| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
mcmanusf
15 Posts |
 Posted - 06/13/2012 : 07:54:04 AM
|
How do you know for sure that a female is pregnant? Short of actually waiting for the cria to emerge? I've only had alpacas for 16 months. I bought 4 pregnant females April 2011. When i went to pick them up the seller said he checked them again and 2 needed rebreeding. So i made my peace with having 2 cria last year and 2 early this year.However I ended up with 1 cria and the other 3 were rebred and should be due this summer. But when I spit them off today with a male they appear to be receptive and allowed a breeding with him. This means waiting for ANOTHER year for cria. This means that in 2 breeding seasons I'm 1 for 8 cria which would seem to be very poor. I know another breeder that bought from this seller around the same time as me and he had 4 cria straight away. So my question would be Is he lucky or am I unlucky?
Could the girls be pregnant yet still sit? One of the girls is the leader of the group and spits at anything that moves......until today that is. The other is gentle so I could understnad if she was compliant.
It really is so frustrating and stressful wondering what I may be doing wrong or whether I bought animals that are not good breeders?
Any advice would be much appreciated.Thanks
Fiona.
Tinryland Alpacas
Carlow
Ireland
|
|
report to moderator
|
|
|
jillmcm
3175 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2012 : 08:07:32 AM
|
Very pregnant alpacas will often cush, so spit testing loses some accuracy late in the gestation. If they are supposed to be close to due, a competent vet can likely ballotte them - this is basically a fancy name for feeling for cria parts. An x-ray is the gold standard in late pregnancy, though.
Jill McElderry-Maxwell
Bag End Suri Alpacas of Maine - ¡BESAME!
Pittsfield, ME
(207) 660-5276 (cell)
bagendsuris@roadrunner.com
http://www.bagendsuris.com
|
Report to Moderator  |
|
|
kilblaanfarm
130 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2012 : 2:41:10 PM
|
You don't have to wait 11 months to see if a female is pregnant. On our farm we spit once a week for 4 weeks, then every 2 weeks for a while, then at least once a month until winter. If a girl's behavior is uncertain, she gets an ultrasound. If you are testing frequently, if a female comes open again, you can rebreed during the same year. We favor early summer births so that if a female comes open some weeks after her rebreeding, there is still plenty of summer left to breed again. I don't think we've ever been fooled doing it this way.
Liz MacEachran |
| Report to Moderator |
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
How do you know for sure?
