s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

Some weeks ago a new adjective was added to our lexicon- “agricultural.” I believe Geoff coined the term when we were out helping Jasmine give birth, something along the lines of how he had no desire to go out and witness such agricultural activities.

This weekend we had more agricultural experiences. Saffron, who dropped her cria on Saturday, has a big udder. No, really, I mean it. Alpaca normally have little udders, even when they “bag-up” before giving birth. Saffron looked like a Jersey Cow. Got milk? Yes, but she also had a sore udder, and would not let her cria drink! At least that was our theory.

So Sunday we honed our alpaca-milking skills. Every 90-120 minutes we would tie Saffron up, and milk a 100ml or so from her, and feed it to the hungry cria. By the end of the day Saffron was getting easier to milk, either due to the udder being less sore, or her just getting used to the handling. Monday I had to milk her on my own, which was not as easy. The 7AM milking went well, but at 10AM (having come down off the back hilll where I was working with a professional fencer we hired to do the boundary fence) the milk was not very easy to get out.

At 4PM when I came down again (after a very long and exhausitng day in fierce winds) and tied Saffron up- and the cria got under and drank! Hurrah! A little later I untied Saffron and her cria had another drink. This morning I confirmed she is still letting the little (very persistent!) cria drink out in the paddock. This is a huge relief. We will weight the cria daily to make sure she gains weight, but otherwise things look good.

Now, what will the next act of “agriculture” be? Only time will tell.