Minnie's pregnant!

Well, I guess that this breeding stuff isn't all that hard, after all! We got the progesterone results back today and Minnie is pregnant! Her due date is December 27th! Guess Mr. Rigoletto is "proven" now. It's weird, because we were sure that he wasn't successful. We bred him to S'mores earlier this week, and will put them together again tomorrow, so hopefully this will be just as easy. Cambridge will have to wait his turn, and hopefully he will be mature enough when he has his next opportunity. (He's really got beautiful fiber, so I'm sure he will make pretty crias).

Silhouette goes to see Posideon just as soon as we get a health certificate back from the vet. This is a match that we've planned since we bought her in December of 2004! Can't wait to see this baby!

Cagney and Lacey's Birthday!

Today Cagney and Lacey are one year old! We're hoping that the bad habits of climbing the fences and digging holes will disappear with "adulthood"! They are calming down a bit and Cagney hasn't escaped for a couple of weeks, now. (Kim has put electric fence around the first three pastures, so hopefully just knowing that it is there is enough deterrant for Cagney to stay inside...she's awfully smart!) Right now they stay with the male alpacas and visit the girls on a daily basis. We haven't quite felt like they should sleep with the girls in the barn area, because it is so small, and we do feel like they are pretty protected there! It's amazing how big they are (about 70 pounds each) and they tell us that they will continue to grow for another 6 months. They are both great dogs! (despite the bad habits!) It is worth noting that since we got them, we haven't spotted a coyote on the property!

Girls Day Out

We've been pretty busy, as usual. We cleared the corral of Fawn's poop and leaves and now we let the girls out there during the day. They were like little kids when we first let them out there, running and jumping and chasing each other. (The pen by the barn is really too little for them, but its smallness does help us to take care of them better). The babies have outgrown their coats and the cold weather is just now starting! I'm going to try and figure out how to make some extensions, because their fur is not quite full enough yet to keep them warm.

Escape Artist!

The babies are fine. I've stopped giving Carmella a bottle and she still seems to be gaining weight (28.2 today) and Angel weighed 35 pounds the last time I caught her to weigh her (she's a brute)! We've had quite a battle with Cagney getting out. She actually got out last week and was gone all night. (she hasn't gotten out side then, but we'll see...it's a challenge!) Kim has put up fence extensions, and finally an electric fence, but she actually climbed out twice with the electric fence on! I hope that she learned that being out all night wasn't a lot of fun, and won't try it anymore!

Our Christmas Babies

Our little Reindeer, Carmella, born December 19, 2005
Angelica (Angel) born December 23,2005
Carmella, standing at 30 minutes!



Well, after 11 months of waiting, we finally have our first babies (crias). We are really fortunate that our first additions are both girls, and they are both beautiful and healthy! All those nights of worrying if everything was going to go alright, was not necessary, as both mothers delivered without any assistance, and I found both babies a few minutes after they were born! (I had been checking the mothers every half hour during the due week). This is really exciting as Nueva Vita really has its first "new life".

Baby #2

Well, I guess I worried for nothing as these mothers seem to know exactly what they are doing! Although she was a little later in the day than is "normal" S'mores delivered a beautiful white baby girl this afternoon! Again, the baby was on the ground before I discovered her and she was covered with dirt, so I couldn't even tell what color she was. Again, all the females were standing around checking her out. I picked her up, took her in the barn to dry her off and for number two, everything seemed just a little easier. Putting iodine on the umbilical cord (there seemed to be a little hernia, so I tied her with a string dipped in iodine). Her neck doesn't seem to be as strong as Carmell's was, but each hour that passes seems better. We've called the vet to come and check her tomorrow and draw blood for the IgG test, but she seems to be great, although she is about a week early. I think we will call her Posiedon's Angelica (Angel). She is bigger than Carmella (weighing 16 pounds) and the only way you can tell that she is early is that the covers that are on her toenails in the womb are still there, so he feet look a little funny. I called Rhonda and she said this was normal and that the covers would wear themselves off. This is fun....and makes it really feel real that we are truly alpaca ranchers, now!