Last Cria of 2011 Has Arrived And It's A......

GIRL!!!!! WooHoo! Way to go Delta Dawn!

Meet Dolly.

Dolly was born on November 19, 2011 at just 13.2 lbs. She was born without assistance (but definitely observed!) to Delta Dawn, a first time mom and Romeo, our awesome studmeister.

Dolly was born at 344 days gestation and although that is considered a full-term pregancy she was somewhat dysmature. Her suckling instinct kicked in right away, but her ears were floppy and the tendons in her legs were lax so she walked on her pasterns front and back. She stood and nursed within normal times.

We were concerned that she would not be strong enough to keep up with her momma or that she may get accidentally stomped by our other girls. Rain also came into play the first few days so at night and when the weather threatened we penned up Delta Dawn and Dolly in our trailer. Normally, I wouldn't worry about a cria getting wet or stomped too much but Dolly seemed so small and frail and it gets cold at night this time of year.

Dolly has now made it through her first week of life. She is up over 15 lbs., her legs are straight as arrows and her ears are almost perfectly upright. She's a beautiful girl, too! :) 

One last cria for the spring!

Jacinta finally had her cria. A very nice fawn male. Their owner is thrilled. That's all that really matters! Congratulations Terri!

Here's a cria, There's a cria, EVERYWHERE a cria!

Everywhere I look there's a cria running around! There is nothing as wonderful as healthy babies. This spring we had 6. One huacaya girl and one huacaya boy. The suris have all been boys.

Allow me to introduce them.
Alora is from Poppy(Papillion) and Eclipse(NightOut). She weighed in at 15.8 lbs and was nursing before she stood up. Poppy layed down beside her and she nudged her way under to nurse!
JackJack is out of Maddie and Abraham. He was a whopping 20.2 lbs and hit the ground running.
Maverick is from our girl Holly paired with Fanfare. WOW! This guy is gorgeous! His fleece looks like it might drip it's SO shiny.
Murphy. What can I say about Murphy? He looks so much like his momma it's like looking at a picture of her as a cria. This guy is out of our now retired Rodie and our (now sold) boy Storm. Couldn't ask for a better outcome (except maybe a girl would have been nice :) He was 17.4 lbs at birth.
Spencer is out of Vanity Fair and Solomon and weighed 19.2 lbs. He's a sweet and personable little guy who might just make it to the show ring.
Diez is our first cria out of Joy, the first cria born here. So Diez is technically our first grandcria born here. He weighed 18.6 lbs, very big for a maiden momma. His fleece is almost pink! Very pretty boy.

We are still waiting on Harmony and Jacinta to deliver. Harmony is due June 18th and Jacinta on July 19th. Harmony started looking "ready" early last month. Her milk came in and her belly is huge. When Joy delivered last week Harmony was going through the motions with her. Everytime Joy would roll or poop, Harmony was right there mirroring her. I thought we might have a two-fer cria day but it wasn't meant to be. I'd rather Harmony wait until her cria is "done". 
Jacinta has been sold but will stay here until after her cria is born. Congrats to Terri on her purchase along with Delta Dawn! I always regret selling my girls once their crias are born. This one will be no exception I'm sure. Jacinta is bred to a fawn full Accoyo boy. Can't wait to see it!

Our new male MFI Peruvian Caezar has a drive by breeding today so off I go to prepare for it. I'll give him a little pep talk and maybe a handfull of alfalfa for extra energy. :) GO CAEZAR!! Make girls!

Cria time again

Well, shearing is done for this year. Now it's cria time.
We have seven more girls due this spring. Pictured here is Holly(the grey) who should deliver today. She is 362 days pregnant and I've given her a shot of Estrumate to help her along. Right now it's raining but starting to clear. The girls are all cold and waiting for the sun to come out.

Waiting for Spring

Wow, this winter has been crazy! We've had more snow than this area has seen in many many years. It's bitter cold for a week, then 50 and sunny, then cold, then rainy. Sheesh. Enough already.
Yesterday was one of the nice 50 degree sunny days so I was out spending extra time with the alpacas.
I see them several times a day but when they are out enjoying the sunshine they seem to look different. Happy. Relaxed. Fat!
Those girls who are bred for spring crias seem to have suddenly gotten enormous. Vanity has 95 days until her "due date" but not only is she visibly pregnant but I've seen the cria kicking and rolling already.
Maddie is due next month. She's laying around alone and already elongating and relaxing "back there". I've seen crias bumping and rolling inside Holly, Rodie, Joy, Jacinta and Poppy so far.
Come on Spring!!! Bring me some girls!