How to select species for breeding alpaca

Alpaca is a singleton animal with a long pregnancy (342 mi 345 days) and a high abortion rate in the first month, so the reproduction rate of alpaca is low. Therefore, improving the reproduction rate of alpaca is the main problem for the development of alpaca breeding industry.

Female alpacas are generally mated when they are 12 months old, while American alpacas are usually 18 months old. A healthy, fertile female alpaca can give birth to a baby alpaca every year and can last for 15-16 years. The pregnancy period is usually about 11.5 months or 335 days, which may be longer if it is the first time. Suffering from any form of stress can lead to miscarriage of female alpacas, which is also a big problem, and multiple births are rare. Mating is usually done under artificially controlled conditions to ensure that accurate records can be made. First of all, the male and female alpaca will be placed in a separate fence, if the female alpaca lies down, that is, ready to mate, normally 20-40 minutes to mate. Alpacas are guaranteed to conceive at any time under the condition of inducing eggs, and most mating is arranged in spring and summer to avoid delivery in winter. Male alpacas induce egg excretion during mating.

Seven days after the first mating, the male alpaca is again led to the female alpaca. If the female alpaca scrapes the ground and runs away after seeing it, it means she has become pregnant. At 60 days, the pregnancy status was tested with ultrasonic sound. The practice of leading the male alpaca to the female is called saliva secretion, which can be used throughout pregnancy, and blood tests can sometimes be used to measure increased hormones. In Australia, there are also some embryo transfer and artificial insemination that have not been successful so far. Alpacas usually give birth during the day, and the baby alpacas can stand up after 2 hours. Many breeders cover the baby alpaca with something in the first few days, especially when the weather is unstable.

At present, advanced scientific and technological means are mainly used to improve the reproduction rate of alpaca. After the research of experts, the advanced technologies such as artificial insemination, embryo transfer and progesterone implantation are expected to contribute to the development of alpaca breeding industry in the future.