White Spotting Genes
Several patterns of white spotting occur in alpacas (and most other animal species): tuxedo, piebald, dark-head-and-feet, appaloosa, gray, roan.
Spotting can be overlaid on any base coat color or fleece type.
The various spotting patterns are controlled by different and distinct genes.
An alpaca can, and often does, display more than one type of white spotting... download full pdf article (1.9 MB)... read full article
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A plain-English summary.
1 - Alpacas have a base coat color gene that codes for their color.
2 - Other genes can act on this to modify their color.
For their base coat color gene alpacas inherit one color contribution from their sire and one from their dam. (Note: each sire and each dam carries two base coat colors inputs, but contributes ONLY ONE - either one - to their cria).
If the color contributions an alpaca receives from its sire and dam are different colors, genetics rules govern the color the alpac... read full article
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During cold snaps, alpacas need 25 % more feed to maintain body temperature and condition.
Beet Pulp is an excellent supplement for an alpaca herd during cold weather or even for skinny alpacas year-round.
It is a better choice for extra feed in cold weather than grain or pelleted feed products because it is a source of FIBER.
Fiber helps raise body temperature through gut fermentation. Fiber is the most important food for creating heat.
Increasing grain will not help retain heat. Instead, increase hay or beet pulp ration during cold weather.
Beet Pulp is a pellet... read full article
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What To Do When Temperatures Drop
WET. WINDY. COLD. Alpacas seem to be able to handle any one of these conditions OK. But any two or more can be trouble. Hypothermia can develop when the temperature is 50 degrees if it is rainy or windy. My rule of thumb is to check the alpacas and consider coating the young, weak, old or any cold animal if ANY TWO of these conditions prevail.
Any alpaca that is shivering is just a step away from hypothermia, which is life-threatening. Action is required at this phase to make the alpac... read full article
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A plain-English summary.
Gray is not actually a separate color genetically.
An alpaca that looks gray is actually a colored alpaca (solid black, for example) that has white fibers uniformly added throughout its coat.
These white fibers are a form of what geneticists call a "white-spotting pattern." They are controlled by a separate gene(s) from the alpaca’s base coat color and act to modify the alpaca’s displayed color (in this example making a genetically black alpaca look gray).
So, the alpaca looks gray ... read full article
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Creating Easy-To-Love Alpacas
Robin’s 6 T’S for Desensitizing Your Cria
Each day when we weigh each cria we perform the following steps to help ensure our alpacas grow up to be easily handled and managed for routine care. Here's what we do and why.
TIPS of ears. Very often this is where fly strikes show up and many dark colored animals need to have ointment applied to ears. We rub and wiggle the ears. We also stroke the necks.
TEETH. All alpacas should have their bite and teeth inspected regularly. Boy ... read full article
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How To Keep Alpacas Cool
Hands down, number one, is SHEAR. Every alpaca, suri or huacaya, needs to be shorn every year. If leg wool is left on one year, it should be completely shorn off the following year. Otherwise, the mats that develop contribute to holding heat in.
SHADE. All alpacas need access to shade at all times. This can be trees or bushes or man-made structures or “tarp tents”.
COOL drinking water. Alpacas will not drink warm water. A bucket of water can easily warm up to the temperature of hot ... read full article
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What They Can Tell You About Your Alpaca
Most alpacas sold in the United States are registered alpacas, meaning their parentage has been verified through DNA analysis or blood testing/typing and they are listed in a database of registered alpacas. Only alpaca offspring with two registered parents can now be registered, the registry is closed to further importation.
While there are several alpaca registries in the world, in the United States market, only alpacas registered with ARI (Alpaca Registry Inc) in Lincoln, Nebraska will be ... read full article
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It is a terrifying experience – you’re feeding your alpacas and suddenly one is choking
Most alpaca owners will probably experience this at some time if they feed grain or a pelleted feed product to alpacas. And, most of us do.
Choke has haunted the alpaca industry since its early days...... although it happens a lot less now as feed manufacturers have made some changes (smaller pellets, softer kibble).
Often choke happens from gulping down food fast. Alpacas do this for two reasons: So that another alpaca doesn't get their food, or so they can eat more than their share. ... read full article
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