Survey of current UK alpaca husbandry practices: Vaccination, treatment and supplementation

Background The popularity of alpacas in the UK is increasing, with the British Alpaca Society (BAS) estimating that there are currently 45,000 registered alpacas and a further 15,000 unregistered alpacas. This research set about to investigate what husbandry procedures are currently undertaken on alpacas in the UK. Methods An online survey of 47 questions was created using Jisc and was available for 4.5 months. Results All 116 holdings implemented shearing and foot trimming (100.0%), and most vaccinated against clostridial disease (95.7%) and supplemented with vitamin D (91.4%). There was no obvious pattern in vitamin D dosing. A significant positive association was found between the size of the holding and whether injectable or oral vitamin D was used (p = 0.034), with smaller holdings preferring oral vitamin D products. Limitations The survey was distributed online, including via the BAS e‐Newsletter. The percentage of BAS‐registered alpacas was not clarified, so it is unknown if the data are skewed by this. Conclusion Although owners are ensuring that routine interventions are implemented, variation in responses implies there is no current standard protocol. This highlights that these differences may be due to logistical choices, training or varied advice, which may be due to the lack of published literature.