--- In AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com, "Michele" <chelsbx@...> wrote:
> The male we brought for breeding started making this horrible sound
> then dropped his bottom lip.
> He quit then started a some what of a fight with his companion same
> sound but now spitting and his lip again.
> Can someone please tell me what this means and should we be alarmed?
> Is this a problem between them or is it natural?
Hi Michele,
I haven't been following this list until now...
It sounds like typical male behavior. We keep our males separated once
they are old enough to hurt each other, but they still "fight" over the
fence. Sometimes that bottom lip will stay stuck out for quite a while
after we break them up and sometimes one will have a piece of fiber from
the other guy hanging out of his mouth like a trophy :-) And yes, they
do make some horrible sounds...I guess they understand what it all
means...warnings and challenges probably! Once or twice, before we
separated them, the one being chased would be "screaming" in
distress...thank goodness, we were always nearby when that happened. I
figure the weaker/younger one just realized he was out-muscled and was
getting tired.
Some people just let all their males run together and it seems to work
for them. We have found, though, that by the time they are 12-18
months, we usually need to separate them. Even if their fighting teeth
are cut, they can still stress each other out...and on hot and/or humid
days that is dangerous. Our female pens are next to the males' pens.
They might get along better if the females were totally out of sight but
right now that's not possible for us.
Hope this helps!
Cynthia Jamar
Cynthia & Paul Jamar Willow Springs, MO 417-932-5688 or 5488 The
`Paca Place at Stardust Farm
<http://www.alpacanation.com/thepacaplace.asp> Curly Missouri
Foxtrotters <http://www.geocities.com/stardustfarmcurlies> Conklin
Fastrack® Microbials <http://www.conklin.com/site/stardustfarm>
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