Every spring we look forward to a new crop of crias – baby alpacas. And every fall we’re relieved when the months of being on “baby watch” are over. This year we had 15 crias due and the last one made its appearance yesterday. But not successfully. Our beautiful white Super Nova daughter, Star, was pregnant with her fourth cria and obviously in labor. To make a long story short and spare you the details, things did not progress as they should, our vet was called and we found that the cria had died in utero. Suffice it to say that dead crias do not cooperate well with the birthing process and the procedure was very difficult for both Star and our vet.
In 12 years of breeding alpacas, this is only our second stillborn cria. While we’re sad about the loss, we’re grateful that Star is fine and does not seem to be mourning for her cria. And we’re very thankful that we have a wonderful vet who handles the most difficult situations for us professionally and compassionately.
Tracey
How miserable. Thank goodness for Andy.