The Birth of An Alpaca

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An alpaca birth usually occurs in the morning with some birthing in the early afternoon. It is rare that a dam will birth in the evening. It is felt that births that come later in the day may indicate some sort of difficulty. Prolonged labor may require human intervention to reposition the cria. Breeders can take one of the many neonatal courses offered across the country. This will provide them with the skills necessary to assess the birthing process and determine whether intervention by themselves or a vet is necessary.

Indicators that an alpaca may be nearing her due date are the formation of an udder, excessive humming and frequent visits to the dung pile. A female will also exhibit restlessness and will continually get up and down.

Usually the cria is born with the dam standing (as shown below), but occasionally they will birth lying down.

In the normal presentation, the nose pops out either first or simultaneously with the two forefeet on either side of the head.

Alpacas do not lick their crias, as other species of animals often will, dams simply smell their crias to recognize their scent, and will continue to use scent to identify them even 6 months later when their cria comes to nurse. The cria’s toenails are covered with a rubbery, cartilage like material, which serves to protect the mother's uterus from the kicks of her cria as she carries it in utero.

Crias are usually walking within 45 minutes and nursing within 2 hours. It is critical that they nurse as soon as possible. In the first hours after delivery, the mother produces a thick milk called colustrums that is full of nutrients and antibodies that are important for the cria. It is very important that the cria gets these antibodies through colostrums or a blood plasma transfusion within 8 hours after birth. After that time period, the cria become increasingly less likely to absorb the antibodies. Most often, you are able to observe the cria nursing within minutes to hours after birth and no intervention is needed.