Rocky - the first friend

We brought our first 3 alpaca to the farm in 2014, back when there were no plans to be a farm in the commercial sense.

They were here to just eat the grass.

And since they were such efficient eaters, we needed more than 3.

“Why don’t you breed a couple — they birth all on their own.”

“It’s easy” they said.

Well the first one that arrived in March 2014 was Indy, and they were right. It was totally easy, she was born all on her own! Up and nursing and running when we came home for lunch to check on everyone.

So we decided to breed my favorite alpaca, Kami, that spring so we’d have another baby in 2015. We were excited to learn she was pregnant for the first time!

Well in the fall of 2014, Kami got really sick. We’re still not exactly sure what happened, we were such newbies then. But we almost lost her.

Miraculously, she pulled through. But almost dying herself during the 1st trimester - we figured she lost the baby.

In early May 2015, everyone was shorn. When Kami was on the shearing stand, it was clear there could be no way a baby was in that belly — she was so petite.

Although we were bummed about not having a baby, we were thankful for her survival. We thought perhaps we’d try again the following year.

About 2 weeks after shearing, we noticed Kami rolling around…in the way that mamas-to-be do when the baby is moving into the birth canal.

Could it be?!

Yes, yes it was — Kami was having a baby!

She gave birth normally on 5/24/2015 with relative ease for a first timer. It was a stark white boy! Pretty unexpected considering Kami was light brown and his sire (dad) was true black!

But that wouldn’t be the only surprise…

We quickly noticed how tiny he was.

Normally, cria (baby alpaca) are between 15 and 18 pounds at birth.

But this little guy? He wasn’t even quite 7!

His ears were completely curled, indicating he was dysmature…but we knew he was full term based on our records.

Aside from the curly ears that made him look a little like an alien…he was really tiny.

So short … he couldn’t reach the milk bar. But he also didn’t have the muscle tone or energy to suckle even if he could reach!

We called upon our mentors who instructed us how to insert a rubber tube so that we could feed him. What a delicate procedure that is — to snake it down a squirmy new baby, bypassing the lungs and into his tiny belly.

We managed though. Or should I say, Mike managed that part.

We pulled our tiny camper in front of the barnyard enclosure (aka the Maternity Ward) to “sleep” out there so we could tube fed him every 3 hours for the first 48 hours. We called it Camp Colostrum.

He was tiny, weird looking, and feisty as hell.

We put him on an old sleeping bag with a heat lamp to keep him warm in the brisk May evenings.

A few blerry-eyed nights later, we attempted to see if Kami would allow us to assist in nursing him.

Here we had been pawing all over her kid for the first few days, a necessary thing, but something that could easily force this first time mom to reject the baby.

But luckily she was agreeable. For a few days, we had to help prop him up to her before he grew enough to reach on his own.

Seeing him nurse that first time, that was pure delight and relief!

I hadn’t named him yet…because…you know. But it was clear at this point he needed a name. With the help of a Facebook poll, we landed on the name Rocky Balboa — everyone’s favorite fighter and underdog.

Rocky progressed like a normal cria for the first several months and then he stopped growing vertically. He’s kind of stunted and based on his behaviors & mannerisms, I’m pretty sure he’s either hard of hearing or totally deaf. He also doesn’t appear to have the best vision, either.

But that doesn’t stop Rocky! He holds his own with the big boys when he needs to.

And although he’ll never be a breeder and his fiber isn’t soft enough to be used in yarn production, he plays an important role on the farm.

He’s the “First Friend” to all the newly weaned males.

Let me explain…

When it’s time to wean babies from their moms, the babies go into a small pasture for a few weeks. This small pasture shares a fence line with the mamas so they can be separated without being entirely removed.

The herd dynamic is a powerful thing — and the alpacas social health is directly correlated to their physical health. Gradual weaning is the ticket.

But once weaning is done, the newly weaned females go back with the female herd.

And the boys? Well, they’re still small…about 1/2 the size of the grown males.

I can’t just toss the boys in with the bigs. By their nature, males physically dominate each other to establish a pecking order. And my grown boys will most certainly dominate the littles.

This is not only sad to see, but can be unsafe if left unchecked.

And this is where Rocky’s role on this farm shines.

He’s easy going and not domineering…and he’s physically small in stature. A lowrider if you will!

I mean, he’ll fight back when one of the bigs are picking on him, but Rocky rarely (if ever) starts a fight on his own.

And that makes him the perfect first friend to all the newly weaned boys.

This year Rocky’s role as First Friend is more important than ever. With a crop of 3 females (Dixie, Roxy & Winnie) and 1 male (Ron) born this past spring, Ron is a solo boy. Ron is going to need Rocky’s friendship real soon.

Rocky might not be the fiber ambassador for our farm, he’s for sure a mascot of sorts — and a constant reminder that there’s a place for everyone in this world.