Why alpacas hum

The more human interaction we offer, the more we learn about alpaca behavior, and the more we know our alpaca herd. This allows us to better care for them and prepares them for an eventual sale to another farm. A few things to remember about interacting with alpacas is they have long-term memories. They are also highly intelligent animals. They can tell one human apart from another and they can learn how to adapt to different humans and each other.

You also need to remember that even though they can tell one human from another, your interaction influences their perception of all humans. You can either build up trust or degrade it with each encounter. I chose to build trust and respect, while also encouraging anyone who comes to our farm to do the same. The more time you spend with your alpacas, the more you will be one with the herd. Notice I did not say one of the herd.

You want to personally know and deeply understand your herd. It is only when this happens that you will be able to fully understand alpaca behavior and better see how your actions can influence it in a positive or negative manner. People are often surprised when I state alpacas are trainable. Just like humans, alpacas are unique. Not all are smart, nice, or agreeable. Figuring out the core behavior of an alpaca will help you modify it if needed.

One cannot discuss alpaca behavior without touching on the issue of Berserk Male syndrome. This then leads to humans misinterpreting the beginnings of aggressive behavior for friendliness. Since we have two young males right now, we have to watch this closely. We interact with them, create a bond, but watch closely for signs of aggressive play or a desire for dominance. I quickly stopped the behavior and have done my best to not encourage it moving forward.

As the human it is my job to maintain the appropriate boundaries, so the young alpacas do not confuse me with an alpaca. Mating is another topic that quickly comes to mind when discussing alpaca behavior. When the male is an aggressive mate, he will do everything within his power to complete his task and you do not want to get in the way. Variations in temperament are not for the males alone. The female varies too. An unbred female alpaca can completely change her personality when a male arrives.

Even the crabbiest alpaca can turn into a sweet docile female in an effort to be the winner of the mating session. And while the mating is happening, there is always a spectator area in play.

Any unbred females will lie down as close to the mating couple as they can. The bred females tend to stand back and just watch as if this is the entertainment for the day. Alpaca pregnancies shift personalities drastically too. I would say virtually all of our alpacas have changed their personalities once they become pregnant. Friendly Stormy became aloof, while quiet and quirky Reba became spunky.

Kalista, who would come greet me every time I entered the barn, now ignores me entirely. What I do know if my alpaca girls are affected by the change in hormones and we can see this by the dramatic shift in some of their behavior. I am not an alpaca expert. Far from it actually. Below are my ten tips for encouraging positive alpaca behavior, building a strong bond, and making the most of your alpaca relationship:.

As with anything in life, the alpaca behavior you experience is typically comparable to the level of effort you put into your alpaca herd. And the more you know and understand, the more you can shift this to produce more desirable behavior within the barn and pasture. Rebecca is an alpaca farmer who lives on just outside of Traverse City, Michigan.

She and her husband left the suburban life of metro Detroit, sold everything they owned, and moved north to start an alpaca farm in After buying their first set of alpacas, the duo fell in love with this magical animal and have jumped fully into the alpaca industry. I live in Mississippi. I believe I have an interest in livestock alpacas.

I need baby step guidance. My husband leads our local association and he is more than eager to help others. I would separate at night if you can do so and still keep them all relatively close. Right now we have a sick female and we separate her at night so she is close, but not in direct contact with the more aggressive females. This keeps her stress down, but also safe while she is recovering. If cameras are an option, I would highly recommend that route. We put them in our barn and you would be amazed at what happens at night when no humans are around.

When i touch my alpaca on the back he spits. Beth it is a rare alpaca that tolerates their back touched. On our farm you can easily touch four of our alpacas on the back, but the rest over 20 will not tolerate it. Alpacas do not like humans to touch their back or butts. You really have to have the alpaca from a young age to teach them this is a non-threatening action for them to allow it.

The best thing you can do is to give them the grace of time. Spend quiet time with them, so they know you are safe and not a threat. As they progress with you, feed and lightly stroke the neck.

From there you will be able to pet the neck without food. Adel is the only alpaca on our farm that will allow this interaction and this is because my son showered her with attention since she was six months old. As a rule, alpacas will like their neck lightly touched and a good scratch on the cheek.

But like humans, they are all different and will prefer different touchpoints. One final point is alpacas are best when there is a minimum of three animals. This is because they are herd animals and they need at least a small group of three to feel safe. This lack of a herd might be causing stress. Such great advice for a novice alpaca farmer like myself.

I have just welcomed our 4 alpacas two mums with female cria.. Many alpacas love the water hose. We will spray their underbelly and armpits, which seems to be the favorite spots.

When my husband Jason gets out the hose the ladies will line up for their turn. So yes, it is perfectly acceptable to do so. And it is way better than the ladies standing in their water bowl. Hi you write really well about alpacas — thank you! We have four males, one of whom has had a neck problem.

He is now distancing himself from the other three. Do you have any observations on alpaca behaviour when unwell? Or why they would distance? Hi, Thank you for all the great information. Do you know of any places that have disabled alpacas? Hi, We acquired a small herd of alpacas from someone getting out of the business. They had 5 males intact and 2 females.

All 7 have lived together all of their lives the males were never separated from the females. One of the first things we did was have the males gelded. The oldest male Tommy is 7 years old and he is super friendly. I spend several hours a day with them in the barn doing feeding and other chores Just in the past week Tommy has begun showing signs of aggression toward me.

He rears up on his hind legs and comes toward me. At first I thought it was just a fluke but he continues to do it. Up until now he has seemed to be a very docile and well behaved alpaca.

Any advice is appreciated. Bob, it seems odd for BMS to present at such an old age. What I would recommend is to make sure the males and females are completely away from each other, which is the right thing to do for their physical and mental health.

We have separate pastures with different fence lines for boys and girls. Our females can get our herdsires revved up, which throws their behavior way out of whack. I would also make sure that you establish your position as the alpha. Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I hope it was just a temporary behavior problem.

I realize now that i was probably encouraging the behavior. He would approach me and act like he wanted to smell my breath and i would rub his neck and head thinking he was just being overly friendly. I think this led to his feeling of dominance over me and then he started acting up. I have both boys and girls that will smell my breath and hair, give kisses, and want to be pet. I indulge in all of it, as I appreciate them as much as they appreciate me.

That said, when our breeder males have been around the females, I would not consider doing so, as their behavior is greatly influenced by the breeding process and hormones. We literally put the males in a time out area after breeding so they can calm down before we engage or before they are put back with other males. Hi Mrs. Gill, I recently got a job working with therapy animals for a mental health facility.

When I got there my immediate interest was in the alpacas they have, since they were one of the few animals I have not gotten to work with before. The big problem turned out to be that the corporate white collars had bought them at years old… having spent their WHOLE life on a farm with littler interaction.

Having trained many animals before I took on the challenge. And believe me, it has been a challenge. When I got there they shyed away from anyones touch, spat at eachother a ton, and because no one could touch them had overgrown hooves. It took me a week and a lot of bribery to have them trust me enough to not run away.

I finally took care of their feet and I think we all felt better. I learned several things quickly by watching them. I have worked with one a lot, she trusts me the most. After lots of work she eats me put a halter on her. I finally got her to let me take her all the way around the barn today!

But the other two are still struggling. The skittish alpacas will just need time. Be present and around as much as possible, sit down on the ground so they can see you as a non-threat, and give them the grace of time. It may take another six months or six days for them to feel comfortable and build trust.

It always seems that just when you think it will never happen, the trust emerges, and the alpacas relax. I wonder if I could also ask your opinion about a situation we are seeing with our herd. Last year, 2 young male alpacas were introduced to an existing herd of 6 males. This has happened in the two previous years also — with two alpacas being added to the herd each year, all alpacas obtained from the same local breeder.

Initially the two new youngsters appeared to integrate well into the herd, with the more established alphas of the herd really being very protective and caring towards them. He has a very docile character compared to the other youngster he was introduced with, who is extremely boisterous and headstrong! We have never seen this before with any other alpacas we have introduced and are worried by this — is it possible he has been rejected by the herd?

Is there anything we can do as humans to improve this relationship within the herd? He is either the outcast, stressed, or sad. If possible, I would move this male and a buddy into an adjacent paddock to see if his mood shifts when he is separated from the older males. Why does female smell other female pee and poop and when do, why does alpaca tilt their head back??

The alpaca is sniffing the urine or dung pile to get additional information on the alpacas who used it. Pregnant females will give off a different sent in their urine than an unpregnant female. When an alpaca performs the flehmen behaviour, they are simply collecting data points on the herd.

Hi There! I really enjoyed your article and also the comments and questions. We have an older years herd of 14 8 girls and 6 intact boys here in Colorado. We have the two sexes well separated separate barns and pastures and no shared fence lines as we are not breeding at this time and have not done so for 10 years. I was wondering if you have ever experienced the girls mounting each other? Ours seem to do it pretty regularly complete with orgling! The vet seems to think it has something to do with dominance as it seems the more dominant girls mount the less dominant ones.

Do you think gelding the boys even though they are no where near the girls would help end the behavior? We were thinking about moving to a place with only one barn and I was considering gelding the boys so everyone could live together as one big happy family! Caryl the females generally mount each other for two reasons: 1 They are simply eager to get bred. Female alpacas can only have one cria a year and I swear they know this and the strong desire to breed is just hardwired to ensure the survival of the species.

In my experience, this is a far lesser reason than the desire to breed. I do not believe gelding the boys will change the situation. The females will still have the desire to breed and the gelded males will still have the ability to breed.

A gelded male will still mount females and they can still do excessive harm if housed together. Thanks for his helpful alpacas. I am Christina, living in Switzerland. I acquired 4 female alpacas on my farm and I also approached them in a similar way. As I love people watching too, I found myself sitting with my alpacas hours at a time, watching them.

At the beginning I was training them to wear a harness but felt it was too soon because they seemed anxious. Alarm Call — When something unusual or resembling a predator appears in the vicinity, one alpaca will sound a high-pitched, rhythmic braying sound which causes the herd to bunch up for protection. Orgling — Male alpacas have a unique throaty vocalization they make when mating. Each male has his own style and intensity of orgling that may involve throats, lips and breathing apparatuses.

Spitting — Yes, alpacas do spit to signal their extreme displeasure, fear or dominance. Male alpacas horse around, stand each other off and spit. Both males and females spit in dominance wars over food.

There are varying qualities of spit: air, grass, regurgitated stomach contents that are currently being re-chewed. Alpacas from the same herd family will use the same dung pile.

Males will also sniff the dung pile to determine the reproductive status of his females. Female alpacas will also use the scent of her cria to distinguish it from other crias. Alpacas also will sniff the face of a person bends over to greet them. I bought my cria baby teething rings and rattles. I read an article just like you. My cria enjoys certain toys because of the colors or the noise.

My name is Erika Watkins. I own Huggable Humming Alpacas. Although not necessarily toys, there are many things you can do with your aminals. You can make some obstacles for them.

I have jumps, bridges, tarps, etc. I think huacayas will be a little easier to do this with also. What kind of alpacas do you have?

If you have kids this could be something they could do with the alpacas. I really enjoy working with my alpacas. It is a good way to bond with your alpacas. My alpacas have an interest in shoes. If you remove the laces and any parts that are potetial hazzards then your alpacas may find these fun.

I do not own either an Alpaca or a LLama but i find them interesting. People near me own them in upstate NY. There are Alpaca days where people can see them and buy the articles made from their fur. I would like to see one close up and give it a hug and kiss They look very cute and lovable someone told me i shouldnt feel like this that the animal spits at people. What about dogs and cats? Do they get along with the llamas and alpacas? If you are ever given the chance to see an alpaca up close you need to do it.

They will win your heart over at the first look. That is how I got in to them and also into showing them. There are 2 different types of alpacas- Huacaya and Suri. I like and will only have Huacaya alpacas as they are much nicer and eaiser to work with. If you see them at events like the Alpaca Day then they will be used to humans. Some alpacas I know were attacked by a dog- even a family dog. There is one breed called Great Pyranese that is very good with alpacas but you still have to be careful.

Alpacas and llamas get together very well. We had a llama in with our boys until we had to put him down. Llamas are really good guard animals for the alpacas. Thank you for visiting my site. I hope I have answered all of your question about these wonderful animals.

If you have any more questions please contact me. I wonder if you have heard a recording of Alpaca sounds. Thewre seem to be so many. I would love to use their sounds in my presentations. Thanks for your help. My onloy problem s that my dogs love the tasty alpaca beans!

My llamas play with our small dogs. The babies play chase with them and take turns chasing. This is often a pretty decent website. I have been back repeatedly over the past seven days and want to sign up for your rss using Google but find it difficult to find out the way to do it exactly. Would you know of any tutorials?

I would like to personally amend the section regarding the humming. As an alpaca owner for the past 20 years I would like to personally think alpacas humm during times of happiness, joy and overall comfort.

When I recently visted an alpaca farm here in Tx one alpaca seemed very curious while the others were stand offiish. The two are sometimes separated when on herd guard duties at lambing time, and on meeting may use a click sound. This may accompany an aggressive stance. One is a year younger than the other and he is always submissive. I have found when i make the same click when moving them that they do move on, as moving them in the desired direction can be difficult.

Am i giving an aggressive or a friendly signal? Sharon — alpacas are like people, some are more comfortable around humans than others. Thank you for the reply Christopher. It seems i am not likely to get treated like the enemy if i continue to click to get them to move in the right direction.

They are fascinating animals, but although ours are very friendly and look cuddly, they do not like to be cuddled or scratched as every other animal we have farmed does. Hi i was wondering if some one could help me we have recently inherited a alpaca we think he is about 2 year old when we got him a couple of months ago he wasnt to bad you just couldnt turn your back on him now though he rares up at you what i am wondering is this because he needs a mate or should i get him desexed he was handled and petted by the last owners they had him from a very young age i dont really what to have him put down but at the moment it is hard to get in with him and my sheep cause he just attacks you could some one please help in what we should do if he just needs to be trained i can do yhis but have to know how to do it.

My advice would be to get him a companion male. Alpacas are herd animals. Secondly you need to teach this guy boundaries. His prior owners probably handled him alot and he never learned that humans are the ones that are allowed to make contact first. The easiest way to do this is to bop his top when he violates your space. At the same time, yell the word NO. The humming varies a lot in pitch, and although some attribute different pitches to different expressions, it seems to vary a lot with each individual alpaca.

Another type of noise that alpacas make is a clicking noise, similar to how you might click your tongue against the roof of your mouth to get the attention of a horse. However, it has also been observed when mother alpacas are worried about their cria, or when they want to intimidate a neighbor.

This noise is loud, obvious, and used by alpacas to alert the rest of the herd to danger. For some alpacas, danger could be a wolf or a stranger, but for the more nervous alpaca, it may be something distinctly less scary. Some alpacas are even a little nervous when they catch sight of their own shadow! Some alpaca owners who also own dogs have trained their dogs to recognize this alarm call.

Sarah Budd, an alpaca owner in Montana, describes how her dogs, upon hearing the alpaca alarm call, will run to be between her alpacas and whatever they identify as danger in just a matter of seconds source: Alpacas of Montana.

While the alarm call is used by alpacas to warn of a potential danger, alpacas also have another type of noise they reserve for when they know or at least think that they are in genuine danger. Some veterinarians have noticed that during painful times such as pregnancy, or when suffering from intestinal illnesses and UTIs, alpacas can make a groaning noise similar to the noises that humans might make when they have a stomach ache source 1. They can also sometimes make a faintly audible noise from grinding their teeth when they suffer from colic.

The orgle is a sound that is unique to the male alpaca, as this is the noise that alpacas make during the mating process. This sound begins to attract the attention of a hembra female alpaca until the mating process is completed.

One male alpaca making this noise alerts any other intact male around them to the idea that it might be mating time, making them really take notice of the females in their herds. Once one male starts orgling, the rest of them join in the ruckus. Orgling is a type of noise that varies greatly between individual alpacas.

It can be very loud, and in extreme cases has even been known to cause noise disputes between neighbors! If you want to hear it, this video on YouTube shows two alpacas mating — and you can clearly hear the orgle.