Author Archives: chris

Alpaca walking now open!

After 3 months of not being able to offer walks to our guests – or give extra carrots to our walking alpacas – we have now reopened. The last three months have allowed us to catch up on all sorts of things. We have completed all the halter training of last years baby alpacas. We have been sprucing up our house and the outbuildings (work in progress).

So how are things different? We have gone to great lengths to protect you, our guests, and our staff. You will see a number of changes to our walks. Our staff wear masks when handing over the alpacas. We wear disposable gloves when handling anything you might handle. We sanitise our hands before cutting up carrots and then place them in sanitised beakers so you can feed your walking alpaca at the end of the walk in complete safety. We wash the head collars and lead ropes which you hold to walk the alpacas. We even sanitise the necks of the walking alpacas after each walk (where they are stroked) and rotate the team every day. So things are slightly different. The good news is we haven’t put up our prices!

All our walks are across open fields which are entirely within the boundaries of Spring Farm. Wildlife is everywhere on the farm in the meadows and we have 18 baby alpacas bouncing around. You will be entirely outdoors whilst visiting and able to socially distance. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Very best wishes,

Chris and Vicki, Spring Farm Alpacas

We are back!

We have been given the go ahead to restart alpaca walking from the 4th July 2020!

We will resume our alpaca walks from Saturday 4th July whilst observing social distancing and with a full risk assessment in place.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE ALPACA WALKING CANCELLED UNTIL 4th JULY 2020

Here at Spring Farm Alpacas we have to think of the safety of you, our guests, and our staff. We have taken the difficult decision to cancel all alpaca walking during this lockdown period and until the 4th of July. Even if we were to get the go ahead at the next briefing, we will need a few days to reorganise the way we do things – and safety is paramount. We realise this will be very upsetting for anyone who has booked a walk over that period. However, we have to think about safety first. We have noted advice from the Government and the British Alpaca Society in relation to the coronavirus outbreak – and both say the 4th of July is likely to be the earliest date.

We will be constantly monitoring the situation with regards to future walks and making sure we do everything possible to ensure your safety when we get the green light to reopen. If you have booked a walk in the period up to the 4th of July, we have emailed you a voucher so you can rebook when “things get back to normal” subject to availability. Please be aware that we don’t date our vouchers. So as long as we are here – they are valid.

You may be concerned about the welfare of our walking alpacas but you can rest assured that we will continue to look after them all with our usual care and attention. We aim to use this time (without being able to offer walks) to good end. We will finish the halter training of the 2019 born crias (baby alpacas) so the walking team may well see new entrants! We have had 13 new babies so far for 2020 with another 9 on the way. You can follow the births on our Instagram page: springfarmalpacas

These are difficult times for us all but you can rest assured your health is paramount to us. We will keep the diary open for future bookings after the 4th of July 2020 but keep an open mind as to how we proceed from here. In the event of continuing restrictions after the 4th July, we will continue on the same basis and issue undated credit vouchers.

Once again, we are very sorry to have to do this as we know that alpaca walking is great fun but we have to think of your welfare first and foremost.

Stay safe and well,

Vicki and Chris Agar, Spring Farm Alpacas and Alpaca Walking.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 6/6/20 to 19/6/20

Here at Spring Farm Alpacas we have to think of the safety of you, our guests, and our staff. We have taken the difficult decision to cancel all alpaca walking during this lockdown period and until the 19th of June at the earliest. Even if we were to get the go ahead at the next briefing, we will need a few days to reorganise the way we do things – and safety is paramount. We realise this will be very upsetting for anyone who has booked a walk over that period. However, we have to think safety first. We have noted advice from the Government and the British Alpaca Society in relation to the coronavirus outbreak.

We will be constantly monitoring the situation with regards to future walks and making sure we do everything possible to ensure your safety when we get the green light to reopen. If you have booked walks up to the 19th of June, we have sent you vouchers so you can rebook when “things get back to normal” subject to availability. Please check your inbox – and contact us if you haven’t received an email. Please be aware that we don’t date our vouchers. So as long as we are here – they are valid.

You may be concerned about the welfare of our walking alpacas. You can rest assured that we will continue to look after them all with our usual care and attention. We aim to use this time (without being able to offer walks) to good end. Vicki hopes to finish halter training the 2019 born crias (baby alpacas) so the walking team may well see new entrants! We have had six new babies so far for 2020 with another 17 on the way. You can follow the births on our Instagram page: springfarmalpacas

These are difficult times for us all but you can rest assured your health is paramount to us. We will keep the diary open for future bookings after the 19th of June 2020. In the event of continuing restrictions after the 19th of June, we will continue on the same basis and issue undated credit vouchers.

Once again, we are very sorry to have to cancel walks. We know that alpaca walking is great fun – but we have to think of your welfare first and foremost.

Vicki and Chris Agar, Spring Farm Alpacas and Alpaca Walking.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 18/5/20 – 5/6/20

Here at Spring Farm Alpacas we have to think of the safety of you, our guests, and our staff. We have taken the difficult decision to cancel all alpaca walking during this lockdown period and until the 5th of June at the earliest. Even if we were to get the go ahead at the next briefing, we will need a few days to reorganise the way we do things – and safety is paramount. We realise this will be very upsetting for anyone who has booked a walk over that period. However, we have to think safety first. We have noted advice from the Government and the British Alpaca Society in relation to the coronavirus outbreak. The latest government advice is that people should “avoid gatherings of more than two”.

We will be constantly monitoring the situation with regards to future walks. If you have booked walks up to the 5th of June, we have sent you vouchers so you can rebook when “things get back to normal” subject to availability. Please check your inbox – and contact us if you haven’t received an email. Please be aware that we don’t date our vouchers. So as long as we are here – they are valid.

You may be concerned about the welfare of our walking alpacas. You can rest assured that we will continue to look after them all with our usual care and attention. We aim to use this time (without being able to offer walks) to good end. Vicki hopes to finish halter training the 2019 born crias (baby alpacas) so the walking team may well see new entrants! We have had three new babies so far for 2020 with another 20 on the way. You can follow the births on our Instagram page: springfarmalpacas

These are difficult times for us all but you can rest assured your health is paramount to us. We will keep the diary open for future bookings after the 5th of June 2020. In the event of continuing restrictions after the 5th of June, we will continue on the same basis and issue undated credit vouchers.

Once again, we are very sorry to have to cancel walks. We know that alpaca walking is great fun – but we have to think of your welfare first and foremost.

Stay safe and well,

Vicki and Chris Agar, Spring Farm Alpacas and Alpaca Walking.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 6/5/2020

Here at Spring Farm Alpacas we have to think of the safety of you, our guests, and our staff. We have taken the difficult decision to cancel all alpaca walking during this lockdown period until the 23rd May. We realise this will be very upsetting for anyone who has booked a walk over that period. However, we have to think safety first. We have noted advice from the Government and the British Alpaca Society in relation to the coronavirus outbreak. The latest government advice is that “people should avoid non-essential travel” and “avoid gatherings”. We hope to get further guidance in the next few days…

We will be constantly monitoring the situation with regards to future walks. If you have booked walks up to the 22nd May, we have today sent you an email with a voucher attached. This so the recipient can rebook when “things get back to normal” subject to availability. Please be aware that we don’t date our vouchers. So as long as we are here – they are valid.

You may be concerned about the welfare of our walking alpacas. You can rest assured that we will continue to look after them all with our usual care and attention. Vicki and I have been using this time (without being able to offer walks) to good end. We will finish the halter training the 2019 born crias (baby alpacas) so the walking team may well see new entrants! We have had one new baby so far for 2020 with another 22 on the way.

Meet Apollo! First cria of 2020 to Saffron.

You can follow the births on our Instagram page: springfarmalpacas

These are difficult times for us all but you can rest assured your health is paramount to us. We will keep the diary open for future bookings after 23rd May 2020. In the event of continuing restrictions after the 23rd, we will continue on the same basis and issue undated credit vouchers.

Once again, we are very sorry to have to do this as we know that alpaca walking is great fun but we have to think of your welfare first and foremost.

Stay safe and well,

Vicki and Chris Agar, Spring Farm Alpacas and Alpaca Walking.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE – ALPACA WALKS DEFERRED

CORONAVIRUS – ALPACA WALKS DEFERRED

Here at Spring Farm Alpacas we have to think of the safety of our guests and staff. We have taken the difficult decision to cancel all alpaca walking for March, April and up to the 7th May 2020. We realise this will be very upsetting for anyone who has booked a walk over that period. However, we have to think safety first. We have noted advice from the Government and the British Alpaca Society in relation to the coronavirus outbreak.

We will be constantly monitoring the situation with regards to future walks. Those that have booked walks between lockdown in March and the 7th May have been sent a voucher mirroring their booking so they can rebook when “things get back to normal” subject to availability. Recipients will be pleased to hear that we don’t date our vouchers so as long as we are here – they are valid.

You may be concerned about the welfare of our walking alpacas but you can rest assured that we will continue to look after them all with our usual care and attention. We aim to use this time (without being able to offer walks) to good end. We have been halter training the 2019 born crias and are very pleased with the results. Both the baby girls and baby boys are doing really well. You never know, the walking team may see new entrants!

The weather has been just mad. At the outset of the pandemic we were up to our ankles in mud. Since March, we haven’t seen a drop of rain and the mud has turned to virtual concrete. Hopefully we will see some rain soon or the 2020 hay crop will be very thin!

We are now only a month away from our first births. We are expecting 22 baby alpacas and one baby llama between May and the end of July. So, its a very exciting time – we just hope you will soon be able to join us!

These are difficult times for us all but you can rest assured your health is paramount to us. We will keep the diary open for future bookings after the 7th May 2020 and keep you in touch of any changes. In the event of continuing restrictions after the 7th May, we will continue on the same basis and issue undated credit vouchers.

Vicki and Chris Agar, Spring Farm Alpacas and Alpaca Walking.

Coronavirus update

Never in our wildest dreams did I think I would be writing this entry to our alpaca walking website! Since mid March, we have closed down our alpaca walking business (until the beginning of May at the earliest) and our alpaca holiday letting business (The Lodge at Spring Farm Alpacas). I know that we are doing the right thing for our health and yours. But its still a bit surreal.

Just before we closed the farm, the weather had been terrible with seemingly constant storms and rain. What a difference three weeks makes! As I type, the sun is streaming through the window and we haven’t seen a drop of rain in that 3 weeks. The fields have gone from mud to baked clay in that time and now we are scanning the forecast for possible rain. This so the grass will grow and we get hay in the Summer.

So what are we doing whilst everyone else is staying at home and self isolating? Well, in short, life on a farm continues much as before – without guests. In the fields, wild flowers are responding to the sunshine and longer hours of daylight. The absence of aircraft noise seems to make the birdsong even more beautiful. We await our Summer visitors with baited breath. Especially this year as we have installed swift boxes and a calling system to entice them to Spring Farm. Swallows are expected any day now and we have a bottle of champagne in the fridge to celebrate when they arrive!

As for the alpacas, we have 22 baby alpacas and 1 baby llama due in 2020. The first baby is due on 15th May so we now have a birthing group who live close to the farm. This so we can keep a close eye on them at all times.

Halter training of the 2019 babies is well advanced and we are able to concentrate on that in the absence of walks. We have also started doing llama agility training and over the next few weeks will be well advanced with our husbandry.

Obviously we would like to be able to offer alpaca walks. It’s gutting not to be able to do so in this glorious weather. We do however try and post daily images on out Instagram page (springfarmalpacas). So if you are stuck indoors – please check that out!

In the meantime, please stay safe and we hope to be back up and running as soon as possible.

Best wishes,

Chris and Vicki and all the team at Spring Farm Alpacas

Yogi - halter training — Yogi – halter training

Wanda being halter trained — Yogi – halter training

CORONAVIRUS – ALPACA WALKS DEFERRED

Here at Spring Farm Alpacas we have to think of the safety of our guests and staff. We have taken the difficult decision to cancel all alpaca walking for the rest of March and all of April 2020. We realise this will be very upsetting for anyone who has booked a walk over that period. However, we have to think safety first. We have noted advice from the Government and the British Alpaca Society in relation to the coronavirus outbreak. The latest government advice is that “people should avoid non-essential travel” and “avoid gatherings”.

We will be constantly monitoring the situation with regards to future walks. Those that have booked walks during the rest of March and April will receive a voucher so they can rebook when “things get back to normal” subject to availability. Recipients will be pleased to hear that we don’t date our vouchers so as long as we are here – they are valid.

You may be concerned about the welfare of our walking alpacas but you can rest assured that we will continue to look after them all with the usual care and attention. We aim to use this time (without being able to offer walks) to good end. We will be halter training the 2019 born crias so the walking team may well see new entrants!

These are difficult times for us all but you can rest assured your health is paramount to us. We will keep the diary open for future bookings after April 2020 and keep you in touch of any changes. In the event of continuing restrictions after April, we will continue on the same basis and issue undated credit vouchers.

Vicki and Chris Agar, Spring Farm Alpacas and Alpaca Walking.

ALPACA CHRISTMAS CARDS

We have just added 4 new alpaca Christmas cards which are listed in full with all our others on the Alpaca Cards page. But we just thought we would highlight these two. The Merry Christmas alpaca card was taken here at Spring Farm Alpacas on the 27th February in Wigan’s field during a light snowstorm!

The one below was taken here at Spring Farm on the 27th February 2018. It’s of Svetlana when she was 8 months old. Both of the cards are available – either drop us an email or see our Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SpringFarmAlpacas?ref=shop_sugg

Or better still, buy the cards and an alpaca walking voucher from us here at Spring Farm for an unforgettable present this Christmas. Please email us for details.