Amaya at 18 days old
I got to go visit my alpacas yesterday and everyone seems to be doing nicely. The weather was sunny and warm; it felt great to me, but I could tell that the alpacas are definitely ready for shearing. Hopefully we can schedule it for earlier next year, but it always depends on the shearer’s schedule and the weather. I have heard of some people who have had to postpone their shearing this year in other parts of the country due to rain. And here in the Pacific Northwest we are always at the mercy of fickle weather. I remember last year in June, we were calling it “June-uary” because it was so unseasonably cold and wet.
I took a few pictures of the crias. Amaya’s legs and topline are showing tremendous improvement, with only a very slight trace of stiffness lingering in her hind legs as she moves. I took some pictures of Brightsmith and Cuppajoe in full-fleece. They both behaved well from their previous haltering and leading lessons. With the owners’ request, I started halter/lead training on their male cria who is about the same age as Brightsmith but hasn’t been worked with yet. And I enjoyed watching the alpacas as I sprayed water on their feet and legs to cool them off. It’s funny to see that Amaya appears to have the same love of water that her dam and grand-dam have.
