Another Hay Bites The Dust

Last Sunday Ric and I (accompanied by puppy Blue) drove down to Roswell to meet with a hay grower and bring some sample bales of hay back. The hay we were interested in was a Bermuda grass hay and an oat hay.

 

The hay grower was a lovely man, very amenable to working with us and very proud of his hay. The grower already had an analysis on his oat hay and it was only running around 10% protein which is too low for our needs. Having ruled out the oat hay we brought some of the Bermuda grass hay home with us.

 

We tried the alpacas out with the hay and they ate it but were not as zealous about it as they are with the wheat hay we are currently feeding them. We would never just switch from one hay to another as that can really have a bad affect on the alpacas digestive system and it means that if they really don’t like the new hay then they have nothing to eat. We blended some of the Bermuda in with the wheat hay and over a couple of days the alpacas were starting to eat more of the Bermuda. Griffen the llama was particularly taken with the Bermuda grass hay, but her tastes in hay do tend to be different from the rest of the herd and our other two llamas Maya and Inca.

 

On Tuesday we ran the hay in for testing to our local lab ADM Labs. We received the results back on Wednesday and sadly they were not the best. While the Calcium/Phosphorus balance was good and the Potassium was not a disaster (higher than we like but better than some we have seen this year), the crude protein was only 9% which is nowhere near high enough for our herd, especially the pregnant and nursing females.

 

We were sad that the results did not pan out as we had hoped, we liked the hay grower and had looked forward to working with him. There is not point though in buying hay that is not suitable for our needs, at 9% protein it is not even sufficient for our fiber boys.

 

The results of the hay analysis will be shared with the grower, it is only fair to do so and it will help him decide what adjustments he needs to make to his hay management. For this year we will not be buying hay from him, but by next year perhaps things will have changed and we will be able to business.

 

In the meantime we will be keeping our eyes open for more potentially good hay on sale. Eventually we will find some I am sure and for now we have a reasonable stock of wheat hay on hand, but of course every day the alpacas keep eating it and the stack gets smaller!

 

Rosemary

When Can You First See Alpaca Crias Move

Black Prince and Valkyrie enjoy time in the sun - not much movement here!

 

That was a question that was recently in the search terms that refer people to my blog. As someone is out there looking for that information I thought it would be nice to write a little about it.

 

Alpaca crias in utero can be lively little things. We ultrasound our pregnant alpaca girls at about 45 days post breeding and by that time the embryo is quite a good size on an ultrasound screen. Often we see the cria moving around. I still remember when we ultra-sounded Theresa when she was expecting Asteroid. Asteroid floated into view on the ultrasound screen and almost turned and waved at the camera so as to say. It was the funniest thing and turned out to be quite typical of the sort of thing Asteroid did once he was born. As Asteroid was and still is quite the character.

 

Alpaca crias do most of their growing in the last trimester of the pregnancy, prior to that they are really quite small and so often you do not see much movement. A 90 day fetus is usually around 3 – 4 “ in length so you can see how it would be difficult to see movement from that size fetus as it is carried in an adult alpaca.

 

To a certain extent the amount of movement seen depends on the size of the cria and the size of the dam. If you get a large cria in a medium to large sized dam you will probably see the cria move around the five month gestation point. If the cria is smaller then it may be six months or later until you see the cria move. We have found that if you have a large cria in a small dam it can be hard to see them move at all – there just isn’t much room to move I guess.

 

When our Clarissa was expecting her first cria she was huge quite early on in her pregnancy. I kept looking for the cria to move but only saw it move once and that was toward the end of the pregnancy. Clarissa is not a big girl and her cria was a good sized boy when he was born.

 

Our girl Bjorn is a good size and always has crias that weigh around 20 lbs. With Bjorn’s current pregnancy we have wondered if she was fooling us on her correct breeding date. Although our records show Bjorn due to have her cria in September, Bjorn was so large and her cria so active we wondered if an earlier Spring breeding may have caused the pregnancy, but we have passed the due date for that pregnancy and Bjorn is still pregnant so it looks as if she has another 20 lb. Plus cria on the way.

 

It is good to watch for the unborn crias move. Its fun to do and also helps you know which girls are carrying their crias to term. We have always been told that it is easiest to see movement on the dam’s left side as alpaca females usually carry their cria in the left uterine horn, but we have seen crias moving on both the right and left side of the dam (and it was definitely cria movement not just cud chewing movement). We find a good time to go cria watching is in the evening when the girls have had a good feast on the hay and are cushed and relaxed for the evening. As we walk through the pasture we take a minute or two to watch each pregnant girl and are often rewarded with the sight of cria movement. Sometimes if you shine a flash light at the back of the dam’s abdomen, the light from the flashlight will stimulate the cria to move – just don’t do it too much or you will get a grumpy dam telling you to let her rest in peace!

 

So a short answer to the question “When can you first see a cria move” would be around the five to six month point of gestation and in some cases maybe even a little earlier.

 

Rosemary

Soaking Up The Rain

This last couple of weeks have given us some great moisture. Our temperatures have dropped from the 100’s down to the 80’s to 90’s and most evenings we have had really good rain. Sure the rainfall increases our humidity levels a little bit, but the humidity is bearable and we will take it if it means we get some rain.

 

In one area of the farm the rain could not have arrived at a better time. Last year we had applied for and been accepted into a government program that assists us in planting our back acreage back to native grass. Like most government programs there has been some paperwork and visits from the people at the local Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) office, but on the whole it has been a painless process and we were happy to hear about a month ago we had been accepted.

 

We were given the choice of planting the grass before August 1 or waiting until next spring. We decided to go ahead and plant the grass now. First the field had to be sprayed for weeds, then the grass seed drilled over the field and that was the job done. The really fortunate part is that the day after we drilled the grass seed we had rain and have had rain every evening since. We couldn’t ask for better timing.

 

The grass seed we have planted is a mixture of various types of native grass. The NRCS worked with us and a local seed company to come up with a blend that should succeed in our harsh environment. It will take a while for the grass to be established and the different grasses will probably appear at different times. It will be nice to have the field back to grass, it will encourage wildlife (we already have road runners, pheasant, quail and partridge living on the farm along with the usual assortment of rabbits) and will help prevent soil erosion which is a real issue in this dry and windy part of the world.

 

After a couple of years we will even be allowed to let the alpacas graze on the grass, provided of course we have put up adequate fencing by then (no government programs to cover the cost of fencing I’m afraid).

 

We hope the recent rains will be enough to help the grass seed get started and look forward to seeing the result of our project in the coming months. It will be a slow process but a worthwhile one.

 

Rosemary

Taking Care of the Herd Elders

 

 

Primera - our oldest girl

As an alpaca herd grows it is inevitable that you will have older alpacas within the herd. Alpacas can live for a long time with some being reported to live into their twenties and even still being able to breed at that age. Personally I have found that there seems to be a drop off point around the seven year mark, I am not sure why that is but it seems that if alpacas make it past seven years of age they go on to live a long and happy life.

 

As in humans the elderly alpaca can be as vulnerable as the newborn or very young alpaca, so as your alpacas age it is good to pay special attention to them. With alpacas being stoic an elderly alpaca might be quite ill before he or she shows symptoms.

 

At 14 years old Primera is the oldest alpaca in our herd. Primera came to us when she was about 5 years old, she had been donated to our vet for research as she had never had a cria survive. Primera would get pregnant easily and carry the cria to term but once her crias were born they would start to decline and eventually die. When Primera arrived at our farm she had a female cria “Aniera” at her side. Aniera was struggling, she had very little muscle but lots of fiber and long toe nails. Despite our vet having transfused Aniera and giving her supplemental milk she had become hyper thyroid. Aniera was born during the foaling season and our vet was busier than ever, so he asked us to take in Primera and Aniera and care for them. Sadly when she was three months old Aniera died.

 

Our vet decided to breed Primera again, but this time brought her to us to give birth so that we could care for her and her cria. When the cria was born (this time a little boy “Geraint”) we intervened from day one. Geraint was transfused, put on a bottle, transfused again and had blood-work done on a regular basis. Geraint also started to become hyper thyroid, but this time we caught it really early and put him on thyroid medication. Geraint survived and is now four years old.

 

Our vet feels that perhaps Primera has something in her milk that kills her crias, or has some genetic trait that she passes on to her crias that affects the way they process milk, preventing them from building muscle. Like Aniera, Geraint was very thin as a cria and yet produced a very long staple of fleece and toe nails that grow like weeds, so we do wonder if there is something strange about how Primera’s crias utilize protein.

 

Primera has not been bred since Geraint and has established a role here as a great companion alpaca for visiting alpacas that are in quarantine on their arrival here. Of course Primera still produces fleece, it has very little crimp style, but it is quite fine and consistent and she produces a good amount of it so she is still contributing to the income of the farm.

 

Primera is very much a hands off alpaca. She does not enjoy human contact, cushes when we try to trim her toe nails and becomes very vocal when we try to handle her. Primera is definitely an alpha female and the other alpacas all respect her position in the herd.

 

So when I was doing evening chores three nights ago and I noticed Primera cushed in the pasture and not eating I knew something was not right. When Primera let me sit beside her and stroke her I was convinced that all was not well with our girl.

 

Primera seemed to be in some pain, not bad pain but she did appear to be almost wincing. I offered her hay and she nibbled a little bit but really was not too interested. Her temperature was fine, she was breathing normally and there were no real indications of what could be wrong. I tempted Primera with some alfalfa and she ate it readily showing that she still had some appetite. I gave Primera some MSE drench (a great pro-biotic and enzyme drench) and also offered her some warm, soaked beet shreds as she seemed a little shivery. The drench she was not impressed with, the shreds she ignored.

 

We had received a lot of rain that morning and our temperature had cooled off a lot, I started to wonder if perhaps the change in pressure was bothering Primera. I had noticed during the winter months she seemed to sit around more on the days that the weather changed and had wondered then if perhaps she was starting with arthritis.

 

I kept an eye on Primera until very late at night, she was reasonably comfortable when I left her but allowed me to stroke her neck and even give her a kiss on the nose as I wished her goodnight. I do believe that alpacas understand when we show them that we care for them and that can sometimes be a good motivator for them to hang in there and battle whatever is bothering them. Primera rested her chin on my hand and seemed to relax a little as I scratched her under the chin.

 

By the morning, Primera was up and about, nibbling at hay and drinking water, but she had now developed watery diarrhea. We stated Primera on some antibiotics, gave her some more MSE drench and also some Biosponge to help firm up the diarrhea. Over the past few days Primera has definitely improved, she is still not back to normal, but each day she is a little livelier, each day her appetite is a little stronger.

 

As I have treated Primera I have discovered that this hands off alpaca actually enjoys a little massage. Every time I give her medicine I follow it up with a massage down her neck and along her spine. Primera doesn’t move away but stands still and enjoys the massage, particularly in the area above her kidneys. Imagine how achy we feel when we have a stomach bug and how some warm soothing touch can feel good and lift the spirits. I think that is why Primera is so willing to stand for her massage every day.

 

I am sure in time that Primera will really start to feel better and at that point will go back to being her grumpy, growly self, but that’s okay as it will be a sign that she is better. In the meantime we will continue with the medicine and the TLC and enjoy our time with our eldest girl.

 

Rosemary

Keeping The Bugs At Bay

Natures Defender Alpacas and Llamas Insect Spray

With our recent rains and warm weather the fly population is rapidly increasing. As we live in an area that is highly populated with dairy cows flies are a part of life. The dairies do their best to keep the fly population under control, many of them use fly predators and some spray for flies but the flies still manage to repopulate. The other insect of concern is the mosquito who is no doubt laying eggs like crazy in any water that has collected as a result of the rain.

We use food grade diatomaceous earth as a top dressing for our feed (it is most important it is food grade and not pool grade) and that helps not only with the flies but also with other internal parasites. For our stock tanks we use something called mosquito dunks which effectively kill mosquito larvae while leaving the water in the stock tank safe for our horses to consume.

With alpacas being fleece animals there is always the risk of lice getting your herd. We have unfortunately experienced lice in the herd in the past when some alpacas brought to us for shearing managed to pass them on to our herd. That was in the pre-quarantine days when alpaca owners would casually allow visiting alpacas to intermingle with their own herd. Now we know better and visiting alpacas are quarantined for three weeks prior to joining our herd and we are careful to clean our shearing mats and equipment after shearing visiting alpacas or llamas.

We are always on the lookout for new products that are helpful in keeping the bugs at bay and recently came across one that really has impressed us. “Natures Defender Alpacas and Llamas Insect Spray” is an all natural topical insect spray. Made from Cedar oil and Silane Fluid this spray is USDA approved and safe to use on most animals (it is not suitable for exotic birds). To us one of the best features of this product is that you can safely use it on pregnant alpacas and llamas.

Our past experience with lice in the herd has shown us how difficult it is to eradicate lice when you have pregnant females. Most lice treatments are not safe for pregnant and nursing alpacas which means that your pregnant and nursing alpacas cannot be treated for many months, preventing you from being able to treat the herd 100%.

The Nature’s Defender spray though allows us to spray pregnant and nursing alpacas if needed and as it is safe to use on crias we have been able to provide some fly relief for our crias whose beautiful young eyes often attract flies.

In addition to killing flies and lice the spray also kills ticks, mites, bacteria and fungal infections. You can also use it around the house to repel and kill insects. Actually we are finding more uses for this product every day – we have sprayed the alpacas, sprayed the dogs (including our puppy Blue), we have even sprayed Ric (well we sprayed his t-shirt before he did chores and the flies left him alone). We have also used the Nature’s Defender product on our alpaca products to keep moths away including lightly misting our fleeces that have not yet been shipped for processing. We didn’t experience any staining on our products as a result of using the spray and everything has a nice cedar scent to it.

You can read more about Nature’s Defender Alpacas and Llamas Insect spray at http://www.alpacasllama-insectspray.com/ and if you check out the distributors page you will see we are listed as distributors. We like this product so much we decided that we wanted to be able to supply it to our clients and friends.

** (August 28, 2009) You can now purchase the Nature’s Defender Alpacas and Llamas Insect spray through our AlpacaNation Farm Store at

http://www.alpacanation.com/alpaca-stores/03_viewstore.asp?name=11586

If you are looking to keep the bugs at bay try Nature’s Defender Alpacas and Llamas spray, I’m betting you will like it and will soon be using it for many things as we do!

Rosemary

To The Fleece Show We Go

 

 Well not us, but two of our fleeces headed off to the AFCNA Continental Fleece Show this afternoon.

 

If truth be known the fleeces probably should have left earlier, they will still arrive at the show with a day or two to spare but I hate taking a chance on something going wrong with the transportation and the fleeces arriving late. Also having been a fleece show superintendent myself I understand how nice it is to receive entries and fleeces well in advance of the show. (My apologies to all involved with the AFCNA Continental Fleece Show this year!).

 

So which fleeces did we send? After some discussion we settled on Windrush White Blast and Windrush Zindel’s Atlas.

 

White Blast did really well in fleece shows last year winning the white color champion at the TxOLAN Alpaca Spectacular against some stiff competition. Blast has a beautiful fleece with tiny micro bundles, high frequency crimp, superb brightness and a soft, soft hand.

 

When I went to prepare Blast’s fleece for the show I discovered that it had somehow become entangled within the bag and it took me a while to sort it out. That doesn’t happen often but when it does it is quite a challenge to unravel the puzzle of which piece of fleece needs to be turned in which direction. I had one heart stopping moment when I wondered if the fleece I had prepared was Blast’s 2008 fleece which had already been shown several times. That would have explained the twisting but would also have meant I had wasted my time and would have to start over on the 2009 fleece. I checked the fleece bag and “phew” the bag was marked Blast 2009! I did my best with Blast’s fleece but with it having become twisted I wonder if the judge will stumble across a piece of fleece that should have been skirted out. I wouldn’t’ be surprised if I get the “needs more skirting” comment on my scorecard.

 

Atlas did well in his first year of halter shows and this shearing was his first. Atlas also has a beautiful fleece in a bronzed light brown color. Atlas is really consistent with his fleece, with his crimp style extending all the way down to his belly and upper legs. Like Blast Atlas has a super bright fleece with high frequency crimp micro bundles. Atlas’s fleece was thankfully not tangled and so skirting it was a little easier, although I did start to wonder who allowed him to roll in the straw before shearing!

 

With the fleeces on the way to the show, now I can sit back and wait for the results. The really nice thing about this particular show is that you also get a DVD of the judges oral reasons on each class and of the seminars held at the show. If your fleece places, you get to see and hear the judges comments about it, which is great fun and a good addition to your herd records.

 

If you are thinking that you missed a great opportunity to show fleeces in the AFCNA Show then think again. The show deadline has been extended and late fees waived. Go to http://www.alpacawebsite.com/ for more information and then get your fleeces on the way to the show!

 

Rosemary

Alpaca Reunion

We had several alpaca reunions over the weekend starting first with the return of Anya to our farm.

 

Anya now belongs to Terri Faver of Almost Canyon Ranch in Amarillo, Texas and last weekend we had taken Zin and Regent over to Terri’s ranch to breed Shiimsa and Anya. All went well with Zin and Shiimsa but Anya was not in the mood for breeding! In fact Anya was far from in the mood, running hard, spitting and even trying to get out of the stall – definitely not receptive. Anya’s reaction to the male was so dramatic that we started to wonder if she could have a retained CL or somehow be pregnant.

 

The pregnancy theory was a remote one, Terri had her two male alpacas Opie and Rian gelded after she purchased them and then kept them separated from the girls for at least three weeks. Terri did try and put the two gelded boys in with the girls but that was unsuccessful as she came out to the pasture one day to find Anya cushed and Opie acting as if he was breeding her. If Anya had cushed for Opie there was a chance that Opie’s act of breeding her could have been a factor in causing a retained CL.

 

We talked the situation over with Terri and decided to have her test Anya with Opie during the week to see if Anya’s reaction changed. About the middle of the week Terri reported that Anya seemed a little more flirty and so we made a plan for Anya to come over to our farm to see what happened when she was put in with Regent.

 

Saturday morning arrived and so did Terri and Anya. Thankfully Anya did cush for Regent this time and we will keep our fingers crossed that the breeding results in a pregnancy. Terri has left Anya with us for the next week or so in order that we may test Anya with a male to gauge if she might be pregnant.

 

It was fun to see Anya again and she settled right in, making her way to the feeding pen where we always fed her, checking out the hay feeders and of course sniffing and greeting her old pasture mates. What was interesting to me was that Anya’s dam Bjorn and sister Keeva were among the first in the herd to come and see Anya.

 

The other reunions arose from one simple act. Allowing the weanling alpacas back in the main herd. It didn’t take them long to find their mothers and by the evening each weanling was cushed at its dams side reinforcing once more the strong family bond that alpacas have.

 

So by Saturday evening our pasture was filled with happy alpaca families and hopefully a newly pregnant Anya.

 

Rosemary

More Visitors of a warmer, fuzzier kind

The Visiting Llamas sporting a newly shorn look

 Just when we think there can’t be any more shearing to do someone calls and asks about shearing. So it was we found ourselves shearing six llamas on Thursday evening.

One of the llamas we had shorn for his owner last year, a good looking solid black male llama whose coat is a little suri like in appearance. The owner says that the male llama is the best cowboy he has, the llama not only protects the owners cattle, but also brings the cattle in to water and helps round up cattle when the owner is out working cattle on horseback. The llama is quite remarkable in his ability to sense what the owner needs and is a very good guard llama.

The other llamas in the group were three older females, a juvenile female and a juvenile male. Considering these llamas spend all year in the pasture with little to no handling they took the shearing process well. We did have to sedate two of the older females, we could see they were very nervous and the sedation helped them to relax and accept the process without a lot of fuss and stress.

 As each llama was shorn we took them out of the barn and tied them to trees around the barn and to their trailer so that they could nibble on tree leaves or weeds. Two of them even decided to have a roll after shearing no doubt enjoying the feeling of being cooler and able to feel the ground on their skin.

Fortunately we closed the driveway gates as part way through the evening the adult male llama decided that it was time for him to go exploring. He somehow managed to get his halter off and when we went out to check on him all we could see was an empty halter and a hanging lead rope. It didn’t take long to find him though as he had wandered over to visit with our three guard llamas Maya, Inca and Griffin. Our girls were most excited to have a male llama call to visit.

 

As the evening went on some storms rolled in bringing with them a lot of lightning and we decided it would be best for us to load the llamas back into their trailer before the storms and lightning got too close. Later that evening the llamas owner came to pick them up and take them home, happy to have his llamas shorn and comfortable and anxious to get his”cowboy” back to his cattle herd.

 

Rosemary

Where Have We Been and Who Is This?

Spot the Snake

 

We’ve been Installing a new computer. We were finally able to take the time to dismantle the old computer set up and install our new computer, a chore long overdue and which had been put off by tax returns, shearing and then cria season.

 

Having installed the new computer our new monitor decided that it didn’t want to work. Within 30 minutes of being up and running it was displaying nothing but vertical green and blue lines. Thankfully the manager at our local Office Max where we had purchased the monitor was very understanding and had us set up with another new monitor by the afternoon. But computer installation is never without its hiccups and later in the day we realized that our portable drive which stored all of our documents, photos and more had also decided to malfunction. I think it objected to being separated from its long lost friend our old computer. Try as we might we have not been able to access the portable drive and while many documents were backed up to other locations we still have lost a large amount of data. Oh well I guess the computer gods decided that they were going to force us to clean up our files!

 

The old computer will still be utilized, we will clear off a lot of the files we now don’t need and use the old computer for our herd records program.

 

While taking the time to install the computer I was reminded that a silent puppy is usually not a good sign. While I was busy on the computer young Blue had helped herself to the roving on my spinning wheel and I was greeted by the sight of alpaca fiber all over the floor. Blue loves anything alpaca – alpaca rugs, socks, throws and now roving are all on her list of favorite chew toys. As you can probably guess I don’t agree with Blue’s chew toy selection!

 

The Snake Dangles from the tree

For even more excitement to our day we have also had a new visitor to the farm – a very large snake! I discovered our new visitor on Wednesday morning as I walked into our workshop. He was lying by the workshop door (I am assuming the snake is a he, but quiet honestly could not tell a male snake from a female snake) when I went to get something in the morning. Initially I thought the snake was a piece of hose and then realized that he was indeed a snake. The snake did not seem disturbed at my presence and so I let him be.

 

Our snake visitor is a large snake at least 4ft in length, he appears to be either a dark blue or black color with yellow markings and has spots similar to those seen on rattlesnakes. The snake is not a rattlesnake, he doesn’t have any rattles and seems to be a peaceful fellow, he does however travel between the workshop and the house (I told Ric the snake was following me home) and also likes to climb up into the trees close to the house. You can just about see our new visitor in the pictures I have posted, I didn’t think I should be getting too close to him just in case.

 

I would like to know what type of snake he is, so if anyone has any ideas please let me know. So far he hasn’t bothered the alpacas, and I fear if he got in with the girls our three llamas would put an end to the snake. For now we will try and live alongside our new guest, although I must admit he has us looking (on the ground, over our shoulders, up in the trees…!)

 

Rosemary

 

Talk About Picking The Moment

TeQueely's Cria - new born, wet and wobbly

When we first started raising alpacas another more experienced alpaca breeder told us when it comes to the delivery date of crias the dam chooses the week and the unborn cria picks the day.  If that’s the case our latest cria must like his mother to work hard for he (yes another boy!) decided to be born at 2:45 p.m. on Friday afternoon when the temperature was 104.

We had noticed that TeQueely had seemed a little uncomfortable during the day and was visiting the poop piles frequently.  Seeing that activity we expected a cria shortly after the end of morning chores, but by then TeQueely had settled down, eating hay and chewing her cud in the shade of the shelter while sitting in front of the fan.  This was not the first time TeQueely had behaved like this during the late stage of her pregnancy and on previous occasions TeQueely had settled down and the cria had not been born.  During the course of the day TeQueely went through having moments of discomfort and then settling down again.  TeQueely never seemed to be in distress but I was starting to get a little concerned that perhaps something was not right.

Fortunately my fears were unfounded.  I had a vet appointment for Blue the puppy to receive her second shots at 2:45 p.m. but when I went out to check on TeQueely one last time before I left for the vets I found her actively pushing.  She was definitely in labor this time.

A quick call to the vets rescheduled Blues appointment, and by now I could see a little nose starting to emerge.  I decided that the sundress I was wearing was probably not the most appropriate attire and so made a quick dash to the house to get changed, grab my cria kit and some blankets and towels.   I am so glad we chose to have our female pasture right in front of our house so that I can get to my supplies while still keeping an eye on what is going on in the pasture.

By the time I got back to TeQueely the cria’s head, neck and front legs were delivered and I could see he was a big cria.  TeQueely was holding up remarkably well considering how hot it was but I knew she must be tired and she still had to deliver the crias shoulders, which were not exactly small.  So as TeQueely had the next contraction I assisted her in getting the crias shoulders out.  Those shoulders took a little manipulating but with another good contraction out they came followed a short while later by the crias body and hind legs (by now I was covered in birthing fluids and was really glad I wasn’t still wearing a dress!).

TeQueely is a great mother and was soon sniffing and clucking at her cria, while her cria, who by rights should have been tired, after such a delivery was full of life kicking and rolling around on the blanket I had placed him on.  I wonder how many human mother and babies would have been that lively after a delivery in 104 degree heat?

Just looking at TeQueely’s cria you can tell he is no lightweight.  His sire is Snowmass Andean Night owned by our friends Bob and Regina Dart, I have seen several Night crias and they were nowhere near as big as TeQueely’s cria, I guess TeQueely must have been feeding her cria well during pregnancy.    Later when we weighed TeQueely’s cria he was 20.6 lbs, that combined with the 9 lb placenta TeQueely delivered a few hours later meant TeQueely had lost close to 30 lbs in an afternoon!

TeQueely's cria, dried off and taking a well deserved rest

I still cannot believe that TeQueely’s cria would decide to be born on such a hot day, but thankfully all went well and I accredit that partly to TeQueely’s general good health that gave her the stamina to go through the birthing process.  Usually we plan for our crias not to be born during such extreme temperatures, but some early very hot weather thwarted our plans this year.  TeQueely is the last of the spring pregnancies though so now we can take a break from cria watch until the early fall.

TeQueely’s boy is a beautiful cria; he has a shiny, soft bright fleece that has beautiful crimp when parted.  At the moment his tendons are a little lax, a side effect of being such a large cria cramped up in a small space, but with some exercise, sunshine and supplemental vitamins A, D and E those tendons will soon adjust and I think we will have a handsome future herdsire on our hands.

Well done TeQueely!

Rosemary