# She has arrived!



## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

I know most of you are already aware how much I love my llamas. So you can imagine how excited I am to announce the birth of our first cria!! Graycie was born 1 week ago today and we are so thrilled with her. We were lucky enough to get to witness her birth, and I've been making myself crazy with worry ever since....first we weren't sure if her dam was producing enough milk and our scale was giving us a different reading every time we tried to weigh her so we weren't sure if she was gaining weight. After ordering a new cria scale and paying an extra $41 just to have it shipped overnight, we weighed her and waited 24 hours to weigh her again. We were very much relieved to see a 9 oz. gain. She is tiny, though, at only 20 lbs. at 1 week old. Now she has a bit of a runny nose off & on, but it's whitish/clear and she's active and seems very strong, so we are hoping she is still just cleaning her lungs out. We're watching her really close, though...and worrying of course.

Her daddy is our big white male Romeo, and her mom is a big black & white female named Sure Enough.

So here she is:

Just born:
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/ ... G_1996.jpg

Up on her feet:
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/ ... G_2000.jpg

Dried off (day 2):
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/samall/004.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/samall/005.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/samall/012.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/samall/015.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/samall/017.jpg


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## Pinsprings (Oct 7, 2007)

So, normally they are not this small at birth?


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Most weigh more than 20 lbs. at birth (25 - 30 is average), so 20 lbs. at a week is on the small side. Since we couldn't get an accurate reading when she was born I don't know for sure what her birth weight was. She was a few days early, but she does have teeth so she wasn't a preemie.


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## needs to know more (Oct 7, 2007)

how cute!! I wanted llamas but hubby said no!!! he might change his mind when my lgd barks all night at coyotes!!!!!


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

oh my what a looker! that last picture was just so precious! 

Congratulations!


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## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

I am in LOVE!!!!! She is adorable!


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Thank you all...I completely melt every time I look at her. We waited so long for her to get here and she is such a little sweetheart.


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## HollowbeadRanch (Oct 5, 2007)

Now that is just the cutest thing!!! I want a Llama so bad!!!!!!!!


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## Pinsprings (Oct 7, 2007)

What is it called when a llama has a baby?
kids? calves? foals?

Do they have an easy time or is it a difficult birth?


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

baby llamas are called crias, but i dont know what it's called when they are giving birth


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks hollowbead! The funny thing is I didn't even want llamas. I was happy with just the horses & goats, but then my daughter wanted to join a llama 4-H group. She learned to train & show yearlings at a llama farm near us, and we all fell in love with them and decided to get two of our own. Now we are up to 13 llamas and we sold all of our horses because we no longer had time for them. 

Some llama breeders call the birth "criation" or "criating" since the baby is a cria. Most people just call it birthing.

Pinsprings - It's rare for them to have birthing difficulties, it happens, but it's not common. Babies come head & front feet first like goats, but they normally take a break at the shoulders and again at the hips for 5 - 15 minutes. The dam usually stays standing and the baby hangs upside-down during that time to clear the lungs & nasal passages. It's usually a quiet & calm process for the dam. Ours was grazing during the birth. 

Graycie was having some trouble breathing last night because her nose is getting more congested on one side. She was breathing better this morning but still has the goopy nose so we have a call in to the vet and are waiting for a call back.


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## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

Your cria is so cute. My cria is now 6 months. I got her and her mom when "silly" was only 4 months old. 

They are so much fun. I had never had goats or llamas, and started my small herd all in one weekend, and LOVE IT!

Congrats again!

Allison


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks Allison! My first two llamas were weanlings around the same age as your cria when I got them. They are 2 and a half now! They are such sweet, gentle animals.

My vet has put her on Penicillin for 5 days. Hopefully that will clear her up and she won't get any sicker. I am pretty worried about her but she is still acting spunky.


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## sungoats (Oct 7, 2007)

Congrats on your new little sweetie! She's just too precious!!!

I have a friend who has show llamas and I remember him telling me that the smell of the male is what brings a female into season, and that the gestation is a year!!! Is that really true? How do you stand waiting so long? I could NEVER be that patient!


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

She is so cute! Congrats!!!!


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Well, she is having more problems breathing as the day goes and I'm pulling my hair out w/worry. The good news is she's gained another 6 oz. since last night, so she is still nursing enough. I'm told I need to wait and give the penn. a chance to work, but with this being our first cria I can't help but worry about her. If she didn't get enough colostrum the penn. might not be enough, so we will have to have an IgG test done if we don't see improvement pretty quickly. I hate to put her through all the stress of that, not to mention the cost if she needs a plasma transfer. Hopefully we are moving on this quickly enough, we would be devastated if we lost her. Keep her in your thoughts, please!

sungoats - Yes, gestation is almost a year. 350 days is the average but there is a pretty big window of "normal". The wait seems like forever!!! I have another due any day but she is holding out. Llamas don't really have a season, females will usually breed any time they are open, and males are always ready to go. It's not the smell of the male but the actual breeding that causes the female to ovulate. A bred female will usually spit at a male and refuse to lay down for him. Makes it easy to check for pregnancy but sometimes they can fool you anyway.


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## Shelly (Oct 5, 2007)

She adorable samall. Hope she's better soon. Shelly


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

In goats pen isn't usually strong enough to get rid of repiratory issues. Can you use a stronger antibiotic?


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## heidi19 (Oct 5, 2007)

She is so precious!! I have wanted one for a long time, and if I were 15 years younger I would have at least two. Oklahoma has several llamas farms. They are so cute. (heidi19) Jan oh ignore the blue link, was trying to put my Avator on, goofed up.


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Stacey I wondered that myself but he said to give her pen. He thinks some of it might be weather related since we've had such odd temps lately. Anywhere from 50's to 90's during the day, lots of humidity, lots of rain, just very weird weather. She seems like she might be breathing a little easier tonight but it's hard to tell. HOpefully we will see a definite improvement tomorrow, if not I'll be back on the phone again.


Thanks Heidi! Oklahoma has some of the best llamas in the country! Sometime I hope to be able to attend the Celebrity World Futurity and Sale in Oklahoma City...but for now that's just too far for us to travel.


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## heidi19 (Oct 5, 2007)

*Samall*

Keep us posted on the baby, we are all praying for her recovery and good health. :? :lol: P.S. still trying to remove the blue link. So far nothing has worked. Give the baby a hug for me. (heidi19) Jan


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## bigoakfarm (Oct 6, 2007)

Oh my goodness...that's the cutest thing! I don't think I've ever seen a baby llama but that one looks well worth a 350 day wait. Congrats!

Kristen


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## laststraw (Oct 7, 2007)

She is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I can see why she melts your heart. I don't know anything about llamas, but we've talked about getting a couple once we move to a bigger place and get full-sized goats - we also have coyotes around, but with our little place and little goats, the dogs take care of things here.

Please keep us posted on her health. I will keep you in our prayers.


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks everyone ! She seems to be doing much better. She's gaining well, very active, and her nose is much better but not perfect. My vet has been reassuring me that she's fine...I just tend to be a worry wart and after that long wait she is pretty special to us! 

laststraw - even though we have a whole herd of llamas with our goats, we still keep a dog (Great Pyrenees) with them, too. I have a few llamas that are very aggressive towards canines they don't know, but we have so many coyotes here that it's reassuring to have both llamas and a dog out there. Especially when the coyotes start howling at night, I always feel better when I hear Bailey barking back at them. New llama moms & crias can be vulnerable to predators, too.


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## jBlaze (Oct 9, 2007)

Congratulations on your baby! She is so cute, I love the pics of her kushed down. We have a female due in august, and she is not much of a guard, but we really want the baby. lol
Glad yours is doing better, i can only imagine your worry over that!


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## raznboersnkids (Oct 6, 2007)

They are so cute, I see why you love them. Gorgeous!!


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks jblaze & razn! jblaze be sure & share pics when your baby arrives!

Graycie is up to 23 lbs. & 1 oz today and I took a few updated pics of her. I think she has noticably grown! Can you tell?

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/ ... yof001.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/ ... yof010.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o60/samall/009.jpg

She has also gotten really spunky...running away from us...chasing cats out of the pasture...she's so much fun to watch.


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## Shelly (Oct 5, 2007)

Yes she looks filled out and not so frail looking. How is she doing? Shelly


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

I think she is filling out, too. Sometimes her nose & her breathing are clear, other times she has the sniffles & whitish goo coming out of her nose. It's definitely worse whenever the air is damp, and especially in the mornings and evenings. There is also a lot of dust in the air from the harvest going on so that might be making it worse. She definitely seems fine otherwise but we are always watching for any other symptoms. The vet advised us to stop the antibiotics after 5 days (yesterday) and let her be unless the nasal discharge turns yellow or green.


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## laststraw (Oct 7, 2007)

She is so beautiful!!! It sounds like she is on the mend, too. Thank Goodness!!!


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Thank you! Yes, she seems to be doing OK now, but I think she is ready for a playmate! She tries to get the other llamas to play with her but they don't want her bothering them. She has fun chasing kittens around but they are learning to just stay out of her way. The other mom-to-be is taking her sweet time....hurry up & have that baby, Madeline!!


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## laststraw (Oct 7, 2007)

LOL! Poor baby!!  That's got to be a good sign: wanting to play. Here's hoping for another healthy, beautiful cria for you... and more photos, too! I'll be looking forward to those!


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