Pronking Crias & Sprinkler Lovin' Mama Alpacas
Journal Entry 29, 8/11/2022
This time of summer starts to wrap up the birthing season & puts a brief pause in the breeding season at Alpacas at Windy Hill. Cindy's goals for both are to have the oldest crias in the spring competitions, which run from last week of March to the first week of May each year. (See Alpaca Road Trips, 2022 Shows & Winners.)
The warm summer day of volunteering at the Alpacas at Windy Hill ranch started with general chit chat in the shade of the pepper trees & evolved into talking about contracts. The past week, I've been creating different contract templates for services my nascent consulting company offers. Because contracts have been on my mind, I asked Cindy, owner of Alpacas at Windy Hill, what contracts she uses. She said Boarding, Breeding, & Sales are her most common contracts & it's been essential to have them. In the breeding contract is a live birth guarantee clause. I asked her what she does when a female alpaca isn't successfully breeding or keeping a pregnancy to full term. She said she'll give another female with a record of successful cria births & another breeding to that alpaca.
Alpacas are extremely sensitive & easily stressed for many reasons - hotter than normal temperatures, changes in their environment or routine, being moved to a new environment, and more - so it's important to minimize stress during breeding season & during gestation. Cindy’s noticed more alpacas whose breeding doesn't take, or it takes, but the female loses the cria due to stress from the heat or environmental change. As such, Cindy likes to avoid breeding during the hottest days of late summer thru early fall. (This is for her alpacas only. Breeding times vary for ranches throughout the country & for others' alpacas who board their alpacas at the Windy Hill ranch.)
Alpaca Anatomy Lesson
A female alpaca can be bred three weeks (!!) after giving birth, even if her cria is still nursing.
An alpaca's gestation is around 11 months. In order to have new juveniles (6-12 months old) to take to the spring alpaca shows, Cindy prefers to breed her alpacas so the “show kids” will be the oldest in their class.
A female alpaca spits to show disinterest in a male alpaca. This typically occurs when the female thinks that she’s already impregnated, therefore will not want to mate. Alpaca breeders commonly use a “spit test” to assess pregnancy as it is proven to be accurate and reliable. Spit tests start a week after breeding & continue every week or so for the first month.
Alpacas ovulate 5 days after being bred & the embryo implants 14 days after breeding.
Ultrasounds are given after 30 days of being bred, the 1st time the cria is visible. Rechecks are given during gestation to confirm the cria is growing at expected rate.
