Do I have any alpaca births to report? nope! not a sign of a little nose protruding anywhere π
Lots and lots of false alarms, lots of wiggling, kicking alpaca tummies and alien butt face presentations as some alpaca breeders like to call it, but no births π
I know I’m bad, I get far too impatient, but I can’t seem to help myself, it’s just so dam exciting watching as each new cria enters the world.
The birth will always amaze me, for me it’s a very moving emotional experience that I feel honored to be involved with.
Maiden alpacas especially so, most of them don’t seem to have a clue what the hell is happening to them as they go into labor.
Yet when that baby drops to the ground their instincts kick in and suddenly the knowledge and understanding is all there, they and their cria know exactly what to do.
How different a human birth can be, I was handed my first child and its was definitely an OMG moment, what do I do with it now!
Luckily I did eventually figure it out and all my three children somehow survived to adulthood π
They would agree they were very lucky, my culinary skills leave a lot to be desired π
All that aside and as emotional as the birth of an alpaca is, that is not where all my excitement stems from.
For that you would have to understand the work that goes in to creating a cria before it is even conceived.
Each and every one of my cria has been carefully planned and considered.
Hours of working through their pedigree’s, their genetic make up, the traits each line carries, alongside comparing the outcomes of previous matings.
All of these points have an important part to play in creating my breeding plan each year.
How could I not be excited? eleven and a half months I’ve had to wait to see if those hours were wisely spent.
To see if I got it right and this years cria are even better than the previous years, that’s why I’m excited.
So far, although it’s still early days, the hours were absolutely justified and we have some stunning cria on the ground, but we’re not done yet there’s still more to come and how bad am I? I’m itching to complete my breeding plan for next year π
JUL