Weaning Alpaca and Llama Cria
Whose Baby Is This, Anyway?

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Cathy Spalding
www.gentlespiritllamas.com

Weaning... a subject full of controversy, confusion and complicating factors. To wean means, "to withhold mother's milk from the young of a mammal and substitute other nourishment". The definition also includes "to detach from that to which he is accustomed or devoted". The weaning process is an issue every llama and alpaca breeder must face, often causing a good bit of angst to both the llamas and/or alpacas and their humans. As with most anything, there are a number of things to consider regarding the weaning process. How are your pastures arranged and what sort of fencing exits? How many animals do you have, what age and sex, any babies relatively close in age and are they of the same sex? In addition, there are important things to consider with each mom and baby each year.

I would guess most everyone experiencing the gift of a newborn cria on their farm has tried their hand in the weaning process. We always weaned "our" babies at about the six-month mark. It was traumatic for both the four and two leggeds and not something we looked forward to doing. However, in trying to do the best by our animals as "herds keeper", it was our necessary responsibility. We tried a variety of methods including different fields, out of sight from one another, within sight, removing baby from the main group and leaving mom, removing mom and leaving baby, separated by merely a fence, separated by several fences, with a gelding, with other babies, with a group... for one month, two months, three months or more. Some weaned easier than others but without exception, there were those first long days of crying and pacing. Sometimes just the baby would cry, sometimes the mom cried too. We had cases of urine burn, sore teats, mothers and babies trying to nurse through gates and fencing. We had one little fellow jump a five foot fence. Through it all we continually reminded them, as well as ourselves, that this was for their own good.

Maybe There's Another Way To Wean

We began to wonder if there could be another way to handle this. We talked with a number of other breeders about letting the moms wean their own babies. Many had been breeding alpacas and llamas much longer than us and had experienced many more births and ultimate weanings. Almost all concurred that it just did not work. We decided to see for ourselves. One of our most important discoveries was timing. Our mentors were absolutely correct - moms weaning their own babies did not work if WE chose a particular date by which they should have that baby weaned. Timing - that date - seems to be where we get stuck. Our concerns around this subject most directly relates to length of time - the age of the baby.

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