Walton pair take on hairy task
Kerri and Neil Campbell hope their alpacas will provide them with an exit strategy from farming free range chickens. Abby Brown sat down with Kerri to learn about the fascinating animal.
then the breeder knows the female has no use for the male, as they have become pregnant.
But Kerri said even the alpacas don’t like the taste of their own spit.
She said they push their lips out once they have spat, as they don’t like the taste.
Females have an unusual cycle, she said, as mating induces ovulation.
Kerri was waiting for a couple of female alpacas to give birth, as gestation was normally 11⁄ months, but both females were prolonging their pregnancies, as they seemed to think the weather was not safe enough to give birth.
Females can prolong a pregnancy by several months if they felt the weather would affect how quickly their baby could be up and running after birth.
Kerri said this was important, as in the wild alpacas knew newborn babies negatively affected by bad weather would be targeted by a predator.