Winter Animal Care

True. We live in North Carolina. It isn't Michigan winter. We get it. It is, however, a mixed bag of weather here in the winter months. Some days are warm and sunny and drop to freezing at night. Many days of winter are rainy and cold. The fluctuating daytime temperatures combined with the often freezing nighttime temperatures means we are often adjusting care for the alpacas.

The alpacas are fully fleeced by the time late January rolls around. Healthy alpacas between the ages of approximately 30 days old through 15 years old genearlly do absolutely fine in our climate during the winter months. We'll find them laying out in the pasture in the mornings after a night outside with frost on their backs even when they have full access to the barn at night. It is not cold enough here to negativty impact healthy alpacas in the prime of their life. We'd say they actually enjoy the cold as long as it is not raining.

We do coat our crias (baby alpacas) if they are younger than 30 days and it is going to be freezing temps. Young animals don't regulate their body temperature perfectly and they don't have as much fleece as the older animals. The coat (and snuggling with their moms) gives them enough of an extra layer of protection and prevents us from worrying.

Our oldest animals are checked in the mornings and evenings for signs of being cold. This is generally obvious and looks like the animal laying down pulling itself in tighter or actual shivering. This is rare in North Carolina, but as they age and lose muscle mass it is something we look for. The oldest of our animals also have shorter fleece typcially. We can coat our oldest animals if needed.

While they do not drink as much in the cold months, it is essential to prevent their fresh water from freezing. We have heated water buckets to help. They also prove to us that they prefer water that is not really cold as well. The buckets that are not frozen, but don't have heaters are never as empty as the buckets with heaters. 

Minerals continue all winter and hay is always available around the clock. If it's going to be very cold for a few days we often treat them at night with some alfalfa to keep their bellies warm at night.

Truthfully, we worry far more about their health in the summer than we do in the winter in North Carolina, but our routine changes in the winter to make sure we are paying close attention to our youngest and oldest alpacas.