As the new year begins so does the life of baby Luna who was born in January. She was born without human assistance and healthy but did not latch onto her mother to feed. We were required to bottle feed her for the first 24 hours but then she was shown how to feed on her own. Now she is growing as expected for a cria and continues to meet her targets for weight and condition.
The first month of life is critical for newborns and it is expected that they double their weight in the first 50 days and also given the required doses of vaccine along with other health checks. Breeding alpacas can be very rewarding and watching cria grow into adults is an achievement every breeder is proud of, but it does carry with it similar responsibilities as those of human babies.
Regular checks and weights are needed to maintain the health of any herd especially at critical times of the year. The Australian Alpaca Association has guidelines outlining these requirements and they are a very good source of information along with talking to other breeders.
Comments