Well isn't it always the way just when you are looking in the other direction for 30 minutes out pops a wonderful new cria. I think we were onto our fourth cria before we actually saw one being born.

You may recall if you read yesterdays Blog entry that I had moved the pregnant girls into the birthing pasture where we can see them. Of course you do actually have to be at the house to see the birth take place. So the best laid plans and all that.

The first task is to work out who just had a baby which is never as obvious as it first appears.





One of the less attractive tasks once the cria is out is to watch for the placenta or as in our case hunt for the placenta.



The next step is to slip on a pair of disposable gloves and arrange it to see if its all there.
Basically it should look something like this.




Once arranged so that you can see which part occupied the two uterine horns and see what left of the amniotic sack you can be confident that you have it all. Make sure you bag it and dispose of it properly do not touch it with bear hands you can catch some pretty nasty stuff from alpaca placenta.

The next step is to make sure the little chap is feeding and getting that all important colostrum and I can tell you all about that tomorrow................

Adrian Stewart