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The courtship ritual of the alpaca is very unique. The females are induced ovulators, meaning there are no heat cycles, and that they can and do breed any time of the year. The physical act of breeding causes ovulation to occur. This is the main reason why most alpaca breeders will maintain separate male and female herds, so they can determine who breeds with whom and when. To date there have been no artificial inseminations nor viable embryo transplants in the alpaca industry. (this is happening in Australia!)
Breeding methods:
Hand or Pen Breeding - this breeding is done with the female having been behavior-tested, sometimes with a test male. The female shows her readiness by cushing and keeping her ears up for the male to mate. Then the breeder male is entered into the pen. Once the male has mounted the cushed female, the handler insures that the male is making correct contact(penetration). They are then allowed to mate until they are finished, after which the male and female are removed from the pen. This process insures that the female has behaved as if she is ready for the breeding. This activity is repeated for approximately 60 days until the female has an ultrasound proving pregnancy at which time she leaves the breeding program. This allows the breeder to know the exact date of this breeding which helps in defining the due date of the offspring delivery.
Pasture Breeding - this breeding is done with a variety of females chosen to mate with the male that is in "his" pasture. This allows nature to take its course. The male will treat the females as if they were in a herd and mate with the female(s) when they are ready. Once it appears by behavior and lack of mating activity that all the females are pregnant, ultrasounds are given to prove pregnancy. An approximate date is used for the due date.
Field Breeding - not unlike how the Peruvians or wild herds would breed. A variety of top notch males are allowed to mate with a variety of females. For breeding by US standards this would be the least popular option, since there is no way of knowing the lineage of the offspring. However, this is how Don Julio Barreta made vast improvements on his Accoyo and Plantel Breeding herds. His success also came from culling males or females that did not meet his strict criteria.
Gestation Period - The gestation period is 11-12 months. Females nearly always have single births and human intervention is rarely needed. The newborn (called a cria) weighs between 15-19 pounds, with delivery usually occurring during the daylight hours. The newborn cria is normally standing and nursing within 90 minutes of birth, and will continue to nurse until weaned at 6 months of age. Twins occur about every 10,000 births. The time between breeding and rebreeding is about 3 weeks, so females spend their whole lives pregnant.
Life Span - We're not really sure how the typical lifespan of US raised alpacas. In South America, they live 15-20 years, but we think that since the nutrition is better in North America that they will live longer than 20 years. With a breeding life of over 15 years.
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