Summer Weather

After a few cool and rainy days we have some wonderful sunny and warm weather today. Alpacas don't always handle the heat so well (they do better with the cold). So on these hot days, we haul out the hose and spray them down. They love this! After they are hosed down, they usually roll in the sunshine. Then they lay and soak up the sun. Often this strikes up their appetite and they head over to the hay bucket.



I sometimes call their sunbathing stance a "death lay" because they could be mistaken for being seriously sick or even dead:



Sancha is due anyday now with her cria (she's on day 345, right in the midst of when most female alpacas deliver, day 335 to 370+). Sancha has had 3 cria on hour farm (this is her 4th). She typically delivers on day 350 - 356 and has a 20+ pound cria (average size cria is closer to 15 pounds). She grows them nice and big!

Sancha is the white alpaca on the far left of this picture, note the huge hanging cria belly on her:



We are very eager to see this cria. And I know Cheyenne would love a playmate. She tries to play with the other moms but they give her the cold shoulder. The excitement of seeing the new cria is so much fun: male or female, what color? But I also love seeing the cria play together. They form a cria gang and will have lots of fun together. I can't wait to see our 2011 cria gang.