DMAR Alpaca and Maremma Blog

DMAR Peruvian Halston was born on 12/5/2010. His color is brown and weighs 14 lbs. Halston is strong, has straight legs, and nursing just fine.

We are not exactly sure what time Halston was born as we weren’t present. I can tell you that I am at the barn every two hours to bottle feed Sofia, maremma puppy with cleft lip, and when I was done with my noon feeding I saw Shasta walking outside with all the other girls. I saw no sign of her being in labor. That morning Shasta ate just fine and I noticed her going to the dung pile but she was actually using it.

At 2 pm I told Tom I was going up to feed the pup and he should come with me so we can scoop up some poop. He agreed and said he would meet me there. Once in the barn I went directly to Sofia and began to feed her. Tom came in shortly after and started to scoop the poop out of the barn. Yes, my dear girls think the barn is their dung area too. Afterwards he went out back to where the girls were hanging out.

Next thing I know Tom is yelling my name. When I answer him he tells me that there is a cria on the ground. A cria?!? It was so cold and the wind advisory was up to 40 mph. Then I saw the cria. It was kushed and almost dry. Also Shasta had him right at the gate so she didn’t have access to him as he was kushed in the little boys area. Not that they could have cared less. None of them were by the cria. I told Tom to get the cria into one of the stalls while I grabbed a heater.

Once cria and mom were in the stall I told Tom to get me some towels, hair dryer, and the container filled with cria sweaters and coats. Since the cria was mostly dry it didn’t take long to finish blowing out the fleece. I could immediately see the crimp inthe fiber and was very pleased. I checked the cria over and noticed he was a male and slightly dismature by the looks of his ears. One ear the tip is slightly bent and the other ear is folded outwards. I won’t do anything about it as it is my experience that they will straighten out on their own.

Since I’m on a kick with designer names we decided on Halston. It sounds strong. Halston was on his feet with in minutes of bringing him into the stall. In no time he was nursing. BTW Tom was busy trying to close the barn door to keep the draft out so I decided to try to wash and remove the wax tips off of Shasta’s nipples by myself. I thought this was going to be futile but amazingly Shasta stood still and allowed me to do it. I was even allowed to squeeze out some colostrum too just to be sure she had milk. Shasta was not born on my ranch and has never been friendly. Not that she is mean to me but just not the type to stand still. Birthing really changes some alpacas attitutes at least temporarily.

I put Halston into a sweater and then double coated him. Even with two heaters in the stall it was still only about 40 degrees in his stall. I guess that was pretty good considering it went down to 25.

Today Halston looks great. He’s able to stand and kush easily and needs no help in finding mom to nurse. Gotta love it when they are this easy.

Halston’s sire is Snowmass Incan Emperor. Incan is a mrg full Peruvian herdsire that we own half interest with Square Top Ranch in Arizona. Incan is a multiple blue ribbon winner. Incan has many crias on the ground that are ribbon winners. For us he is sire to DMAR Armani – 4x champion, DMAR Nikoli- multiple blue ribbon winner, DMAR Dolce – blue ribbone winner, and DMAR Dior – 2nd place winner. Snowmass Incan Emperor will return to DMAR in February 2011. Breedings to Incan are $2000.

Halston’s dam is Shasta. She is a white female who can throw color. Shasta’s fleece is very dense and crimpy. We wanted to add fineness, coverage, and less guard hair to her cria which is why we chose to breed her to Snowmass Incan Emperor. Shasta is a full Peruvian who has now produced two crias.

Carina Delivers DMAR Chablis on 1/30/10:

There was no doubt in our minds that Carina was in labor. She is one of the first to the feeder in the morning and on the 30th she had no interest in eating. She stood still just humming. I called a client who never saw a cria being born and advised that Carina was in labor, but her normal birthing usually occurs around 12 to 1 pm. Therefore, they had plenty of time to come on out.

At around 12:30 pm Carina still didn’t look very dialated. I thought she would hold out until even later in the day. However, at 1 pm she kushed and then laid on her side. This is it I advised my clients. I then went on to tell them that Carina has given birth to all her crias laying down. For her this is normal. At 1:22 pm Chablis pulled her own legs out of mom and started moving around frantically. My client’s seven yr. old daughter was amazed at the whole site.

DMAR Chablis weighed 17 lbs at birth and is white. She had little problem nursing and is gaining weight. She is simply adorable.

Carina is doing well too. She loves her cria and is very attentive to her. When Chablis started to walk she tripped going onto the deck. Carina ran over to her humming hard. When Chablis tried to get up her back leg went to the side and she fell onto her stomach. Carina shrieked loudly. The clients were stunned at how worried Carina was over her cria.

Chablis’ sire is HRAZ Lock & Load. This is Lock & Load’s third female cria out of five offspring.Click Here for more information on HRAZ Lock & Load and his stud fee.

It’s a girl, DMAR Dior!

DMAR Dior was born on Novemer 18, 2009 at 12:12 pm. This is dam’s, GLA Peruvian Alexis’ fourth cria. The birth was a breeze with no interference from me at all. Dior is strong and very alert. She attempted to stand 6 minutes after birth and was walking around at 8 minutes. She was eager to begin suckling. Alexis stood like a statue as I assisted Dior with her first drink.

GLA Peruvian Alexis is recovering well. She is a wonderful, attentive mother with plenty of milk. Alexis is the mother of 2x Color Champion, DMAR Royal Peruvian Princess, and 2x Reserve Color Champion, DMAR Royal Knight. We are currently looking for a partner for DMAR Royal Knight.Click Here for more information on DMAR Royal Knight, who is a full Peruvian son of 105 Peruvian Sun (Royal Fawn’s son).

DMAR Dior’s Sire is a rose grey, full Peruvian, Snowmass Incan Emperor. Incan is the sire of multiple reserve color champion, DMAR Armani, and multiple blue ribbon winners, DMAR Nikoli and Pizzaro from Bosque Ranch. Snowmass Incan Emperor is available for breeding.Click Here for more information on Snowmass Incan Emperor.

Long Labor, but DMAR Dolce is Here!

DMAR Dolce arrived at 3:26 pm on Nov. 15, 2009. She weighed 15 lbs at birth and is very alert and strong. She was standing on her own within 5 minutes. As soon as she was standing with a little help from me she nursed immediately. She had quite an appetite worked up.

Dam, DMAR Electra shown in pictures with Dolce above, had a very long labor. This is Electra’s first cria, but she is proving to be a wonderful mother with plenty of milk. She is very attentive to her cria and is often heard clucking at her baby.

We noticed Electra humming a lot starting at 8am. Her appetite wasn’t normal, so this along with the humming made us think she was in the beginning stages of labor. However, as time went by we really didn’t see her being too uncomfortable or trying to push. It was 12:30 when I was going to take a ride with Tom to get some alfalfa. We had just finished moving the girls into the front pasture and with horror we watched as Electra rolled all the way over on her back to the other side. Of course the only thought going through our minds was uterine torsion. Anyway she didn’t appear to be in any pain, so we were about to leave when I noticed that the inside of Electra’s tail was damp. I told Tom I wanted to check it out when I noticed a drop falling to the ground. Her water must’ve broken.

Our plan was to move Electra and one other alpaca back into the stall. It was a little difficult as they didn’t want to leave, but it really didn’t take us too much time. At this point we did notice Electra was very uncomfortable. She was standing then kushing and then standing again. When she kushed she would let her back legs out to the side and then kush straight to finally letting her back legs out to the other side. After an hour of her water breaking I saw no sign of impending birth. I gloved and lubed up to check to see if she actually had a uterine torsion. I went in rectally, but I could feel no torsion. Well at least that was good news.

I placed phone calls into my vet (out of town- go figure) and then to another alpaca breeder. She asked if I had checked for a uterine torsion in which I advised she had none. Next she thought it best to go in vaginally to see where the baby was. I knew I had to do this, but quite honestly I was procrastinating. Ok, new glove and lubricant ….I went in, but to be stopped immediately by a wall. There was a small hole in which only the tip of my middle finger could penetrate. Her cervix was closed. How is this possible? Her water broke over an hour ago. Another phone call to the alpaca breeder and one more to another vet hospital who gave me another clinic who was on call.

While I am waiting for the on call doctor the other alpaca breeder advised that I could bring my maiden female to them for examination. If nothing else they could either second my original assessment or tell me that they did feel a torsion. No matter what we would be closer to the vets when they finally called.

We packed Electra up in the trailer and I followed behind in my car. Tommy would have to come home to do the afternoon feeding, so it was necessary to bring two vehicles.

On the way to the alpaca ranch I received the phone call from the on call vet. Guess what he told me? Yep, he doesn’t handle alpacas!!! I told him he was covering for a hospital that does handle alpacas and the only response he gave me was that he would leave a voice mail for the doctor that I have dealt with in the past and maybe she would return my call. I didn’t argue for it wouldn’t do me any good. I thanked him for making the effort to call the other doctor.

Within 5 minutes the other vet called. I couldn’t believe it. Unfortunately she too was out of town, but you wouldn’t imagine how much better it is to hear someone support your efforts. She told me that what I had done to assess Electra was correct. As soon as I reached the next ranch to have them examine for a uterine torsion, but that is all. She advised that going into the cervix continually will cause more issues than not. If the cervix is closed it is up to the cria to open it. The only thing left for us to do is to wait. That is all.

It was at this time that Tom pulled over on the Hwy. I pulled up behind him and when he jumped out of the trailer he advised that Electra is bulging out the back end. I looked at her and agreed. Ok this is what we were waiting for. I sat down to wait, but then Tom said we needed to get off the Hwy. We were closer to the other ranch, so we decided to continue.

Not even 5 minutes later and Tom pulled into a gas station. He jumped into the trailer (by the way we have a camera in the trailer, so Tom could watch what Electra was doing) and by the time I headed over he came out saying the nose was out. I jumped in and was both thrilled and scared at the same time. I wasn’t seeing any movement in the cria.

It has now been 7 1/2 hours since the onset of labor. My vet told me that any labor this long is no good and her main mission is to get the cria out asap. I lubed up and told Tom I was going in. Easier said than done as Electra was very tight. I had no choice but to push the head back in. As soon as I did her two front feet popped out. Elated I was since I now knew the cria was in the correct position. I pulled and eventually got both the head and legs out further. I gave Electra a slight rest and then worked on the shoulders. Within 10 minutes we had a female cria on the ground who was breathing and super strong.

I examined Electra and to my surprise she has no tears. She stood like a statue while I helped the cria nurse off her. It did take Electra another 3 hours to pass the intact placenta, but I was thrilled that I didn’t have to give her any drugs to do so.

Overall the experience was quite new and we learned a lot. However, I am now ready for an easy birth. I feel that this year there has been too many new experiences and I really don’t want to learn anymore. Can you blame me?

Dolce appears to be fawn with a dark fawn and white face. Her fawn color is weird, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned into a light rose grey. Time will tell. I can say for sure that her fiber is really really crimpy. The crimp was so tight that the hair dryer we applied to her did nothing to straighten it out. She is simply beautiful.

Dolce’s sire is Snowmass Incan Emperor who is a multiple blue ribbon winner. Incan’s crias have been fawn, brown, rose grey and silver grey. He has produced reserve color champions and blue ribbon winners. The crias all are very fine with high amplitude of crimp. Incan is available for outside breedings. Click Here for more information.

Hello DMAR Chane’l:

DMAR Chane’l was born at 7:12 PM on October 14th. She’s a big girl weighing in at 22 lbs (of course she had on a sweater and a cria coat at weigh in). I’m not really sure of her color yet. She will either turn into a light fawn or will be a pattern of white and light fawn. On the left side of her belly she has a very distinct brown marking. Strange as neither her dam or her sire are patterned. No matter as she is a beautiful female who is alert and strong.

DMAR Athena is the mother. I could tell all day yesterday she was acting off. I thought for sure she would have the cria mid day, but the hours kept ticking by. By dinner time I knew she really wasn’t ok when she didn’t show up to the feeder. Although she graciously ate the grain from the bin I was holding for her.

When Tommy got home I told him about the way Athena was acting. This was like a deja vu with Shasta. I told him to be prepared for another night birth. Sure enough about 15 minutes later I was calling for him. I heard Athena get up and looked at the spot she had been laying and it was wet. Her water had broken. Another half hour went by and then Athena was actively pushing. Now I know you probably have heard that alpacas have their crias while standing, but Athena decided that she wasn’t going to listen and literally had hers laying down. There was no complications and within 12 minutes of the nose appearing I announced it was a girl.

Tom went to work on drying off the cria with a hair dryer while I wiped vigorously with a towel. We weren’t going to let this cria get hypothermia like our last cria, Remington. After she was dry on went the sweater and cria coat. Chane’l was happy to be able to let loose and it took her no time to get to her feet. We got her over by mom and the nursing began. She is definitely a beauty.

This is DMAR Athena’s second cria. She is a great mom and has plenty of milk. Athena is very attentive towards her cria. Athena is a 2x blue ribbon winner and 1x reserve color champion. Athena is for sale for $14,000. She comes with a free breeding to any one of DMAR fully owned herdsires. Click Here to see more information on Athena.

Sire of Chane’l is HRAZ Lock & Load. This is Lock & Load’s fourth cria to hit the ground and I have to say that each of them is beautiful. So far he is exactly 50/50 with 2 boys and 2 girls. His first offspring, DMAR Magnum, just won Reserve Color Champion at his very first show. Lock & Load is available for breeding. Click Here to view more information on Lock & Load.

High Risk Cria – DMAR Remington’s story began in the early evening of Sept. 11th. Walls Edge Shasta, dam, appeared to be in labor all day, but nothing happened until around 7pm when Tom asked me to look at Shasta and I happened to catch her going from a layed down position to a kush when her water broke. I quickly got the birthing kit and at 7:20 pm a small, but very active and alert Remington was born. Everything appeared to be going well. The night time low was approx. 65 and I had rubbed Remington well with the towel although he continued to shiver. We threw a jacket on him to try to keep him warm. He very quickly got to his feet and eventually was able to nurse off of mom. We weighed him at 14 lbs and dipped his umbilical cord. He was pretty active for a while, but then he kushed. He laid his head down to rest.

Tom hates to see cria’s with their heads down. We have had crias in the past do the same to find out that they weren’t getting enough milk from mom. Tom decided we should place Remington back under mom to assure he was getting milk, however, when he went to lift Remington up he went limp as a rag doll. Tom immediately said to take Remington into the store to get him oxygen. It was pretty scary to carry such a limp body. It almost felt like we had lost him.

In the garage Tom gave the cria oxygen. Within a minute Remington had popped his head up and then the next second his head dropped to the floor again. I took his temp and it read 98. Hypothermia…..I needed to get this cria warmed and fast. We plugged in the blow dryer, laid him on a heating pad, and threw blankets on top of him. Poor little guy. After a while we finally got his temp normal, but he still wasn’t doing well. He would pop his head up and maybe even stand and walk for a little, but then he would go completely limp all over again.

We did what we could with giving him oxygen and I gave a shot of naxcel just in case he was fighting something I couldn’t see. Finally at around 11pm I went and brought Shasta into the store. I needed her to know her cria, her very first cria, was still alive and I needed Remington to know that his mom was with him. Remington was too weak to nurse, but Shasta was wonderful in allowing me to milk her. We fed the colostrum to Remington with a feeding syringe.

There were many times that night in which Tom thought he was going to lose the cria. I must admit that it was quite scary, but I will forever be the optimist and so I didn’t allow myself to think anything other than he would beat this.

The next morning Remington was still breathing. He appeared to be able to hold his head up for a little longer now, but still too weak to attempt to stand. I had to forgo going to a Home and Business Expo since there was no way we could leave the cria. Tom took Shasta back to her paddock and it was now daylight and she was crying since she could see the other alpacas.

Around noon I took Remington outside to see his mom. He definitely was happy to see her. We continued to milk mom and as Remington got a little stronger we were able to hold him under her to nurse. After each nursing Remington would completely pass out for about an hour or so. Poor little guy wasn’t feeling too well. However, by the end of the day he was able to stand and nurse all by himself. That night Tom and I took turns staying in the stall and making sure Remington was warm under the blankets and that he got up to nurse.

The next day Remington was a bit more active. He actually jumped his back legs into the air. He had no problem jumping on the deck and would be able to quickly recover from his stumbling off the deck. He no longer needed me to tell him to go nurse. He would search for mom by himself. That night I was able to stay in the house and simply watch him from the tv monitor.

Today is day 4 and Remington is even more active than before. Although up through yesterday he still weighed only 14 lbs. He is stubborn and refuses to drink goat’s milk from a bottle. He just pushed the bottle nipple out of his mouth and then sticks his head way back making it very difficult to place the nipple back into his mouth.  He is now doing short running spurts the length of the paddock.  I just hope he keeps getting better!

Shasta is a wonderful first time mother. She is very attentive to her cria and appears to have plenty of milk. She follows him around everywhere and is constantly talking to her baby.

Remingon’s sire is HRAZ Lock & Load, a Presidio son. Remington is his third cria to hit the ground. Lock & Load is available for outside breedings. He is quite impressive and his crias are beautiful. The first two offspring will attend their first show at the end of this month. Click Here for more information on Lock & Load.

A Little Early, But Domingo is Here:

DMAR Domingo was born to dam, AVR By Golly Miss Molly, on Monday, August 30th. Gestation time was 326 days. Although Molly seems to be birthing a little earlier each year we didn’t think she would go 9 days earlier. Well she believes in the theory of fall crias are born early whereas spring crias are born late.

Domingo was born at 10 am and weighed 16 lbs. Considering he was born early he has no premature qualities about him. His teeth have erupted and his ears are straight. We’re a little unsure of his coloring right now. It appears to be very dark brown or black on top and a lighter brown towards his under section. We don’t know if this is a bay black or not. I need to check. Anyway you can see that he is simply gorgeous and doing well.

This is a picture of Domingo’s dam, Molly. As you can see she too is doing well. She is a wonderful mother with plenty of milk. She is constantly giving Domingo kisses and clucking/humming at him. You can see that the bond is already strong. Molly is currently for sale and will go with cria at side. Click Here to view more information on Molly.

Domingo’s service sire is DMAR Apollo who is a  medium brown. Apollo is our Augusto grandson and blue ribbon winner. We chose Apollo for her fiber coverage and density. With Domingo just being 2 days old now it’s a little too soon to see if he has taken on his sire’s genetics. DMAR Apollo is available for breeding. Click Here for more information on DMAR Apollo.

DMAR Mercedes arrived on Friday, Feb. 6th. She is a true white, but true to form she is now turning an Arizona peach with each roll she takes on the ground. Mercedes mom, Carina, is doing well. She is a great mom who is attentive to her cria. Notice Mercedes top knot outline in the headshot photo above. It is identical to her sire, HRAZ Lock & Load. This female cria has a very impressive lineage including Peruvian Caligula, PPeruvian Victor, Peruvian Hemingway, and Bolivian Cheiftan.

Mercedes was born strong and vivacious. She was shaking her head as soon as it popped out of Carina and I was yelling at Tommy to check her out. I couldn’t believe it. Once out she was trying to stand immediately, but having a lot of problems. Tom tried to help her stand, but she was literally trying to run before even knowing how to walk. Mercedes is Lock & Load’s second cria. Magnum is his first and between Magnum and Mercedes I can honestly say these were the most vivacious, strong, and healthy crias we have had to date.

HRAZ Lock & Load is proving to be quite an impressive sire. Magnum’s fiber has tight, tight twisty locks whereas Mercedes has a very impressive staple length with bolder waves. This is due to Carina’s lineage. Last year’s cria, Armani, was born with the same fiber structure and after his first shearing the crimps came in beautifully. So much so that he is a reserve color champion. HRAZ Lock & Load is in the SWRAS Stimulus Male Sale this year. The auction starts at $500 for a breeding to this white, dense, crimpy, and beautiful lock structured male. Don’t miss your chance to get his genetics into your herd. For more information on Lock & Load visit our services page at http://www.desermtnalpacas.com/services.html.

Kaitlyn gives birth to DMAR Magnum on 1/19/09 at 6 am. I woke up at 5:30am to find Kaitlyn slightly rolling from one side to the other. She then got up and proceeded to the dung pile where she appeared to be straining and nothing happening. I told Tommy at which time he advised that at 4:30am Kaitlyn had gone to the dung pile twice. I jumped out of bed and started putting on my shoes. Tommy told me that one of the other females was now checking out Kaitlyn’s back side. Ok….I knew this was her time. I ran outside with my cria kits and Tommy was shortly behind. When I hit the gate I could hear Kaitlyn groaning and straining.

Kaitlyn is an expert at giving birth. This cria is her fourth and it took no time at all to get him out. Magnum came into the world weighing 17.6 lbs. He is the biggest cria Kaitlyn has had so far. No surprise to me as his sire is HRAZ Lock & Load. A big boned male with dense, crimpy fleece. Lock & Load has quite a pedigree being a Presidio son and a grandson of Bolivian Cheiftan.

DMAR Magnum was strong right from the get go. He was throwing his head around and flailing on the ground. It was hard to hold his head as he was quick in his movements. I didn’t want him to hurt himself, but there were a few times where he simply flew out of my grasp. Within 15 minutes he was up on his feet. He was so strong on day 1 that he could even pronk a bit around.

Kaitlyn and cria are doing well. Kaitlyn appears to have plenty of milk. Thank goodness for Dr. Pollard’s lactation herbs and Domperidone. This is the first year where we did not have to supplement the cria at all with any bottles. Magnum has no problem finding the milk supply and I expect him to grow healthy and big.

 

Bianca’s pup has a name. Her new owners will call her Tessa. I took these pictures just this past weekend when she was 4 weeks old. She is very active now and acting more like a puppy vs. a helpless baby. She’s very loving and I expect her new family will fall in love with her quickly. It is bittersweet that this will be the last pup Bianca has. She truly had beautiful pups.

Hello DMAR Valentino!

DMAR Valentino was born at 11:21 this morning. Mom, AOCR Michelle, is doing fine even though this little cria was born two days early. It was quite a surprise for me to go out around 10 am and see that Michelle was dialating. Birthing for Michelle went quickly. It took the baby approximately 11 minutes to hit the ground. Mom and herdsire, Snowmass Incan Emperor, are both medium rose grey in color. It appears that Valentino is a light rose grey cria.

Feel free to watch mom and cria on the live webcam at http://www.desertmtnalpacas.com. Simply click on the live cam link on the top menu.