Ginger, my friend Pauline's alpaca gave birth to a very strong female cria at about 8.50 a.m. this morning. The photos were taken when she was just a few minutes old. She was up on her wobbly feet very quickly. Unfortunately it has been a very wet morning and so she was not getting dry.
Because of the lack of sunlight in recent weeks and months we decided to dose the herd with ADE paste to boost their vitamin D levels. Ginger was still administering to her new born although she made her walk to get back near the rest of the herd just as we were putting them in the barn. She needed to rest after that so we got on and dosed all the other females and cria and will give some to Ginger tomorrow.
I had to go out (important date with the hairdresser) and Mike and Nick agreed that the new cria and her Mum should be brought in to the dry. When I got home I was surprised to see them both still out with the cria still very wet. Apparently they brought them in, dried the cria off once again but Ginger became very stressed at being shut in without the rest of the herd and tried to demolish the hurdles making up her pen. They decided that as the weather is warm, even though damp, they are better off with the others outside.
We will probably bring a few of them in tonight to keep Ginger and her baby company so that at least she is 24 hours before having to undergo another soaking.
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