Introducing Titus!

We have named our newest male Titus which is an Old Roman boy name. The name Titus is derived from the Latin meaning "title of honor." As always we have nicknames for our animals and we'll call him Tito for short.

TITUS

He seems a bit shy but is doing great. Trellianna is an excellent mother and will not let him venture to far from her. She is doing fine, no problems with her.

Trell & Tito

I was out in the field this morning to observe the pregnant females and snapped a few photos. It's a nice crisp fall day and the leaves are turning and look beautiful.


Marilyn is checking me out as all the girls surround the golf cart.

Here's one of the boys looking back at me and the girls. Notice the foliage in the background!


While walking in the field I looked down and what I thought was a leaf turned out to be a baby snapping turtle! He's about 100 yards from the stream.

Thor (front) Rocco (back)

I can't help but throw in a picture of our future herdsire. Is this guy gorgeous or what!

Sergio

It's a Boy!

About ten minutes elapsed since I had just returned from the field after checking on everybody. All was well and the animals were grazing. It was 8:45 am. I went to pour a cup of coffee and happened to look out the window and saw a small commotion in the field. There were several alpacas with their heads down, it actually looked like they were grazing but, Santo our male guardian dog, was right there in the middle. The grass was tall and I couldn't see anything. I decided to go outside to see what was going on.

By the time I got outside I saw the cria get up on all fours and walking. I thought wow, that was fast. I immediately called Tara and told her the news. She asked if it was a boy or girl. I said I wasn't sure because I haven't even touched the cria yet. Then she asked what color it was and I couldn't tell her because the cria was wet from laying in the grass and it looked darker than it really was. She said check it out and we'll talk later as she had to go to a meeting.

I wasn't sure who the mother was as we have three girls expecting, but quickly figured out it was Trellianna. I wasn't anticipating a cria today as Trellianna's due date was November 10th. The cria was born on gestation day 337 which is fairly early but still normal. The cria was not small by any means and weighed just over 17 lbs.

I followed the pair and observed for about two hours and took some photos along the way. Trell delivered the afterbirth after 35 minutes and I got it out of the pasture. The cria was nursing 10 minutes later. Everything is normal at this point. I put them in our nursery area to bond and all is well. The cria's ear is a bit floppy but I figure it will straighten out in time.

As the cria is drying he appears to be white which will make Tara happy.

Here's a few pictures from this morning. I'll let Tara pick the name as I'd probably name it Bob.

These two pictures are taken in the nursery area and the little guy is drying off. Good thing too as it is raining now.

Let the Breeding Begin!

With the breeding season in full swing we’ve been full of activity on the ranch. Wira Cocha was a busy boy this week breeding Shakira, Aurora and Marilyn. We absolutely love what we have gotten from Wira Cocha and with Marilyn as a full Peruvian, we plan to have a full Peruvian offspring (hopefully female) next fall.

Wira Cocha/Marilyn Breeding

Ottimo filled out an application for stud row and he was accepted! He was immediately put to the test with a breeding to Argento our silver girl. Otto, as we call him, has Peruvian Victor genetics as well as Peruvian Don Julio and Peruvian Oro. His sire is dark rose grey so we’re hoping to create a silver offspring. However, alpaca breeding is like a box of chocolates... you never know what you'll get! Thankfully, Otto had no problem knowing what to do. I thought he did great for his first time.

Ottimo/Argento Breeding

We will field test each female 14 days after the breeding session. If any of the girls kush we will breed them again. Now we just sit back and wait for the crias to arrive next month.

Here's yours truly putting the finishing touches on a new pasture. With too much fighting amongst the boys, we had to separate the yearlings from the older males.

Relatively Speaking!

We had Tara's relatives come in a couple of weeks ago. Spence and Sandy drove up from Texas for a visit and we thoroughly enjoyed their company. I especially loved the fact that Uncle Spence helped me with the farm chores. Here we are hard at work caring for the critters and handling farm duties. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!


We're getting ready for fall birthing season as we have some cria's due in November. Last year during breeding season I tried to time it for a 2009 Thanksgiving Day cria by our very own Ruth Hussey. It'll be interesting to see if she hits that target date.