An Alpaca Birth

Shown below is a series of pictures of a cria (baby alpaca) being born.  The pictures are graphic and we have included them as thumbnails to reduce the time for downloading.  Simply click on them to see an enlarged view.  Nothing can surpass the miracle of birth, no matter what the species!

An alpaca birth usually occurs in the morning, often soon after sunrise.  We have had some born in early afternoon, but never in the evening.  It is felt that births that come later in the day may indicate some sort of difficulty.  Prolonged labor may require human intervention to reposition the cria.  It is recommended that all breeders take one of the many neonatal courses offered at various times around the country, to provide them with the skills necessary to assess the birthing process and determine whether intervention by themselves or a vet is necessary.

We have found that several of our dams will hum very softly when they exhale in the day or two before having a cria.  It has been our best indicator of imminent birth.  Our feeling is that this is the way the dam bonds with the cria before it is even born, so that the cria will recognize her voice and be able to find her in the herd.  In South America, they have studied the guanacos ( a wild cousin of the alpaca) and found that if a cria does not bond with its mother audibly in the first 24 hours, the cria will die.  We wonder if the same is true for alpacas.

Other indicators that an alpaca may be nearing her due date are the formation of an udder and frequent visits to the dung pile.  Restlessness or getting up and down are other indicators.  As you will see below, the cria is born usually with the dam standing, but occasionally they will birth laying down.

Diana's labor pictured below was classic.  She kept up with the herd for quite a while, and the only indicator to make me think she might be in labor was that she was cushed (lying down) while everyone else was up grazing.  So we watched for a few minutes and soon she got up and began grazing like the picture to the left.  We almost left the scene, for it was time for church, but decided to stay for a few more minutes and we are glad we did!

As we continued to watch her graze with everyone, she moved to the side of the herd and cushed again.  Restlessness or getting up and down can be a good indicator that something is going on.  Humming more frequently may also occur, but not always.  Notice that Diana is cushed with her legs out to the side instead of directly beneath her.  Lying in this position can indicate abdominal discomfort.  I think we could be safe in calling labor abdominal discomfort.

Here is Diana's posterior.  You can see that the perineal area is bulging which happens frequently in later pregnancy or even earlier in older dams.  However if you look at the vulva, you can see that they are elongated and separating a bit.  This relaxation can occur before labor, but coupled with her other symptoms, it implies we are going to see a cria soon.

These next two photos show Diana separate from the herd which you can see in the distant background.  You can also see how she is getting up and down more frequently.  I think that by cushing, they make the ground their ally in pushing the cria out.

These two photos show Diana pushing and straining as if to pass some beans.  It's not unusual to see these girls look at their rear ends when they are straining, which is what Diana was about to do when I snapped this shot on the left.

This photo is a bit yucky, but now we see some mucus as the vaginal tract lubricates  itself to allow for an easier passage.

Now we see something, but what is it?  Hopefully a nose or some toes, for anything else might require intervention.  Often you will see the placenta protruding with its fluid.  If I see this, I go ahead and rupture the placenta, allowing the fluid to escape which makes it a bit easier on the dam to move things through.  Yup, it's a nose!  Good start!

After a few more contractions and pushes, we have some feet.  This is the hardest time for the owner to just let things happen on their own.  We all want to help!  There is a strong urge to pull on those legs and help the process along, but if you do, you run the risk of tearing the uterus or vaginal tract before it has had a chance to relax.  The first obstacle is getting the head out.  After that, the shoulders.  Notice the alpaca nose to the left.  Someone had to come and investigate what all the hoopla was about!

Things are progressing nicely.  We have two legs outstretched and now the nose!  Notice the busy body to the left wearing the blue top who just has to micromanage the whole thing!

Things were not moving along as fast as I would like them, so I decided to intervene.  Really at this point I should have just bugged out and let Diana do what alpacas have done just fine on their own for thousands of years.  Instead, I decided that I needed to apply some gentle, but steady traction downward to help move the cria along.  If you are in this position, please do as I say, not as I do, and keep your hands off.  Once the head is out, there is often a 10 minute pause in labor while the dam regroups a bit and comes up with the energy to get the shoulders out.  Applying traction or pulling at this point, before uterus and vagina are ready, can result in tears of the reproductive tract.  The cria may appear to be gasping as it takes its first breaths, but remember that it is still on the dam's circulation, so it really doesn't need to breathe.  If you want to do something, you can gently use a suction bulb to suction secretions out of the mouth and nostrils.

After the head is passed, it is time for the difficult shoulders.  Often the dams will get up and down during this phase, which drives me nuts.  The cria is half out and it often seems as though they are going to smash them as they lay down.  I always try to make sure the cria has a soft landing and might even put a towel down under them if the environment isn't relatively clean and dry.  When the dam lays down, she is at a disadvantage, for gravity is no longer assisting in the delivery.  In this case, I decided to lend a hand, even though I should have let her alone.  I prefer it when the dams stand because it allows for the natural drainage of fluid from the airways.

HEY DIANA..... YOU HAD A LITTLE GIRL!!!

If you look closely at the pictures above, you will notice that this cria's ears were plastered flat against the top of her head while snuggled up in the womb.  This has caused the ears to be "inside out".  We have had this with another cria and they look like little gremlins.  Interestingly, both times they have also acted like gremlins, full of mischief and energy.  A little piece of masking tape around the ear used loosely to bring it back to normal position is all that is necessary, but we wait for a while and enjoy the silly look, for it may correct on its own. 

The crias come out enclosed in a membrane covering their entire body like saran wrap.  In the last of the series of 5 pictures above, you can see me stripping the membrane away.  It is one of those things that would take care of itself, but we just have to do something.  The crias are also born with "slippers" on.  These are cartilagenous coverings over the toes that protect the womb from being scratched or torn by the cria's nails, while she kicks and moves around in her tiny enclosure.

After all of the hard work is done, all of the nosey pasture mates come for a look.  As someone pointed out to me recently, it is very similar to all of the elephant females during the Disney movie "Dumbo".  In the case of Dumbo and this cria who we have named Bilby, they both have unusual ears.  In Australia, a bilby is a tiny marsupial with ears that look just like this cria's.  So we have named her Bluebird Hills Bilby!

I do not have a picture of this, but after birth, most breeders will dip the umbilical stump in gentle iodine or another disinfectant to prevent infection moving through this window and into the abdomen.  The cord dries in a few hours and then it is not a worry unless the area is injured somehow, but redipping a few more times won't hurt.  We do this by putting the solution in small container such as a 35 mm film container or Dixie cup, and holding that under the abdomen, pressed against the belly with the cord inside.  I sort of shake it to be sure to get the whole cord drenched and it's done.

The last phase of labor is the passing of the placenta.  This third stage of labor can take as long as 2 hours to occur, but it is important to be sure the placenta is passed, and to inspect the placenta to be sure it is intact and that nothing remains in the womb to serve as a site for infection or bleeding.  Any bleeding at this point warrants close observation and this is especially true after the placenta is passed.  Bleeding can indicate a tear or retained placenta and requires veterinary intervention.  This is not a solid mass being passed, but is a fluid filled sac that one of my sons refers to as the purple jelly bean.  Whatever you call it, it really isn't pretty.

Now is a good time to kind of move off and let mom and cria bond.  It is fine to dry the cria off, but to keep from interfering with their relationship, bug off and observe from a distance of 20 or 30 feet, or more if this is a nervous dam. Soon the cria will be trying to get up and nurse.  In Bilby's case, that just seemed like way too much work, so she took the easier approach!

Here is Bilby the gremlin at close to one month of age.  If she were a human child, she would be the class clown.  Just looking at her picture makes me giggle.  They are all special, but some just tug at your heart strings a little bit harder than the others.  Not only does Bilby tug at my heart strings, but she tickles my funny bone too!

Rose's Labor Several Years Ago

First Picture:  This is Rose with Amidala's nose just peeking out.  If you look closely, you can see some  white tailed  deer grazing on the hill beyond.  The tall plants around Rose are burdock which have long since been eradicated and replaced with orchard grass.

Next Pictures:  In the normal presentation, the nose pops out either first or simultaneously with the two forefeet on either side of the head.  Occasionally you might get minor complications.  Perhaps a leg gets caught back and only one leg presents with the nose, or only the nose presents, or just the legs.  Occasionally a first time dam will have trouble pushing the cria out.  All of these scenarios are usually easily handled by the breeder.  Breech births or other difficult presentations require the assistance of a veterinarian.  It is extremely helpful for breeders to attend prenatal classes which are offered by some universities and some veterinarians at different farms.

When we are present for a delivery, we just can't help but intervene and catch the cria before it falls to the ground, even though this is the normal way they enter the world.  This accounts for the lack of pictures documenting the remainder of the birth.  Pictured left is Amidala still wet and "fresh out of the oven".  We have removed most of the "saran wrap" that enclosed her in the womb.  Rose will not lick her, as other species of animals often will, for alpacas simply sniff their crias to recognize their scent, and will continue to use scent to identify them even 6 months later when their cria comes to nurse.  Amidala's toenails are covered with a rubbery, cartilage like material which serves to protect the mother's uterus from the kicks of her cria as she carries it in utero.

It is fairly typical that a female in the late stages of labor will sort of separate herself from the rest of the herd.  This may be simply that the herd moves on without her, while she stays put.  We find it curious how uninterested the other alpacas are in her work.  They even stay away for the first several minutes as though they know that there is a need for Mom and cria to bond.  Then soon, everyone is there to check out the new arrival, and miraculously do not step on her in their earnest.  Notice how big their bellies are since they are expecting as well.

The native land of alpacas and their cousins requires that they get up and moving quickly to avoid predation.  Below is a series of pictures that show the struggles that a cria faces to accomplish its first steps.  It is truly amazing that they can be born and up and running in just a matter of hours.

The following series of pictures are of Monessa delivering her first cria early in the summer of 2004.  Labor did not proceed and a call to our vet left us on our own, for he was about an hour away up to his knees in water trout fishing.  She struggled with obvious labor for an hour before I moved in to check her out.  Notice the numerous photos that show the changed positions.  A little manipulation helped the head and feet to appear and we moved back to watch some more.  After no progress, it was obvious that we would have to be more aggressive and we worked to pull her cria.  Tim held her neck as I pulled on the cria with each contraction.  Finally we had the neck and shoulders through, and Monessa could do the rest.  The last pictures show her delivering the placenta, which is not intact as it should be.

Alpacas do not always appreciate human touch, and Monessa abhors it, yet she tolerated our intervention and assistance and is now a little more easy going when I pat her rear end.  She knows that she owes us one!