Alpaca Farming and Management Practices in Poland: Online Questionnaire

Alpacas have gained increasing popularity in Poland; however, no official national standards for their husbandry have yet been established. This study aimed to evaluate alpaca husbandry practices on Polish farms using an anonymous questionnaire. A total of 44 farms were included in the analysis, all of which kept alpacas, while only 9.1% also maintained llamas. A high level of adherence to preventive healthcare practices was observed, with regular deworming implemented on 90.9% of farms and vaccination reported by all respondents. Dietary supplementation was also widely practised, with vitamin D being the most frequently administered supplement (90.9%). However, the assessment of biosecurity measures revealed important deficiencies in epidemiological risk management, as only 59.3% of owners quarantined newly introduced animals before integrating them into the herd. These findings provide the first comprehensive overview of alpaca husbandry practices in Poland and may serve as a basis for future research and the development of official husbandry standards for alpacas.