On Friday 24th June we had 2 births. The first one was Nettle, this is her nickname as at the moment she doesn't have a real one.
Her mother QAI Claire came into the country with her mum Drew Barrymore as a cria born in transit. Claire is the most beautiful alpaca, very gentle & calm just like her mum. Leo was Claire's first cria & he is a large gentle alpaca now living with Kim, Steve & Jo. Her next 2 cria were not so lucky & we lost both Chance & Enchanted before they were 4 months old, both of whom were stunning.
So this little girl, prettiest little cria we have, is very special & we really want her to live. We watched her being born & then left her & Claire alone to bond, I went back to the field an hour later to check on them & couldn't find Nettle anywhere. She had managed to sit down in a clump of nettles at the side of the field shelter & I got stung getting her out, so Nettle is her name for now. She is the only alpaca not registered & has to be by Christmas Eve at the latest, so fingers crossed we will be able to give her a very special name but to us I think she will always be Nettle.
Eventually Claire managed to have her cria last Monday. A handsome huge cria, he had been growing as much in side her as he would have done if he had been born earlier I think. Her gorgeous little boy has been waiting for a name, we have been calling him little Leo after his big brother, he's very similar but a little darker fawn. Daren't give him a nickname like Nettle in case it stuck. James has finally decided that he is called Aslan & it really suits him, he is very brave, loves to be the leader of the racing games at the end of the day & wanders over for attention, he did try to eat my ipad as I took photos :)
