Alpacas, unlike many other livestock, have a fairly wide window for length of gestation. At Snowshoe Farm, we use 335 days from the last breeding to estimate each female’s “due date”. This gives us a heads up to start keeping a close eye out for a birth. The actual length of gestation can vary quite a bit, from about 2 weeks short of 335 days to over a year. We keep very thorough breeding records, so the variation is not due to our lack of knowledge of the actual breeding dates.
This year we had one alpaca “due” June 1, two “due” June 3 and one “due” June 10. We currently have one cria on the ground; she was due June 3, but was born on May 24. So cria season is a waiting game. It requires some patience and, if you want to be sure to catch any potential problems, it requires pretty regular observation. We have a beautiful stretch of weather coming up – let’s hope some of those crias take advantage of it!