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

It has been a busy week.

Last Tuesday Topsy gave us Gandiva. Then on Thursday Concetta gave us a little bay-brown boy, Gungnir. Then on Saturday Cindy gave us a medium fawn girl, Curtana.

And with that, we were free for the Christmas holiday. The next cria was not due until mid-January. So I was rather surprised today to find that Saffron had dropped a little light fawn boy. Part of the excitement came from the fact that we had them grazing the woods on the neighbors’ place. When the herd left hte woods, the little guy got left behind and lost in the long grass and trees. Saffron went back to look for him, as did I of course! Interestingly enough, Cindy heard the “where is my baby!” plaintive humming from Saffron, and *she* also went to look for the baby, with her own little Curtana following along behind. Interesting instincts and behaviors.

While the new boy is premature, he is not very dysmature (so while early, he is not under-developed). He is 7kg, mobile, and quite “together.” Now we just need to make sure he is feeding. Saffron has a mega-udder, she loos more like a Jersey cow than an alpaca. Last year it was so swollen it was painful, and she would not let Mora feed. We had to milk her out about 8 times, and tie her to a fence, before all came right (and Mora’s persistence helped lots, too).

Now we should really have a break until the next cria. Jodie is not due until mid Februrary. If she drops in 2 days, then we may have a problem.