ALPACA INFO
Native
to the highlands of South America the alpaca, once raised by the
ancient Incas and Aztec civilizations, is the oldest form of domesticated
livestock known to man. Alpacas are Camelids and belong to the genus
Lama which consist of 4 species Llama, Alpacas, Guanacos and Vicunas.
Guanacos and Vicunas are wild, Llamas and Alpacas are domesticated.
Today most of the worlds 3 million plus Alpacas are found in Peru,
Bolivia and Chile. Canada United States, Australia, NewZealand and
many European countries have discovered the benefits of raising
alpacas and have imported from these countries
"Huacaya"
is the most common alpaca. They have soft bonnets of fiber on their
forehead, (called a top notch) dense body fiber grows straight out
from the body. The rarer Suri alpaca and is covered in long pencil
fine locks which hang straight down from the body. Alpacas weigh
from 125 - 175 lbs. with an average height at the withers of 36
inches. The babies (called cria) weigh around 18 lbs. at birth and
are nearly always born in daylight hours. Crias are up and walking
in minutes and running after only a few hours. An Alpaca's gestation
period is about 340 days (average). Alpacas are very clean animals
and use a common dung pile. They are hardy, easy to care for and
remarkably disease free. Being a herd animal they usually band together.
You will find them very curious and intelligent animals. In just
a few sessions an alpaca will learn to lead or load to a vehicle.
While travelling they lie down (cush).
Apacas
are very quiet in general. The most common communication is a soft
humming sound. They will cluck to their cria occasionally and when
worried omit an alarm call which is shrill and high pitched similar
to a hoot owl. When breeding the male will orgle, and during scraps
for dominance they will scream at each other. Alpacas require little
care other than shearing once a year, toenail trimming, annual inoculations,
and deworming twice or three times a year. Being very efficient
feeders they do not require high protein feed. Care should be taken
to have a well balanced mineral content. Females are bred from 12
to 18 months at which time the are called "hembras". Female alpacas
are induced ovulators, and do not have a heat cycle therefore can
be bred anytime. They are capable of producing one offspring a year
for about 20 years. Twin births do occur but are rare. The new mothers
are often rebred 2-3 weeks after giving birth. Males reach breeding
age around 2-3 years of age at which time are called "machos". Care
should be taken as young males have been known to breed as young
as a year.
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