Last Cria for the Season

Today we welcomed our last cria for the 2014/2015 season with the arrival of Wia's son Wolfgang.  He is dark grey, and is very unusual in that he has 2 blue eyes.  Have never heard of blue eyes on a non-white before, and will wait to see if he is deaf.  He is already very popular with the other members of the paddock, particularly Chiara who can't seem to leave him alone!!

Sunshine, Sun Dragons and Sleeping

Beautiful sunny days at the moment, and cool nights, good for sleeping... but I'd rather TC didn't sleep when we're in lead and halter class!  It takes a lot longer to train calm quiet animals like TC if they choose to lie down rather than walk!!  The rowdy, boisterous, bucking, rearing ones are actually easier I find!!

One of 3 sun dragons regularly seen in the yards.  I have seen a llama step on one, and it just waited till she moved on.  And I've seen the mad Myriah take exception to their presence and try to stamp them out of existence, but mostly they seem to get out of the way and live to sun themselves another day.

Some of the girls in the Creek Paddock:

Aymara:

Misty:

Noisette:

 Heavily pregnant Orchid, very much looking forward to this cria, hope it is the same temperament as previous cria, Lucien - repeat mating:

Also looking rotund, Paris:

Due March 1, if she can hold out that long, Pearl:

 Sevanah, always wants to be first, but not always sure where we're supposed to be going.... sometimes more trouble than help!

Disappointingly Sweet Pea was a late slip, start waiting all over again, a Totem cria this time we hope.

Sweet, quiet and friendly little TC:

Trinket, in the pink, and generally behaving well lately... for a change!

Vevina, looks to be faking for a second time... not impressed!

Wia, looking good, Manrico baby on board :)

In the Home Paddock, Myriah's son, Monty, little cutie:

Voodoo Love, with Monty behind:

Red Riding Hood, who was a bit stand-offish at first, but is now very calm and quite forward :)

RRH's daughter, Rapunzel and Michelle's daughter Mareebah are as thick as thieves, mostly together and often a long way from either of their mothers.  Rapunzel is lovely and easy going and her halter training is going really well.  Mareebah is more like her mother and she is not fond of co-operating, though she knows very well what she's been asked to do.... just more time and we'll get there!!  She's not as stubborn as her half-sister Misty.. but close!!

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 :)

Carter has a Rubbish Day, Kiki, Sunsets and Cria Updates

Yesterday Carter had a day that was absolutely pants, vet Will Lucas from Crookwell Veterinary Hospital and vet student Jock made a farm visit to check out the progress on Carter's corneal laceration.  Unfortunately what they found was that it had progressed to a melting ulcer and the eye needed to be removed.... erky perky.  They had the devil's own job getting Carter to succumb to the IM anaesthetic and eventually added some IV drugs and still nothing... Carter was literally asleep on his feet and refused to go down.  We decided to secure his head to the yard railing and go from there with a bucket load of local anaesthesia, just as the grizzly op got under way, Carter collapsed!!  Rush to undo the ropes and let his head go down with him, and he was in a gate way... open said gate and have to move Totem away... again!!  I absented myself while Will and Jock got on with the job - too much for me!!  Today he is looking OK... although not so much from his side!!  He is getting around OK, and has his appetite back, so we are hoping for a good recovery.  He is now a Pirate Pete llama!!

Cumberbatch is growing up, he is a lovely looking cria, and very much a llama in his head.

You can see that he is quickly catching up to mum, Wia, in size.

Wia is supposed to be pregnant, so I wasn't so pleased to see this conversation between her and Mandrake, however nano seconds later it deteriorated into a spitting match... all good!!

Paris and Pierre are now well integrated into the group and thriving :)  They both learnt the morning drill very quickly and are at the front of the queue each morning to leave their paddock and head into the yards for muesli!!

Winter sunsets are spectacular, this one on May 28th was no exception.

Kiki and her favourite toy - Mr Ted.  Kiki is seen here, with Mr Ted, doing the famous 'do-it-yourself belly rub', this involves lying on the carpet and pulling yourself along with your front legs.... with or without Mr Ted!!

Oh Pedro!!

Not long after the lovely Pedro arrived at our farm, he found a way over the fence and into the girls paddock, we've since fixed that!!  We found him one Sunday morning trash talking the boys in the next paddock and away from the girls and thought phew!! no damage done...  But now... Wia (alpaca) has given birth to a baby who is plainly 'llama-ish'!!  And the dates fit with Pedro's visit.  Luckily he is a little cutie and we will raise him as a llama :)  Clever little boy was born on my birthday - welcome to the world Cumberbatch :)

Comings and Goings

Last Sunday we said good bye to Wia and hello to Namoi and Vevina.  We were unable to meet Wia's exacting standards in a mate and hope we'll do better with the new girls.  Namoi is listed as black but registered as dark brown.  I think she's a very dark, dark brown, she's been mated to a rose grey, and we're hoping she's pregnant, will do a spit off test in a couple of weeks to find out.  Vevina is black and has been mated to a black suri (heterozygous) so 50/50 chance of huacaya offspring.  The new girls are settling in well, and learning the drill, they have both come into the yards of their own accord on the last two mornings :) and seem very keen on the museli we serve for brekky!!

Wia

Namoi (left) and Vevina (right)

 Vevina (left) and Namoi (right)

And again

 Here are some of the other coloured girls at Currabungla:

I was really taken with the grey girl with the dark face, havent seen this colour combo before

John and Penny thought lambing finished 3 weeks ago, but these 2 ewes pulled a fast one and presented them with lambs only a couple of days ago.

Alan and Aleisha are visiting.  Al showing his usual reticence for being photographed!

Kiki is enjoying the extra company, here helping Aleisha with our game of Querkel.

The days are getting cooler and Kiki thinks there is only one thing better than being on the couch with a pillow and a doona...

And that's being on the couch with a pillow and a doona AND Aleisha!!  I will be checking her bags when she leaves tomorrow to make sure Kiki is not concealed within!!

Halter training continues for youngsters, Jester is a star pupil, very friendly and improving daily on the lead.

Noisette is coming along.

She usually enjoys a cuddle, but here it looks more like a cruggle (cuddle x struggle)

Misty - who found the presence of the trailer in the adjoining yard very 

interesting!!!

Yuri is doing the separation from his mother Yolanda tough, and she's not faring much better.  They spend a lot of time mmmm-ing to each other across the plantation that now separates them.  Weaning is not a cria's favourite time!!