Baby alpaca born with "floppy ears" receives treatment to straighten them
- 9 days ago
A baby alpaca that was born with "floppy ears" has had treatment to straighten them out.
The four-day old alpaca, who is currently unnamed, was born at Velvet Hall Alpacas with "floppy ears" - a rare and slight ear deformity that requires treatment with tape to reshape them.
The practice does not harm the alpaca, and after two weeks of treatment with the makeshift splint, the tape will be removed and her ears will be pointing straight.
Jean Macdonald, owner of Velvet Hall Alpacas in Innerleithen, Scotland, said that this is the first time she has seen the condition since purchasing their first alpaca in 2011.
"Her ears have needed taped because they weren’t the right shape, so we have to tape them so they can grow into the right shape - but we've never had to do it before," said Jean.
"I think the tape will stay on for about two weeks."
Male alpacas at Velvet Hall are used for alpaca treks - but the females are not due to their over 11 month gestation period.
This year, Jean has seen her flock grow by eight - including the yet-to-be-named "floppy-eared" alpaca.
"We do alpaca walking and we do visits as well for people who can’t do the walks or people with younger kids, as we don’t let kids under 7 do the treks," said Jean.
"We don’t use girls for treks at all, it’s only the boys that we trek with. A lot of our males are pet boys – so alpacas are usually kept for their fleece and pet boys have a lower quality fleece.
"Females are pregnant for 11 and a half months, so if a pregnant female was doing the walks, it would be far too stressful for them.
"Gestation is 11 and a half months, and then they feed their babies for another six months.
"It varies by year – last year we only had three, but this year, we’ve got eight!"
The four-day old alpaca, who is currently unnamed, was born at Velvet Hall Alpacas with "floppy ears" - a rare and slight ear deformity that requires treatment with tape to reshape them.
The practice does not harm the alpaca, and after two weeks of treatment with the makeshift splint, the tape will be removed and her ears will be pointing straight.
Jean Macdonald, owner of Velvet Hall Alpacas in Innerleithen, Scotland, said that this is the first time she has seen the condition since purchasing their first alpaca in 2011.
"Her ears have needed taped because they weren’t the right shape, so we have to tape them so they can grow into the right shape - but we've never had to do it before," said Jean.
"I think the tape will stay on for about two weeks."
Male alpacas at Velvet Hall are used for alpaca treks - but the females are not due to their over 11 month gestation period.
This year, Jean has seen her flock grow by eight - including the yet-to-be-named "floppy-eared" alpaca.
"We do alpaca walking and we do visits as well for people who can’t do the walks or people with younger kids, as we don’t let kids under 7 do the treks," said Jean.
"We don’t use girls for treks at all, it’s only the boys that we trek with. A lot of our males are pet boys – so alpacas are usually kept for their fleece and pet boys have a lower quality fleece.
"Females are pregnant for 11 and a half months, so if a pregnant female was doing the walks, it would be far too stressful for them.
"Gestation is 11 and a half months, and then they feed their babies for another six months.
"It varies by year – last year we only had three, but this year, we’ve got eight!"