Toe nails.
Some alpacas, notably with black nails, will seldom need them trimming. Most will though and it prevents the nails from twisting and deforming the toes. When they
become too long they should be trimmed back using straight-bladed clippers. On the shearing table, the nail is simply trimmed level with the pad base. With the alpaca
standing, one person holds the alpaca's head whilst another, facing backwards, will lift the foot and trim the nail. Inspection of the nails by lifting the feet should be carried
out several times a year as occasionally a nail may curve over and press into the pad. For a video demonstration, this YouTube video will really help you.
Teeth trimming
Alpacas have 30 to 32 adult teeth which will have all erupted by about six years of age. At the front of the mouth are six lower incisors which make contact with an upper
dental pad, an arrangement that enables the alpaca to grip and tear off plant matter. At the back of the mouth on each side, top and bottom jaws, are two premolar and
three molar teeth for grinding the food down. Between these sets are the fighting teeth comprised of a third incisor each side at the top plus upper and lower canine
teeth. In males, when fully erupted at around five years, these teeth curve backward, are razor sharp and designed to lacerate an opponent during a fight. They can
measure 2.5 cm in length and inflict serious injuries to the head, legs and testicles of an opponent. Trimming of the fighting teeth may be needed and is most commonly
performed on the more aggressive males. Females also have fighting teeth but they often barely protrude from the gum line and their presence is seldom an issue
anyway due to their more sedate behaviour.
All alpaca teeth grow continuously and are ground down by grazing and food grinding action. The teeth are deciduous, that is the first set is replaced by permanent teeth.
This starts with the molars at six months and the incisors at around two years old. The incisors need to correctly align with the dental palate to ensure efficient grazing.
Should there be poor alignment, the teeth will miss the palate and over-grow due to lack of wear. In this case, they should be trimmed to prevent difficulty in feeding and
snapping of the teeth. There are several methods for this. Apart from a specialised electric cutting wheel (based on an angle grinder), all need veterinary involvement as
sedation of the alpaca will be needed. Teeth should be checked twice a year as growth rates do vary amongst alpacas.
Weight, condition and condition scoring
The weight of an alpaca is important and there are good reasons why an owner should know the weights of their animals:
As a measure of growth. Crias should have a rapid growth rate over the first year and a more gradual increase should continue until they are around three years old.
If they deviate from this there may be underlying problems.
As a monitor of health - having a weight record over time will alert an owner whether there is a potential illness issue. Alpacas can easily lose weight under their
fleece and it not be noticed.
For whenever drugs are to be given. Owners and vets frequently make a 'best guess' of an animal's weight in order to give the right dose of a drug. With some drugs,
accuracy is less critical but with others, an accurate dose is needed to get a successful treatment but not cause any adverse effects due to overdosing.
Most alpaca owners will not own a livestock scale to weigh animals so body scoring should be done on a regular basis. Data should be collated and records kept
managing herd health and identify a possible health issue. Methods for doing this can be found in this Welfare code from the New Zealand government and this fact
sheet. On a five point scale, the ideal body condition is scored at 3.0. Condition scores of under 2.0 or above 4.0 represent extremely thin or fat animals respectively.
Most alpacas (except in late pregnancy or lactation) should maintain a body condition score between 2.5 and 3.25.
Shearing
In New Zealand, alpacas are usually shorn in late spring or early summer (ideally November) to avoid them being heat stressed during the warmer months. The most up-
to-date AANZ list of shearers can be downloaded here. It is advised that owners contact their nearest or preferred shearer at least two months in advance to ensure they
are included on the shearer's circuit.
As alpacas lack flexibility in their spines, they cannot be shorn in the same way as sheep. Three methods of shearing are used:
With the animal standing - although perhaps less stressful for the alpaca, progress will be slow and there is a significant risk of cutting the animal with the shears.
Unless the alpaca is extremely calm, this method is not recommended.
Laying them on the ground with the legs restrained by straps/ropes forwards and backwards to help keep the animal still. An assistant will hold the head and
manoeuver the animal.
Laying the alpaca on a specialised shearing table. Essentially, the alpaca is walked to the table when in its vertical position, a sling placed around the alpaca's belly
and the table rolled over to its horizontal position. As above, the legs are restrained by straps/ropes to forwards and backwards securing points and a further rope
may be loosely fastened around the neck to prevent the alpaca from flailing its head and injuring itself.
During shearing, an assistant will manouever the alpaca in a way that allows effective shearing with the
minimum of stress to it. Electric clippers are mostly used although with different combs to those used for
sheep. A skilled shearer will take under 15 minutes per animal and be able to remove the fleece blanket in
one piece which is rolled up and placed into a labelled paper sack. Second-grade fibre from the neck, legs
and underside is separated off into a different bag. The shearer should also make the minimum of second
cuts as these short lengths can become mixed with good length fibre. It is advised that the tail fleece is
trimmed but kept long and wide enough to cover the genital area thus protecting it from sunburn.
Frequently, owners and helpers will be performing injections, clipping toenails, collecting fleece, taking
fibre samples, etc, during and after the shearing which minimises the time the alpaca stays restrained on
the table.
Shearing is a stressful experience for alpacas and they can behave in a variety of ways. Although some
may appear relaxed, others show their fright by urinating during shearing or venting their anger by
targetted spitting at the shearer and assistants (a cloth lightly covering the nose and mouth will prevent this). Keeping other herd members close by and if possible
visible to the animal being sheared will help and if a dam has a cria, keeping it close and visible will help.
In essence, being well organised for shearing will minimise the time spent restrained and thus the stress to your alpacas.
As mentioned above, when the blanket is being removed, owners can take a fibre sample from the mid-side of each animal for analysis. The samples may be sent to a
testing laboratory such as the New Zealand Wool Testing Authority or SGS New Zealand. There are a number of analytical methods available for these tests but all
provide measures of:
Mean fibre diameter, given in microns (micrometres, 1mm = 1000μm). Sometimes a graph of the fibre distribution is also provided,
Standard deviation (SD) of the mean: essentially, 68% of the fibre diameters will be within the mean ± 1 SD, 95% of the diameters will be within the mean ± 2 SD,
Coefficient of variation of fibre diameters (CV or CVD): is a measure of the variation in fibre diameters relative to the mean fibre diameter. A higher CV shows greater
variation in the fleece sample. It is calculated from the following:
%CV = (standard deviation ÷ average fibre diameter) x 100
Percentage of fibres >30μm,