Want to know the secret to alpaca health?
We believe it is to remove stressors from your alpacas lives. We think this is a HUGE factor in alpaca herd management. If you keep stressors out of your alpacas lives, they will be healthier.
First, let’s look at what might be stressing your alpaca.
Is your alpaca frightened? Does taking a trailer trip to shows/vets scare him/her? Is your alpaca terrified in unfamiliar surroundings?
What about the angry alpaca? Has his place in the herd pecking order been changed?
Are your alpacas frustrated? Do you overcrowd your pastures? Is there enough room around the feeders for each alpaca to feel comfortable?
- Are you providing enough food for each alpaca to get his fill? Or is someone going hungry?
- Has the temperature changed from hot to cold?
- Do you provide access to plenty of water? Or are your alpacas thirsty?
- Do unfamiliar sights and sounds bombard your herd?
- Are strangers constantly trying to touch them either on the farm or at a show?
- Is the alpaca confined? Without a herd mate?
- Has he had surgery?
- Is he wormy?
- Is his nutrition up to par?
- Has he got an active infection going?
There are many other things that stress our alpacas. They can usually handle one stressor. Two stressors and you should watch them. Three stressors and your alpaca is headed for trouble and possible illness.
Why would your alpaca get sick from a little stress? Well, theres a thing called “stress response”. (You may have a lot of it if you don’t live the alpaca lifestyle!)
During stressful times, cortisol and adrenaline are released to help reaction time, concentration, strength, and agility. Cortisol is, also, released when our immune system clears up an infection. The release of cortisol switches off the immune response. So, prolonged release of cortisol from stress actually suppresses the immune system.
In a chronically stressed alpaca, their immune system will not be able to respond to bacteria or viruses that invade the body. An unstressed alpacas healthy immune system can handle it just fine.
Look at each individual alpaca. What’s stressing one may not be stressing another. Keep stressors down to one at a time if possible.
If you know your alpaca is going to have multiple stressors, then look into ways of boosting his immune system during this time. We have read that flax seed may help boost immune systems in alpacas. We have not tried this. We have not needed to. Our alpacas don’t have much stress in their lives.
For excellent alpaca health, keep stress from your alpacas lives. If your alpacas are happy, you will be, too.
