Key Points A fundamental animal husbandry skill.Perform monthly as a routine procedure, in combination with mucous membrane colour checking. Perform more frequently in problem cases.Score on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is really skinny and 10 is obese. The ideal BCS is 5.5-6/10.Use weighing as well, to enable monitoring of young growing animals and…
Read moreFollowing on from our resource on Body Condition Scoring of Alpacas, this video demonstrates how to assess for anaemia in alpacas by checking mucous membrane colour.
Read moreBackground South American Camelids are susceptible to Vitamin D deficiency. In growing animals, this manifests clinically as rickets: affected animals exhibit stunted growth, angular limb deformities and lameness. They may also be lethargic, have depressed appetites, and may walk with a hunched back due to pain and are typically smaller than age-matched herd mates. Vitamin…
Read moreAlthough one always wishes for a trouble-free birthing season with easy birthings, good mothering and crias that are not only able to nurse, but their mother is able to provide all their nutritional needs, this doesn’t always happen. Occasionally a female dies and leaves an orphan cria or doesn’t have milk, or just doesn’t want…
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If you are a vet and your alpaca or llama client has asked you to collect blood to make plasma for this year’s upcoming cria crop, you will find this online resource really useful. As an advisor to the UK Pet Blood Bank service, together we have created a Camelid Plasma webinar which will provide…
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Plasma is used to treat crias that have failed to suckle sufficient colostrum from their mothers during the first 24 hours of life. This means that they may be deficient in antibodies that they need to protect them from bugs they will face in the first few days and weeks of life. You can check…
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