Alpaca Husbandry at Atacama Alpacas


At Atacama Alpacas we take great pride in helping all new alpaca owners to understand how to care effectively for their animals and indeed many of our clients continue to draw on our knowledge. Here are a few brief points to bear in mind… Diet Alpacas are herbivores and eat grass and other green plants, making them fairly inexpensive to feed. During periods of high energy requirements, you can supplement their feed with hay or haylage, a concentrate ration as well as dried sugar beet pulp (which must be pre-soaked), whole sugar beet roots or a similar fodder crop. You can buy a number of specialist Camelid rations (although cheaper rations are available), formulated for alpacas and llamas, but alpacas do just as well on standard cattle or goat mix. It is also advisable to provide alpacas with a supplement of minerals and trace elements. As with all members of the Camelid family, alpacas do not drink huge quantities of water but you they must have easy access to fresh clean water at all times. Feet & Teeth These are the main areas to keep a watch on with alpacas. Trimming of toenails and teeth is vital for the health and welfare of your alpacas. Alpaca teeth are constantly growing and on lush pasture they are not worn down at the same rate as they grow. Therefore their teeth will probably need to be trimmed once or twice a year. This is a specialised task and you should seek help with this until you have gained some experience. Depending on your soil type, toenails will need to be trimmed three to four times a year. Long toenails can be extremely uncomfortable for the animals and in severe cases can lead to deformed bones and arthritis. For the correct equipment to trim feet follow this link. Foot Care Fighting Teeth Male alpacas will start to develop their fighting teeth from three years of age. It is advisable to have these cut so they do not inflict injury to other animals while playing or fighting. Worming Failure to worm your alpacas can have a massive effect on their health. Routine worming is most popular. This ensures all your alpacas are treated at the same time. Worming is generally carried out twice a year, with at least one coinciding with shearing. You may find that you need to worm more often, but this depends on your ground and what else grazes, or has grazed, on the same pasture. Alternatively you can collect fresh dung samples from your alpacas and take it to the vet for testing, who will then advise you if any or all of your animals require worming. This system works well with small herds, but it does mean you need to know which sample came from which animal! For the correct equipment to vaccinate and worm follow this link. Vaccinating and Worming Equipment. Fly Strike Despite popular belief, alpacas can suffer from fly strike. This is when blue bottle flies lay eggs in dirty fleece or in the hidden damp parts of a recumbent animal. In warm, humid weather, the eggs can turn into maggots extremely quickly. If caught early enough, you can treat fly strike successfully but you must work fast. Your vet can advise you on a number of suitable chemicals to use. The best way to avoid fly strike is to shear early to remove dirty fleece and to keep an eye on alpacas feeding on new lush pasture as this can make them loose. Keep a close watch on females after birthing, as often they have residues from the birthing process on their hindquarters which are very attractive to flies. You can also treat alpacas with suitable chemicals that prevent flies from laying their eggs and stops them hatching if they do. Seek advice from your vet on these. Eyes Look out for tear streaking from the eyes. This could mean that they have a grass seed or dirt in the eye. You should investigate if this persists. If you have hedging, watch out for scratches and other damage from thorns and twigs. Seek veterinary advice immediately for necessary treatment if you do find any injuries. Shearing Shearing is one of the major annual tasks for the alpaca owner. The earlier you do it the better, as this helps to prevent fly strike and the fleece has longer to grow back for the winter. May, June or July is best. Contrary to popular belief you can shear pregnant females as long as you are gentle and patient. It is advisable to bring in a professional shearer, as this is a fairly specialised task. You can learn to do it yourself with guidance. Alpacas can be shorn using the same equipment as for sheep. They do not have an oily fleece, so make sure your equipment is well oiled to prevent overheating and cutting the animal. Alpacas should be shorn each year, although suris may be shorn every two years so that their fleece grows longer. For the correct equipment to Shear and Trim alpacas, follow this link. Shearing and Trimming Equipment Breeding Alpacas are relatively easy to breed and make good caring mothers. Births are always single, so you can only expect one cria per female each year. It is wise to plan the mating of animals so that they give birth between late spring and the end of the summer. Gestation lasts between 11 to 12 months. Females are mated for the first time when they are around 18 months old, and are usually mated around 14 days after giving birth. When a female is ready to be mated, she will sit down and allow the male to mate with her. When her body tells her she is pregnant, she will reject males by refusing to sit, spitting or kicking him away. Pregnancy can be determined with ultrasound scanning. Alpacas usually give birth to their 'cria' between dawn and early afternoon. Although it is advisable to keep a close eye on females close to term, they can generally manage the birth on their own. The simplest way to breed is to send your female to a suitable stud male. At EP Cambridge UK we offer a large selection of high quality stud males to breed with, all of which are available for studwork during the breeding season. We can organise collection and delivery and will give you the best advice on selecting a stud male. Cria Cria are naturally born at or around first light, enabling them to dry and warm up during daylight. This helps them to survive the cold night ahead. Do keep a close eye on new born cria, as they can be susceptible to the rapid onset of hypothermia. If it is wet or cold, you may need to bring the mother and her cria into a shelter or building. Dry the cria by wrapping it in a towel or carefully with a hair dryer. Place it under a heat lamp or in a warm place. Cria should be trying to stand and feed within half an hour of birth. Like many young animals they appear wobbly with exceptionally long legs! Make sure that the cria suckles from the mother within the first 12 hours - the earlier the better, as the cria's stomach lining loses its ability to absorb the antibodies from the colostrum. If necessary, bottle-feed the cria with made-up powder colostrum. If, for whatever reason, you have to bottle-feed cria, they can be successfully given a lamb replacer milk powder, although we obtain fresh goat colostrum. You will need to give six feeds at day at body temperature. However, as with all babies, the mother's natural milk is best. At around four weeks old, cria will need to be vaccinated with a suitable clostridial vaccine, which is repeated four weeks later. They will then have the antibodies they need to ward off problems. They then move on to a similar management system to that of adult alpacas, receiving vaccinations twice a year. Weaning takes place when the cria are about six months old. This can be a distressing time and you'll need to take care to put youngsters out of sight of their mothers - otherwise they will do almost anything to get back to each other. For the correct equipment to birth and raise cria properly follow this link. Birthing Equipment Cria Coats Transportation While alpacas are generally easy to transport, as they simply sit down and wait for the journey to end, there are certain things that need to be observed when moving alpacas around the country. Make sure alpacas have access to fresh water and feed before the trip. Make sure that the trailer or vehicle is suitable for the alpacas, and that they have enough head room and fresh air. Load alpacas carefully and gently. Pregnant females travel perfectly well, so long as you look after them as you should any alpaca. Use your common sense when driving. Go carefully with the minimum of rapid stops. Drive slowly and gently when approaching a junction, and don't speed off from a standstill. Some useful items to take with you on the journey include: Fresh water Forage For Hay nets click this link Halters and ropes in case you need from an unsafe area such as a motorway hard shoulder Click for link to Halters and lead ropes Mobile phone Suitable roadside assistence in case you break down. The RAC do a trailer recovery service. Insurance Emergency telephone numbers Spare tyre for the trailer and the appropriate tools. The necessray paperwork to stay within the law. If you follow this advice, you should be able to move your alpacas without any problems, and most importantly, without any stress.