Opal has a girl…
She is known simply by my better half as “my Opal.” And may the powers that be rise to protect you if you are foolish enough to speak ill of her in Jennifer’s presence! CCNF Opal, a 2-time black Futurity Champion is one of the small group of dark Snowmass Nova daughters that we still have here as part of the colored half of our female foundation herd. She was quite simply, as you might have surmised from her nickname, Jen’s personal pet when she was a juvenile and yearling show girl. Though since that time, she has continued to endear herself to the entire crew here at CCNF by virtue of her genuinely sweet personality (even when pregnant), her quality which she has shown a real penchant for replicating in her offspring (Invictus, Charming, and Obsidian – each a Champion in their own right, are all Opie babies), and above all: her maternal instincts.
Opal has been known to willingly nurse not only her own crias but also one or two others literally at the same time. It doesn’t matter what color they are, she seems to just love baby alpacas: her’s and everyone else’s too and she relishes playing the role of the resident den mother! Last summer, she was unfortunately without a cria of her own after losing her pregnancy during the wintertime. So it was, that we were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of what would be her 5th cria earlier this month. Though this news is almost a week old — it’s been kind of kooky around here of late, though mostly in a good way — we are happy to announce the arrival of CCNF Opalescent! Baby Opie, as she was almost immediately tagged, is in fact Obsidian’s full sibling (both having been sired by Matrix Majesty) and we are all relieved to have one of our favorite alpaca moms with a little one by her side yet again! Originating with Opal’s imported dam, 4P Capuchin (now deceased), this is a maternal line which we both highly value and also, quite frankly, horde in our foundation herd. Once grown, Opalescent will join not only her mom and her older maternal sister Charming, but also Charming’s own Majesty daughter from 2012, CCNF Capuchin, here in our herd. You can never have enough of the great ones…
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