| Alpacas must be moved from one pasture to another. If you have a large herd you will be sorting them on a regular basis. But even a small herd requires you to separate animals at weaning, move breeding animals about and keep mom and her new baby in a separate pasture. The following are some helpful tips for organizing your pastures.Males (12 months and up) must be separated from breeding females. Adult males will engage in violent battles if more than one is in the same pen with females. These same males can be pastured together, without females, where they will engage in the occasional fight, but generally get along. Do not put small males with large males. The larger ones can hurt the smaller ones. Be sure to trim the male’s fighting teeth when they appear at between 3 and 4 years of age.Junior males can be put together but again you must be careful that larger males do not terrorize smaller males. I recommend that young (6 to 18 months) herdsire prospects be run with pregnant females. Again, you can only put one of the novice males with the females at any given time. This practice helps develop their confidence, presence and testosterone level.Weanlings, both male and female, can be run together until about 12 months of age. Then they should be separated.Geldings can be run with the stud males so long as they are an equivalent size. Males should be castrated around 24 months of age. If you castrate them at too young an age they can develop arthritis, or leg deformities, as they grow older.Pregnant females can be kept with the herdsire male for about the first six months of their pregnancy. The stud will not bother them if they are pregnant and the female will 'spit off' the male if he attempts to mount her. He will not persist.Once females are confirmed pregnant and well along in their pregnancy they should be separated. If you pen mate they will most likely be separated all along.When your female is within 60 days of delivery I recommend you move her to a separate pasture where it is easy to observe her behavior. Be sure she has a companion animal with her, hopefully another pregnant female.
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