A Busy Morning

This morning the puppies raced around like mad things after breakfast and then fell in a heap!!  But not together, Yoyo curled up with Kiki and Coco went back to the crate for a nap.

Meanwhile out in the paddock Eugenie gave birth to a medium brown male cria and very shortly thereafter Narcissus dark brown male cria.  These are cria numbers 2 and 3 for Dad, Mandrake, and they are his second and third brown males!!

Portia, Nicholai and Yvette

Portia has been a lone cria for 3 weeks, she is very keen for Nicholai to get with the program and start with the cria games!!

Yolanda is a proud mumma, and Yvette is doing very well I'm pleased to say :)

Spaghetti is Serious Stuff and New Arrivals

Yesterday when I arrived to visit Scarlett she was getting ready to eat lunch, a delicious meal of spaghetti and meatballs, which requires good fork skills and a steady hand to eat!

Scarlett decided the flash on the camera was pretty funny this week, and responded with a 'hands up, in the air' pose for each effort  :)

The family cat, Ninja, is a source of great interest, mostly she is pretty good about being gentle, but sometimes the balance skills are a bit lacking and Ninja gets a bit squished!!

I had planned to be a bit earlier arriving to visit, but before I left the farm we had two new arrivals, a light brown female cria for Yolanda and a gorgeous dark grey male cria for Narcissus.

I knew Narcissus was in labour when she left the yards after brekkie, and was watching her with binoculars from the kitchen when I noticed that Yolanda was also in labour, and had a head start on Narcissus.  When I arrived with my birthing kit things were well started.

A little assistance and we had our baby!  Good size, 7.6kg, by my new baby scales.  Very pleased with this baby as it is Yolanda's first ever daughter :)

Yolanda's cria was a bit spluttery so I held upside down for a bit for her lungs to drain.  I went to change my shirt and when I got back, Narcissus' boy was already born.  Also a bit spluttery, so some upside down time for him too ... and another clean shirt for me!!

Nicholai was also a very good sized cria, 8.1kg, obviously so keen to get a good pic of him that I chopped mum's head off!!

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

Japanese Spitz, Early Morning at Mt Tanga and the Maternity Paddock

Last night I attended a committee meeting at the home of Diane Bulpit, she has 2 very lovely Japanese Spitz dogs, Yuki and Koda.

They were very pleased to be allowed to join us for the meeting.....

This is Yuki

And this is Koda

....but it turned out to be less exciting than they hoped!!

Prior to the meeting we had dinner at the Bowning Pub, which was delicious, and I can thoroughly recommend the pork belly with wilted asian greens, mash and gravy, yum :)

This morning, the moon is still up, and most of the alpacas and llamas are yet to get up for the day.

Not so in the maternity paddock, where Pearl and Narcissus are up and about.  Narcissus has our first Bracken cria on board, hoping for a grey girl - fingers crossed.

Pearl is huge!!  She is not due until March 1st, but last time went 18 days early.  She was mated to Alba, who is black and not a very large alpaca.  At her current rate of growth I am expecting her to give birth to an adult sized alpaca, or twins!! I have never seen a girl this big prior to due date!