Camelids

Camelids

Camelids (Llamas and Alpacas) are becoming increasingly popular as pets and while very entertaining pets to have, and providing you with many years of enjoyment, are a bit trickier to keep and look after than most people realise. In recent years, we have seen a large increase in the number of Llamas and Alpacas being kept and therefore an increase in the frequency of vet visits to these animals.

Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae. This includes many species of camels, llamas and alpacas. They all belong to the ungulate family (cloven hoofed animals) and are similar to ruminants in how they digest food and plant matter (have compartmentalised stomachs).

Llamas and alpacas were domesticated 6000 to 7000 years ago, from their wild cousins, the Guanaco (Llama) and Vicuna (Alpaca). They originate from South America, to be found in the high-altitude mountainous regions of the Andes, from Peru, Bolivia and Colombia in the North to Chile and Argentina in the South, very different from Yorkshire! Both alpacas and llamas have been farmed throughout history for their meat and quality fleece and llamas, due to their larger size, have been used as pack animals.

Donaldsons Services

Donaldson’s offer the following services for alpaca keepers:

• Routine health checks

• Vaccination protocols

• Vitamin D supplementation

• Dental work

• Castration

• Worming protocols and worm egg counts

• Blood testing (monitoring and ill thrift)

For more information on the services we offer or to book a visit, please contact us.

A few quick facts!

• • Average weight of an adult llama: 150-200 kg
  • Average weight of an adult alpaca: 50 – 100 kg
  • Breeds of Alpaca: Suri and Huacaya
  • Lifespan: 15-20 years (The oldest known alpaca has lived to 28 years and the oldest on
    record 30!)
  • Gestation period: 342 days (+/- 10 days) (approximately 11-12 months)
  • Terminology:
  • Offspring: Cria (When an alpaca/llama is giving birth, it is known as ‘criation’ or ‘unpacking’!!)
  • Males: Sire/Stud/Macho
  • Females: Dam/Hembra
  • Weanling (weaned at 6 months of age): Tui
  • Collectively: Herd

Keeping Camelids as Pets

As mentioned above, both alpacas and llamas originate from South America where they extensively graze marsh and scrubland at high altitudes exposed to a LOT of sunlight! This has many implications for keeping them in a UK climate including their diet, their susceptibility to parasites and pathogens as well as vitamin and mineral supplementation.
Camelids are not evolutionarily adapted to deal with the challenges of gut parasites.

There is very little challenge where they are from and as such even a small burden of parasites that a sheep or cow may not be bothered with can cause major issues. It is important to be aware where your camelids are grazing and who was there before to gauge their risk and assess parasite burdens. We advise performing routine faecal worm egg counts (FWEC) from your alpacas/llamas. This can form part of a worming control strategy on your farm and ensures responsible use of anthelmintics (drugs that kill parasitic gut worms). On the topic of parasites, skin parasites can be a nightmare for any livestock owner and camelids are no exception. They can suffer terribly with skin reactions to mites and lice infestations and as such appropriate monitoring and treatment protocols need to be put in place.

Vaccination strategies for camelids are also different to those of other farm animals. The main disease we vaccinate camelids for is clostridial disease. Clostridial disease is caused by bacteria in the clostridial family including bacteria causing tetanus and pulpy kidney in lambs. This is often a fatal disease and can strike at any time. Vaccinations are often boosted every 6 months as opposed to a year and strategies should be put in place to provide maximum protection for both adults and cria.

Appropriate nutrition for your Camelid is paramount. Again, their diet in the wild is much more suited to browsing trees and shrubs and grazing sparse grassy marshes than some of the lush pastures we have here. Their diet should be tailored to their weights, life stage and if you have any pregnant females. Always ensure there is plenty of grazing and browsing pasture and if not (especially over winter) this can be supplemented with good quality hay and a quality concentrate feed (a word of caution, they should not get too much of this as it can cause digestive upsets) which should be tailored to camelids. Also be aware of potentially poisonous plants such as foxgloves, ragwort and rhododendrons. Further information on this can be found on the British Alpaca Society website.

Vitamin D supplements should be given either as an oral supplement or injectable. This is imperative as camelids do not get enough Vitamin D which is essential for bones and joints (especially in growing cria) throughout the dark UK winters. We advise using an injectable supplement at a dose rate of 1000-2000 IU/Kg body weight every 2 months from October to April inclusive to ensure their requirements are met. There are many different injectable products out there, all differing in their concentrations of Vitamin D and it is important to discuss this with our team and check product labels on every purchase you
make with us.

All of the information you have just read is a brief outline of some very important areas you should be aware of if you have or are intending to keep camelids. Every farm and herd situation is different and should you be interested in a comprehensive camelid health plan tailored to your holding, incorporating extensively all of the above, please contact a
member of our team.