Cria Update - They're Growing Like Weeds!

The crias are growing like weeds. Phoenix will be five months old on November 4th - that's only two weeks away! He has been showing interest in the females already and while he cannot get them pregnant, he is "practicing" on a regular basis and really irritating some of them. He can be weaned at five months so I will probably put him in with Spencer (who will be a year old on October 30th) until they have bonded and then I'll turn them out with the small group of younger/calmer males to see if I can integrate them safely into that group.

Here is a recent photo of Phoenix.

Rosie is growing fast, too. She is now four months old so I will be able to wean her in a month but her mother usually weans her babies on her own so I'm hoping Rosie can just stay in with the female herd and the transition will be a smooth one. I notice that her mother is allowing her to nurse less and less so she is probably already starting to dry up.

Here is a photo I took a couple of days ago. I just love Rosie's face! Look at those dark circles around her eyes. And her darker muzzle. And those fuzzy ears!

 

Autumn has grown a lot. She is four weeks old today and is looking awesome. Her fiber is very lustrous and silky and I hope it stays that way.

And look at her face! Is that not adorable?!

And then I got a really cute photo of Rosie and Autumn together. They were watching Courtney, one of our cats, on the other side of the fence.

And here is the newest little male who is eight days old today. I think we're going to call him Time Traveler because his grandsire is Tempis Fugit (latin for Time Flies) and his sire is Viajero (Spanish for Traveler).

 And we are still waiting for Dazzle to have her cria. And that should be the last one for this year. If Dazzle gets much bigger, she's going to explode!

One More New Cria

During last weekend's snow storm, we were praying that the remaining two female llamas would wait for warmer weather before having their crias. Dazzle still has not given birth but Decorus Domina (aka Baby Dee) gave birth to a little boy on Thursday 10/13. Dee is a first time Mom and she was a bit confused at first as to what was going on but she quickly decided that this baby was hers to love and protect.

Here is the little guy right after being born, making his first attempts at sitting up.

 

Another black llama!

And here is the little guy finally up and taking his first steps. They love to use their momma as a crutch, leaning against them and going round and round them as they get the hang of walking by themselves.

And here is the little guy leaning against his Momma, who has decided to lay down for awhile and rest. 

And here they are getting to know one another. Dee was licking his face and humming to him. It was such a sweet moment of bonding and I'm glad I was there to see it.

And he decided that being born and learning to walk was hard work so he laid down to rest for a bit. Meanwhile, Dee was still licking him and humming to him.

Here is a close-up of his face - he's jet black with white on his muzzle and a small spot of white on his forehead.

I'm stumped for names for this little guy. His Mom's name is Decorus Domina (Latin for beautiful lady). His Dad's name is Viajero (Spanish for traveler). Any suggestions for a name would be welcome!

And we're still waiting for Dazzle to deliver her cria. She was very interested in this cria so I let her in with Dee and the baby and she stayed with them in their area all night long. Normally Dazzle hates to be penned up but this time she was quite content to be there. She seems to have bonded with the baby, too. Dee's baby was much smaller than we anticipated. Chalcedony's cria turned three weeks old the day after Dee delivered and she was 23 pounds at birth. Dee's cria was only 22 pounds. Chalcedony, Dee and Dazzle were all bred on the same day last year. First time moms frequently deliver smaller babies but with Dee's large size and capacity, I did expect a larger cria, even for her first one.

So, we are still patiently waiting for Dazzle's cria to arrive. She's getting bigger and bigger!

First Snow of the Season

We were under a Winter Weather Advisory starting last night through tonight at 6 PM. They called for 3 to 8 inches of snow in our area. Usually they are wrong and we get virtually nothing. This time, however, they were actually right for a change! We got at least 6 to 8 inches of the white stuff. I measured the snowfall on a table on the deck this morning and it was at 5 inches but it was a heavy wet snow so I'm sure we got more than that and it snowed more after I measured it. Most of it has already melted because it has been so warm lately.

But I did get photos of River, our new standard poodle puppy, playing in the snow for the first time. At first he was really hesitant to go out in it but once he was in it, he jumped and romped and played....like a puppy!

 Pippin, our YorkiePoo, wasn't all that impressed. He preferred staying on the areas where I shoveled.

Temps are predicted to get back into the mid to upper 60s here this next week so we'll enjoy a little Indian Summer then.

Cria update

Our newest little cria is growing stronger every day. We're pretty sure she was born at least a week to 10 days early because she was so weak and her ligaments were so soft when she was born. However, she is running around the pastures now and making new friends. She and Rosie are quickly becoming BFF's.

Here are Rosie and Autumn Shadow - they are about three months apart.

And here is a photo of Phoenix taken today - he is now almost four months old.

We have two more females that are due any time now. Here is Dazzle, who is pretty much taking things in stride, just lounging around eating. It looks like she has swallowed a basketball (or two)

And then there is Dee - who is not the least bit happy about how she feels right now. Her ears are almost always back like this lately.

 

Dee doesn't look as big as Dazzle does but it is because Dee hasn't been sheared so her wool covers her baby bump. And, Dee is larger and has more capacity than Dazzle so she doesn't show quite as much as Dazzle. Which one will deliver first?

And, another photo of little Autumn

Thank you for visiting Split Rock Ranch!