The craze for goat farming in the mid-1980s was surpassed by the effort that went into the introduction of camelids – alpacas (Lama pacos) and llamas (LamaInvestors put considerable capital into getting environmental impact reports and negotiatingGovernment agencies required the animals to be quarantined both in Chile before export, and again in New Zealand after their arrival, to ensure they did not bring diseases into the country. It was expensive to transport the animals to New Zealand. Aircraft and ships were chartered, and helicopters were needed to transfer the animals to the quarantine station. Llamas and alpacas were introduced into New Zealand inW. B. Rhodes acquired alpacas from the Wellington provincial government in 1869 and kept them at his Banks Peninsula farm. At shearing time, they were found to be ‘exceedingly troublesome’, especially their spitting, with which they displayed ‘considerable range and
In 1986, after only a few shipments, a severe outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Chile suddenly and permanently stopped the importation of alpacas and llamas, as they were the only exporting country. Despite that, in the early 2000s there were more than 6,000 alpacas in New Zealand. Zealand Alpaca Association has members throughout the Alpacas and llamas have adapted well to New ZealandMost are found on small hobby or lifestyle farms. They are relatively easy to keep – they are not susceptible to fly strike or footrot, and there is no need for crutching, Long in the tooth While alpacas are much easier to care for than sheep, they do need their toenails trimmed from time to time, depending on how soft the ground is (hard, stony soil will cause more wear) and the amount of protein in their diet. Also, as alpacas age their teeth tend to grow longer, and some may have to have theirs trimmed. them no pain and it is usually done at shearing time.
Alpacas and llamas need to be monitored for the health problems they are susceptible to. One of these is ryegrass staggers, caused by a toxin in some ryegrass species that affects the nervous system. If the problem is caught early, the animals will recover when removed from the pasture. However, the condition can become permanent with long-term exposure to the toxin. Facial eczema is a major problem for llamas and alpacas. Caused by the spores of a fungus found in pasture, it leads to liver damage and causes the skin to be sensitive to As they are opportunistic browsers, poisoning from eating toxic plants is a problem. Plants that can be fatal include nightshade, foxglove, hemlock, tutu, ragwort, mallow, Young alpacas, known as cria, are prone to rickets if they do not get enough sunlight in their early months. remedied with vitamin D injections. Alpacas and llamas are very susceptible to tuberculosis, which is also a problem in cattle and deer.
Llamas and alpacas should be shorn every one to two years, and they produce 3–5 kilograms of fibre. They are shorn in late spring, either standing or lying down and restrained in a rope harness to keep them as still as possible. shorn with electric clippers or a normal sheep-shearing Alpaca and llama fleeces are soft, silky and very warm. Garments made from the fibre keep their shape and won’t pill. Alpaca fleece is softer than Merino wool and has higher tensile strength, resulting in more durable garments. White fibre can be easily dyed, but natural colours areIn the high plains of Chile, alpacas produce a very fine fibre; whereas in the lusher pastures of New Zealand their fibre is coarser and less valuable. fibre is generally slightly more coarse than alpaca fibre, and comes in a wide range of types and colours. The fibre from a young alpaca’s first shearing is the finest and brings the highest price.
Virtually all fibre is sold on the domestic craft market.This is Maya our firstShe is looking at her mum Blanco while the herd leader Gretel looks on approvingly. Alpacas seem to be more social and vocal than our sheep, they can't bear to be separated and the herd gestationMaya's birth was "a baptism of fire for us" taking over two hours with Blanco screaming throughout. The presentation was front legs out and head back. A problem relatively easily corrected inBut, with the cria's long neck, head back is a long way back in Other islanders rallied round, Stewart our cattle farmer neighbour acted as midwife, assisted by Norman fromThrough the birth Linda their previous owner in Cumbria stood anxiously by the phone giving much needed Later in the year Inti and Jallu arrived in minutes with no problems at all. Much later in the year inThe average gestation for an alpaca is around 11 months but there is wide variation. The only other health issue was Inti in his
first winter with Vitamin D deficiency. He was taken into intensive care with his mum for company. They were both given injections of Vitamin D and Inti made a full nutritionThe rough grazing in the fields along the shore seems to suit the alpacas. We supplement their diet with a rough coarseWhen they arrived we had a bag of camelid mixBut we were shocked at the levels of copper in the various camelid mixes. As biochemists we worried about copper accummulation in their livers and couldn't bring ourselves to feed itCamelids are evidently more copper tolerant than sheep and toxicity is something that we would not expect until after several years of accumulation, and then possibly masked by symptoms of ageing. Alpacas and the Orkney climateWhen they arrived on North Ronaldsay from Cumbria in 2009 our starter herd of alpacas was the most northerly in Britain, although there are others in Orkney. In some ways the Orkney climate