News

Umbilical Cord Care for newborn crias is an important consideration to plan for ahead of birthing season. What, why and how? After crias are born, you should spray the umbilical cord with an antiseptic solution in order to prevent infections from tracking up the umbilicus to the bladder and liver. Fortunately umbilical infections are quite rare in camelids compare to other farm animal species. However that could be because their owners are vigilant! Always make sure that you spray the entire surface of the umbilical cord 360 degrees around the stump. Don’t just spray from one side! If you prefer…

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At shearing time, occasionally wounds may arise due to clipper injuries. Fortunately, most of these are small knicks in the skin that can be cleaned and have a little wound spray applied. However, some wounds may require a little more care in order to bring the edges together so that they heal better: tissue glue can be used for some of these wounds, once they have been cleaned and are dry. Tissue glue can be useful for small wounds, mostly those that don’t gape open and that the edges naturally want to sit opposed. The wound edges do have to…

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We have just launched our Camelid Reproduction & Cria Care Intensive Course – this time in an easier-to-access on demand format. The Benefits of the Camelid Reproduction & Cria Care Intensive What You’ll Get! Special Offer Special Offer Pricing on the Camelid Reproduction & Cria Care Intensive is available until 25th March! Click here to learn more and to register for the course. Also, if you missed my FREE training Reproduction Workshop last week, click here to listen to the replay and you’ll also learn more about the course! (Passcode: ?SPkumz9)

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This year, camelid owners around the world will, for the first time, be offered the chance to attend a virtual conference for owners, organised by us! The theme for this first online Camelid Owners’ Conference will be health with disease prevention and diagnosis. We have the following speakers confirmed: This is going to be a pretty comprehensive list of the world’s top veterinary speakers in the field of Camelid Medicine & Surgery. Definitely an opportunity not to be missed and the investment in your learning will be well-worthwhile. The dates of the conference are Thursday 22nd to Saturday 24th February….

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I am excited to bring you the opportunity to transform your nutritional management for your alpaca or llama herd with the most comprehensive Camelid Nutrition Masterclass ever offered! Managing nutrition is at the root of animal husbandry, and is able to ensure optimal immunity as well as reproductive performance, and yet so few people know how to do this properly. Very few people bother to take the time to analyse the forages they feed their animals and so have little idea of what their animals have to work with and instead just top up with supplements, only stopping to consider whether…

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Nutrition is absolutely central to caring for your alpacas. If you don’t get their nutrition right, it can lead you down the garden path so that you are constantly finding new problems in your herd. This means that you will struggle to find the time to actually enjoy your animals as you’re always trying to fix the issues! If you’re like most alpaca owners I know, you bought alpacas because they’re engaging, intriguing animals that bring pleasure and calm into your lives. If you can understand how to feed them, you can avoid so many problems: Getting nutrition right is…

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I’m very pleased to announce my all-new Intensive Camelid Health Care Course is online and ON-DEMAND for the very first time! To take advantage of my Special Offer Launch price, please visit Intensive Camelid Health Care Course – On Demand to enrol! The course includes access to all the training materials through my training portal for a whole year, live Q&A support sessions online, comprehensive printed notes sent anywhere in the world – and homework suggestions to help you make the most of your training and put what you learn into practice straight away. There is also a private Facebook…

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We have been seeing a spike in faecal egg counts over the last week or so. This is most likely due to the wet weather we’ve been experiencing. Please go out and monitor your animals – body condition score, check mucous membrane colours, and check faecal egg counts! Even if you did them only 2-3 weeks ago, they may have increased. I would increase the frequency of checking BCS and mucous membrane colour too because things can change quickly under these conditions. Check out our Resources Page for helpful information on how to perform body condition scoring and how to…

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Please note that the lab will be closed for the Christmas period, from 23rd December until 3rd January. Please don’t send any samples during this period as there will be nobody here to receive them and they won’t be processed! If you have a sick animal that you’d like a sample checking, please contact me on my mobile on 07769 271506 – but do not send any samples without speaking to me first! I will not be processing any routine samples. We hope you have a lovely Christmas and New Year!

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Whether you’re a new alpaca or llama owner, thinking of getting some, or have owned them for ages, this course is suitable for everyone. Join our new course in camelid health care! Learning never stops: camelid knowledge is always developing. Keeping up to date is really important to make sure that you give your alpacas and llamas the best care possible. You will learn what you can do to deal with many common problems experienced by your alpacas such as mange and worms; understand what can be done for other problems; and learn how to best keep your alpacas and…

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During 2021, EU legislation resulted in a large increase in the meat withdrawal period for products that contain vitamin A. [See here for further information.] This had the effect that many manufacturers stopped making injectable vitamin D products due to reduced demand from livestock producers. Camelids are very susceptible to vitamin D deficiency at non-equatorial latitudes and low altitude and they require supplementation during the winter months to prevent clinical problems that result from that deficiency. This includes rickets in young growing animals, and reduced immunity in all ages of camelid. Claire has worked with UK veterinary wholesaler Vetsonic UK…

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Whether you’re a new alpaca or llama owner, thinking of getting some, or have owned them for ages, this course is suitable for everyone. Join our new course in camelid health care! Learning never stops: camelid knowledge is always developing. Keeping up to date is really important to make sure that you give your alpacas and llamas the best care possible. You will learn what you can do to deal with many common problems experienced by your alpacas such as mange and worms; understand what can be done for other problems; and learn how to best keep your alpacas and…

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