Finally Athena Births Cria

Posted 25 April, 2008 in Alpaca Sales | No comments

White Russian was born on April 23rd at 11:58 AM. It was not an easy birth…..I went outside at 10 AM to do the daily morning poop scooping. It was then that I noticed Athena was dialated as she lifted her tail while standing up from her kushed position. I called Tom and told him to come home. I ran around quickly picking up all the poop from the stalls while keeping an eye on Athena. Next I moved Carina and Armani out of Athena’s stall since I didn’t know how Armani, Carina’s cria, would react to the newborn. I then let Electra, maiden, in to watch the birthing and to keep Athena company.

At 11:06 Teena’s water broke and I could see the fetus presenting. It appeared to go smoothly at first with both feet coming out with the nose and head shortly behind.  However when the head and both legs were out I noticed one leg was shorter than the other. Around this time Tom made it home. I told him I believed the cria had an elbow lock, but that only 6 minutes had passed. If after 15 minutes the problem hadn’t rectified then I would lube up and go in. Sure enough I had to do just that. While Tom held Athena I was able to free the elbow.

We thought everything was going to move forward, but again we were wrong. Athena appeared to stop having contractions. I believe within the next 15 minutes she might have pushed two times only. The shoulders are the hardest to push out and I could see she was tired and beginning to stess. She was now lying on her side with her head up, but ears back. She was in distress. I again had Tom hold her and I lubed up some more. I was able to get the cria’s shoulder out. I stopped and waited again.

After 15 more minutes I just knew that Athena couldn’t do it. I would have to finish the birthing. One last time I told Tom to hold Athena and I gently pulled the cria out. Directly behind the cria was the placenta. I didn’t even get his legs out completely when the placenta presented itself. Poor Athena was now shivering and I had Tom place dry towels over her to get her warmed up. Her perineum was very swollen and she had small tears in the vulva that was probably due to my having to assist. Through the pain Athena was able to turn her neck to smell her baby.

White Russian is strong and alert. He was able to stand unassisted within 10 minutes and by the 7th hour was running around the stall. Mom, Athena, is doing well and healing nicely. She is learning to be a good mom. Nursing was new to her, but she has now gotten a hold of it.

DMAR Update for Week 4-21-08

Posted 23 April, 2008 in Alpaca Health, Maremmas, Alpaca General | 1 comment

DMAR Update for Week 4-21-08

Athena: What can I say? Still no cria yet. We did have her looked over this past Sunday and the vet felt the baby move. Basically nothing more we can do. The vet says not to worry until there is something to worry about. Tom said to me this morning that Athena was laying on her side ever so slightly and that today might be the day. I laughed. Well it has to be one day, but I won’t believe it until I see it.

 Shearing Days took place this past weekend. We took two full trailer loads both Saturday and Sunday to the Cokely’s ranch where they had professional New Zealand Sheep & Alpaca shearers on site. They work incredibly fast and do a great job. It never amazes me how much fiber comes off the animal and just how slender they are underneath. They look funny with those long necks. Anyway, I guarantee they feel better having the fur coats off of them in the quickly warmer weather hitting Arizona.

Maremma Puppy, Gino: I took these pictures yesterday (3/22/08). Gino is now 4 mths old today (4/23/08) and he is a huge teddy bear weighing 63 lbs. His front paws are to be admired and Tom wants a picture of Gino’s paw in his hand to reference the size. Gino has quite a lovable temperment and is really coming into his own. He is now playing more with the larger dogs and just today went running with them barking at whatever it was he was guarding against. Of course Santino ran him over part of the way through and Gino decided that between Vincenzo and Santino they could take care of the problem. He happily ran back to Tom for comforting after he was knocked over. I took Gino to the vet yesterday for his rabies shot and health certificate. Everything was approved and Tom is looking at flights to send Gino to his new owner in California. He will definitely be missed by us, but he will be the alpha male at his new ranch and in my eyes he deserves to be just that.

DMAR Update for Week 4-13-08

Posted 16 April, 2008 in Alpaca Health, Maremmas, Alpaca General | No comments

DMAR Update for Week 4-13-08:

Athena: Athena still has not given birth to her first cria. She is now on day 366. People keep asking when and at this point I don’t even try to guess. Some have advised that they are watching her on the cam and that she looks agitated. Then they ask do you think she will today? I answer my usual response of ”she’s looked that way since day 335 and at this time I will not think she is in labor until I actually see the cria protruding.” Today she looks like she does every other day. Content to eat and chew her cud.

Gino: Well it appears that our 3 mth old pup, Gino, will be going to a sheep ranch in California sometime next week. It was hard to say goodbye to Poppy when she left, but it has already been a month. However, we have had the chance to get to know Gino longer and have fallen in love with him. He is a great dog and I’m sure his new owner will love him just as much.

Shearing: This weekend we will be shearing all of our alpacas at Cienega Alpaca Ranch in Benson. I am pretty excited to see the fiber up close from the inside out. I am pretty busy preparing the bags that will hold prime fleece (blanket which consists of side and back), 2nds (will hold upper thigh and neck), and then 3rds (will be belly and apron). Everyone including little month old Armani will get sheared. With the weather getting up over 80 this week I’m sure they will appreciate having less fiber to deal with.

Bisbee Farmer’s Mkt: This year the DMAR Store will be bringing selected items to the Bisbee Farmer’s Mkt which opens April 26th from 8am - 1pm. We had such a good time last year and look forward to going back. We hope you will stop by and visit us.  

When Athena When?

Posted 8 April, 2008 in Alpaca Health, Alpaca General | No comments

When Athena when? I keep asking this question to Athena as each day goes by. She is making us suffer by not showing any signs of impending labor. Today is day 358 and I am watching her kush calmly. Will she be one of those alpacas you hear that don’t give birth until day 385? Gosh I hope not. I just don’t think I can take the stress of waiting. Everything appears to be fine. Athena eats normally and I do see the cria moving, so I know it is alive. At this time there just isn’t anything more to do than what I am already doing. Watching her on the web cam, checking under her tail each time she goes to the bathroom to look for some dialation, and make sure she is as cool and comfortable as possible. People from other farms are now asking for the status. Did she give birth yet? All I can say is not yet, maybe tomorrow. Once again I will ask, when Athena when?

Shearing Days:  All of our alpacas will be sheared on April 19th and 20th at Cienega Creek Alpacas. Although this is an exciting time in which we can really review the fiber and start making decisions as to which ones will be show worthy and which ones will be made into products, it is also a stressful time. Kaitlyn Rose our 5 yr old proven dam will go totally blonde on us and not recognize her newly shorn cria, Dominique. We know this since we have now gone through 2 previous years worth of cria shearing and watching Kaitlyn run away from the cria screaming. Kaitlyn is not one to allow another cria to nurse from her, so since she cannot recognize her own cria she will run and run. This usually lasts only about 6-8 hrs, but you can’t help but feel bad for the cria who doesn’t understand what is happening.

DMAR Update for Week 3/31/08

Posted 2 April, 2008 in Alpaca Health, DMAR Store, Alpaca Articles, Maremmas, Alpaca General | No comments

DMAR Update for Week 3/31:

We are still anxiously awaiting the birth of DMAR Athena’s first cria. Today is day 352. Tom and I cannot sleep the entire night through as we wake up to check the camera to see if she is showing any signs of labor. We have the camera hooked up right to our bedroom television and we don’t shut it off. Very convenient on one hand and awfully annoying on the other. However, I want to be sure to catch the birthing especially if there are any complications. Don’t forget to watch the Live Cam at Home and you too may catch the birthing.

Last month Tom and I had to deal with an alpaca, DMAR Apollo, getting very sick. We were very nervous about his not eating, having severe diarrhea, and a temperature. Although he never went down we could tell that this young male was very ill and we immediately took action to take care of him. You can read about our ordeal at How We Got an Alpaca to Start Eating Again.

Gino, the maremma pup, is now 3 mths old. He is still available and for $750 he comes fully dewormed, second set of shots, and microchipped. Gino is growing nicely and is already following the rest of the adult dogs around barking and trying to keep up with the chase. Gino is not afraid of the alpacas and does not chase after them. He will occasionally walk up to them and sniff them out, but for the most part he leaves them alone.

The Arizona Fiber Co-op recently received back our products from the mill. Every year the co-op gathers donated fiber only from the Arizona Alpaca growers and sends it off to the mill to have yarn, sock, and other products made. This year DMAR store has had rose grey cable knitted dress socks and cream colored yarn skeins made. You can view and purchase these items now at DMAR Store. All payments are done through Pay Pal which is secure.

We now have gardeners coming by for our alpaca manure. We off the manure for free, so simply call us for a first time appt. We will show you where it is. After that you can stop by at your leisure to pick some up. We do have a shovel for you to use, but you need to bring your own bags or buckets.