Alpacas continue to grow in popularity within the United States, yet to date little research has been done in the U.S. on their nutritional physiology as pseudoruminants. For instance there are a number of commercial alpaca milk replacers that claim to suit the needs of growing alpaca crias yet only one study in North America has examined South American Camelid milk. This study is aimed at determining the nutrient composition of alpaca milk by sampling the milk of fourteen alpaca hucaya dams weekly for the first 12 wk of lactation. The relationship between the constituents as well as what trends they follow over time will be examined. With this data available it will be possible to create a new or improved replacer for orphaned or poor-doing crias.
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