I added the cria due date ticker to the bottom of the page. Now that we are looking to the New Year, I am thinking about new babies who are waiting to arrive.
We use 350 days as the gestational time for our alpacas. Within the industry there are a number of ways to determine due date. Some farms use 335 days, some use 335 to 350 days, or variations in between. We have found that ours tend to be close to 350 days, and if we use an earlier number, we wait in anticipation worried something is wrong. So, we set the due date at 350 day, but, we start cria watch 1 month prior to that due date.
Sancha is due with I believe her 7th child, due to May 21, 2010 (that is day 350). Sancha delivered Lightning on day 355 and Lily on day 353 so we expect this next one just after 350 days. I predict that she is due for a boy. She has been very consistent in alternating between boys and girls. The big question is will she have a baby of color this year? We are hoping so.
Maddie is the next one due on our farm. Maddie is a maiden, so we have no idea if she will be around 350 days or not. We will keep extra close eye on her because this is her first cria. Maddie was kind of small to begin with, but at last weigh in she hit 130 pounds, so we feel she is big enough to birth and feed a cria. I think she might have a black girl, given color genetics, black is probable, but a girl, that's just a guess :)
Kateria is the next one due. This will be her fourth cria. Her others were born on day 360, 342 and 338 (but that was with Po, who we believe looked a bit premature). Kateria is not due until July, so we have quite a wait yet. Kateria has yet to have a boy, so I think she might be due for one this year.
Victoria is the last one due on our farm. I'm very eager to see what she and Tucker produce! This will be Victoria's 4th child. Her past cria were born on day 355, 347, and 358. We are thinking this one will be a black girl, but who knows. They have a way of surprising us.
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