This is not a buy and sell but more a discussion re alpacas and my learning the hard way. I had my girl sheared last Thursday. We knew she was small, shes always been little, even when we bought her in January. We also knew we didnt have much feed on our land so weve been substitute feeding her with hay, horse museli and her favorite, apples. After being sheared the reality of how thin she was became a reality. Id not been able to touch her to get a body score. In hindsight i should have forced in a feel. Anyway, she was terribly thin. I was told by the shearer to quickly buy some lucern and alpaca pellets and get some bulk on her and to keep a close eye on her over the next month. i was also told the horse museli was no good for alpacas (no explanation as to why). So i went out straight away. Bought what i was told. Fed it to her asap. She loved it. Especially the pellets. So i gave her three dessert bowls full over the course of the rest of the day. Took photos and showed the shearer who replied awesome. Next morning she is on the ground unable to stand. Has bright green diarrhea and her head wobbling like she had a stroke. After a call to the shearers partner i find out that i should not have drastically changed her food (common sense after the fact) and i should have introduced the pellets slowly of only FIFTEEN PER DAY upping it by five pellets each time. She had gulped down so much rich food too quickly and given herself acidosis, a massive build up of gas in her stomach which can be, and was fatal. After pumping hydrolites into her body for 4 hours, rubbing her belly to help with the gas pains and having her wrapped in blankets to keep her warm she was passing in front of me and needed to be sent to alpaca heaven. This is a horrible ending of which no one is to blame. There are so many what ifs to run over again and again but it doesnt change things for me. What i have learnt is *horse museli has to much molasses in it and heats up alpacas to much and it is not Ok for them *best to keep a newly sheared alpaca in a shed for a night or two to avoid shock *if introducing new food or buying a new animal ensure you know what their current diet is and introduce new things SLOWLY. *if it makes them uncomfortable for a short time its better to do this than be unaware of what the fleece can hide so get in there and have a feel of the ribs. Alpacas should be lean. Not bloated and not boney. *turns out the good hay i had, was no better than straw and the clover that was in it (as per what the farmer told me) was almost nil *dont always assume that the person you get your advise from knows everything *treat the animals like you would an infant child; do things slowly and gently. I will forever hold guilt for learning as i went with my friends life at stake and Ill never forget my beautiful Latte. For what its worth Im so sorry Latte. RIP.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 08:34:03 +0000
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