Busy busy busy

Well we reorganised the birthing schedules over the past two years to ensure that the births stared in the second week of May and were all done and dusted by the beginning of July so we can't complain. The births started last week and are now coming thick and fast. 8 so far. The boys are winning 6 to 2 as we speak but that is changing on a daily basis. 

This kind of means that every so often the job stops whilst we watch with expectation the dams doing their stuff and then spend the rest of the day dipping out to the paddock to ensure the little one is feeding. You can tell when there is a birth in as we rapidly gather a crowd in the birthing paddocks. The passing walkers and cyclists also can't resist joining in the excitement. That's one of the bonuses of the alpacas instinctive  preference  for giving birth before 3.30pm on a sunny day! Sheep farmers eat your heart out.

And what cria they are. The Toft Alpaca  stud males have excelled themselves and the colours arriving on the ground are truly amazing. Here's a few rapidly taken snaps from the weekend when the sun was shining. Currently they all look like coloured damp dishcloths on sticks as it has rained here constantly for the past 24 hours.