www.americanaalpacas.com

Alpaca’s are beautiful animals and will give birth to beautiful offspring. The average time of gestation is about 11 months. The owner of an alpaca will need to have some items on hand for when their alpaca goes into labor and gives birth. One of the most important things to have on hand before your alpaca goes into labor is your veterinarian’s phone number. This is very important in case something goes wrong during the birth. Latex gloves come in handy when helping with the delivery. Make sure to have a good supply of towels on hand to dry off the baby alpaca. A shoe lace comes in handy to tie off the umbilical cord and iodine for cleaning. Other items to have on hand that may be necessary are lubricating jelly, thermometer, vet wrapping, nipples, bottles, blanket, pain medication, and a catheter. I recommend taking a birthing class before helping your alpaca deliver, because occasionally things will go wrong and you will need to know what to do. The experience is well worth it and you will be amazed at how easy the birthing experience actually is for an alpaca. If you have any problems call your vet.

Careful consideration should be made when selecting alpacas for successful breeding. One thing to note is that Alpacas do not do well solo. They are social animals. Some folks starting out with an Alpaca farm purchase bred females, but it is not a good idea to purchase just one Alpaca. When starting out, sometimes a buyer may also request a gelded Alpaca as a companion pet.

When selecting male and female Alpacas for breeding, there are several different considerations to make. There Read the rest of this entry »