Alpacas are what’s known as semi-ruminants. They have 3 stomach compartments referred to very excitingly as C-1, C-2 and C-3. These chambers are what allow them to make the most of very little, fermenting and absorbing plant fibres and absorbing nutrients super efficiently.

Why are they jumping on each other’s backs? This is one of the main questions I get asked at the moment by kids who come into our females paddock. The answer is dominance (and sometimes readiness to breed!). Our female herd used to be two mini herds. We had our mums and babies in one paddock so that we could make sure they got enough feed to keep them going through pregnancy, birth (referred to as ‘unpacking’ in alpacas - I know… weird) and lactation.