Spring is in the air!

Even though spring is in the air, our recent cold nights have had the crias “pronking” through the pastures after dark.  I had to go out to the barn very late last night because I couldn’t see the herdsires sleeping in their usual spot.  I got curious to see what mischief they might be up to.  As I approached the pasture I found all the girls…even the 13 year old mature grandmoms running and pronking and playing.  They were having a great time.  When they saw me, they actually had the same look on their faces that my son gets when I catch him jumping on his bed after bedtime when the lights are supposed to be off.

The herdsires were quite happy to watch the girls and were lined up along the fence like a bunch of teenage boys.

I love this time of year and I think the alpacas do too!

This is Condori and her new son Condor.  Condori is a 13 year old girl who actually came to America from Peru.  She would like you to think that she’s very serious and looks after the herd as our granddam.  But she was quite guilty of running with the crias in the middle of the night.  Condori is a treasure to us and we are so happy that she’s given us a little boy who will be able to carry on her legacy when the day comes that she cannot.  We hate to think about that though and you would never know she wasn’t a teenager by the way she was bounding through the pasture when she thought I wouldn’t see her.  “So be forewarned Condori…I know what you’re up to!”

Reiling Ranch in the news:  http://www.star-telegram.com/living/story/1227874.html 

We are really excited about this article!

Patience

Ok…we are now on day 357 for Dawn.  We see the cria moving, but she’s really not that big, nor does she seem too uncomfortable.  So I guess we’ll just be patient and she’ll get here when she’s ready.  Alpacas can actually hibernate their crias enutero during times of stress.  This helps the fetus’ survival during drought or harsh winters on the Altiplano.  The dams can hibernate that cria and keep it alive until the conditions improve.  Otherwise, they might abort because they could not provide enough nourishment to their developing cria.  The result is that the gestation goes long, but you get a normally developed cria at birth.

I’m not sure if that’s what’s happening here.  We did have flooding this summer, then a very hot fall.  So, it’s certainly possible.  I guess we’ll see when the cria arrives.

In the meantime, we’re occupying ourselves with tree planting.  You know Ron can’t do anything half-way… check out these trees…

 

 

Finally!

Day 355 Terlingua finally decided to give us her beautiful Stonewall cria.  It took Ron, Davis, and I to get him here though.  Good thing Terlingua was an experienced mom, because it took all she had.  Once we helped her get the shoulders out, we thought we’d let gravity do the rest.  But no, this cria was so big that his elbows were dragging the ground.

It was such a tight squeeze that his breathing started to slow as his ribs were passing through. But Davis got on his knees and blew into the cria’s nose.  That perked him right up.  Finally we got the hips through.  We weighed him this evening and he tipped the scales at 23 pounds!  He looks great and is doing really well.  Terlingua’s a bit tired though!

He’s not quite dry and about 2 hours old in these pictures.

 

Maybe today?

Well it rained last night and it has gone from upper 70’s yesterday to 50’s today.  Now that it’s rainy, windy, and cold….I’m guessing Terlingua and Dawn will decide to deliver…just to aggravate me

Electra’s cria is a hoot.  He actually chased Davis all over the pasture.  Davis is having a great time, running in circles and then falling over laughing at this little boy who loves to run after him.  It’s been really fun to watch.  I’m going to try to video them.

Denise

 

Two down and two to go!

Yea!  Electra had her Royal Flush cria at day 360…finally!  A beautifully fleeced dark fawn boy with black points and white in his face.  We’re trying to decide if he’s rose grey or dark fawn.  Elsie’s Royal Flush girl is two weeks old now and both have beautiful fleece and are extraordinarily friendly.  They come when we call their names.  We call Electra’s boy ‘Lectric and Elsie’s girl Lilly.  Lilly is the medium brown in the picture below and ‘Lectric is behind her.

 

 Lilly’s little ear hasn’t straightened up yet from her delivery.  Little ‘Lectric will get an official name soon!

Hopefully I’ll update soon with new crias!

Denise

 

 

 

Where are our crias?

Ok, Electra is day 359, Terlingua is 347, and Dawn is 340.  Electra is bred to Royal Flush and we are soo anxious.  We’re anxious about Dawn and Terlingua too as they are bred to Dundee’s Stonewall Jaxon at Hill Country Alpacas.  HCA just had a brown girl from Royal Flush and Sari who is Isaac’s mom.  She looks beautiful!  If we could figure out how to link to their blog, we would so you could see her.

We’ll post cria pictures as soon as those little buggers decide to arrive!

 

Denise

 

Here I go…

Ok…I have no idea what I’m doing, but thought I’d try to be hip and start a blog.  We have three overdue girls and I hope to be posting baby news soon.  We have exciting news about Snowmass Porteus’ sire…stay tuned as we confirm!

Denise