An alpaca is pregnant for 11 1/2 months! When I say this many mothers clutch their abdomen and cringe. Once we breed one of our females we do behavior testing. This involves re-introducing a male alpaca to her and watching her behavior. Most likely the female will become agitated and spit at the male before running away. Two of our females were bred last year. We anticipated deliveries in late July. We watched for signs like a bulging girth (most alpacas do not look pregnant until a month before delivery). After 11 months we realized we would not see cria this year.

In April of this year, we also welcomed a brother and sister alpaca from Maine. They are owned by Happy Snowman Farm and are boarded here at Kave Rock Farm. While sheering in late May, we realized that the female, Candy Tuft, was pregnant. Her cria was born this past Tuesday at a healthy 14.4lbs. Her name is Taffy and she a pronking bundle of cuteness.

So while we did not have cria born to our own alpacas, we can enjoy watching little Taffy.
And we hope to have 5 new cria in the summer of 2016!

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