In The Beginning -
DRIWIND was established in 1987 as a small hobby kennel, training, showing, and breeding Australian Shepherds. DRIWIND is a permanently registered kennel name with the Australian Shepherd Club of America.
Our original little herd has now grown by leaps and bounds. In the Fall of 2006 our first two females gave us our first two cria, a male and a female. In the Summer of 2007 we purchased a bred female who nicely gave us a female cria a couple of weeks later. Two months after that, our original two females gave us three more female cria. YES, TWINS!!!! How cool is that? In two months, out of three dams, we got four (1, 2, 3, 4!) girls! Wahoo!
While we have only had alpacas for a short period of time, we are not totally unfamiliar with livestock or with husbandry practices (yes, we know that alpacas are not the same as horses or dogs!). Actually, I'm told we are much more experienced than I give us credit for; after all, not only have we "survived" choke, but we have also successfully raised tiny twins -- one bottle-fed every two hours for six months, living in the house, and now adjusted to being a part of the alpaca herd. I took it as "baptism by fire" and just a part of having livestock.