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Cria |
Pics |
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Sunshine is delivering her first cria and is making good progress. The first thing we should see when a dam is giving birth is the nose, followed closely by one or both of the front legs. Crias are most often born in the morning hours on a sunny day. Sunshine herself was about a week late when we were having a long rainy spell. She was born fifteen minutes after the sun came out. It didn't take long to come up with a name for her. |
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Golden Nugget is on the ground and his Mom, Sunshine is feeling much better. He hasn't tried to get up and nurse yet but this will usually happen within an hour or two. If the cria hasn't nursed within 6 hours, it's time to intervene. The cria needs 5 to 10 % of its body weight in colostrum (the mother's first milk) within the first day. |
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Golden Nugget is a real cutie! He is already sporting his Mom's soft, crimpy fleece. His eyes are bright, his ears are erect and his legs are straight. He also has some beautiful little pearly whites. All signs of a normal healthy cria. |
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Gillian delivered Mid Knight Madness on a chilly morning in May. He was a very active little guy and was up and nursing within an hour. He stayed close to Mom's side most of the day but scampered off to check out his curious new world while Mom rested. |
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It's been a long day for Mid Knight and after checking out the big boys on the other side of the fence, he notices that Mom is in the barn. He scampers off toward the barn, but suddenly realizes how tired he is. Like a wind up toy that just ran out of energy...in slow motion, he steps inside the threshold of the barn, sits down and slowly nods off...but not before he says his prayer of thanks for starting his life at Blue Sky Alpaca Farm. |
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Sir Anthony was born just a half hour before this photo was taken and this is his first attempt at trying out the new legs. Crias should be standing up and walking within two hours. Anthony was the second of two crias born on that day. By the end of the day they were running and playing together. |
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Sir Anthony is up on his feet but sticking close to Mom, still trying to figure out where Mom keeps the milk. Most crias instinctively look for milk in a dark spot, usually under Mom where her shadow is in a sunny pasture. If the Mom and cria are in a barn, it may be harder for the cria to find that much needed colostrum |
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Sir Anthony has nursed several times and is starting to venture off away from Mom. His legs are working very well by now and he even tries running with his other cria buddies. |
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