Alpaca guide
Practical, New Zealand-specific knowledge from AANZ members — organised by what you need to know, not how the association is structured.
Breeding & cria
Mating, pregnancy, birth and the first weeks of a cria's life.
- 01Breeding, mating and birthingWorking males (Macho) are selected on a variety of virtues: Fibre, conformation, testicular size, and often temperament. They usually start working at about 2-2 ½ years of age…
- 02Birth and the newborn criaRelax, birthing is a natural process and alpaca are generally capable of producing their cria with no assistance.
- 03Neonatal and cria careColostrum is the first milk that any mother produces. It is thicker, richer and contains protection against infection in the form of antibodies. Alpaca cria are born without any…