Winter Health Preparations

by Cindy Lavan, Chase Tavern Farm Alpacas, Bowdoin, Maine

Check your herd health now before you encounter a problem in winter….

As the fleece grows on our furry friends, they appear to be getting fatter for the upcoming winter season; however looks can be very deceiving. Get your hands on your alpaca or better yet, get them on a scale. Get a pre-winter weight and body score your alpacas before the dead of winter is upon us. Now is the time to check your alpaca’s condition before issues develop during the winter months. Pay particular attention to moms who have cria at their side. A few simple steps outlined below will help you encounter a potential problem before it becomes a bigger problem. An ounce of prevention will save you gallons of frustration later…

Tips to check alpaca’s health ----

Membrane check
Hold your alpaca normally around the neck. Lift their upper eyelid back. You should see a nice, deep red or pinkish color. Do this to every alpaca. You will soon see a baseline color to establish a gauge by and know too who shows more color and who shows less. Also, check the color of their gums. Again, look for a nice pink or deep red color. If you see a pale color and the membrane is soft and won’t peel back easily, your alpaca needs your help medically.

Blood Panel
Have them vet checked for anemia and/or any other secondary infections such as Epe (now called Mycoplasma Haemolama), etc. I recommend doing blood work up to achieve a baseline reading on your alpaca before a problem may arise. Dr. Evans Manual lists recommended baseline levels for alpaca blood work. Also look for elevated white blood cell counts and check liver enzymes on the older alpacas. If you have a slow growing alpaca, do a separate blood test for Thyroid levels. Note the slightest signs of behavior change – laying around more than usual – not running to the feed – these can be indicators of a problem developing inside your alpaca.

Deworm
Also, without question, de-worm. Many tapeworms are becoming resistant to Fenbenzadole so Valbazen has become the de-wormer of choice but is not recommended for pregnant dams. Check with your vet for their recommended methods of de-worming after you have your fecal results. Also, just because you de-worm once, you will still need to do a recheck on your fecal 7-10 days after the day of your last administration of the meds. Every day you do poop removal, monitor the poop for evidence of tapeworm, change in consistency, etc.

Additional Vitamin Therapy
Also, this time of year, have plenty of B complex in the frig ready to go. B complex is a great additive for increasing an alpaca’s appetite. We also use a paste vitamin supplement. VitaCharge is available through kvvet.com and can be administered orally. We recommend that all fall and winter cria receive an oral dose weekly to avoid Rickets like systems from developing. I have seen cria born in the fall/winter months that have Rickets like symptoms and don’t grow well on other farms around New England.

A great oral vitamin supplement for slightly anemic alpacas is Red Cell. Found on the feed store shelf, administration of this great vitamin backed liquid smells (and tastes – tasted by accident on my part) like candy and the alpacas don’t mind it at all. Daily administration is suggested with weekly supplementation of Iron Dextran for the heavy duty Iron boost.

Supplemental Feeds
Grab a cube of Alpha A or Dengie Hi-Fi from the feed store. Basically it’s chopped up alfalfa hay and the alpacas love it as a supplement to their feeds. You can always top dress your grains with molasses as well to add extra calories and energy to their grains for winter.

Random Blood Panels/Random Fecals
If you are running a larger herd and have your alpacas grouped according to age/gestation, pull a few test subjects and perform random fecals and random blood draws. Chances are if one or more alpaca living in the same area is showing signs of something, they all are and you can medicate accordingly. This is something we have done for years in the spring coming out of winter and then again going into winter to get a good overall assessment of our alpaca’s overall herd condition.

If you are running a smaller herd, it may be worth the investment to do a blood panel for baseline on your herd, especially any alpacas you may have a question about.

Winter Weaning
Weaning in winter can be very difficult on the cria. Try to wean in groups if possible pulling more than one to move to a new area or away from their dams if at all possible. That may mean one is 6 ½ months, one is 6 months or one is 5 ½ months of age. Use weight and behavior as a gauge and how mom is doing in body condition on when to wean. An 80lb cria who is 5 months old can certainly leave mom if she is 20lbs underweight before going into a heavy winter if everything else is quite normal. Stress is an important factor to watch for in weaning time and some do better leaving mom than others so watch for change in fecals, going off feed, etc. You can administer vitamins during this time as well as Probiotics if you find bellies acting out of sorts. Routinely we have found boys to be harder to wean than girls but that may be true of all species. : )

Stoic to their own demise
I’ve said it for years and I will continue to say it, “these animals are stoic to their own demise.’ They maintain a lovely yet annoying habit of being a herd animal and with that, they are more likely to hide in a herd and not show their symptoms until it’s too late. Being a herd animal is a great thing on many other levels of behavior, breeding, abilities, etc. but that annoying herd aspect steps in when it comes to them hiding their aliments. An alpaca that is on its way out will even try to show you are tough and eat, stand strongly upright, when inside they have taken a turn for the worst. I don’t’ mean to frighten anyone with the notion you have to have video surveillance on your herd 24/7, but good, common sense daily management procedures will help you eliminate situations before they become a more difficult problem.

Cindy along with her husband Tim, an AOBA Alpaca Judge and Judge Trainer and their two sons, Charlie & Petey have been breeding and raising Championship alpacas since 1993 on their coastal farm in Maine. They maintain a herd of over 100 alpacas and have over 15 working herdsires, 10 of whom were born on their farm producing the next generation of prize winning alpacas. Their son, Charlie, also runs his herd of suri alpacas under the name, Chickadee Ridge Alpacas.

To learn more about the Lavan’s, visit their websites at www.chasetavernfarm.com and www.chickadeeridgealpacas.com.