What do you get after a 'mommy' alpaca has 11 months +/- a few weeks of constant kickings and cravings?
a cria!!
It should not come as a suprise to have a cria arrive 2-3 weeks late in the spring and 2-3 weeks earlier in the fall. When they arrive they're about 15 pounds and the size of a medium dog but all legs!! (little body longs legs).
A crias behavior at first is shiver - then once dry can be seen pronging about close to their mother. It's not good for them to eat grain cause it can impact their little bodies - we don't allow grain till they are comfortable to no longer nurse, seems to be a varying time from cria to cria.
Here's various links to photos of crias:
- http://www.sfalpacas.com/Alpacas/O_cria_09_med.JPG
- http://www.sfalpacas.com/Alpacas/Am_Mel_28_med.JPG