Country Gem§ Farm

Alpaca Cria & Birthing 

A cria (pronounce cree-ah) is the name for a baby alpaca (llama, vicuna, or guanaco).  After an 11- 12 month gestation period the cria is born with the whole herd gathering around in an attempt to protect against potential predators.  Alpacas give birth standing so life begins with a none-to-graceful flop to the earth.  Birth is usually (as for most prey animals) relatively quick and problem free and the whole emergence typically takes 15- 60 minutes.  Most births take place between 8am and 2pm – while unproven it is speculated that this birthing pattern is a continuation of the birthing patterns observed in the alpaca's wild ancestors.  In the vicuna and guanaco populations, delivery during the relatively warmer daylight hours may increase cria survival rate by reducing fatalities due to hypothermia during the cold Andean nights.  Alpaca crias typically weigh between 12 and 25 lbs at birth and look like something straight from the imagination of Dr. Seuss – a quaint cross between fawn, lamb and giraffe calf…like all nature's babies utterly adorable and amazingly resilient.  Crias and dams begin their bonding rituals immediately after birth, getting to know each other's smell and also sound.  One of the most charming bonding methods, is in their quaint vocalizations – mothers and babies will hum back and forth to one another in creaky, kazoolike murmurs.

Alpacas, and their camelid cousins are described as precocial species - most crias will be up and standing (albeit somewhat shakily) within the first hour of birth, walking, even running, and attempting to nurse shortly thereafter.  This in itself – as with many other non-human species – is Mother Nature at her most amazing… in it's first 24 hours of life outside the womb, the cria has achieved what it takes us humans 2 to 3 years to master!   Between the ages of three months and one year of age alpacas grow at an alarming rate – in one year alpaca females go through what a human female goes through in 14 years. 

At anywhere from 3 months on mama alpaca will decide it is time to wean her freeloading offspring… after all she is already 2 ½ months into her next pregnancy by this time!  At this time the cria goes from being a milk drinker to a grass-digesting ruminant – another of Ma Nature's miracle.  Like all ruminants alpacas have a divided stomach.  True ruminants have four chambers (reticulum, rumen, omassum and abomassum), alpacas are strictly considered pseudo-ruminants with a three-chambered stomach, the omassum being so small as to be insignificant; however the mechanics are the same.  The first three parts of a ruminants stomach (often referred to as the forestomach) deal primarily with the fermentation of the grasses that make up a ruminants herbivorous diet and the abomassum is the part which deals with digestion in the true sense of the word.  An interesting structure can be found in ruminants called the gastric groove.  This groove runs the entire length of the forestomach and can nearly completely close in infants forming a 'tube' to transport liquids directly from the esophagus to the abomassum, bypassing the rumen etc., so that it can be properly digested.  As the cria (or other infant ruminant) matures and begins eating a fibrous plant diet, the gastric groove stops closing so food can enter the rumen for fermentation.  I found this to be one of those "little-but-amazing" facts that you come across in nature – an unimprovable, perfectly engineered system!

On a lighter note, crias have that magical element of youthful exuberance.  In a world where energy is limiting and adult animals of all species, predator and prey alike are all too aware of the necessity to conserve energy until it is really needed, crias seem to burn it as if there were no tomorrow.  Get a few of them together and you will be treated to the kind of wonderfully hilarious haphazard ballet that only nature's babies seem capable of.  As if on cue and usually around dusk, crias will spring into the air, twisting their heads and arching their backs in joyous 'pronking' or 'sproinging' – a spontaneous performance that really has nothing to do with locomotion and everything to do with the exuberance of being young and alive… and being an alpaca. 

IgG Test:
To determine successful passive transfer of dam’s colostrum, an IgG test is performed on the cria, 24 hours after birth. This is a blood test to make sure the cria has the ability to ward off infectious disease.

While a livestock scale is preferable, home scales can be used. Weigh yourself and then hold the cria and measure the difference. The cria must be weighed daily to make sure all is well. Crias will generally loose some weight within the first 24 hours but should gain at least .25 - .50 lbs per day. Average newborn crias weigh anywhere from 12 to 25 pounds. At 30 days of age, the cria should have doubled its birth weight or be close to it.