Camelid Veterinary Services Ltd offers an Alpaca Herd Health Planning service based on 30 years of experience working with alpacas and llamas, and Camelid-specific veterinary expertise that is second to none across Europe. This service is equally relevant for llama herds.
Prevention of disease is far more economical than the potential costs associated with treatment and animal loss. We can work with you to help you to protect your financial (and time!) investment in your livestock. Herd health plans provide a routine, planned schedule for preventing or minimising the impact of disease.
We offer a range of realistically priced options to provide advice and support to owners and breeders of camelids and also to their vets. Services can be adapted to suit a farm or individual’s needs by adding or subtracting services as required.
PLATINUM: Annual Camelid Herd Health Package
- Farm visit (approx. 3 hours)
- Detailed farm report with herd health plan & recommendations (approx. 16-20 pages)
- 20 faecal tests with interpretation (plus a reduced price of £16/sample for additional tests)
- Ongoing herd health & reproduction advice throughout the year (up to 6 hours)
- 15% discount on CVS courses
£2655
(saving you 25% off the full value of £3540)
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GOLD: Camelid Herd Health Planning Service
- Farm visit (approx. 3 hours)
- Detailed farm report with herd health plan & recommendations (approx. 16-20 pages)
- Discounted faecal testing and interpretation (£16/sample) at time of farm visit
£1644
(saving you 20% off the full value of £2080)
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SILVER: Camelid Herd Health Planning Service
- Herd health plan based on information provided by you
- Discounted faecal testing and interpretation (£17.50/sample) at time of report
£612
(saving you 15% off the full value of £720)
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All prices subject to VAT
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No single plan will work for each farm or smallholding due to the varying conditions found in each – for example, animal numbers, amount and type of available pasture, location and geographical conditions, type of soil, ratio of different age groups and genders, timing of birthing and breeding, and locally important disease issues…. This is why it is essential to have a plan that is tailored to your own farm and your own unique set of circumstances. Getting it right at the start is of the utmost importance and helps you to prevent problems before they have a chance of developing. Owners that are new to keeping alpacas are most likely to have problems in the first year or two due to lack of experience and it is easy to miss out a key part of preventative planning that can have massive consequences down the line.
Benefits Associated with our Herd Health Planning Service
- Cost Saving
- Reduced vet bills overall
- Some measures will reduce the amount of money spent on drugs such as wormers
- Reduced financial losses associated with death
- Less money wasted getting animals back to full health
- Time Saving
Up-front time investment pays dividends: avoids problems later - Less emotional trauma associated with sick or dying animals
- Protection of your investment
- It’s proactive
You’re not just reacting when problems occur: prevention is better than cure - Offers improved welfare
Benefits from optimum health and productivity and animals will realise their true genetic potential! - Consumer Confidence
Healthy animals are less likely to develop problems when sold on leading to enhanced standing as a reputable breeder - Reassurance
Know that you are receiving the most up-to-date and relevant information from a provider committed to continual learning and education at the forefront of the field of Camelid health and production
Frequently Asked Questions
Herd health planning involves a holistic approach to the maintenance of health in all animals in the herd. It takes into consideration all aspects of farm and individual animal management from farm layout considerations and issues of biosecurity through parasite control strategies and nutrition to dealing with individual animal issues.
Herd health planning is far more than just when to give your vaccinations and wormers and what drugs to use. For example, if worming is necessary, it should always be targeted at the particular parasite types found on a faecal test and only wormers known to be effective against those types should be used.
Herd Health Planning is one of the many Camelid-specific services offered by Camelid Veterinary Services (CVS). Claire has 30 years of experience with alpacas, and 17 years of experience as a vet doing almost exclusively Camelid work with nearly 10 years performing second-opinion work within a specialist hospital setting. Because of this specific focus, and her on-going involvement and commitment to teaching and to research into Camelid health and production, Claire is ideally placed to have the most up-to-date information at her disposal. Farms we have worked with that have used our herd health planning service in conjunction with a detailed farm visit have experienced very few problems as a result: having an adequate herd health plan along with appropriate nutrition prevents problems from occurring in the first place.
Whether you are a new owner or breeder just starting out, or someone with an established herd, it can never be a bad idea to have an independent assessment of your herd health plans. An outside view can help identify weak points that could improve the health and productivity of your alpacas and prevent significant negative impacts.
You will receive a report containing tailored herd health advice for your own individual herd based on information provided about herd size, distribution of animal genders and ages, breeding information, current activities, farm layout and facilities. This will include an action plan that includes suggested timings for husbandry procedures as well as potential areas for improvement in terms of husbandry, facilities, nutritional or reproductive management and biosecurity. The plan sent with the Platinum and Gold options will be considerably more detailed than the Silver option as it is possible to evaluate more and provide more accurate recommendations.
Yes, this is our Silver option. This plan will be tailored to your farm based on your answers to specific questions. In addition, you will be expected to provide body condition scores for all of your animals to help inform the plan: if this is something that you don’t feel confident doing, it might not be the right option for you. However, you will receive a more thorough and comprehensive plan that is better customised to your own farm if you request this service along with a farm appraisal visit as this will permit a more in-depth assessment of your individual farm. A farm visit and herd health planning is included in the Annual Herd Health Package but it is also offered as a stand-alone service in our Gold option.
PLATINUM: Annual Camelid Herd Health Package
- This package includes a start of year farm visit (around 3 hours’ duration) from a vet specialising in camelids, as well as faecal screening and advice throughout the year.
- The farm visit includes an evaluation of the alpacas in the herd and farm facilities as well as a review of herd health procedures and recommendations for the year ahead. You will receive a detailed and customised report (usually 16-20 pages) within about 2 weeks of your visit. This package ensures the optimum in herd health planning for your farm from a vet specialised in camelids. Reports will be shared with your regular veterinarian who is responsible for providing the routine care of your alpacas and in case any follow-up is required. Travel to the farm will be charged separately as costs will vary based on farm location.
- The price includes up to 20 faecal tests with interpretation that can be submitted at any time during the year although we will need to evaluate a representative sampling at the start of the year. Additional faecals can be paid for up front, or submitted during the year at our best package price of £16 per sample, saving £9 per faecal test.
- You will receive up to an additional 6 hours’ worth of advice under this package. The intention is that this is used for general herd health and reproduction advice regarding your own animals or any animals adjisted on your property. Your animals remain under the care of your regular veterinarian at all times: if you know or suspect that your animal has a medical problem or condition you must contact your regular veterinarian in the first instance. Your vet can then call us using your pre-paid allowance for advice and support in helping to deal with sick individual animal cases when required.
- 15% discount on any training course offered by CVS during the period of the package.
- The packages are designed to provide owners with timely advice when required without generating concern over how much a particular call is going to cost: where clients are not enrolled for a package, advice is provided at a rate of £160/hr for general questions and enquiries.
GOLD: Camelid Herd Health Planning Service
- This option includes a farm visit (around 3 hours’ duration) from a vet specialising in camelids, as above. The farm visit includes an evaluation of the alpacas in the herd and farm facilities as well as a review of herd health procedures and recommendations for the year ahead. You will receive a detailed and customised report (usually 16-20 pages) within about 2 weeks of your visit. This package ensures the optimum in herd health planning for your farm from a vet specialised in camelids, but does not include ongoing advice during the year. Advice when required can be obtained at the usual ad hoc rate of £160/hr.
- Travel to the farm will be charged separately as costs will vary based on farm location.
- Faecal testing is required to inform the herd health plan and discounted pricing is available at £16 per sample, compared with our normal pricing of up to £25. The number of samples required for testing depends on the size of your farm. If you have fewer than 10 animals, we will test all of them. If you have more than 10 animals, we will test at least 10 animals or 10% of the herd (whichever is the greater number): bear in mind that the greater coverage you achieve, the more accurate your parasite control strategy will be as you are leaving less to guesswork.
SILVER: Camelid Herd Health Planning Service
- This option allows for provision of a customised herd health plan based on information you provide in terms of animal body condition scores and answers to questions. This option is not as detailed as the herd health plan available in the Platinum and Gold options since evaluation of farm facilities and the animals themselves are not performed by us personally. Some generic information will be provided that will be helpful in enabling you to evaluate your own farm based on good practice advice. Since the report is based on information you provide, it depends on you providing accurate body condition scores and answers. If you are not comfortable with body condition scoring, this option might not be ideal.
- Faecal testing is required to inform the herd health plan and discounted pricing is available at £17.50 per sample, compared with our normal pricing of up to £25. The number of samples required for testing depends on the size of your farm. If you have fewer than 10 animals, we will test all of them. If you have more than 10 animals, we will test at least 10 animals or 10% of the herd (whichever is the greater number): bear in mind that the greater coverage you achieve, the more accurate your parasite control strategy will be as you are leaving less to guesswork.