2009 Babies!

This year at Stoneberg Alpacas, LLC has been quite a roller coaster with new babies.

In July, Brandy Storm had a baby girl who died 3 days later. She was a beautiful Sun Tzu female. I did a necropsy on her which turned out inconclusive.

The next birth was Marshmallow Cream. She gave me a beautiful Paul Revere female! Vanilla Cream is 34 pounds as I write this post. She is robust with nice fiber and thick bones.

Next came a DENSE boy from Mocha. Paul Revere did it again. Annihilator is the full brother to Cocoa. He has a small grey spot on his left hip. He like his half sister, Vanilla Cream, is about 32 pounds as I write this post.

Aspire my 16 year old matriarch was next. She was bred to MSA Hemingway's Bogart. On 09/16/09, Aspire went into labor. My gut told me something wasn't quite right as I saw the amniotic sack but no nose or feet. Jamie got in and got the cria out. There was a heart beat and we worked on her for 30 minutes but were unsuccessful. That Bogart baby was a nice brown female...and not a pinto.

At this point I was ready to throw in the towel with Alpaca breeding. I felt somewhat responsible for the 2 deaths. I was frustrated that the full gestation of each cria went for nothing! It got even more frustrating with Hi-Way.

Hi-Way, bred to Artero, gave me a beautiful white female. less than 24 hours later she had died. It is unknown what she died from. I honestly was a little depressed and really began blaming myself. However, I thought in my heart and mind...Keep going Eric. Think about the long term plan you have with Alpacas, learn from what happened to these babies, see the big picture, re-breed and get that farm you so desperately want.

Today, 10/14/09, Zafiro birthed a white Glacial Storm daughter. She weighed in a 17.4 pounds and was treated extra special. Leanne and I used a hairdryer to get her dry. We also put a cria coat on her. As I write this post, she and Zafiro are resting comfortably under the carport on a nice bed of straw. I have learned from my mistakes and vow not to repeat them.

I am blessed with the 3 cria that I have. They are all healthy and are excellent additions to my herd. My next post will be about 2009/2010 breedings.