Ideuma Creek's Darbee

Darbee was named after a Catskill Mountain fly-tying great, Harry Darbee.  I'm sure you're catching on now to a theme.  Cabellas, Orvis, and now Harry Darbee.  It's now official.  John is hooked (no pun intended) on fly fishing! 

I am rather fanatical about cria watch.  I keep meticulous records, impatiently wait and plan all winter long, and when spring and cria season comes, I'm pumped.  This year we will have our largest number of crias born in one season at our farm.  May is, by far, my favorite month to have crias.  The weather is as perfect as it gets here in upstate New York, and the flies aren't biting yet.  The problem with May crias is simply this; John and I are both still in school.

So all month long, I raced home from school on my lunch break to see if a cria has been born or if one is on the way.  All month long I did this to no avail.  Darbee, our last May cria, made it all worth my while. 

His mother, Gypsy, was humming in the morning before school.  She was also way overdue (16 days later than she had gone last year).  I had found her cervical plug days ago in the poop pile.  I just knew today was going to be the day.  I wasn't surprised then that on June 2nd when I came home to check around noon, I had just missed Darbee being born.  He was beautiful, jet black, solid, and strong.  I was relieved to see him.  He was another big cria, 22 pounds!  Darbee was my last "May" cria.  All six had been born without complications or assistance.  There was no more need for lunch break cria checks, although I would sneak a few more in before the end of school.  I tend to miss the alpacas during the school day! 

This year's "May" crias reminded me that I am not in control of everything.  Starlight's cria, April was born at just 327 days on the last day in April, and Gypsy went 351 days.  This made Darbee born on the second day in June.  I was close, anyway!   Planning and good record keeping certainly takes a great deal of the guess work out of breeding and birthing alpacas, but this month I was reminded that mother nature is definitely the one in charge!

Darbee in the Fall 2004