Breeding from mating to cria: the whole cycle

Breeding in AlpacaKeep runs across two screens. The top-level Breeding hub is where you plan pairings, log matings, and confirm pregnancies. Each animal's own Breeding tab is where you see its pedigree and record a birth. This article walks the whole journey in order and points you to the detailed article for each step.

The cycle, step by step#

1. Plan a pairing. On the Breeding hub, open the Plan tab. Pick a dam (or a sire) and the recommender ranks your on-farm animals, flagging inbreeding and risky color crosses. See The mating recommender.
2. Log the mating. On the Breeding hub, press Log mating. Pick the sire, date, method, and one or more dams. See Log a mating.
3. It becomes a pregnancy to watch. The mating now shows on the Breeding hub under the Pregnancies tab.
4. Confirm the pregnancy. Still on the Pregnancies tab, confirm it with a spit-off check, an ultrasound, or another method. AlpacaKeep works out the expected due date from the species' gestation. See Confirm a pregnancy.
5. Record the birth. When the cria arrives, go to the dam's profile, open her Breeding tab, and press Record birth. See Record a birth.
6. The cria gets its pedigree. Recording the birth creates the cria as a new animal, linked to its dam and sire, so its pedigree tree is ready from day one.

📷 Screenshot: the Breeding hub with the Pregnancies, Plan, and History tabs labeled.

Good to know. Closed and archived records, plus a timeline of past crias, live on the History tab of the Breeding hub.

Related#

• Log a mating
• Confirm a pregnancy and record the result
• Record a birth, step by step
• The mating recommender: how matches are ranked