Last weekend Eurion and Stuart spent the weekend at the Alpaca Futuruity event in Stoneleigh. We were there with a stand promoting the FECPAK system and on the Saturday there were 2 workshops where we trained 24 Alpaca owners in faecal egg counting (FEC). This was the first time we had done any real promotion of the system to Alpaca farmers and it was a very interesting 2 days and an eye opener for both of us. Little did we know that there are now 28,000 Alpacas in the UK - a fair achievement considering they only first landed on our shores in the mid 1990's. Although a lot of people who keep them are smallholders we met several who had herds of between 90 and 1,000 animals.
Roundworms are a particular problem for Alpacas, and they become infected with the same species of parasites that affect sheep and cattle. Because these parasites arent present in their native South American highlands they have very little immunity which mean that control of worms is very important for them. Worms have an effect on animal growth and performance and can even result in deaths which is a serious issue considering the value of some of the Alpacas we saw. When Alpacas become stressed there is an increase in the micron diameter of their fibre which means it will reduce the quality and hence the value of the fibre which is the main produce.
We met one Alpaca breeder who had been using a FECPAK for several years and it was good to hear that she had found it extremely useful in helping monitor and manage roundworm infections. We have shifted a few more FECPAK's since then so its good to learn that Alpaca owners are taking the correct steps to tackle this issue. There will be the same issues with wormer resistance as we have already found in sheep, cattle and horses so we want to avoid blanket regular treatments.
If you want to learn more about how FECPAK can help you visit www.innovis.org.uk/breedingproducts/sheepfecpak.asp
Comments