A Beginner’s Field Guide

to Birthing Alpacas

Mom - the first 24 hours

Once the cria is delivered and the afterbirth has been expelled, the Mom needs to be checked to make sure she is in good shape to take on her new role as Mother. Continue to record all your observations about Mom’s behavior and what time she does what on your Field Observation Log Sheet.

1. Visual Exam

Immediately after delivery of cria and placenta

ç She should be calm and attentive to the cria, allowing it to nurse

o Stands quietly and doesn’t move away when the cria pokes around under her belly.

o Some Mom’s will be restless and uncooperative until after the placenta is expelled

o Once cria starts to nurse she will likely lean around and smell/breathe on the cria’s rear end. This is part of the bonding process.

ç Make sure mom has convenient access to fresh water and hay.

ç If weather is very warm or very cold, try to get Mom and Baby into a more comfortable environment

o Shade and fans can help in hot weather

o Bring them into a shed or barn in cold or inclement weather

2. Hands-on Exam

ç Check Mom’s udder to make sure she has started to provide milk.

o May need to massage her udder or milk her a little to clear the waxy plug and get the flow going.

§ I squirted some milk on Coco’s teats and got the baby to lick it off. That seemed to work to get Mom’s milk flowing.

ç Examine Mammary glands. Depending on the personality of the individual animal, you may have difficulty when you try to examine the mammary glands. If you cannot hold her, you may need to restrain her in a chute.

o Teats should feel firm and somewhat larger than on a nonpregnant animal. Feel each quarter, gently pressing to check for one or more unusually warm or swollen glands.

§ Unusual warmth, with or without swelling in one of the glands or blood in the milk can indicate mastitis. Mastitis requires professional evaluation and assistance. Fortunately, the alpaca is not usually prone to mastitis and it can be easily treated.

§ Udder edema is more difficult to recognize. It is not easy to differentiate between a mom with a very full udder and an animal with edema of the mammary glands. Excess fluid accumulates around the udder giving it a swollen, puffy, or bloated appearance. Teats feel like they are normal size but are hard to find due to swelling. Sometime the edema can interfere with milk production and nursing. If you suspect udder edema, call the vet.

ç Check vulva and surrounding area

o Lift her tail and check to see that there are no obvious tears in the vulva or surrounding area.

o Some bleeding immediately after birth is ok.

§ Should stop or decrease to a few drops within 1 hour

§ Significant bleeding more than 1 hour post partum and/or tears will need professional attention

3. Initial treatments

First 0 – 6 hours. Generally, if both Mom and Baby appear fine visually, it was an uncomplicated delivery and the cria is nursing normally, I consider the following treatments to be optional.

ç Clean the udder

ç Clean around the vulva

ç Strip waxy plugs from the teats – unless baby has already nursed

6-24 hours

ç The dam should be inspected within 24 hours by the vet as part of routine post partum care. He will check to ensure that none of her reproductive system was damaged during the delivery and that she does not have any infection. It can be very important to deal with any prospective problems early before they interfere with mothering or future breeding.

ç Normal values for the Mom

o Temp 100.0 – 102.0 deg

o Respiratory rate 10 – 30 breaths per minute

o Pulse rate 60 - 90 beats per minute

Nursing Problems (1^st 24 hours)

Problem seems to be on the Mom’s side – Baby appears to want to eat.
Is She in Trouble?	What to do
Mother refuses to let baby nurse. Walks away, maybe even kicks at the baby.	If the placenta has not passed, she may be uncomfortable until it has. She may be sore - mastitis. Signs include enlargement, tenderness, and excessive warmth of the affected glands. Gently massage her udder and milk her. If she still refuses, consult vet. He may recommend a pain reliever such as Banamine which has a mild sedative effect. Usually milk production will return to normal but supplementation may be needed in the short term. She may have udder edema. Mammary glands may feel very swollen and firm – sometimes swelling is so severe teats become partially enveloped by tissue and appear unusually small. Cria may not be able to grab onto the teat. Can be hard to distinguish from simply a full udder. If you think it’s edema, call the vet. If this goes on more than a couple of hours, you will need to try and milk her to get her started. Collect the colostrum in a bottle to give to the cria.
Mother has no milk in 1^st 24 hours after delivery.	Oxytocin may help to release milk if administered within 24 hours of parturition however this may be too late to provide cria to antibody protection. Cria will need to be provided with colostrum. If the baby was premature the mammary glands may not be ready yet. Give the baby supplemental feeding and milk the dam out 2x/day. Usually they will start lactating normally after a couple of days.

Other Problems

Mother and Cria are not bonding. Either wanders off from the other	Move them into a small stall and leave them alone for a couple of hours (continue to observe). If that doesn’t work, rub the placenta over the cria. Sometimes that will help her recognize it is hers. Another tip - rub a dab on cologne on her nose and on the baby. the “sameness” of smells will help them bond.
Mother is shaky but there’s no apparent distress or external bleeding	She may need and injection of Vit A, D&E, maybe B12 and/or Banamine (liquid aspirin) for pain. She could be bleeding internally. Call the Vet.