Why are they jumping on each other’s backs

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.

Once our babies were no longer feeding (except Domino who’s still going at nearly two) we decided to merge our herds. 

It was lovely for them to be reunited - old friends, sisters and aunties who got to see each other again! 

But it also means that they are taking time to establish their new herd hierarchy. 

Alpacas live in a strict hierarchy and when you merge two groups they have to figure it all out again. 

We’ve also found that our females who haven’t bred for a while are more predisposed to this behaviour, so it could well be that they’re also feeling ready to breed! 

We aren’t breeding at the moment but we are selling breeding females. So if you’d like to offer one of our girls a chance to have some babies that would just be so lovely! Get in touch to come and meet them.

Carly x