Tiberius of Rome and the Home Paddock Girls

Sometime between last Tuesday lunchtime and 10am the following day, Tiberius (of Rome)'s mother, Tiana Rose, died.  She would have been 17 years old in mid April, so I'm not ruling out old age, but could have been a snake bite.  Either way Tibby is on his own.  It took a little while and quite a bit of effort but he is now taking the bottle well, and this morning, rather than waiting till the whole group came into the yards I went out into the paddock.  Bottle in hand, and with a 'Yo, Tibbs, Brekky' I sought him out, and he quickly downed 500ml - good job little guy!  Later in the yards he was hoping there would be more.... he now follows me around mmmm-ing on the off chance I have a bottle of yummy formula milk squirrelled about my person, LOL!!  He is very cute, just wish he had been a girl!

There are 10 girls in the home paddock at present, Pearl has had her cria, and little Portia is thriving.

But there are 9 girls to go, and they are looking, well frankly, fat!  This is Yolanda who is being treated for lumpy jaw... yet again :(  She responds well to treatment thank goodness, but definitely does not enjoy the 50ml sub cutaneous injections of sodide that are required to deal with his problem.  She is due Mar 12 to our grey boy Bracken.

Collette often looks like a deer in the headlights, her daughter Chianti is more friendly and interactive, so I am very much looking forward to this cria, also due Mar 12 to Bracken.

Cushla has the most modest bulge, but she usually has small and dainty cria, think this one will be the same, due to our black boy Alba Mar 18

Little Fresian is sporting an enormous bulge, she's nearly as wide as she is deep.  Due Mar 19 to Alba, wishing and hoping for her first female cria.

Joeley is also enormous, due Mar 18 to Bracken.

Misty only joined the home paddock group yesterday.  I was hoping she wasn't pregnant, but her widening girth means that I am playing safe and she's had pre-birthing shots and been brought in... just in case.  If it arrives... her cria will be the result of an un-authorised mating!!

Here she is sunbathing in front of the shearing shed, looking for all the world like a beached whale!!

Narcissus was due yesterday - to Bracken - I have tapped my foot and pointed at my watch to remind her that she usually 'goes' bang on schedule!

Not to be left out in the placings for beached whale impersonations is Orchid, she's due Mar 15 to Carter - she went early last time, so keeping a close eye on her.

Even standing doesn't make the bulge look small!!

Last, but not least, is Paris, who is due to Minstrel (a grey stud male standing at Accapacca Alpacas) on Mar 18

Sunsets, Cria Updates, Jemma's Overly Long Pregnancy and Visits with Scarlett Rose

On the 17th June I decided we had waited long enough, and I asked my down the road neighbour Gayle to help me load Jemma into the trailer for a trip to the vet.  Once there the vets administered drugs to induce Jemma's labour, and we waited.... it took fully 24 hours for the drugs to have any effect and by then, with the cervix fully dilated, vets Jayde and Penny, could get an idea of the size and nature of the problem.  It was HUGE!!  the cria's head was between its front legs, and the neck twisted, so the forehead was touching the ribcage... nightmare!!  They tried very hard to manipulate the cria into the right position, but were unable... so off to theatre for Jemma.  I really had hoped I wouldn't be the one giving the vets their next experience of camelid caesarians!!  Unhappily the cria was still born, he was a very large, 10.94kg, blue black male and his delivery was intensely physical.  While caesarian born llama cria, Jade, was 'plucked' from her mother's innards, Jemma's cria was wrestled out.  It did not help that he had entered the birth canal, and his front legs were already partially out.  I've learnt a few lessons.... bolting horse, stable door style... and I won't be letting any  of my alpacas go over 365 days from here on in.  The other part of this rule is that if the presentation is more complicated than bent legs, proceed immediately to caesarian, no wasting time, NOW, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Here is vet Jayde Watling, starting the procedure... after that I got Jemma's head to look after, hold the oxygen mask in place, and that's about it!!  I am enormously grateful to my friend Ruth King - Jemma's breeder - for coming in to the vet's to hold my hand and Jemma's paw while all this went down.

Jemma took quite a while to come round after the op and I knew she was still not 'with it' because she had her head resting in my lap, and we were getting on famously!!  LOL!!

When she was able, we walked Jemma back to the stables and the vets let me leave her there overnight as she was still a bit unsteady on her feet when I had to get home to feed the ducks and chooks.  We left the body of the dead cria with her so she could figure out what had happened.  The next day when I arrived to take Jemma home she had plainly come to terms with the cria's non-starter status, and although quite sore and a bit sad, seemed pleased to be back in familiar surroundings when I unloaded her from the trailer back into the home paddock.

Since then she has been recovering well, and is pretty much back to the Jemma we know and well, I wouldn't say so much love as are used to!!  She is giving Vynka the rounds of the kitchen and is at the feed shed door anytime I'm in there!!

Very pleased to have a change of pace on the weekend and go to visit Freya, Dan and Scarlett Rose.  My mother and sister say they can see Freya in Scarlett's features... but I think, she is the spit from her father's mouth and Freya didn't get a look in!!  Judge for yourself... 

Its been a long time since I had YumCha so Freya, Scarlett Rose and I headed to Dickson to enjoy same...

After lunch it was play time on the mat!!

Winter sunsets are always the best:

And crias - what's not to like??  Cumberbatch, a sweetie and a softie:

Farqhar, still as cute as a button:

His mother, Fresian, underestimate her at your own peril!!  She is small framed, but a bloody giant in her head!!  LOL!!

Jade and Trinket, continue to do well, and have put Jade's dodgy start in the world, and the big ask on Trinket on that day, well behind them:

Joeley - motherhood has been the making of her, but that's not her cria behind her, that's Cushla's daughter Scarlett.

This is Joeley's cria, Jumanji - lovely little girl:

Paris' son, Pierre, very nice fleece :)

Another pic of Scarlett, who like Cushla's other cria have inherited her lovely disposition, she looks brownish, but that's cria tips, she is solid black at the skin:

 Wia seems happy to be back with us, she is getting more and more tame and I am confident I will soon have her eating out of my hand :)

New Arrivals and Home Paddock Update

On Monday we got 9mm of very welcome rain.  Namoi gave birth to a male cria while it was coming down, wouldn't have been too bad, except that she delivered him into a puddle!!  Towelled him dry and luckily the sun came out.

He's had a chance to dry off properly now :)

This is Collette's daughter, Chianti - looking good :)

Cushla and her daughter, Scarlett - born the same day, what else could I name her???

Little Farquhar, a very pretty little cria :)  And pretty sneaky too, watched him steal a feed from Orchid while she was too busy eating brekky to notice!!

Lucien, already a very large llama in his head!!

 Jade continues to do well, now looking like a 'proper' llama cria and being taken very good care of by her mother Trinket.

Scarlett Rose, Trinket and Crias - i.e. lots of baby news!!

Another shot of Scarlett Rose this morning - its a double barrel name, not a first name and a middle name :)

The vets decided that Trinket was OK to come home, informing me that she delivered the afterbirth at 2am this morning - having a vet know that is bound to be expensive!!  But we are very happy to have such a good outcome from such a bad start.  And that the cria is also well enough to travel.

If you saw her like this you would give her much hope!

But a few slurps from the bottle and she looks a lot better (don't we all??  wink wink, nudge nudge!!):

Still looks very premmie, but the colouring is amazing!  Will tape the ears, and the legs should come good in a week or so.  She feeds enthusiastically and we're hoping things will go well for her.

I knew when I left I knew that Cushla was in early stage labour, but had to trust her to do her usual good job of the whole affair and was rewarded on my return with a gorgeous black female cria, dry, up and about and suckling well.  This is the second (black female) cria from our boy Alpha Centauri Alba.