Introducing............

our first cria born on our farm

Sex: male
Color: white (very white!)
Name: Sancha's White Lightening

He was born at 11:50 a.m. weighing 21.6 pounds.

Mom and cria are doing well, but was a bit of a tricky birth.
Sancha and Lightening (note the other alpacas looking in the background, they were all very curious):
Lightening fitting in on the farm (and Emma watching too):

Longer story:

J came home from work around 8:00 a.m. and fed the pregnant alpacas. Sancha ate all her grain, no sign of birth at all. He came home to sleep. The kids and I went on errands. We got back home around 11:30 a.m. to eat some lunch., which we drive past the pasture to get home. I saw all three pregnant girls rolling in the dirt. We slopped and talked to them out the window (as we usually do). I started to drive on because I was hungry. Well as I started to pull away Sancha stood up and I saw a baby head already out of her!

Pulled the car around to the front of the barn and told Emma to get J (I asked her to run home but she opted to tell grandma/grandpa to call). I went out check on Sancha. I could see the cria moving and breathing, though a labored breathing. I saw two legs, which is how it's supose to go. But one leg is out further than the other. Not good. Then Sancha tries to sit down right by the fence, bashing the crias head into the fence. Then the cria's leg gets stuck in the fence. I'm trying to move her out of the way, and look to see if I can pull the one leg out further. Sancha is just sitting there. My father in law went to wake up J and they finally got there. J came and was able to adjust the cria and help pull it out.

At that point the main concern was the cria's labored breathing. And the fact the cria was starting to shiver. After some concern we were able to warm him up with the blow dryer and finally his breathing became normal. We think he may have had something caught in his wind pipe that finally broke free.

He wasn't quick to stand either. Not only that but he didn't nurse within the first 4 hours so J had to give him some colestrum. On the plus side Sancha delivered the afterbirth fine. And Sancha appears to be an attentive mom. Also, the other alpacas while curious, appear to help Sancha with him.

Since he is not regulating his temp that well and because it's cool tonight J put a coat on him (many farms us cria coats, ours is a vest made into a cria coat). I hope he nurses well overnight. I'm sure Sancha will keep a good eye on him.