The Hembra (or Female).....
The female alpaca is an "induced ovulator". What this means is that just the physical act of "a roll in the hay" with a male alpaca, along with the males sounds, causes your dam to ovulate. (Very important fact to know if you are a breeder)
This means breeding alpacas can happen at any time of the year. The above fact, also, means that you need to keep your males from your females when you don't want them to get pregnant. There is no "season" for breeding but, most alpaca breeders choose to breed their females so crias are born in the spring.
The dam will carry her baby anywhere from 315 to 370 days. Most will deliver around the 11.5 month mark. Now you know why it takes so long to increase the herds of alpacas. You have to wait a year for one female to produce one baby. Alpacas rarely have twins. You should not breed your dam before the age of 12 months. Most breeders wait until the dam is 15 months old or 45 kg. When you breed a dam too young, it can cause problems or the pregnancies just fail.
We have been very fortunate with our hembras. They have all been very good mothers with a bountiful supply of milk.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION.....PLEASE CHECK BACK.....................