I always feel for the first time alpaca breeders when one of their females loses an unborn baby alpaca. It happens to all of us eventually and it happens much more than people realise.

This happened to one of our clients last week just a few days after doing an ultrasound so can't help but wonder if the stress triggered the abortion. Of course we will never know the answer to that question.

When I was at UC Davis listening to Walter Bravo, one of the world experts on the reproductive processes of alpacas he sated that:

"Embryonic mortality in alpacas occurs from the time of conception to day 60 and fetal mortality from the day 61 onwards.

Basically embryonic development of all alpaca organs takes place prior to 60 days of gestation. Walter said that in a a recent study of 158 pregnant alpacas between 30 days and parturition, fully 25.7% of pregnancies were lost.

After 120 days this percentage fell to between 9.6% and 16.7% of alpaca pregnancies."

Basically even after 4 months as many as 1 in 6 pregnancies in alpacas will be lost.

These are statistics that most people who are new to alpacas are not aware of until it affects them directly. I think its vital to talk with new owners right up front about this and help establish realistic expectations.



Evita made it all the way and was born normally but still needed a plasma transfusion to establish a strong IgG level, which is a measure of her immune response and ability to resist infection.

You can still see where we had to shave her neck in order to do the transfusion.

Adrian Stewart click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas

Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.