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ALPACA HUSBANDRY HINTS

Hair Loss on Noses

For years people have been saying that the non-specific hair loss most common in spring and summer on the noses of many alpacas occurs in just black or very dark animals. Various causes have been assigned to this affliction and numerous remedies touted. The condition definitely is not confined to dark animals. We have seen it on individuals with white faces and have personally encountered our worst cases with two red-brown alpacas. What causes it? Does it have a single cause or are there several? We don't know. In the early days we tried culturing scrapings from afflicted noses but got no where. Dermal application of fungicides and broad range antimicrobial lotions and creams sometimes offered partial or temporary relief, but was it the active ingredient or the inert carrier just keeping the skin soft and lubricated? We tried recommended oils and creams, but until this year found that plain old, generic petroleum jelly (Vaseline) applied daily was as good as most anything else. This spring with hair loss advancing from the bridge of the nose down the sides of the muzzle on one unlucky fellow, we started experimenting again and found a moisturizer lotion with sun screen to be helpful on our worst cases. The Oil of Olay product, which we initially purchased for human use, contains the old lifeguard standbys zinc oxide and titanium oxide in an invisible, pulverized form. We have no idea if the lotion's ability to scatter harmful rays is part of the remedy, but for now it is working better than anything else. Walmart has a similar product called Oil of Beauty at a very reasonable price.

Easy Applicator for Liquid Ear Medications

For application of liquid medications into the ears of alpacas try attaching a blunt, plastic cow teat infusion cannula onto the end of a 5 to 20 cc disposable syringe and then filling the syringe. The length of the cannula will allow delivery of the drug deep in the outer ear. These very blunt cannulas also are great for oral dosing of small volumes of liquids such as some dewormers into the rear of the mouth. Be warned, however, that the life of these needles will be shortened if they repeatedly come between camelid molars.

Teasing Maidens

These are usually the hardest gals to tease. It certainly pays to have an experienced and very manageable male to do the job. We typically tease four days after breeding and every four days thereafter until pregnancy has been confirmed by ultrasonagraphy. After a maiden has been bred she may or may not know how to respond to teasing by a male so we look for any change in behavior in the maiden and in the stud.

If the initial breeding was unsuccessful, and the maiden willingly accepted the stud the first time, her response should be similar when teased allowing her to be rebred. If her reaction to the initial breeding was one of confusion, she may have learned what life is all about from her first encounter and be less confused or even cooperative at the second encounter.

If she was totally spaced out or scared during the first breeding, expect the worse and proceed to tease her in as quiet a manner as possible. If she continues to behave this way or never allowed her self to be bred in the first place, she may not be mature enough for breeding or she may have some physical or hormonal condition precluding breeding. If she is small for her age or under 16 months of age, waiting a couple or more months for her to mature may be best. If she is of at least normal size and is 20 months or older, a veterinary reproductive examination may be in order.

If, after being breed, the maiden is on course to ovulation and pregnancy, she may or may not know how to respond to the male. A lot of maidens will not run, scream, kick and/or spit like their moms and more experienced older sisters might. ( Feel lucky when a maiden manages a couple of these responses even if they are not very pronounced. ) Knowledge of the maiden's personality and her behavior during the initial breeding may help determine whether her quiet avoidance of the teaser is her way of saying that she no longer in need of being bred or if she is merely being coy. As soon as the maiden obviously rejects the teaser or we surmise that she is not interested in him for good reason, teasing is terminated and her reaction recorded. Teasing is then repeated at four day intervals and an early ultrasonography is scheduled at around 20 days for maidens that do not show renewed interest in the stud.

Go to Current Alpaca Husbandry Hints or for past hints, go to our Alpaca Husbandry Hints Archives.

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