Alpaca Gestation Period

Purpose This informative report will expand your knowledge of alpaca’s gestation period. It will teach the reader about the mating process as well as how to check if the female is pregnant. As well as inform the reader about labour and about the Cria or a baby alpaca after they are born.
Background
Females or the Dam are induced ovulators which means they do not ovulate until the act of mating and the presence of sperm. Their gestation period is roughly 11 ½ months with a two-week period before or after that they can also give birth. There are age requirements to have a healthy pregnancy, for both the females and males. Females are not mature to breed until they are 12 to 24 months of age with 18 months being most common for a better pregnancy with less complications. The Sire or a male alpaca is not mature until their penis detaches form the prepuce, which may happen anywhere from the age of 1 to 3. Where most alpaca owners will wait until the males are about 2 years of age or older. (Alpacainfo.com, n.d). Dams give birth to a single Cria or baby, “twins are rare, approximately 1/1000, being slightly rarer than the proportion of twins in human births” (Alpacainfo.com, n.d).
Within 3 hours the baby should be standing, and this is when the rest of the herd will come see the new baby, just like the animals in Bambi. The Cria should be drinking milk within 4 hours after being born, you need to ensure you are checking the baby’s weight each day to ensure they are getting milk from their mother and gaining 150 grams each day. If you find the baby is lethargic and not gaining weight you need to supplement with Anlam until the baby rejects it, meaning they are getting enough milk from the Dam. A healthy Cria should be eating 10% of their body weight with each feed (Thealpacaplace.com,