Rare alpaca birth
New Zealand’s largest alpaca farm is celebrating a rare and undocumented first with the recent birth of twin crias.
Twins Lucy and Lucas were born on February 3 at Nevalea Alpacas, in the hills of Taumarunui, leaving their owners over the moon at the unexpected surprise.
Kellie Dodd said it was a one and 50,000 chance for alpaca to give birth to twins, making the recent addition a rare and joyous occasion.
It is so rare she couldn’t get any statistics from the Alpaca Association NZ.
‘‘Alpacas usually don’t have twins. There have been some [twins] but they generally don’t survive. You may only get one that survives so we’ve got two live ones, which is good.’’
Nearly three weeks old, the twins are doing well. Lucy was the first to be born at 1pm followed by Lucas an hour later, both weighing 3.9 kilograms.
Parents Nevalea Harriet and Sunset Estate Soho were pen mated 11-and-a-half months ago.
Dodd said the birth went smoothly.
This isn’t the first time twin cria have been born on the farm.
At Christmas Eve last year it was hoped a set of twins born would survive, but only one made it.
Each year the alpacas on the farm are named by a letter of the alphabet. So the name of every cria born in 2018 will start with the letter ‘‘L’’.
‘‘That way we can work out how old they are and we don’t use up all the good names first,’’ Dodd said.
Leonie and Neville Walker started the business in 2007 with two female alpacas with cria at foot. Now the 351-hectare farm has grown to be New Zealand’s largest alpaca farm with more than750 alpacas.
Lucas and Lucy’s progress will be documented and their fibre used to make clothing which is sold in the shop.
Later on they will join the breeding stock.