Sweet Pea did not regain her figure after the birth of her last, and very late - therefore very large - cria. She is pregnant again and the lack of muscle tension seem to have given this next cria plenty of room, and its taken full advantage!! It was over 35 degrees this morning, but she was still taking a nap in the sun, I say taking a nap, but she looked like a beached whale!! She is due on March 10... if she doesn't burst before then!..... should be said she got up and moved into the shade shortly after this pic was taken!
The alpacas were taking a more sensible approach and resting in the shade from the get go! All of these girls are due in March.
When is a baby bulge, not a baby bulge?? In Nellie's case its when your body score is 5+, note the flat area across her shoulders, room to rest a coffee cup!! Unfortunately Nellie is not ready to give up on the game yet, so will have to wait until she is before we start over again! Disappointed as this was an outside mating.
Lucien finally has a name!! and he's a week old today. He is looking good and strong, which is quite a feat since its been over 40 degrees everyday since he was born and he's had a nasty bacterial infection in his gut that he caught from Yves. Luckily I had the meds on hand, and started him on the treatment straight away, so he barely got sick, before he started getting better :)
He is very curious about everything, but will be very pleased when next Wednesday rolls around and he can leave the yards behind.
Always wanting to know what I'm doing makes taking photos harder some days!!
Today marks the 'cessation of symptoms' for Yves, so only another week in the yards to go and he, and his mother, can be allowed out into the paddock. For their part, Yolanda and Orchid, have well and truly had enough of being confined, they have started to have a little of that 'cabin fever' look about them....
Yves is a plucky little guy, I had to take him to the vet last Friday, and I got quite a few stares as I drove along with him sitting on the front seat beside me... but he was very well behaved and remained cushed for the entire journey. Despite the vet's fears that he would fall in a heap, he's hung in there and only improved - however slowly - from the time we started the treatment - daily IM antibiotics. The reason Yves fell ill is unknown, he appears to have been susceptible to a common or garden variety of bacteria that I can do nothing about him or future cria coming into contact with, fingers crossed none of them go down this path again!! He is not pleased to see me when I visit the yards and is very hard to catch now... having a needle stuck in you every day will do that for you!! Will have to work hard to rebuild his trust.... last injection is today!
My trip to the vet was only made possible by the kind loan of 'the work ute' by my neighbour Alan Coles, thanks also to his kids for driving out to meet me, and further meds for Lucien were made available with the help of Peter and Ruth King of Lavender Park Alpacas. Very grateful for their assistance :)
