Could There be a Baby on the Way?

Notify Vet immediately if cria is positioned improperly or you have reason to believe the pending birth is not a normal birth.

Warning Signs Your Llama is Ready to Give Birth:

  1. Relaxed or puffed out vulva
      

  2. Laying on side with legs out to the side
      

  3. Rolling or flopping (kush -- flop to side -- kush)
      

  4. Humming or groaning a lot or more than usual
      

  5. Lack of interest in food
      

  6. Check temperature, below normal is a sign
      

  7. Remaining in a squat position for long periods with no result. You may want to have vet assist or if you feel comfortable, go in, she may need assistance and it may not be much. baby may be in birth canal so you should not delay too long!
      

  8. Water break - sudden splash of water, even as little as a cup

After waiting 11 months --- Baby is here!!

  1. Iodine the navel with 7% iodine in film case by dunking the umbilical cord into case and shake against the body of the cria. Do not pour into navel!  If iodine is in a spray bottle spray onto navel.  Recently I heard of a baby moving when the navel was being treated and bumping the vial of iodine out of the handlers hand, the iodine ended up in the newborns eyes.  Do this procedure carefully.  Always remember to work around the new mom and cria slowly and quietly so as to cause no unnecessary stress.
      

  2. If you think that there has been fluid inhaled during birth hang the baby over your shoulders with the rear legs of the cria going down your back and the body of the cria  laying down your chest. Support the baby well and firmly (not too hard), thump a few times on the rib area of cria with head and neck hanging towards the ground to expel any fluid inhaled during birth.
       

  3. If there is a problem in breathing for the cria, you might try oxygen. This is one of the most important items in any barn, but many farms do not have oxygen available.  A simple nose clip/clamp (designed for humans) works well for crias and adults.  You can use the tube as a loop and run it behind the head under the ears and secure it. Turn the dial on the tank to 2 1/2 to 3, but no higher, for about 15 minutes. You can proceed in towel drying as the cria takes in the oxygen.
      

  4. Dry the baby with towels and if it is a cold spring or fall morning a hair dryer may be used to warm and stimulate the baby. Make sure the cria is totally dry and not damp. A warm baby will get up and nurse - - - a cold baby will not get up from the warm straw as frequently.  Keep taking the temperature for the first 24 hours.
      

  5. Take the temperature! Do this two or three times the first 24 hours. If less than 100 degrees, warm the body until it reaches 100-101 degrees and stabilizes.
      

  6. Evaluate in the first two hours and determine if you have a strong healthy cria or if you have a very weak cria.  Most of the time, just a couple or three feedings by a tube or bottle is enough to get the baby up and starting to nurse from mom.  The bottle helps  stimulate the suckle reflex and Pedialyte (3 ounces) gives the electrolytes needed for energy. Again, always, watch the babies temperature. Do not feed a very weak baby  colostrum until the temperature has been stabilized at 100-101 degrees. Warm Pedialyte will help with this.  If colostrom must be given by you, only feed three or four  ounces every three or four hours. Do not mix or feed the colostrum and Pedialyte at the same time. A baby's system cannot handle larger quantities of rich colostrum in a single feeding. Frequent feeding in small amounts of three ounces will allow the baby's system to absorb the nourishment without overloading the system and enhance the baby's ability to start suckling on its Mom on its own. After each hand feeding, put the cria under Mom to bond and teach where the main supply is really coming from. Time and effort in the beginning will be less time spent in the long run. Between each feeding, hot compresses applied to the dams teats will be comforting and will stimulate blood flow to make more milk and hence make it easier to milk the dam until the baby is on its own.  If the dam has no milk, cow or goat colostrum may be used with good success.
      

  7. Weigh the cria when dry and weigh each day to establish weight gain. You should see a half to one pound gain per day. This may fluctuate a bit, but over a 5 day period, it should tell the story.
      

  8. Watch to make sure the baby urinates well.
      

  9. The baby should pass the merconium within the first 12 hours. If you do not see this happen or cannot find it, a warmed baby fleet enema could be used.
      

  10. Put a cria coat on the new born if it is chilly and most always at night. Remember, a warm baby gets up to suckle. Now get some sleep yourself!
      

  11. Many farms have the vet pull blood from the cria 24-36 hours after birth to test if the baby has had its passive transfer. If too low, the baby needs plasma. This will supplement the immune system until the baby can make its own, somewhere between 50 and 100 days old. They need a good start to grow and thrive.
      

  12. Oxytocin should be kept on hand.  One cc given to mom will help a nervous first time mom to let down her milk and to get the young mom to mother up or bonding to her cria.

 

All material on this site © protected.
Use of material without prior written permission strictly prohibited.