Over the course of my 3 month summer vacation I worked on an alpaca farm. I went to the alpaca farm on my days off from my job and other placements. There was just over 100 alpacas and crias—they are extremely friendly and curious creatures! Previously I had not completed a lot of work with this species so I found my time there quite informative.

Some of the older boys patiently waiting for me to finish cleaning their pen.

We spent a lot of time trimming nails. This is done a couple of times a year. Alpacas are not necessarily prone to foot problems but depending on the type of ground they are living/walking on their nails can get quite long. After catching an alpaca (By hugging it around the neck) we would halter it and tie it to a fence. Once tied, one person would continue to hug the alpaca around the neck while the other person used shears to trim off the excess and uneven areas of the foot.

Some of the older boys patiently waiting for me to finish cleaning their pen.

All of the alpacas received intramuscular vitamin D injections. There is not a lot of research backing up the use of this vitamin in alpacas. But due to the shortage of sunlight in Alberta throughout the winter the farmer was hoping that the injection would allow the alpacas to gain better condition and higher quality fleece.

Diatomaceous earth was used on this farm (and many other placement farms) as a means of parasite control.

We also gave many of the alpacas microchips. These were inserted into a pocketed area just below the ear. The microchips are required in any alpaca that the farmer wants to register. Register alpacas are also required to have a DNA test completed. We collected blood from the ear by sticking a needle into a vein until it spotted blood. The blood was then collected onto a card. Both breeding males and females are produced on this farm and they need to be registered for sale and competition/show.

We would trim hair out of their eyes so they could see better—it doesn’t matter how much fleece/hair you trim around their eyes as this is part of ‘seconds’ (lesser quality sections of fleece) during shearing.

I also learned a lot about grading of fleece. You grade alpaca fleece on a scale of carpet-1-2-3-4 based on fineness. Ideally you would like a ‘blanket’ (fleece from the neck and torso of the animal) to be dense and fine. Unfortunately these phenotypic traits are not directly correlated. Hence, breeding plans are extremely important in the alpaca world. Black is a recessive color in alpacas and is hard to obtain. Even if you breed 2 of the same colored alpaca together you might not get the same colored baby—quite the guessing game!

This is one of the livestock dogs teaching me about grading fleece. Assessing and cleaning all of the fleece is done by hand. It looks like a ton of work! 

The farmer would either knit/spin her own fleece products and sell them at local markets or have the mill that does the processing create products for her. I now own my own pair of alpaca socks and mittens; they are very warm and soft!

I believe that this is the last placement I needed to complete for my pre-clinical requirements. I received previous credit for time I spent working at a zoo and a wildlife rehabilitation facility (possibly some throwback blog posts are in order?) before my acceptance to vet school.

One last thank you to all the amazing people I have met during this experience, and the people I was able to reconnect with. It really is a small world out there!

I loved working outside on this farm and gained a ton of knowledge about alpaca husbandry and production.