It's A Beautiful Day

Timothy an hour after being born next to Ms Humphreys birthing pool


The girls held a baby shower to welcome him

We had our first birth of the year yesterday. It was a few weeks early but I had been expecting it and had told Si that I thought Ms Humphreys was about to birth. She had been humming a lot the day before and was visiting the poo pile on a more than regular basis.

Sure enough about 11.30am yesterday when I had come back in to do some housework I looked out of the french windows and a head and two feet where sticking out. I stayed where I was and watched her have a really easy birth in her favourite spot. She had made herself a bowl in the paddock last year and she has dust baths there in the summer and mud baths in the winter but now it is obviously a birthing pool.

By the time I had grabbed a clean towel and the terramycin the cria was up on his feet. He didn't even take any tentative steps, he was up and running from the word 'go'. I had terrible trouble trying to catch him to spray his navel which explains the blue question mark on one of his rear legs and blue dots all over him. I did eventually catch him but I think I was more worn out than he was. He spent the rest of the day charging round the paddock only stopping to feed. There was no doubt he was getting milk as he is a very messy eater and gets it all over his mouth and he also 'piddles for Britain'.


His mum is worrying us at the moment though. She hadn't expelled the placenta four hours later so I telephoned the vet. He said that I must have missed it in the paddock but I had zig-zagged around it four times to make sure that I hadn't but I had also spent the afternoon just watching out of the window waiting for it. I always like to get it as soon as it comes out so that I can check it is complete. Something which Ollie thinks is absolutely disgusting. Si had to drive straight to the vets for Oxytocin and antibiotics.

We were convinced that it would come out overnight but it was typical that we had theatre tickets for a show in Torquay to see Tim Vine. We decided to go anyway with Ollie holding the fort. Obviously we were late as we didn't really want to leave here.

Ms Humphreys is in a small paddock with her baby and Mimi for company. We checked her as soon as we got back and still nothing but she has been feeding her baby no matter how much discomfort she must be in. There was no fever but we telephoned the vet again this morning and he came out and gave her more of the same and we had to repeat everything this afternoon and at 6pm. We have just been out to check and there is still no sign of it, these alpacas can be such a worry sometimes. We have more injections to give at midnight and then at 6am. If nothing has appeared by about 10 the vet is going to come back out. I think we are more worried about all of this because Ms Humphreys is still feeding her baby and hasn't stopped eating all day but then again, nothing much upsets her appetite.


Anyway, I feel better after a telephone call to Head Office. Rob has assured me that it is quite rare but not unheard of and the hormone injections will probably make her expel the placenta soon although he has warned me that it will smell. I'm hoping it comes out tonight or tomorrow so that Si can check it and pick it up. No doubt Ms Humphreys will wait until Monday when it will be even more ripe and Si will be safely in the office doing hard sums.


We're going to call the baby Timothy after Tim Vine but I have now warned Si that we are not going to get any theatre tickets for June, July, August or September when the rest of our births are due.