Beauty is in the eye of the beholder at Kensmyth, Clay Meadow

Sometimes you look at something but you cannot “see” it. Alpaca are like that and they hide their illness. This Alpaca is not ill but she was “carrying” her ear on occasion…

Further investigation showed that the ear tag was slightly digging into her ear. This was not visible to the naked eye and would probably not have been noticed by an inexperienced owner… removal of the ear tag was a necessity and she will be retagged in due course when the slightly sensitive skin has settled down.

Can you see the impression above the hole that has been made into the skin making it darker – bruised ? This would, if left probably cause a haematoma in the skin leading to a pussy infection – better out when spotted by the vigilant!

Ear tagging is compulsory for registration of Alpaca in the British Alpaca Society Register of all Alpaca BUT they must also be microchipped too.

So she is young I hear you say – absolutely not – this can happen at any time – Ears do not all grow at the same rate and in the same size or shape – there is no “once tagged fits all” with Alpaca!

A Tag and a Microchip per Alpaca is part of your farming regime – its just that no one tells you that frequently they have to be removed and retagged and that microchips too can get lost and need redoing!