BIG FAT BABY BELLIES ARE EVERYWHERE AT WINDY HILL! This coming Monday, May 25, if our first set of DUE DATES at Windy Hill. Not that any crias will be born that day--our girls have their OWN ideas of when they will give birth. LOL About a month before the first due date we move the first month's group into the OB Pasture-- the one closest to the barn-- so that we can put them under a visual "microscope". It's the first place anyone looks when they come out in the morning, and the last place we look before going in at night. As the days get longer, we have to be sure to look just before dark. Not often, but 3 or 4 times over the years I have had one born at 7:30 PM instead of AM! They can be such sneaky girls! Our first girl is Chanel. You can see her round belly from the side because she is so close to her due date. Sometimes it's hard to see from the side before 10 months gestation. Alpacas birth somewhere around 345 days during our summer. Notice Evangeline below. She is bulgy on both sides. That's how you can see the pregnancy earlier. And notice that her left side bulges smoothly off the spine, but the right side has a slight indentation before bulging. That's because the baby is almost always in the left horn if the uterus. In the picture, Indi is showing us a big fat baby belly, and her friend Ilsa is laughing at her. Ilsa's belly is hidden, but we can see it from the front in the next picture. Kristianna was embarrassed to show her pretty face, but here is her baby belly. Kristianna looks a little more pregnant because she's a little bit smaller girl. It's her first baby, so we call her a maiden, like a Maiden Voyage. Sometimes these girls do get as big as a ship during their last few weeks! Here is little maiden Lilac who still seems able to trot across the pasture with no trouble at all. I think she saw someone with treats... The BIGGEST FATTEST BABY BELLY AWARDS this month go to 2 maidens: Nightengale, and Petra. My goodness! It's Savannah's first baby too. I'm really excited about her baby because I started a new male last year who has a lot of promise. Here you can see the bulge from the side...and the back. Scheherazade is nonplussed by my picture-taking fun. She's a very tolerant soul. Her baby doesn't show quite as much as some of the others because she is a larger girl than some of the rest. She has such a pretty face, doesn't she? In the evenings, Tracy puts out lactation herbs for the girls in OB. They are a collection of herbs designed to help the expectant moms develop the milk supply. Since we have been using these herbs, we have had extra-great milk supplies and bigger babies. It's pretty wonderful to see those big heavy udders. (I'll show you what I mean when we have our first ones) The hardest part about birthing season? WAITING!!!! STAY TUNED.... They are on their way! ------------------- Meanwhile, find out how you can have your own alpaca ranch-- even without having a ranch of your own! Call me (Cindy) at 805-907-5162 Cindy Harris ~ Alpacas at Windy Hill ~ Somis, CA www.alpacalink.com ~ [email protected] ~ 905-907-5162