Downsizing

With my health being a huge issue, we are dispersing our herd. Having had 50 animals at one time, we are now down to 11. We're offering continuing customer support for the life of these animals.

Huacaya package $3500  4 open females and one champion stud male

 Suri Package $4500. 2 bred females 3 open females and a blue ribbon winning stud.

Call us today. Cash, Credit or Paypal.  931-636-5967

Southern Select 2012

Another Southern Select Alpaca Show has passed and we did great again.
Brian took 1st in the obstacle course with our big bad stud boy Gustof.
Spencer took 1st in the white juvenile suri class.
Fionghan took 3rd in adult fawn class.
Angus got also got 3rd in the adult light/beige class
Dakota took 3rd in a large class of 12 light fawn juveniles.
Angus won 1st place in the spin off!
Here's Brian with Gus and his ribbon

Endings and Beginnings

The Big Sale is over but do not despair! With every ending comes a new beginning. Our first cria of the year has been born! Our llama Cassie has blessed us with a fantastic true black girl.That's Cassie sniffing at her. This cria's daddy is our suri alpaca Fanfare. We chose to breed a mix of llama and alpaca because I like the idea of a smaller statured llama for handling reasons.

WooHoo! This is Cassie's first baby and she has taken to it like an old hen. Delivery was easy and the cria was up and nursing within 40 minutes.
It always amazes me how the mommas usually take right to it, like they've been doing it all their lives. Delivery isn't hard to figure out. It hurts and feels like it might come out so you push. Like evacuating the bowels but on a much grander scale. The part that baffles me is just after that. The wiggly thing that just dropped out of her behind stands up and not only does it want to follow her around but wants to lick and suck on that belly place that's been itchy and ouchy lately. What tells the mom to be patient and stand there? To let this alien take it's nurishment from her body like a parasite. What tells her that she should protect this thing at all costs? How does she know that the afterbirth isn't the same kind of thing, to be fed and protected?
I love cria watch time and this year should be a great one. We have 7 or 8 more due this spring. Unfortunately I am not physically able to help this year as I am recovering from major surgery but I will still be watching and waiting and wishing like always. I still have to name Cassie's cria and all the crias to come. That's always fun and a thing of great debate in our household.

The BIG Sale!

It's that time again! Time to make your best deal on our best alpacas. Every January we drop our prices to their lowest. Must make room for spring crias!
So far this year's sale has been a great success but we still have some awesome alpacas at stupid-low prices available.

Yearling girls plus breedings starting at $1999! (That's Sweetheart! She's ready to breed anytime) Click here to see all our girls.

Sweetheart

Males starting at $200! Click here to see our males.

Bred females due this spring from $2999! (That's Ruby.She's due in just a few weeks!). Click here to see our females.

Ruby

This sale includes full reproductive and live cria guarantees  PLUS our great 24/7 customer support.

Contact us now. The sale ends Feb 29th! 931-692-3397.

**Congrats go out to Cheri & Justin for their purchase of Delta Dawn, Dolly and Alora! What a super starter herd you've chosen! Welcome to the wonderful world of alpacas.

**Terri N. made a splash in the alpaca pool with her purchase of Smitty and Caezar, while her daughter Tanya and hubby Daniel dove in even deeper by purchasing Seamus, Romeo, and Perry!

What a funtastic year you will all have in 2012! Good luck and welcome to the Hidden Gem Family!

CRIAS are due starting in just a few weeks!  March 9th is our first "due date" so we're starting cria watch around the 1st. We can't wait to see what this year's crop brings to our herd. We have NINE crias due this spring! Come on out for a visit any you may see one enter the world.

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!