Baby’s Arrival Story:
Like many alpaca ranchers we have 2 full time jobs, alpacas and my the day job. Which means I’m usually working when alpacas are known to go into labor. No worries we recently fitted the girls stall, paddock and pasture with cameras so I can monitor them while at work. Seemed like a bit of an expensive thing to do but worth every penny after the arrival of our 1st cria.
Around 2pm I noticed that Bella was acting strangely on the camera. She was just a little white dot out in a big green field but the fact she wasn’t with the others concerned me. By 3pm she would stand up, lay down, roll, walk to a new spot and lay back down. That was my confirmation that she was truly in distress. I bid my boss farewell and rushed the long 20 minute trip home.
When I go home sure enough she was well into labor. The bad news? The weather took a turn for the worse. 50mph winds and driving rain arrived about the same time I did. I quickly changed clothes, grabbed my cria kit and ran out into the field. I tried to coax Bella up but she wasn’t about to budge. Since the weather was so poor I decided to give a little pull on baby to help speed things up. In about 1 minute of help baby slid out at 4:09pm and was kicking, humming and all around feisty. I quickly wrapped it up in dry towels and brought it back to the barn in a warm dry stall. I returned for Bella and managed to get her up and slowly walked her in too to be with her baby.
I finally had time to dry off baby and check it out. Whoo hoo a baby girl and a white one at that. Pink skin around the eyes, nose and clear toe nails. She’s white alright!
So what to name her? Well I’m from Polish decent and my Husband from Italian, it was only fitting to try and pick a name from our roots. I was pleased to find a Polish/Italian name in my Polish name book that couldn’t be more fitting for this little girl. Albina (ahl-BEE-nah) Meaning bright white.
I present to you Dutch Hollow’s Albina! (1/4 Accoyo, Full Peruvian)
