The Alpaca Library Catalogue

We all know that if an animal has been trained, life is easier all round. I knew about training dogs – we have all seen sheep dogs in action or watched obedience training on the television – but I was surprised to find that cats can also be trained. Mind you, they do tend to 'take a message and get back to you' when you call them but ours would come when we whistled and get down or stop scratching the furniture when told. Alpacas are not likely to come when you call unless you rattle a feed bucket. In fact, they often appear not to have heard you and show no reaction. However, you can train them to trust you and feel safe when you are near them or handling them. It is down to you to help them overcome their innate alarm and feeling of being threatened. more »

There are different methods to use when training alpacas. This is one way to approach training which I have found successful after training over 70 alpacas. Fear of the unknown is paramount in the mind of the alpaca. Their normal line of defence is either flight (running away from) fright (standing rigid) or kushing (sitting down). These are normal ways for alpacas to cope with the stress of training. Using a non-confrontational and non-threatening approach to training allows your animal to trust you and makes it much more pleasant and rewarding. By not wrestling every time you put a halter on an alpaca, you avoid the possibility of hurting yourself or the animal. It is time-consuming and patience is needed, but the benefits of having an alpaca that happily accepts the halter and leads easily far outweigh the disadvantage of the time involved. Your alpaca will have self control when being handled or attending shows etc. and be more marketable for the pet market. more »

A cDNA library from white alpaca (Vicugna pacos) skin was constructed using SMART technology to investigate the global gene expression profile in alpaca skin and identify genes associated with physiology of alpaca skin and pigmentation. A total of 5359 high-quality EST (expressed sequence tag) sequences were generated by sequencing random cDNA clones from the library. Clustering analysis of sequences revealed a total of 3504 unique sequences including 739 contigs (assembled from 2594 ESTs) and 2765 singletons. BLAST analysis against GenBank nr database resulted in 1287 significant hits (E-value < 10−10), of which 863 were annotated through gene ontology analysis. Transcripts for genes related to fleece quality, growth and coat color (e.g. collagen types I and III, troponin C2 and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine) were abundantly present in the library. Other genes, such as keratin family genes known to be involved in melanosome protein production, were also identified in the library. Members (KRT10, 14 and 15) of this gene family are evolutionarily conserved as revealed by a cross-species comparative analysis. This collection of ESTs provides a valuable resource for future research to understand the network of gene expression linked to physiology of alpaca skin and development of pigmentation. more »

The proportion of female alpacas ovulating, conceiving and remaining pregnant up to 40 days after copulation was evaluated using progesterone concentrations. One hundred and seventy six parous, postpartum alpacas were divided into three groups for breeding at 10, 20, and 30 days postpartum at the La Raya research station, Cusco, Peru. Females were further subdivided into three groups to allow copulation once, twice, or three times at 24-h intervals, within different postpartum times. Blood samples were collected at time of breeding, at Day 7 (ovulation), at Day 21 (conception), and Day 40 (pregnancy) from all females after breeding. Progesterone analysis was performed by enzyme immunoassay. There was significant difference in the proportion of females ovulating at Days 10 (), 20 () or 30 () postpartum; however, frequency of breeding did not increase the number of females ovulating. There was significant difference in the proportion of females conceiving at Days 10 (), 20 (), and 30 () postpartum, compared with females ovulating at the three times of breeding. There was also a significant difference in the number of females in which pregnancy was sustained at Day 40 when bred at 10 (19), 20 (31) and 30 (44) days postpartum. There were significant differences in the concentration of progesterone of ovulating females (4.2 ng ml−1), conceiving females (3.1 ng ml−1) and females remaining pregnant (1.4 ng ml−1), compared with the overall mean of 0.4 ng ml−1 for females that did not ovulate, did not conceive and that experienced embryonic mortality. Altogether, these results suggest that breeding as early as Day 10 postpartum does not yield acceptable fertility rates as compared with breeding on Days 20 or 30 postpartum, and that repeated breeding does not increase the number of females ovulating or conceiving. more »

Background The prevalence of Johne's disease in alpacas in the United States is unknown. The limits of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in alpaca feces have not been determined. Objectives To evaluate the use of PCR for MAP detection in alpaca feces; and to estimate the prevalence of MAP fecal shedding in alpacas presented to veterinary teaching hospitals. Animals Alpacas presenting to 4 US veterinary teaching hospitals from November 2009 to February 2011. Methods Prospective study. Ten dilutions of a wild MAP strain were added to negative alpaca feces and processed for MAP detection by means of a commercial real‐time PCR (RT‐PCR) assay, and cultured on Herrold's Egg Yolk Medium (HEYM) and liquid broth. The limits of detection for each method were determined. Fecal samples from alpacas admitted to the veterinary teaching hospitals during the study period were evaluated for MAP via PCR and HEYM. Results The lowest MAP dilution detectable via PCR was 243 MAP colony‐forming units (CFU)/g of feces, at which concentration MAP growth was detectable on HEYM. Ten (6%; 95% confidence interval: 3–9%) of the 180 fecal samples collected were positive on PCR. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Polymerase chain reaction can provide an accurate and rapid detection of MAP fecal shedding in alpacas; and the prevalence of MAP fecal shedding in hospitalized alpacas in 4 US veterinary teaching hospitals was 6%. more »