RE: [AlpacaTalk] Colostrum supplement
Hi Janice,
I've been to several seminars where this was a well discussed point and this
is the summary of the notes that I have up and through last weekend's
Symposium
at U. C. Davis, in Davis, California. I'm not a vet.just an alpaca herder
who likes to have a good understanding of what we need to keep these guys
healthy.
Vet's tell us that bovine, llama, caprine, or sheep's colostrum will do in
a pinch.that is cow, llama, goat, sheep.
But, there are some alpaca colostrum replacements (powdered), out there and
there are sources of frozen alpaca colostrum as well.
The important thing to know about using these other colostrums is that when
you test for IgG you have to use the appropriate plate or it looks like your
cria has no immunity.
In other words, you will need a goat plate for goat's colostrum, a llama
plate for llama colostrum, a bovine plate for cow's.etc.
You MUST tell your vet that your cria has been given this "alternate" source
colostrum and have them use the right plate.
Also, the IgG test has to be read understanding how long after birth your
cria is being tested as the reading jumps just after the colostrum is given
and then falls in a "slide down" fashion quickly over about a month's time
from when the colostrum was administered to the date of testing. After 6
weeks or so,
the reading falls to nothing as the cria's own body begins to "grow" its own
immunities. So a perfectly healthy cria of 4 weeks old or so might have an
IgG that read
only "240" but it would have had a "2400" or so at the point when it first
was given the colostrum. There are charts that the vet can use to
interpret whether the number you have
indicates that the cria has good immunity for its age and colostrum intake
date.
The important fact to get is that the cria's own immunity will replace the
IgG's it had as a new born over time, so that the "falling" igG is perfectly
normal and you don't need to administer plasma or take any heroic measures
to change that reading .you just have to interpret it in "time" as well
as "immunity level" and with the appropriate plate for the type of colostrum
administered.
Hope this helps get a handle on this issue. You can keep the frozen stuff
over a year, but then should refresh it.
Allison Moss-Fritch
New Moon Alpacas
Santa Clara, CA
From: AlpacaTalk@yahoogro
Behalf Of houckj@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 8:02 PM
To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogro
Subject: [AlpacaTalk] Colostrum supplement
As i posted yesterday I am looking to stock up on necessities for
emergencies. After 2 yrs of beyond-my-control neglect of all my animals
I am finally having enough spare minutes and brain cells (what's left
anyway) and trying to get back on track. While I am figuring out the
worming protocol (among other things) that I want to use and getting
what I need to keep that on track, the surprise birth of Merry has me in
the mind of being better prepared (since I have no vet back up).
Luckily she and mama are doing fine (fingers crossed), but my last cria,
about a year and a half ago, was found nearly dead and mom *was* dead
:-(. A friend with goats miraculously had some colostrum in her freezer
and was able to get it over to me, but it took a couple of hours.
Another friend closer by brought over some fresh goat's milk to feed the
cria to try and get it up and going. That baby was taking its bottle
just fine, great sucking; but still only made it 4 days. It was very
very sad....both he and mom were very unique and beautiful. Anyway, I
am thinking I should keep some colostrum supplement on hand.
Do any of you do this and if so what kind do you prefer? Is there
anything I should know to look out for? I am looking for instance at
"Sav-A-Caf" colostrum. It has bovine serum and "high quality" colostrum
from state certified dairy herd. Then there is multi species colostrum
supplement. Would the bovine serum be a problem, or a good thing?
Thanks! Janice
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posted by Chaddo at 9:28 AM
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