Letting Genetics Tell Our Story
Welcome to EvenTyrGaard Alpacas!
Ideas were few and far between when it came to naming our ranch. We knew that we wanted to follow a different path when we chose our name, and this path took us to Norway. Historically, Norway has little to do with alpacas, but we were trying to get our roots planted, and heritage seemed a good place to start.(Airell's ancestry is Norwegian and Swedish) None of the names we came up with were taking us where we wanted to go. Conveniently, one of our daughters was studying abroad in Norway at the time and she shared with us that she loved to walk "Eventyrveien". When I asked for more details about this strange name, she gave a little laugh and answered, "Oh, Mom, you just HAVE to walk down a street called Fairy Tale Way!" And there it was:our Norwegian ranch name! We knew that Ny-gaard meant new farm and so combining "EvenTyr" (Fairy Tale) to "-gaard" (farm) gave us EvenTyrGaard or Fairy Tale Farm. (If you care to read more about the Norwegian alpaca connection, we have a few more details on our website www.e-alpaca.com) Little did we know that when we named our ranch the Fairy Tale Farm, it would be prophetic. . . . it was to be several years before the ranch became a reality!
We purchased our first female alpaca,Anja, in 2002 while we were still living in Colorado. At the 2003 AOBA Nationals Auction we bought our second female,RFSS I'm a Peach, and later that summer, our first junior herdsire, LCA Zambesi,a rare fawn- colored Inca son. That fall, we moved to Sonora California, and realized that we had a truly National Herd! (one lived in Georgia, one in Colorado, and one in Washington, while we were in California.) It has been our intention throughout the building of our foundation herd to acquire the best animals that we could, representing superior genetic lines,and I think that we have stayed true to our goals. We had planned on having a 100% colored herd, but there were some great white animals available that we just couldn't pass by! Our herd now contains representatives of some of the finest genetic lines available in the US.Our herdsires are full Peruvian out of Inca, Accoyo Crown Royal, Condor and Supremo who is a Mister Lothario son. Our foundation females have such notables in their backgrounds as Baron, Bruxo, Hershey, Elar, McGyver, Uribe, and Pardner. Things get even more interesting when our youngsters show Peruvian Angel, Yodi, Prince Greystone, Belmonte, Jackpot and Zambesi in their lines. We are very proud of the quality of alpacas we have acquired, and are thrilled with offspring that they are producing.
In May 2007, a milestone was reached as the long awaited day arrived to bring home our herd (which now numbered 19!) Since then, we have added a 7/8 Accoyo herdsire, Crown Prince Friedel, who we co-own with Alpaca JAcks Suri Farm in Ohio and Prince Greystone, a two-time Grey AOBA National Color Champion who is also co-owned and spends the fall months (Oct-Dec) at our ranch, and four very nice crias.
Our unique Norwegian style barn is fashioned from sugar pine and fir logs from nearby Sierra Nevada timber. Boards were milled on our own sawmill, and the entire project completed by Airell with help from a few friends! The barn is fully insulated and cooled in the summer with portable evaporative coolers (an idea we borrowed from Vicki Trimberger- thanks!!). Thanks to California's temperate climate, our irrigated pastures provide green grass 10 months of the year, enhancing the health of our pregnant dams and fiber production in our show animals.
The work is never done and this spring finds us putting in more irrigation lines and expanding our pasture space, while agisting a lovely group of girls who have brought our head count to 38!
Our helpers in this venture include two livestock guard Maremmas, Berit and Bjorn, and a noisy flock of Guinea Hens.
Life is never dull and we're living it "happily ever after"!
Downloads
- AlpacasUSA_Application_FORM.doc – Complete this simple Application form to let the A/USA Family know more about you. Then mail your Application fee and email the Form to alpacas@zoominternet.net; or send it, along with the Application Fee ($50), to: Alpacas in the USA! Moon Ivy Hill, 4526 Olmstead Rd., Woodhull, NY 14898 and you'll be notified within a week to ten days of your confirmation for the License. We look forward to welcoming you into our close-knit family!
Dinner Bell !
Sometimes it even snows in sunny California! 1/29/08
Fall '07 Crias - Petunia and Lars
Peder and Per 2nd in Produce of Dam GWAS