Help with mating alpacas

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Well. Our first attempt at mating didnt go so well.

So I put the first girl (Louise) in the mating pen, and brought out the boy (Kerry) and let him go. After a bit of walking around and sniffing, Kerry finally realised what he was supposed to do. And realised Louise was pretty. He eventually mounted but she wasnt having a bar of him, would not sit, and spat at him. So we caught Kerry and ran Louise out, and brought the next girl (Thelma) into the mating pen.

Well Kerry knew what to do by now, and didnt waste any time mounting her. She sat quite happily.

Here's where the problem happened.

Kerry, like a typical inexperienced bloke, got very excited and made lovely noises but couldnt figure out where to put it. He probed but couldnt find his way in. I even tried to assist by moving her tail out of the way and guiding him gently by holding the sheath. But the silly bugger just couldnt find the magic spot. Then he got a little frustrated and kept trying to sit on her head or he would sit too far back behind her, or too far forward. He did get in at one point, but didnt stay in long because Thelma shifted to the side just a little and he slipped out, and couldnt get back in again.

It just didnt work.

I let him try for about 25 minutes or so, before Thelma started to get a bit sick of him so I put them into their respective paddocks to try again tomorrow.

So, any tips for successful creation of babies with an inexperienced male and an inexperienced female?

Is it just a matter of letting him practice until he gets the idea? Or is there something else I can do?
 

ksalvagno

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You are doing everything you can. He will get it after a while. Beginners are a pain. Before I got into alpacas, I never thought I would do things like help a male get into the right spot. :rolleyes:

Sounds like Louise isn't at the right point of her cycle. You can behavior test her every day until she goes down. Their cycle is 14 days so I would do this for 3 weeks since you don't know what part of the cycle she is in. If she doesn't go down after the 3 weeks, I would have a vet ultrasound her and make sure she doesn't have a CL or an infection.

By the way, when did you get alpacas? Huacaya or Suri?
 

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we only just got the girls, Thelma is brown and white and Lousie is black and white. They are maidens, 18 and 16 mths old respectively.

Kerry Packer, the boy is about 2.5 yrs old, we got him when he was 6 mths.

We also have a rescue wether, Al Packer, who is about 5 yrs old, and we have had him about 6 mths.

The two boys are white.

They are huacayas.

Okay, so my plan is to daily test Louise first, and if she doesnt go down put him with Thelma until he gets the job done properly.

Sound good?
 

ksalvagno

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Yes that sounds good.

Since Louise is only 16 months old, she may possibly just not be ready yet. Don't force the issue (some people do). She just may need more time.
 

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well he managed to mate Thelma successfully (I think) lol

do we test her again at 7 days?

Louise I have been testing daily, I dont know whether maybe she is getting closer to her receptive days, because she is no longer running madly away from him, she is showing a bit of interest in him but she still isnt going down for him, she spits at him a couple times.

If she doesnt go down after the three weeks daily testing, would you leave her another month or so before trying her again?
 

ksalvagno

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Test Thelma again at 7 days and at 14 days. At 7 days she shouldn't be receptive no matter what. At 14 days she should be receptive if she isn't pregnant. Most people like to do the 7 day test to make sure things are going ok hormonally with the female but the 14 day test is the big one.

If Louise won't go down after the 21 days, then I would wait a couple months or so and see if she is more receptive.
 

lupinfarm

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I have to say, your names are amazing.

We had a similar problem, with our DOGS. I know how frustrating it can be! It seems to me though that somehow despite the same issues you're having with your alpacas happened not long ago with our male dog and females, we ended up with 2 pregnant. One we know was bred, and the other we thought would never be bred.


I realize how off topic this actually is, but I had to say something! :)
 

mully

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Both with llamas and alpacas it takes a few practice runs before they can get it together... give them time and they will work it out... especially if she likes him !!
 

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thanks for clearing that up

tonight louise didnt run from kerry, but she spat at him, and really he wasnt that interested in her. looked at her once but then couldnt be bothered. kept looking outside the mating pen and making goo goo eyes at the camel :rolleyes:
 
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