ABS Alpaca Status

I haven't posted any progress about our Berserk Male in quite some time.  Mostly because there hasn't been much to report.

Yes, we reached the point to where I could feed and muck around this alpaca by myself.  I continued to be able to do this work.  However, we had not made any progress with handling.

He would pace and jump on the fence whenever we handled the other alpacas. Then when he couldn't get to the alpaca on the lead, he would attack his corral mates.  He injured our other gelding.

If I was in the pasture without my husband, he would pace and rear up against the fence.  His eyes fixated on me until I would raise my arms and yell loudly.  At which point he would stop and turn away, but maintain an aggressive stance.

He was always better behaved when my husband was around.  Finally, when our neighbor came for a visit with his young son, the alpaca was very aggressive toward the boy.

So my husband and I now agreed that the alpaca was dangerous.  We believed it was only a matter of time before he tried to hurt me again or someone else.  This was our first time euthanizing an animal that wasn't old or sick.

The reason I share this information is to help raise awareness.  Yes, Aberrant Behavior Syndrome is rare, but please learn the signs and stop the behavior before it starts.  It's always easier to prevent than repair.

An alpaca should be interested in people but only for a short period of time and from a distance. They should be more interested in their herd mates. If they hang around you too much, or enter your space without being invited, their behavior needs to be corrected. Swiftly. What is cute at 30 pounds is dangerous at 200 pounds.

At the beginning of this process I did not know what the lesson was. Today, I would say how important it is to remember that alpacas are livestock and not pets. They must be treated as such, especially when they are so darn cute as cria.

Aside from this one male, we have found alpacas to be very easy to care for. They are easy to train, handle and shear.  They are entertaining to watch and produce wondrous fiber that makes beautiful, soft yarn.
 
Since carrying out our decision, the mood on the ranch is calm and peaceful.  I have been able to catch, handle and lead all of our alpacas without incident.

Here are some resources to learn more about Aberrant Behavior Syndrome aka Berserk Male Syndrome aka Novice Handler Syndrome:

Cathy Spalding
John Mallon
Wikipedia
Marty McGee Bennett

GOAL!!!

It's been about five weeks since the incident with and gelding of one of our alpacas.
My goals have been simple and progressive with a specific endstate in mind.

• First to enter the corral.
• Then to help my husband with the chores.
• Feed the big boys by myself with my husband standing by in the corral.
• Enter the corral alone, with my husband standing by outside the corral.
• Do the chores by myself with my husband outside of the corral.
• Finally, do the chores entirely by myself.

Yesterday, we accomplished major goal #1 and repeated it today.  I did all of the chores entirely by myself while my husband watched from the house.

This is significant.  Since the marathon season is starting soon, my husband will be travelling more frequently.  Which means I needed to reach the point where I felt comfortable doing the chores by myself, un-escorted.

I am very proud of myself and of our alpaca.

Our next major goal is to reach the point where I can halter and handle the alpaca prior to shearing toward the end of April.

More Progress with our Alpaca

I entered the corral alone today!

I did the feeding and helped with the mucking as we have been doing for the last few weeks.  Since this has been working well, I asked my husband to wait outside the gate while I put wood pellets on the muddy spots of the big boy corral.

I carried my trusty tennis raquet, told the alpaca to move back and sprinkled wood pellets on the mud.  For the the most part he respected my presence.  He did not enter my space, but took longer to disengage. 

When we finished and I exited the corral, I was shaking like crazy.  But I was in the corral alone!  I consider this major progress.  We will do this a few more times before moving to the next step.

I want to thank everyone for the positive feedback and support.  I am encouraged to learn that some have had similar situations with quick and positive corrections.

Progress with the Alpaca

It's been about a month since our incident. Progress is being made. My injuries are nearly healed.

As I mentioned here, I have been working to establish my dominance with our alpaca. I'm not yet ready to enter the corral alone, but I have been doing all of the feeding and helping my husband with the mucking.

The alpaca's behavior is much more relaxed. He is staying away from me as long as my husband is around; which means I am able to empty and fill the feeders without fear.

However, if I am near the corral alone he still wants to challenge me. Yesterday he reared up against the fence as I approached. I immediately raised my hands and yelled "no." He got down, turned away and did not challenge me again.

The next step is to have me do all of the chores in the corral with my husband standing by. If that goes well, my husband will move to outside the gate.

Our goal is two-fold: first is for me to do all of the chores unsupervised prior to the LA Marathon in March and second is to be able to halter and handle him prior to shearing at the end of April.

Aberrant Behavior Syndrome

I've been trying to figure out how to tell this story. It's always easier to tell a difficult story when you have learned the lessons that are being taught. In this case, I am still figuring it out.

Just over two weeks ago, one of my alpacas attacked me.

He jumped on me while I was haltering him. He pinned me 4 times. I pinned him once. While he had me down, he bit me several times; on the face, ankles, legs and backside. The duration is fuzzy, but we wrestled for quite some time. This alpaca had decided that I was a threat to his territory.

This is the first time in my life I had ever been in a physical fight. I have no idea why he stopped.

Now that I've had the distance to think more clearly and do some research, I realize that this alpaca had all of the signs of Aberrant Behavior Syndrome (ABS) or as it used to be called, Berserk Male Syndrome. This alpaca was friendly from the first day I met him. He was the first to the fence when we visited the farm. He was in the way when chores were being done. He would pull my pony tail if I spent too much time paying attention to other alpacas. So when the ranchers offered him to us in a package, we accepted. I didn't know any better. I don't blame the selling ranch. I don't think they knew.

I have not been able to find a lot of information on ABS. What I have found relates to stopping it in juveniles as soon as they begin to exhibit the behavior. Unfortunately, this alpaca was an adult when we met him and is 4 1/2 years old now. He is proven and conveys is luster and volume to his cria.

I was injured from the attack, but fortunately nothing was broken and no stitches were required.

My husband and I went through a lot of emotions as we discussed options for how to remedy the situation. We spoke with a couple of breeders and our vet. We decided to geld this alpaca and work to improve his behavior.

We keep this alpaca with the big boys. I am able to handle, feed and muck all of the other alpacas we have.

We have been working with him a little each day. Initially, with the aid of a tennis racquet I have been making myself much bigger, from the safety of outside the corral.

A couple of days ago, I felt comfortable enough to help my husband with the mucking chores, but always with one eye on the alpaca.

Finally yesterday, I fed them. My husband was there, but I did the feeding. I feel like this is a huge accomplishment. It will still be a while before I am comfortable enough to be in the corral with this alpaca alone, but we are making a lot of progress.