Who'll Go First...

As cria watch continues, we are seeing signs of impending moms and thinking they are getting close.  However, over the years we have learned alpaca moms can be very sneaky and seem to prefer having their cria when you aren't looking.  Then there is the gestation period, we estimate due dates at 340 days, but have had a range from around 310 days to 370!  We have even tried to look for trends in individual moms we've had for a long time, but even if we think we see one, she'll prove us wrong with the next birth.  We have gone to the barn to check on a due soon mom, seen no suspecting signs and then turn around a half hour later and there she is with her new cria.  So we watch and we wait and we continue to anticipate and speculate.....who'll go first this year?

We have 6 that are due within days and weeks of each other.  Here are a couple others that could be due any day or any week now:



SHRA Zephyr

 This is Zephyr, we purchased her from a ranch in Ohio in 2009, she arrived here in October of that year so we chose not to breed her that late in the year and waited till the following spring.  So we have been waiting a long time to get this cria from Zephyr and can't wait to see what she produces.  She is bred to Snowmass Golden Victory and we have no doubt this cria will be heavily covered in beautiful fleece.  Zephyr has an amazing track record of gorgeous offspring to include a pretty amazing high end Herdsire, CAR Supernova's Quattro.  At this point, I have my money on Zephyr having the first cria of the year.....we'll see.

Moonshadow's Obsession (MO)

Our MO, what a character and a fiber machine!  MO has always been one of our favorites since she was born here.  This will be her 3rd cria and her first 2 were definitely as cute and full of personality as their mom.  We call this our MO line, so far we have had MOJO and MOJITA.  We are counting on the next one being Monique, named contributed by my son and we sure hope it is a girl!  MO is bred to APEX a magnificent Andrajo son owned by our good friend Kelli Cronn of Four Seasons Farm.  MO is one of the last due with this first group of due soons, but she sure is acting like she wants to be done with it.  These few days of warm spring weather she has not appreciated, but who would at 10 months pregnant with a huge, heavy, dark alpaca coat on?