Care

The care of Alpacas generally requires little effort. Top priority is the daily control of their state of health. Alpacas should not be excessively course-fed. Beside grass, hay and water are particularly crucial for a good digestion. The addition of force feeding of concentrated feed is often only necessary in winter and in individual cases necessary for breeding dams. Mineral lick stones or mineral feeds such as Camelibra containing salt and vital minerals which are made freely available to the animal will adjust the mineral levels of the animal’s body. 

The toenails should be controlled every two months and cut or corrected when necessary. A rose clipper can be utilised to cut the nails. On hard underground, if e.g. the stable is laid out with stones, the animals will wear down the nails themselves. Nevertheless they must be controlled, so that no deformations can result from possible bent growing nails. 

The incisor teeth of Alpacas (they possess only underside incisor teeth and have chewing plate above) grow continually throughout their life. Usually they wear automatically themselves down, however, it can sometimes occur that the teeth grow beyond the chewing plate, which one can determine when the jaw is closed. In such a situation the teeth must be shortened as no more wear can take place, this can be carried out with the help of a special teeth grinder. Always be sure to pay attention in ensuring that the teeth do not become too short. 
Alpacas should be sheared annually or at least every two years. Here sheep shears can be used. The alpacas should be dry before shearing, so that the sheared fibre can be packed in a dry state. It is recommended to shear the animals in May/June (European summer time), this will enable them to regenerate sufficient fibre to protect them during the cold season. Alpacas should be protected directly after shearing against the extreme influences of the weather such as strong sunshine (risk of sun burn / sunstroke), extreme cold weather and rain. After only a few days they will become accustomed to not being so warm, therefore they are made quickly aware that the shearing did them good.

One must to keep a close eye on breeding dams around calving time, in order to assist if complications occur during or after the birth or to get veterinary assistance. Generally the crias are born in the morning up until the early afternoon. The cria should begin stand up within two hours and begin to suckle from the mothers teats soon after that. If the cria does not receive the first milk (colostrums milk), within the first hours of life, it will not receive sufficient antibodies and vitamins which can put the life of the cria in danger. It is also absolutely necessary to observe that the cria excretes the amniotic fluid within the first bowel movement. The afterbirth should likewise be released from the mother within the first two hours. Early drinking of the cria is preferred, it is here that the Oxytocic hormone is transferred from the mother to the cria.

The cria should be weaned from the mother at approximately 6 – 8 months i.e. it should be separated from the female herd and transferred to its own pasture. This will enable the female to optimally regenerate for the birth of her next cria.In the raising of stud males it is important to ensure that the contact to humans is reduced to an absolutely minimum, as too much contact can lead to the Berserk-male-syndrome, a disorder. Affected adolescent males see mature humans as competitors and can sometimes attack (fight for ranking).