Paloma--New girl in the county
We are planning to name her Paloma. She is Pablo's sister, sired by Pedro Armendariz who is standing stud in North Idaho. Here are a couple of photos taken when she was two hours old this morning (4/20/2006).
Her mom took 363 days for gestation and we had quite a day figuring out what to do. The cria didn't know how to suckle, so we hand milked Leila, the mom, then fed the cria with a dropper. This wasn't getting it, but we were trying to teach the baby how to suck, rather than chew. The chewing, understandably, was a bit irritating to mom. This whole thing was frustrating because baby and mom seemed to be bonded and concerned about one another.
We needed colostrum supplementation and we were concerned. So, late in the day, we bought some goat colostrum from Carrie Hull. Working slowly, we fed Paloma about 2 ozs of colostrum, working with a lamb nipple baby bottle. She kind of got it that when she sucked, she got more milk.
About an hour later, we saw her nursing, with her tail straight up in the air. She nursed from the left, then the right and finally, she worked her way in between her mom's back legs and nursed that way. I was amazed at the increase in energy and was delighted to see her start running and playing. A good end to day 1.
I don't know what it means--maybe just that it took a long time before she was ready to come out--but her fiber is about 2" long and shaggy all over her body. Even her face has long fleece and her eyelashes are really something.
So, I guess the message is to keep trying and don't expect to have a bottle baby just because she started that way. I hope this nursing frenzy continues.
Here are two photos of Paloma taken when she was only two hours old. She is settling down for her first night at Pedro's Pride Ranch.
Our Emails are changing: Email: Alpaca Products from Pedro's Pride Fashions and alpacas at Pedro's Pride Ranch at pedrospride@hughes.net
All our best,
Ken & Lisa Larson
posted by AlpacaInfo @ 7:51 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Here is an update on Paloma. She is growing and very active, but for the first two days, her weight stayed the same. We like to see between .5 and 1 lb per day weight gain at first. Her third day, she gained .8 lb. So, we think she is doing fine.
We have, of course, watched her closely and it appears that she is just not good at nursing. We noticed her mom seemed uncomfortable and her udder looked tight. Her mom is clearly producing lots of milk and letting Paloma nurse. We thought maybe one or more teats were somehow plugged. And, surprisingly, it seemed that one was. So, we "milked" all four teats a bit. Mom actually seemed glad we did that. Then, on watching Paloma nurse, it seems clear that she is not an aggressive "sucker." She pulls and bites and licks as much as she sucks. So, today, we will do a little more "suckling training" with a bottle and lamb nipple, feeding her a bit of fresh goat milk from Carrie Hull at Timber Basin. My plan is to squeeze milk into her mouth when ever she sucks. And I will try using my little finger again in her mouth so I can feel what she is doing. We did this to get her started nursing in the first place.
And, a note--If you ever need colostrum, call Carrie Hull. She has frozen goat colostrum and her goats are "ultra immunized" so the colostrum is quite rich. Paloma's IgG was very high. Carrie is a PNAA member at Timber Basin Ranch.
Back to Paloma. She got her well baby check up from Jenni Scott, our vet, yesterday. She is in excellent health, great conformation and Jenni said, "She is a hairy little thing." And, that she is, with long curls all over. Her toenails are covered with fiber and her face is already kind of shaggy.
Let's hear some of your cria stories.
All my best.
Ken
Alpaca Products
Alpacas
Post a Comment
<< Home