Thursday, April 7, 2016

What An Alpaca Breeder Near Denver Should Know

By Jason Miller


An alpaca is a South American species of camelid domesticated in homes for various reasons. It has close resemblance to llamas. Suri and Huacaya are the two breeds of alpaca. Although llamas and alpacas resemble, alpacas are not beasts of burden. The breeding of alpacas in the United States is done by very many breeders. Any alpaca breeder near Denver needs to know the vital facts highlighted below about alpacas.

Anyone who breeds alpacas should find the tips in this writing very useful. To begin with, alpacas have been domesticated for several thousands of years. The images of the animals are used in art of the Moche people of Northern Peru. Alpacas are known for not living in the wild. The wild ancestor of alpacas, which is also its closest relative is the vicuna. Both species have their origin in South America.

Alpaca is one of the animals classified as camelids. Other animals within the same class are camels, llamas, and vicunas. The fiber of alpacas and vicunas is the most valuable among all camelids. Fiber from alpacas is known for high quantity and quality. Conversely, fiber from vicunas is known for high quality, fineness, and softness.

Alpacas and vicunas are some of the smallest animals belonging to the camelid species. Due to the small size, breeders do not use them as pack animals. They are bred for fiber and meat only. Andean inhabitants once considered the meat a delicacy. There is a growing market for alpacas in North America and the animals fetch a high price. The high prices has led to increased of smuggling of alpacas into the US and Canada.

Alpacas are social herd beasts. They reside in family groups that are made of young ones, females, and a territorial alpha male. When there is an intruder, the animals warn each by producing sharp, noisy inhalations that resemble high-pitched brays. Smaller predators are usually attacked by the whole herd, which kicks and spits on them. They are particularly aggressive towards members of the canid family, which makes them to be used in some cases to guard sheep.

Alpacas are known for using communal dung piles. The dung piles are usually sited far from grazing zones. The spreading of internal parasites is limited communal ding piles. The number of dung piles is usually smaller for males than for females, which renders males tidier. The use of communal dug piles has been exploited to house-train alpacas.

Alpacas make different sounds depending on the situation. The high-pitched whine is made when they sense danger. Wark noise is made when they spot a strange animal like a cat or when they are excited. They signal submissive behavior by clicking or clucking. They tell others of their presence of content by humming. Males scream in a bird-like sound when they fight.

Females need between 10-24 months to reach age of maturity. Conversely, males take a slightly longer time to mature. They need two to three years. It takes 11.5 months for the female to give birth to a young one and they rarely produce twins. Females are ready for after 2 weeks only.




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