Lusi Alpaca Diary August 2015
On the last day of August we had an amazing little black female born, she is absolutely gorgeous and looking very special already. Her mother is called Magnum so we have decided to call her Cliquot as in the champagne, though my husband suggested Cornetto instead!! I think she is definitely more champagne than ice cream.
We have also started mating the females again for next years crop of crias. As alpacas have an 11 month gestation we try to get the mothers pregnant again within two to three weeks of giving birth then we can keep all the births in a spring/summer timeframe.
New arrival, Cliquot.
Cliquot and Magnum
The other youngsters are all growing up very quickly and they love to rush around the paddocks together, usually annoying their mothers at the same time.
When the sun shines they love to roll in the sand pit and often there is quite a queue lined up.
There are two more births to come at the end of September so we are still on ‘cria watch’ each day and eagerly anticipating the new arrivals.
Making new friends
Playtime
Deciding on the stud males to use takes some thinking about, trying to get the best genetic mix of the ‘positive traits’ i.e. fine dense fleece and correct body conformation. Our aim here at Lusi Alpacas is always to improve our alpacas with each new generation.