Alpaca Journal

For anyone who has ever drawn a blank when calculating the due date of a bred female, we have created a tool to solve the problem. Click here, enter your breeding date, and the answer appears.

    The gestation period for alpacas is generally from 315 to 370 days; it averages 355 days. This is a much wider variable than for most species. The time of year at which mating occurs can affect the gestation period. Longer pregnancies occur after spring matings and shorter ones can occur with fall matings.

I hope you find the tool to be useful.

Trained farm managers are graduating from University of Massachusetts Camelid Program.

UMass has implemented an exciting Camelid program that will train the alpaca ranch managers of the future. Review the circular by clicking here or call Steve Purdy, DVM at (413) 549-3820, or email him at srpurdy@vasci.umass.edu.

Thank you.

Toni Johnson of Alsea Bay Llama Rescue
Waldport, Oregon 

Mike:

Thank you for the Witches Brew recipe. For several years, I battled a skin problem with one of my elderly llamas. Our vet did a skin scraping and found nothing, but I was convinced all the symptoms were mites. Even though the test results came back negative we treated her for mites with limited success. Last summer she had another outbreak and we took her to Oregon State Vet Hospital. They found mites but not on the outbreak spots. They found them when they did a scraping BETWEEN her toes. The vet recommended shearing her and using Athroban. Big waste of time, money, and stress on the animal. I then tried a course of Ivermectin injectable 3 times - 2 weeks apart. That cleared all areas on her skin except the belly area. Your concoction is the only thing that impacts the outbreak on her belly.

Your info on mites is so important. One thing most owners aren't aware of is just how dangerous mites can be to the health of llamas and alpacas. I have an acquaintance that one of her llamas died because of the severity of the mite infestation. The vet had done 2 separate scrapings and found no mites, but the necropsy showed a huge mite infestation.

Related Links:

• Alpaca Skin Problems: The Myth, The Mites, and The Munge.

By Mike Safley

         I am constantly inspecting alpacas at shows and seminars around the country and the world. The most common problems that I observe are funky skin conditions with the symptoms that I described above. If the owners have noticed the problem or spoken with their veterinarians about it, they most often tell me that it has been diagnosed as “zinc deficiency”. Some say they believe it is due to sunburn. Few, if any, have found an effective cure for the conditions they describe.  If you have ever had problems clearing up skin conditions on your alpacas you should Read this article.

By Nancy Carr MD

         This is the detective story about the discovery that BVD (bovine viral diarrhea) virus, originally thought to be an insignificant problem for camelids, does indeed cause illness and abortions in alpacas, and that it can also cause the persistenly infected (PI) state in alpacas.  This has fairly far reaching consequences for alpaca farming.  For detailed information on BVD virus itself, please see the accompanying article.  Like any detective story, my narrative is long and detailed.  Also like a detective story, looking back, the solution looks fairly clear; working forward from the beginning  it was not clear at all.  Read the entire article

Related Links:

• Recommendations for Testing for Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus in Alpacas and Llamas.
• BVD Virus - A Newly Recognized Serious Health Problem in Alpacas.

By Nancy Carr MD and Susy Carman DVM PhD.

         Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD virus or BVDV), a serious problem in cattle, has now been proven to also cause illness, abortions, and most important of all, the persistently infected (PI) state in alpacas.  The virus's ability to produce persistently infected cria, the main way this disease would be spread, and its ability to cause abortions are extremely important for the alpaca industry.  Read the entire article

Related Links:

• Recommendations for Testing for Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus in Alpacas & Llamas
• BVD Virus and Alpacas - The Detective Story

By Susy Carman, DVM PhD

         Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) and persistent infection (PI) is a newly recognized disease in alpaca.  So far only one persistently infected alpaca cria has been studied.  The following BVDV testing strategies for alpaca are based on comparative medicine and derived from those currently used for cattle.  These recommendations may need to be refined as more is learned about BVDV in alpaca.  Read the entire article.

Related Links:

• BVD Virus and Alpacas - The Detective Story
• BVD Virus - A Newly Recognized Serious Health Problem in Alpacas

         The Alpaca Research Trust (ART) was established by the ARI Board of Directors in December, 1997 as a Colorado non-profit corporation for charitable, educational and scientific purposes.  The Board of Directors, of what is now known as the Alpaca Research Foundation, is composed of a select group of camelid veterinarians, research scientists and medical professionals.  Their job is to establish research goals and critically evaluate research proposals from qualified research scientists.

         The mission of the Alpaca Registry Foundation is to encourage and support scientific research which benefits the North American alpaca industry, primarily in the areas of alpaca health and husbandry, genetics and fiber.  To read more about what the ART has to say about BVD, click here.

Related Links:

• BVD Virus and Alpacas - The Detective Story
• BVD Virus - A Newly Recognized Serious Health Problem for Alpacas
• Recommendations for Testing for Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus in Alpacas & Llamas

I have tried to understand how a female begins with a fertilized egg and nurtures life to the point of birth. What is that spark that transfers the responsibility for being from the mother to her newborn? It is easy to understand the mechanics of reproduction and, finally, birth, but that magic moment of vigor and independence that begins with the first breath is still Mother Nature’s mystery. Nothing is more exciting.

This month features a series of photos I took on a recent visit to Peru. I captured a birth from start to finish. I added some text from my new book The Alpaca Shepherd which allows the viewer to watch the birth in the context of the three stages of labor.

View the Slideshow at Alpacas.com

The alpaca breeder's idea of type is created by their visual picture of the characteristics that are considered ideal for the breed. An ideal breed type is often based on the details of conformation and color that are not necessarily related to the economic productivity of the animals. In alpacas, examples of this might include the exotic colors or patterns, fleece coverage on the face or legs, eye color, pigmentation, or a particular style of lock or crimp.

Breeders pay attention to breed type mainly because it is, in a sense, a trademark offering additional evidence that the animal in question conforms to the ideals of the breed. For example, Don Julio Barreda says that "the heads of Accoyo's alpacas are my trademark." Breed type is a matter of beauty to the breeders who have long been breeding and admiring a particular breed. But beauty is subjective. Most of us can bring ourselves to think that any particular type is beautiful if we work with it long enough, have our money invested in it, and find it profitable.

Click here to read more.