Shelter

Alpacas need shelter from the elements, ideally a barn or shelter to protect them from the sun, rain, and wind. Routinely feeding your alpacas in their barn will encourage easier handling. When handling your alpacas, you should do so quietly, gently, talking to them in a reassuring tone so they become relaxed in your presence.

Checking your alpacas

Check your alpacas first thing in the morning and late afternoon/early evening/feeding times. Look for signs of unusual behaviour such as a lone alpaca cushing, separated from the herd for long periods, or laying uncomfortably. Looking for abnormal behaviour, reduction in appetite and posture as well as physical issues such as lameness, flystrike, diarrhoea etc. The eyes of a healthy alpaca will be clear and bright.
Learning the normal behaviour of individuals and the herd in general, is a prerequisite for ascertaining the well-being of animals will help you pick up any issues early. Alpacas are generally extremely hardy and adapt well to most conditions. A good indication of health is body temperature and respiratory rate.

Temperature

A thermometer is an extremely useful and inexpensive piece of equipment. The alpaca should be adequately restrained before inserting into the anus and pressed up against the lining of the rectum. The normal temperature of alpaca is between 37.5°C and 38.9°C.

Body scoring

Place your fingers on the central backbone near the last ribs, either side of the vertebrae and feel for muscle coverage. Variations in alpaca body condition directly impact upon the health and reproductive performance of the herd. By scoring regularly, you can identify sudden losses in
condition which can be an indicator of underlying disease. It is also a great way of getting your alpacas used to you touching them and making them quieter to handle. Can be used to assess the condition of your alpaca. Commonly a 0 – 5 scale is used to describe an alpaca on a scale of thin to obese. 2.5 to 3.0 being optimum, 5 being obese.

Feeding

Alpacas need access clean water at all times, good pasture and additional hay all year round. And a camelid mix providing the daily vitamins and minerals required. Vitamin and mineral supplements throughout the year, discuss and establish suitable regime with your own vet. Vitamin D supplementation is required for proper growth in young stock and pregnant females. In their native land in the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia and Chile
alpacas are exposed to very high levels of sunlight but here in the UK sunlight is limited during the winter so supplements are essential.

Vaccinations

Alpacas need a Clostridial vaccination – discuss with your vet.

Wormers

Regular faecal analysis is recommended to identify potential problems early, and to prevent overuse of wormers building up resistance. Please speak to your vet about the most appropriate wormers for your herd.

Foot Care

Alpacas have soft padded feet with two toenails on each foot and a soft leathery pad. Depending on the environment the toenails require regular attention at least three to four times a year and at shearing.

Teeth Care

Alpacas can occasionally have overshot lower front teeth which will require reducing so that the alpaca can graze normally. Alpacas also develop fighting teeth as they mature. In males, these should be blunted to prevent injuries from fighting. Ask your vet to check if this needs to be done.

Shearing

Alpacas need to be sheared

Herd Records

Responsible alpaca ownership requires you to keep records of vaccination, wormer and medical schedules, and movement records. There are some excellent commercial herd management systems available.

Health and diseases

• Owners should be aware that a number of plants are poisonous to alpacas and should take steps to ensure that they are removed from paddocks. For
details of the effects of various poisonous plants and a list of a number of common ones that can harm alpacas, click here. BAS page link?

Vets

At some point in your alpaca’s life, it may need to see a vet. We would strongly recommend registering with a vet near to you with experience of camelids.

Alpacas are members of the camelid family, which includes llamas, camels, vicuna and guanaco. They are completely different to their counterparts in character and temperament especially the camel.

They are known as a modified ruminant and chew their cud similar to a cow, although they only have three stomach compartments, rather than the true ruminant, which has four. Alpacas selectively graze, eating pasture grasses and hay, although to ensure they remain healthy many breeders in the UK add vitamins to their diet providing essential nourishment.

The scientific name of the Alpaca is Lama Pacos. (Guess why the name alpaca soon caught on!) There are two different alpaca types, the Suri and the Huacaya. The Suri has fibre that grows quite long and forms silky, pencil-like locks. Today, there are between 3,500,000 and 4,000,000 living in Peru, representing 75% of the world’s total population. Here in the UK, the British Alpaca Society registry currently lists just over 30,000 which is quite a difference.

Many people are surprised to find that alpacas have no top teeth in the front. Alpacas are small and gentle enough to travel short distances in a stock trailer and can be easily handled by most people (including children – making them ideal for trekking or walks).

Alpacas have a life span of 20 +/- years, so you can enjoy your alpaca for a long time. Not only do they have a long reproductive life, they will provide fleece for a lifetime, making for a long-lived investment.

An alpaca’s gestation period is 11 to 12 months, and they have single births (twins are extremely rare). A baby alpaca, called a cria, usually weighing between 15 and 20 pounds.

The British Alpaca Society (BAS) is a good source for more information and training courses. Reputable breeders usually offer husbandry training to customers new to keeping alpacas when purchasing for the first time. Please do contact us here at Yorkshire Alpaca Group for information and advice, we are a friendly group and love talking about our favourite animals.