It was good to see a healthy and active cria on the ground first thing this morning! Yesterday’s baby is still weak and we’re fairly sure he has a health problem. But he’s nursing when we stand him up and the rest of the time he’s comfortably cushed next to … Read More
Esther Rose finally gave birth to a male cria this morning on day 366 of her pregnancy. That’s a very long, but not uncommon, gestation length for an alpaca. Despite the long wait, this little guy weighs in at less than 11 lbs. This is the smallest cria that’s been … Read More
We’ve been waiting for several crias to make an appearance and now that we have cool rainy weather, they’ve decided to show up. Today was a good one – two girls! Cinnamon Girl gave birth to her second female cria sired by our champion male, Snowshoe Aristides. The baby was … Read More
We’ve been waiting for several crias to be born and Izabella finally gave birth to a beautiful white male this morning. The dam is our Dom Lucilio daughter, Izzy, and the sire is our champion male, Snowshoe Aristides. Both Izzy and Ari have some really nice offspring, so we’re looking … Read More
Alpacas, unlike many other livestock, have a fairly wide window for length of gestation. At Snowshoe Farm, we use 335 days from the last breeding to estimate each female’s “due date”. This gives us a heads up to start keeping a close eye out for a birth. The actual length … Read More
Those of you who own livestock will recognize this situation: there’s something not quite right about one of your animals, but you can’t put your finger on it. Or the problem stops just as you’re about to call the vet. It can be expensive to get the vet out to … Read More
Our first cria of the season was born yesterday and we’re off to a good start. Snowshoe Praline gave birth to a light brown female at day 325. That’s a little early and it shows; the cria has slightly floppy ears and her teeth have not erupted, but she weighs … Read More
Here’s the official show photo for our two male – FULL BROTHERS – Snowshoe Aristides and Snowshoe Astraios. The pair won the White Male Color Champion and Reserve Champion at the Northeast Alpaca Expo last weekend! Aristides’ first crias were born in 2011 and we expect to see several of … Read More
We have a number of husbandry tasks that are done on a regular basis. Today we took advantage of the relatively mild weather and weighed and body scored our 2011 crias and weanlings. We weigh young alpacas more often than adults as a way to keep track of their growth. … Read More
It’s that time of year again…we’ve weaned most of last year’s crias and they are big enough to wear halters comfortably. This means it’s time to start lead training. We start by fitting the alpacas with halters and letting them wear the halters for short periods for a few days. … Read More