[AlpacaTalk] Re: fertility questions

 

I will give a strong second to over-conditioning affecting fertility and here's my anecedote:

We got a 10-yo fatty as part of a herd dispersal summer 2007. She was a problem breeder--only having cria born in 2002 and 2005. She and her herd had nutritional problems and this female had a seizure within days of coming to the farm. She was presumably pregnant but when U/S several weeks past her "due" date vet said she was clearly not pregnant. Bred her twice in fall, she spit off and when U/S 2-3 months later she was not pregnant. Bred her in May 2008, U/S positive in June but open in September. Bred her once in October then she had another seizure when new hay was introduced so I wrote her off and never even spit tested her. I also put her on a diet.

Spring 2009 she began "looking" pregnant, and also would spit at other females that acted hormonal. Summer 2009 she had fetal movement. Being obese we worried she wouldn't have a milk supply but despite a smallish udder, she delivered a thriving male cria in September.

Bred her 3-4x this fall, the last time on Oct. 25 and on Oct. 29 she was open. I'd noticed a little white discharge between breedings so assumed she might have an infection. But before getting the vet to check her, she's now spitting off consistently over the last 2 weeks and I'm calling her pregnant.

Long story short--even though she didn't lose weight when I cut out her grain, I'm convinced the change in diet is why she held her pregnancy. She has not had a seizure that we've witnessed since Sept. 2008, so I'm also pretty sure it took well over a year before her body/chemistry recovered from her previous poor diet to better nutrition.

Incidentally, she lost 80 lbs just from nursing her cria and is now a healthy 160 lbs. This one has been a real education for us.

Good luck,

Nicole

Nicole Carter
Upper Farm Alpacas
Pownal, ME 04069
niccarr33@msn.com

--- In AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com, jim gregoryk <jimg2312@...> wrote:
>
> Heather,
>  
> I too was having problems with a female that miscarried several times.  Then at a Old Time Farm Event a couple of summers ago I ran into a lady that has been raising alpacas for years and years.  I told her of my problem and she said "I bet she is getting too much sugar, keep her off the new grass and sweet feed and feed her good quality hay for the first 4 or 5 months."  "Then you can let her gradually graze out in the pasture."  It worked and Cheech has a beautiful pure white cria.  I am not positive that this is why but Cheech miscarried a single and set of twins before I got the information and did what she said.  I have looked and looked and can not find wonderful lady's name, I would llike to give her credit for this but regretfully  I can't find it.  Hope this helps
>  
> Jim
>
> --- On Sat, 11/28/09, Heather Zeleny <alpacatalk@...> wrote:
>
>
> From: Heather Zeleny <alpacatalk@...>
> Subject: Re: [AlpacaTalk] fertility questions
> To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Saturday, November 28, 2009, 12:16 PM
>
>
>  
>

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