Nic and Linda are back from attending the International Alpaca Congress in Madrid, Spain where Nic gave two presentations. There were 17 nationalities present, including six New Zealand breeders (representing three nationalities). It was mainly attended by people who had been in the alpaca business a long time, like us. Afterwards we visited alpaca farms in Spain, Belgium and Germany. One of the alpaca breeders in Belgium had a fascinating menagerie with alpacas, llamas, wallabies, miniature horses, and a rare breed of donkey with long fluffy ears.

We ran two days of Neonatal Workshops for European breeders and vets from Holland, Belgium and Germany.  A vet in Belgium had collected the cria for us to use at the workshop and a German alpaca breeder hosted it. Our powerpoint presentation was in English and German, and we had to remember to use plain English and speak slowly. Of course the practical session of birthing cria using an artificial uterus is the same in any language.

During one of the workshops an alpaca gave birth. Our host and her vet, who was attending the workshop, went racing away to check it was all OK, and at the end of the workshop most people went to the paddock to see the newborn cria. The dam was a female we had sold, mated to one of our studs, and she remembered us and was happy to stand for Nic and I while we cleaned out her teats for the cria to drink.
 

Camelidynamics Course

This popular course will be held in Christchurch in late September. Vicky will do one day on the basics for working with your alpaca - how alpacas think and react, gaining their trust in handling, haltering and working with your alpaca. On the second day an Alpaca Health Day will be held – covering the routine maintenance for alpaca – nutrition and feed, body scoring, toenail trimming and inoculations. Register your interest with us and we will advise you of the date of these courses when confirmed.
 

Seasonal Hint (see more hints below)

Winter feed conditions may mean your alpacas are looking for extra food. Supplement the grass with meadow hay, or for those who need that little extra, use lucerne hay or chaff which is higher in protein.

There are also a wide range of garden plants that alpacas can eat. We give them evergreen trees like acacia, hebes, tree lucerne and karamu coprosma. These are all alpaca favourites, and can be grown as sheltering hedges, and trimmed regularly for fodder.

Alpacas in their woolly winter coats can get thin without you seeing it, so over winter do regularly get hands on your alpacas and “body score” them. Get your hands on your alpaca over the backbone, near the last ribs, approximately just above and behind the front legs. Feel the backbone between fingers and thumb. Have a look at our website to see how to interpret what you feel.  http://www.alpacasnz.co.nz/articles-body-scoring.htm
 

Mobile Vet

An experienced alpaca vet, based in Canterbury, has gone mobile, and is available to come to you with her van equipped to care for big animals, like alpacas, or small, like your cats and dogs. Mobile Vetcare Ltd is the venture of Monique Koning.  Call 022 4 vet  007   which is 022 4 838 007  (note the James Bond connection!)
 

We offer a full range of services to do with alpacas. We can assist you in getting started in alpacas and in growing your herd. We can inspect your property and offer advice on farm set-up. For North Island buyers we offer a "fly-buy" deal of a return airfare if breeding alpacas are bought (some conditions apply).

We provide after-sales service and local support, through our Alpaca Services Network of regional breeders throughout New Zealand. Our studs travel around New Zealand for matings - and also service our export females, producing cria born around the world.