Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Our first cria at Outstanding Dreams Farm- 2008
Anticipation Annie at birth
How well I remember this day! Nervous doesn't begin to describe my feelings. I remember watching her mom, Outstanding Omen going into labor and wondering what to do. I had read all about this, but until you're actually in the moment, you have no idea how this feels. I literally had the alpaca neonatal book in one hand and my cell phone with the vet in the other!
The vet told me to just calm down, grab a chair, and Mother Nature will take care of everything.
Well, not so much. The head and feet came just fine, but then the cria was stuck. I called the vet again and she told me "Your going to have to pull it out."
"WHAT? I'm going to have to what? " Holy crap, nobody told me I was going to have to this! Okay, I can handle this. I followed her directions, grabbed the crias legs close to her body and pulled away from Mom down and at an angle. Mom is squealing and I'm pulling and cussin' up a storm! I got the elbows out and let me tell you, that little sucker shot out of there like a cannon! I'm covered in "bodily fluids" and thinking "What the heck have I got myself into?"
Everything actually went quite well after that. The cria was up and nursing in no time. In a day or two she was out running laps around the pasture. Anticipation Annie went on to a very successful show career and has since given us several beautiful crias, our favorites being Fancy Pants and Minnie Me two beautiful patterned females. Annie is actually due to deliver a full sibling to Minnie Me any day as of this writing. All of our alpacas are special, but Annie is especially special!
I can fly!
PAOBA 2009-Blue
Annie's Fancy Pants cria
Annie's Minnie Me cria