A baby alpaca that was born with "floppy ears" has had treatment to straighten them out.<br /><br />The four-day old alpaca, who is currently unnamed, was born at Velvet Hall Alpacas with "floppy ears" - a rare and slight ear deformity that requires treatment with tape to reshape them.<br /><br />The practice does not harm the alpaca, and after two weeks of treatment with the makeshift splint, the tape will be removed and her ears will be pointing straight.<br /><br />Jean Macdonald, owner of Velvet Hall Alpacas in Innerleithen, Scotland, said that this is the first time she has seen the condition since purchasing their first alpaca in 2011.<br /><br />"Her ears have needed taped because they weren’t the right shape, so we have to tape them so they can grow into the right shape - but we've never had to do it before," said Jean.<br /><br />"I think the tape will stay on for about two weeks."<br /><br />Male alpacas at Velvet Hall are used for alpaca treks - but the females are not due to their over 11 month gestation period.<br /><br />This year, Jean has seen her flock grow by eight - including the yet-to-be-named "floppy-eared" alpaca.<br /><br />"We do alpaca walking and we do visits as well for people who can’t do the walks or people with younger kids, as we don’t let kids under 7 do the treks," said Jean.<br /><br />"We don’t use girls for treks at all, it’s only the boys that we trek with. A lot of our males are pet boys – so alpacas are usually kept for their fleece and pet boys have a lower quality fleece. <br /><br />"Females are pregnant for 11 and a half months, so if a pregnant female was doing the walks, it would be far too stressful for them. <br /><br />"Gestation is 11 and a half months, and then they feed their babies for another six months. <br /><br />"It varies by year – last year we only had three, but this year, we’ve got eight!"
