EDUCATION IS KEY TO OUR MEMBERS' SUCCESS!
One of our main goals as an organization is to provide our members with educational opportunities during our yearly TXOLAN Show, as well as throughout the year. We strive to help our members become as informed as possible on issues related to alpaca ownership, such as: alpaca health care and husbandry practices, neonatal clinics, knowledge of how to prepare fiber for use in various products, how and where to sell your alpaca products, and marketing of your farm to the public, just to name a few. See a few of our most recent educational opportunities below, as well as upcoming opportunities for 2022!
February 2022 TXOLAN SHOW:
Staci Forshee: TRAINING YOUR ALPACA
How to halter, lead, show and interact more professionally with your alpacas
Debbie Miller, Crescent Moon Ranch: AGRITOURISM
Wade Gease & Stephanie Glyptis: ALPACA EVALUATION FOR PURCHASE
How to assess and value an alpaca for purchase considering your ranch goals for production and show
June 2022: Neonatal Clinic featuring Dr. Signe Balch, DVM.
This was a hands-on clinic for new breeders, those thinking about purchasing alpacas, and experienced breeders who needed a refresher. Topics covered were how to prepare for upcoming alpaca births, how to assist if needed during delivery, when to contact the vet, and how to care for a newborn cria during the first days after birth. The morning session was a classroom setting in which attendees received information on each part of the birthing process, and the afternoon was a wet lab with cadavers where attendees were able to put into practice what they had learned. They were given real-life situations in which they would have to determine the position of a cria in utero, what adjustments needed to be made in order to get the cria in the best position for birthing, how and when to assist in birthing, and how to determine that a birthing was beyond the owner's abilities to assist and vet intervention was needed. They also learned and practiced how to properly insert a feeding tube into a newborn cria's esophagus, a critical skill to have for any alpaca owner. It was an amazing day, and we are so grateful to Dr. Signe Balch for an excellent clinic!
July 2022: Alpacas 101 Educational Workshop featuring Alpaca/Llama Expert, Staci Forshee
We had another awesome TXOLAN education event hosted by Legendary Alpacas over the weekend! Staci Forshee covered a range of topics tailored to attendees' needs: In the morning she discussed preparing your farm for alpacas, barn design, how to evaluate alpacas for purchase and alpaca health management followed by hands-on body scoring. Afternoon topics focused on alpaca fiber: How to choose a fiber mill, communicate well with them and prepare fleece for shipping, how to save money on fiber processing, choosing what to do with your fiber depending on the fiber quality and desired use, and products that can be made from fiber by farms to generate income. We finished the day with another hands-on learning experience - how to make felted soap! Thank you, Staci Forshee and Gina Glasscock, for a fabulous educational event!
October 2022: Alpaca Fleece Workshop featuring Elizabeth Taylor of Alpaca Fiber Solutions
Attendees participated in hands-on activities including skirting and preparing fleece for dyeing, overdyeing natural colored yarns, dyeing milled roving, and how to convert dead inventory into sellable product by applying various dye processes. Elizabeth also presented valuable information on selling products in her afternoon session: Marketing Your Alpaca Products to the Cottage Industry. Some of the topics discussed were: online marketing, fiber festivals, setting up an attractive and profitable booth at festivals and craft fairs, pricing your goods, accepting methods of payment, and shipping your products.
Upcoming Educational Events:
Youth Clinic January 22, 2023