When Athena When?

Posted 8 April, 2008 in Alpaca Health, Alpaca General |

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.

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