FARM OPEN DAYS

We are holding Farm Open Days on Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th July 10.00am - 4.00pm. 

We have a number of new arrivals for you to see and more expected over the weekend - so come along and enjoy a farm walk, meet the alpacas and browse a range of alpaca products.

Admission Fee: £5 adults, £2 children.  Family ticket £10.00 

Please remember dogs are not allowed.

Most Successful Small Breeder Award At the end of January, Viki, Jude, Kat, the show team and me travelled to Stoneleigh Park for the 2010 British Alpaca Futurity.  It was a great event with the very best alpacas in the country on show in without doubt, the best show hall of any alpaca event in the UK.   The Melford Green show team produced a great set of results, which led to us being awarded "Most Sucessful Small Breeder 2010".  We also scored well in the craft section with Yarns spun by Shirley Simpson winning 1st & 2nd plus Best in show.  Becky Poynter of Yarnsmith knitted a couple of items using our yarns and won a 1st & 3rd.  Thanks very much to both of you.

 BBC Country File Comes to Melford Green

On Tuesday Matt Baker & the Country File team came across to see us here.  Although the weather was a bit wet & windy, Viki & me had a great time and the alpacas behaved themselve quite well given the proxmity opf the cameras and sound booms.

The programme is due to be broadcast on Sunday November 8th at 7.00pm on BBC 1.

 You can see behind the scenes photos and catch up on what has been happening on the farm on our Facebook site. Just search for Melford Green Alpacas and add us as a friend

New Facebook Page

Melford Green Alpacas are now on Facebook, where you can  find out what we have been doing down on the farm, view loads of picture of the animals and lots more,,,,. 

Search for Melford Green Alpacas and add us as a friend    http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/viki.alpaca?v=info&viewas=612873578

Melford Green Make the Weather

In June, BBC Look East came to Melford Green to film our new born cria basking in the sun.  Click here to see the full clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRf4M_W6btk

Qatar Export

It is always great to get an e mail to say the alpacas have settled in and that the owners are happy with their new arrivals, but 17th Decembers e mail was extra special as on the previous day we arrived at Heathrow at 5.00am to load 8 elite pedigree alpacas into a crate ready for their BA flight to Doha in Qatar and their final destination, Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation Park.

It was the first UK export to anywhere outside of the EU since the Foot & Mouth and Blue Tongue outbreaks of 2007 and marked the first export under the new UK Export Certification Partnership (DEFRA: industry partnership).

Months of negotiations with authorities and numerous health status tests were required to secure the necessary clearances, and with this being the first time alpacas had been exported to Qatar, authorities were quite rightly cautious, but the outbreak of Bluetongue added extra complications.

We were arguably the first herd caught up in the movement order restrictions that followed the outbreak of Bluetongue in 2007as the Baylham Rare Breeds herd, (where the first UK case of Bluetongue was identified), is only a few miles up the road from us. As a consequence, we were also one of the first herds to vaccinate; but thank goodness we did.

One of the many conditions of the negotiated health certificate was that the animals had to be proven immune to Blue Tongue (via a positive serological test for anti-bodies) and shown to be negative for the presence of the actual virus (PCR analysis).

All of our animals passed which not only means that the vaccine worked but goes to show the importance of vaccinating all blue-tongue susceptible animals. Without it, we wouldnt have been able to fulfill this highly significant order. It is really important for the industry as a whole that we keep the health status UK alpacas as high as possible and we would urge everyone with Camelids to keep up with the vaccination program in 2009.

Sean & The Girls Enjoying the Sun

ALPACA ADOPTIONS

We are just starting to wean our 2008 cria from their Mums and so once again we are looking for adoptive parents.

If you would like to adopt an alpaca or buy an adoption as a Gift just contact me by e mail (paul@melfordgreen.co.uk ), and I will send you a list of the animals that are available for adoption and an application form.

Adoptions run for one year. In addition to a gift wrapped certficate adoptive parents will be invited for a personal guided tour of the farm when they can meet their animal as well as the rest of the Melford Green herd. They will also recieve regular Newsletters and updates.

Cost of adoption = £40.00

Claudia Makes Apperance at Melford Green

Our Bank Holiday Open Days were well attended once again. Thanks to all of you that came along and supported us. Thanks are also extended to the ladies of the Mid-Essex Spinning, Weaving & Dying Guild.

On the Sunday morning visitors were able to witness the birth of our very first silver-grey female cria.

We were inundated with ideas for names. Suggestions ranged from connections with the Olympics and August to friend's birthdays. However we were particularly impressed with those suggestions that linked the colour of the cria to that of the sky given that it was a typical bank holiday weekend.

Consequently we have used a play on words and named her Claudia.

Let's hope that our famous neighbour, Miss Schiffer doesn't mind too much.

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