Our first baby alpaca!!

We had owned our two alpacas (Dolly and Melody) a couple of months when it came time for Dolly to have her baby.  We read anything we could discover about alpaca birthing.  We ordered all the medical supplies that the books recommended.  And we waited.

Alpacas can give birth anytime between 10 to 12 months.  11 months is the most common gestation period.  We knew that she was due to give birth the beginning of March.  It turned out that she started labor one day after her due date.

She was an experienced mama and she knew just what to do.  The ranch owner, where we bought Dolly and Melody, came down to help us with our first birth.  Things went fairly smoothly and a healthy fuzzy little male cria (baby alpaca) was born.

He was up and about quickly and for a week or two we called him Wobbly. He would get excited and wobble quickly into a fence or his mother.  There were no injuries and he grew steadly.  We have named him Arthur and he is almost 4 years old now.  He is still entertaining us with his silly personality.