fellow breeder (thanks, Craig), we took Alpin and Misty May into the ring together. There were three entries in the class, and we took a second place. I’m sure there was a smile on my face as I left the ring.

From a disappointing start on Sunday morning, we made a comeback to end the day with a very respectable showing. When I went to pick up my fleeces from the fleece show, I was met with even more good news. In their fleece classes, Misty May took a 2nd place of seven entries, Alpin got a 4th place of seven entries, and Piper got a 2nd out of three entries. Wow, this is great. All three ribboned and there was no stress and anxiety at all! The fleece show was sure a whole lot easier than the halter show.

So, steel yourself to get over those showring jitters and adopt the Nike attitude – just do it. I was very nervous to start, but got right into the swing of things once I got going. There were certainly some highs and some lows, but it was overall a very fruitful first show. Even so, I’m sure glad that “first show” experience is behind me, and if they could speak, I know Alpin and Misty May would echo those sentiments. I will undoubtedly participate again in halter showing, but I’ve really got to check out those fleece shows. They’re a whole lot easier on the nerves.

Pamela Drew
Pamelamas LLC

Pamelamas LLC – Our Story

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I’ve seen those stories on the internet, too, where people fell in love with alpacas and went right out and bought about 26 of them on their first farm visit. And some of those folks have never even picked up a pair of knitting needles! If that’s the kind of heartwarming story that you’re looking for, better keep cruising the internet, because you won’t find any giant leaps into alpacadom here. My story may be one of the slowest progressions to alpaca farming in history. That’s right – alpacas in the slow lane.

Somewhere in the early to mid-90’s I saw some pictures, or perhaps an ad, about llamas (the 2 L kind) and llama fiber, and they caught my attention because I’ve been a knitter from high school or before. I discovered Llamas Magazine, and subscribed. My better half, John, indulged me and we went to a couple Maine Llama Association field days. I liked the llamas, but they were pretty big and that scared me. There were some references to alpacas in the Llamas Magazine, and I soon learned that alpacas were a mini-version of llamas, especially bred for their exquisite fiber. Well, this started me thinking that perhaps, just perhaps, alpacas were more “my size.” The references to lamas (the 1 L kind) was a little confusing, but didn’t stop me. I soon discovered Alpacas Magazine and subscribed to that too. All of this reading about llamas and alpacas was a welcome distraction from long hours of dealing with people and numbers in my banking job. It wasn’t long from there that we discovered real live alpacas right here in Maine. We visited Chase Tavern Farm at every open farm day for about 5 years. They were probably wondering if we would ever finally buy something. Well, after looking for land for 2 years (can’t raise livestock on a half acre), finally buying 10 acres only 2 miles from home, building a new house, selling the old house, then building a small barn, we finally did buy some alpacas! I hope Cindy and Tim weren’t too disappointed that we only bought 3 geldings to start, after all the visits we’d made.

I was still in the tryout stage at this point, but those boys sure won me over! After a lot of soul searching and a mini mid-life crisis, several “should I” or “shouldn’t I” debates mostly with myself but some of them with John, I decided I better keep the banking career for now, but I just had to give alpaca farming a try or I would never know how it could turn out. Luckily for me John went along with my plan.

Here’s a recap of our slow progression – one step at a time:

1st year – 3 geldings
2nd year – added 2 maidens
3rd year – 2 babies
Then we picked up the pace a bit – we wanted to sell – but not our babies!!!!
4th year – Bought 4 more females – told everyone “don’t get attached”- had 1 more baby
5th year – another baby, sadly lost one of our geldings, our first show (four 2nd place ribbons and a 4th place-Yeah!!) and we made our first sale (double Yeah!!)

We now have 11 alpacas, with six babies due in Spring 2006 – and we have our hands full.

We are both still fully engaged in jobs off the farm, me in banking and John in auto mechanics. We have found a herd of 11 alpacas to be challenging at times, but certainly manageable. Let’s see if we feel the same way after those six babies join the fray! In only a few years I will have the opportunity to seriously consider early retirement from banking, so that could be yet another step in our slow progression to full time farming.

We were newbies once. Actually, we still are, but we’ve got some experience too. What kind of mistakes did we make? – let me count the ways! We made quite a few of the typical newbie mistakes, and they are still fresh in our minds. While none of them were fatal errors, give us a call and let us help you to avoid some of those missteps. We’re easy to find in the Kennebunk/Kennebunkport area from either I-95 or Route 1.

Pamela Drew
Pamelamas LLC

Which Piece of Machinery is Most Useful and Why?

Our Massey-Ferguson tractor, affectionately known as Mr. Ferguson, is without a doubt the most useful tool that we have. Mr. Ferguson does a lot of heavy work, and he can do so many things – with the right attachments (aka “implements”) he spreads lime, fertilizer, and seed; he digs post holes; he mows fields and pastures; he digs rocks out of the pasture; he serves as a ladder by lifting someone in the bucket (for washing windows outside, erecting a metal barn kit, changing outside light bulbs); he moves and spreads sand and crushed rock; he’s a godsend for snow removal (although the bucket is not ideal for this, but it sure beats shoveling!); he pulls out the lawn tractor when I get it stuck in wet spots; he digs into the manure pile to find the really good composted stuff underneath (aka “the sweet spot”); he pushes back the manure pile when it’s creeped forward over the winter; he anchors the rope assembly for shearing; he helps unroll woven wire fence with our specially designed fence-layer, and then helps to stretch it tight; he moves the hayfeeders when the alpacas want them in a different spot; he moves a stack of portable panels instead of me carrying one at a time; he transfers hay from the storage area to the barn, and serves as a feeder as the alpacas munch on the hay while it’s in transit. He doesn’t eat much himself – just a few gulps of diesel fuel now and then and he’s good-to-go again.

One word of caution – Tractors can be very dangerous if not operated with the utmost of care. Seatbelts and rollbars are there for a reason.

Pamela Drew
Pamelamas LLC

What is the Best and Worst Thing About Your Barn?

What is the best thing about your alpaca barn and the worst thing?

(ie., what would you do differently)?

Wow-That’s a loaded question for us! Which barn are we talking about?

First barn – 12’ by 16’ wooden structure with dirt floor in front half for the animals and wooden floor in rear half for hay storage. This worked great for our three geldings. We love the southeast exposure to the sun. The first winter was very mild, and we didn’t know yet how wise we were to have included the sliding door. We added our first two maidens a year later, and now we know what we don’t like about it – no plan for herd expansion.

Addition to first barn – 8’ by 16’ addition with shed roof. This worked great for the 2 girls and their 2 crias. We love the opaque fiberglass roof that allows in lots of light and we love the southeast exposure to the sun. We initially did not put a door on this addition, and were not so lucky with the weather. While we were able to close the sliding door to keep the swirling/blowing snow out of the boys barn, we resorted to a poorly secured tarp as a poor excuse for a door for the girls. We have concluded that a 3-sided shelter is not sufficient during one of these blowing storms, and we usually have two or three such storms per winter. So, the next year we devised a bi-fold door for the addition. It’s not great, but it’s far superior to a tarp.

Second barn – We found a metal barn kit, 12’ by 24’ for a reasonable price. We assembled it ourselves (I say “we” but John really did all the work along with our trusty tractor, Mr. Ferguson, for the heavy lifting). This gives us a 12’ by 12’ summer shelter for animals in Pasture 2, and a 12’ by 12’ hay storage area which works really well. Again, we love the southeast exposure to the sun. This kit came without doors, and we thought we could design some for it, but we just never got to it. While we did throw on some quick doors to protect the hay, we decided that without decent doors to protect the animals (and our bi-fold door idea is not yet perfected), coupled with only temporary fencing in this area, the metal barn (aka “the white barn”) is not suitable as a winter shelter.

At this point we acquired four more females. The boys barn is full with three geldings and one yearling and storage in the back. The 8’ by 16’ addition for the girls is now REALLY full with our two original girls, a yearling, a cria, and the four new girls. Again, now we know what we don’t like about any of our barns/shelters – no plan for herd expansion. Hmmm…..I see a theme developing here – we are outgrowing our shelters faster than we can build them.

Third barn – We finally surrendered to the inevitable, and we now have a 24’ by 28’ wooden barn with an 8’ overhang on the front. Once again, we sited the structure with southeast exposure to the sun. What’s the best thing about the barn? – it’s so roomy!! The girls love their new space!! It is obvious to me now that we previously were not providing them with enough space. Given the choice of being out in the rain or being squeezed into a too-small shelter, they chose the rain. They now choose to hang out under their overhang on rainy days. Other things we like about it – it is completely open and we can configure pens as needed. Wow – that sounds like a plan for herd expansion! With two doors on the front and two doors on the back we can make pens for four groups inside and each group will have their own access to an outside pen. The major thing we wish we had done differently is to simply have built the “big barn” at the outset of our alpaca adventure and saved ourselves a lot of work and worry. Had we done that, we would have placed it where the first barn is located, but not wanting to move the first barn, we are fairly content with the barn arrangements as they are. I am so relieved to know that everyone has adequate shelter that I (almost) don’t mind making the payments.

Pamela Drew
Pamelamas LLC

Don’t Pile Snow Against the Fencing!!

Our first winter with alpacas was one with little to no snow. So it was our second winter before we had to deal with alpacas cooped up in their shelters because of deep snow. After a heavy snowstorm, with Mr. Ferguson (as our Massey-Ferguson tractor is known) we cleared the snow in their paddock so they would have some room to run around. Our mistake was pushing the snow into piles along the sides of the paddock, against the fencing. It seems that alpacas love to climb up on the highest point, and we quickly realized when poised on these snowbanks they were towering over the fence! Several times one girl even looked as though she was contemplating jumping over the fence, but apparently was smart enough to see that the drop on the other side was quite steep. And as luck would have it, it was several months before those piles melted down enough to eliminate the danger. Since then, we have always pushed the snow into the middle of the paddock, NOT to the outside edges. And yes, they do climb up on the pile in the middle, but are too far away from the fence for any jumping over.

Pamela Drew
Pamelamas LLC

Barn Size – Bigger is Better

We started with three geldings – just to get our feet wet and see how we liked taking care of livestock. With the help of family, we built a 12’ by 16’ barn with a sliding door, with a wood floor in half of the structure for hay storage, and the other half for the animals. While this arrangement was perfectly adequate for the three boys, our mistake was not thinking ahead and having an expansion plan in case we liked our new responsibilities and wanted to add more animals and start breeding, which we did. Only a year later we added an 8’ by 16’ addition with a shed roof . This still didn’t give us enough space for the girls and crias and hay, so we assembled a 12’ by 24’ metal 3-sided shelter from a kit. This gave us hay storage, and some additional shelter space, but it was not adequate shelter for severe snowstorms. So, four years after our alpaca adventure began, we finally saw the light and had a 24’ by 28’ wooden barn built for us. It’s not a fancy barn, and it’s only a modest size, but it provides excellent shelter for the girls and babies, and they love it. We could have saved ourselves a bunch of trouble by going the direct route and just building it in the first place. After all, if we had decided not to pursue an alpaca business, we could always have used it for other “stuff”.

Pamela Drew
Pamelamas LLC