Re: [AlpacaTalk] 1st cria
Dear Marsha,
I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. It's hard enough when an adult passes, and even more difficult for crias...
Although you are very lucky to have such success and experience with dog breeding, we must be careful that we understand the difference between the two... Sometimes a female alpaca will abandon her cria, not because something is wrong with the cria, but maybe the nurturing instinct hasn't kicked in. I know dogs do that too occasionally...
A first time mom is likely to be nervous and excited at the same time. My guess is she was worried about her new baby, and rightly so.
My advice to your partner would be to have the vet's phone number handy and to call for any questions. A "cria emergency kit" might be an advantage ( your vet can help you make one, or refer to one of your field manuals) in case the vet gives specific instructions over the phone.
Again, so sorry for your loss.
Dede Crout
Dragonfly Alpacas LLc
Marydel, MD
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
No a vet hadn't been called. She didn't see the delivery but it happened in only a 30 minute period of time so there wasn't a long delivery or difficult delivery. This was mom's first cria. I too feel that something wasn't right with this precious girl. I've learned that thru my years of dog breeding. Mom would check her but at the end was just nervous acting and wanted to get away from her which makes me believe that she sensed something wasn't right with her cria.
Marsha
From: Laura A. Roberts <laura0554@hughes.net>
To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, July 26, 2011 12:04:55 PM
Subject: RE: [AlpacaTalk] 1st cria
I'm so sorry to hear this. I know how we anticipated the birth of our first cria at our farm and how nervous I was when the time actually came. Ours was a first time mom and she labored longer than what seemed normal. I called my friends/mentors and we called the vet and she talked me through assisting the birth. Cria was stuck at the shoulder………birth was completed and cria was fine.
I know it is after the fact, but was a vet called? I know many people call the vet for everything and some call for nothing and then there are those of us in between. My vet is usually 25 mins away and has come quickly for us. She has also been very receptive to instructions over the phone, which she has never charged for.
I am so sorry about your loss……….and most likely, something was just not right with cria. I am also sorry for the dam's loss. I have no doubt they feel the loss and grieve for their crias.
We have had several since our first and the more experienced dams usually had them without our "assistance" and the novices were all attended to. Two novice moms were also dry until 24 hours later and we ended up using goat's milk colostrom on one and plasma transfers on one. I am much more comfortable with the experienced moms!
We also had a female cria that had some respiratory issues…….blueish in the lips, tongue, etc. The vet gave her some shots and she survived, but the next day, in the place of her vulva, was a small balloon. Her vulva didn't have a complete split and she was retaining her urine. The vet came out, sedated her a bit, and made an incision. She said I could probably do it if I needed to in the future, but I have to tell you……..I would call the vet, again.
Laura
Laura Roberts
R Half Pint Farm
Spotsylvania, VA
From: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com [mailto: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of hanabi62@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 11:33 AM
To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlpacaTalk] 1st cria
After 3 long years, we had our first cria born yesterday. Unfortunately, instead of it being a happy time (as it should be) it is a time of sadness for us as she only lived a couple hours. The Alpacas are kept at my partners farm which happens to be an hour away from me. My partner had been out to the barn and checked on everyone, all was fine (mom was a week past her due date); 30 mins later she went out to the barn to feed and saw that the cria had been born. Mom had attended to her, cleaned her off and cord was taken care of by mom. The cria was very weak and not able to stand so my partner assisted her to be on her feet and tried to help her so she could nurse, she even milked mom a little and used a syringe to give the baby some milk. She covered the cria with a blanket to keep her warm. I got the call that the cria had been born but wasn't doing good. By the time I got there the cria's lips/tongue were cold and she was very listless. I'm new to breeding Alpacas but have many years breeding dogs and know from that experience that the cold tongue/lips isn't good and in most cases they don't make it once that has happened. We continued to try to keep this precious girl alive and improving but it was to no avail. The cria looked fine physically; I can only figure that she took some fluid in during the delivery. Also, by the time I got there mom was still showing some interest in the cria but nervous which I think was due to the human nervousness about the situation. It's always so sad when such a young healthy "looking" baby doesn't make it. Oh, the after birth/placenta all looked fine. Very discouraging for us after waiting so long for our first cria. Thanks for listening, lets hope next year brings us much better luck with our beloved Alpacas.
Marsha
posted by Chaddo at 7:03 AM
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