Caring for the Elderly Llama (or Alpaca)

I'd been struggling the past week or so with what I should write about for my next blog post.  Then as I was outside this morning feeding April, I got my inspiration!  I've already written a post about cold-weather care, but nothing about caring for an older llama or alpaca.

Duque!

At the 2013 GALA Conference back in November, one of the vets mentioned that she likes to start "senior" care for lamas when they hit about 10 years old.  The average lifespan of a lama is 15-25 years, so that makes sense.  I've been doing "senior care" for two of my llamas for the past 8 years or so.  April is going to be 20 in the spring, and Duque will be 17.  I will give a disclaimer that caring for senior lamas can be very time consuming and expensive, but for me it is worth it!

I'm going to break the topic down into a few categories, to make it easier to follow...

Arthritis

Arthritis (or other physical/conformational issues) is fairly common in older lamas.  Just like humans, they get to the point where they are stiffer in the cold, and they are slower to get up and walk around. Dropped pasterns are also a big issue, especially for geldings (neutered males) or overweight animals.    (The lower amounts of testosterone in gelded males is thought to contribute to the breakdown of the pastern tendons.)  Unfortunately neither dropped pasterns nor arthritis can be treated, but they can be managed.

Duque's dropped front pasterns.

For dropped pasterns (and other tendon issues), there are a number of supplements that can be given.  There is an herbal supplement designed for llamas that is supposed to somewhat reverse the effects of dropped pasterns, but it didn't really work for Duque.  Plus it is a fine powder, which was impossible to get him to eat!  In regards to supplements, I have started using those formulated for horses, and giving 1/3-1/2 of the horse dose for a llama (roughly 300-350 lbs).  There are several tendon supplements for horses as well, and some come in pelleted form.

For arthritis, the common supplements are glucosamine and chondroitin (also commonly taken by humans and given to dogs).  There are also lots of joint supplements available for horses, as well as an arthritis supplement for llamas.  In severe cases, injections of glucosamine/chondroitin can be given, as well as pain meds (banamine or bute).

Duque has had dropped pasterns for several years.  He comes from a bloodline where this is common,  is a gelding (has lower testosterone than intact males), and has been overweight for most of his life.  His pasterns started dropping when he was only 5-6 years old, and thus had to be retired early from the show ring.  Now that he is almost 17 years old, he doesn't like to stand for long periods of time and he walks rather slow.  There are days that I really worry about him, but the next day he will run around the pasture with the young animals so I have to make myself stop worrying!  Duque has been on glucosamine and chondroitin supplements for horses for years.  I currently have him on a 1/2 dose of SmartFlex III Resilience Pellets.  It is hard for me to tell whether or not they are working, but I'm afraid to take him off them completely so I'm just going to keep feeding them!  The nice thing about the pellets is that they are very easy to get him to eat.

Miraculously, at the ripe old age of 20, April has still yet to show any signs of arthritis.  I'm amazed, and will consider to count my blessings in this regard!

Obesity/Overweight

It may sound a bit counter-intuitive, but obesity can be a big issue in older llamas.  They don't move around as much, they tend to get babied more (aka extra/better feed!), and the weight just packs on.  Being overweight can be just as detrimental to their health as being underweight, and it is a lot harder to fix!

The best way to get weight off a lama is exercise!  Take them for hikes if you can (gradually building up time and distance), or put them in a big pasture.  One great tip I heard was to put their hay and water at the opposite end of the pasture as the shelter, so that they had to walk back and forth frequently.

Duque going for a hike!

If exercise isn't a viable option (such as an old llama with bad pasterns or arthritis), you will have to cut their feed.  A normal lama needs 2-3% of its body weight in roughage (grass/hay) daily, but if you have an overweight animal they can survive on 1-1.5%.  Personally I think the key is to reduce both the amount and the quality of the hay they are given.  I prefer to give 1.5-2% of their body weight in a first cut, stemmy hay (with low protein- under 10%).  Eliminate grain, just offer free choice minerals and fresh water.  Make them clean up all their hay before you feed more.  Obviously this is a lot easier to do in the winter when they aren't on pasture, but it can also be done during warm weather.  You can dry-lot the obese animal (put on a pasture with little to no grass), or lock them in a stall and only give them a few hours outside to graze.  It may sound mean, but getting the weight off is imperative to their health!

Duque (and several of my younger llamas) has battled obesity for most of his life.  My mom really liked to feed the lamas grain every day, whether they needed it or not.  At his worst, Duque got up to about 400lbs.  After moving to the new farm in August, he has since lost about 20 pounds by limiting his grazing and feeding low-protein hay.  Now at a slim 330 lbs, he is where he should be!  I'm back to feeding him a bit of grain every day so that he doesn't lose more weight.

Duque during his "fat" years.

Underweight

After having April on my farm for almost 14 years now, I feel like I'm an expert when it comes to feeding underweight lamas!  April has always been really thin (I think she just has a really quick metabolism), and it has been a challenge to keep her at a good weight, especially now that she is quite old.

The only way to put weight on a thin lama is feed, feed, FEED!  And you also need to look at how you are feeding: a lot of thin lamas are at the bottom of the pecking order within the herd, so they are often the last to eat.  It is imperative to separate any thin lama while they eat, so that they aren't bullied.

April eating in her pen.

There are a ton of different feeds that you can give a thin lama to encourage weight gain.  The foundation of your feeding program for an underweight animal is a high quality hay, preferably with a bit of alfalfa.  I would aim for something with at least 14% protein if you can.  Feed this high quality hay free-choice, so that they can eat as much as they wish.  The second most important feed to give is a good llama/alpaca supplement (also referred to as grain or pellets).  Again you want something with high protein.  Follow the feeding guidelines for the supplement, but you could feed an extra 0.5-1.5lbs of the supplement daily.

Next comes the long list of add-ins...  My favorite is Calf-Manna, a high protein supplement designed for a variety of livestock.  Our old vet said we could safely feed 2lbs of Calf-Manna daily without having to worry about copper toxicity.  April has been on at least 1lb daily for the past 10 or so years, and she seems just fine!  Something new that my new vet recommended was rice or wheat bran.  It is high in protein and fat.  It comes in many forms, commonly oil and pellets.  I chose to give April the pellets (manufactured by Manna Pro), since I didn't think she would eat the oil.  I'm giving her 1/3 of the horse dose.  After doing a bit more research this fall, I decided to start April on alfalfa pellets and beet pulp.  Both are supposed to be great for weight gain.  Due to a recent choking episode, I chose to soak the pellet mixture in water to re-hydrate them before feeding.  It took a few days, but she eventually learned to eat them.  And now that it is cold I soak them in boiling water to make a warm mash.  It is hard to measure the pellets since they expand after soaking, but I figure she gets about 1/2lb of a 50:50 mix daily.  I also recently decided to try adding a little bit of oil to the mash mixture...I had recommendations for corn, soybean, and canola oil.  I've read that you can feed up to 1/4c daily, but work up to that amount slowly.  April got 1T today (day 1 of adding it in).

Alfalfa pellet/beet pulp mix, before re-hydrating.

There are still more things that you can feed underweight lamas!  Some people swear by corn or oats, but I don't like that they appear to pass undigested.  I've heard recommendations for Equine Senior (a horse feed), but it has much higher copper than Calf-Manna.  I've also heard a lot about Chaffaye (sp?), which I believe is shredded hay with molasses.  I just can't find any local!

Cold/Heat

A lot of older lamas have issues with the cold and heat.  Luckily my 2 do fine in the heat, but they both get very cold in the winter.  Now they both have insulated coats to wear, and I put them on at the first sign of shivering.  April will end up wearing hers most of the winter, while Duque can tolerate a bit more cold.

April in her awesome coat!

When it comes to heat intolerance, there are a few simple tricks to keep them cool.  Shearing is a must, as is fresh cold water.  Fans and shade are also important.  If it gets really hot I like to hose their bellies off to cool them down.

There are also a few tricks for cold intolerance.  Lots of good food (hay generates more body heat as it digests than pellet/grain supplements), shelter from the wind, deep hay/straw bedding to lay on, fresh warm water, and blanketing if necessary are just a few suggestions.  For more in-depth explanations, see my previous post.

Duque in his less than awesome coat (but it still keeps him warmer than without it!).

Teeth

Just like horses (and any animal really), a lama's teeth can decline rapidly with old age, and us owners usually have no idea!  I only recently discovered that April has no front teeth, so I can only imagine what her molars look like!  I've definitely started to realize the importance of having a vet (or doing it yourself, if your lama will allow it!) check out the lama's teeth every year or so.  Uneven chewing can cause sharp points, which can be easily filed down.  Weight loss in older lamas is often caused by bad teeth.  If you've ever seen small piles of half-chewed hay around your feeders, you most definitely have an animal with teeth issues.  The front teeth can also get too long, interfering with grazing.

Duque and his long teeth.  Luckily they aren't quite long enough to warrant trimming.

Parasites

Older animals are more susceptible to parasite infections than younger animals, and it will usually take them longer to recover after treatment.  I would pay special attention to doing regular fecals on older lamas, and would probably treat if they had a lower level than a young adult did.  I'm also starting to think that regular probiotic supplementation would be a good idea, to support the good bacteria in the gut.

View through the microscope of a fecal exam.  In the center (grey spot) is a nematodirus egg.

Conclusions

As I mentioned before, feeding and caring for an older lama is neither cheap nor easy.  I spend longer waiting for April to eat her food (in a separate pen) than it takes me to clean the entire barn and pasture each day.  I spend more on Duque's tendon/arthritis meds and 5 different types of feed for April than I do buying hay and grain for the entire group of 5 lamas!  But they have given me a lot of pleasure and joy over the years, so I feel like it is the least I can do for them.  I am realistic though, and if either one gets to the point where they are suffering, I will do the humane thing and let them go.  As much as I hate to think about it, Duque will certainly go lame in the next few years, so I know that hard decision is waiting for me.  Luckily I think April will be around for a good long while!

April!

Shearing Part 2!

Well, I managed to get a LOT of pictures of the process of shearing Kara, which I talked about in length in the last post.  Now you get to see the rest of the herd!

I'll warn you, I'm not the best shearer in the world.  Plus none of my animals are going to shows this year (boo!), so they don't have to look super-awesome!

First to set the scene...This was the view from our front yard back in Indiana, the first week of May.  It was gorgeous, but it did rain more than I'd like.  Hence I had to get 5 llamas shorn in 3 days!

Next, the "before" shots...

Kara was by far the dirtiest (maybe T...it was close!).

Bluff has nice white fleece that somehow always stays clean.  She was easy!

This guy was a nightmare!  On top of everything I body sheared him, so I tried getting his neck and legs clean, which was a lost cause.

Good old Ralph and April...  Poor Ralphie hasn't been shorn yet.  I thought I had an alpaca breeder lined up to shear him, but it seems to have fallen through.  Now it looks like a llama breeder friend is going to shear him!  And you can't see April's barrel, but is is ALWAYS clean!  Normally it is wasted since I don't use her fiber, but not this year!  I actually groomed and washed her like the rest of the llamas (though I forgot to blow her out), and am going to have her fiber (along with part of Ralph's and Bluff's) made into felted insoles for shoes!  Such a cool idea!

And last but not least, Duque!  Like Bluff he stays pretty clean (the one upside of double-coated llamas!), and he is very easy to clean.

Duque's gorgeous fleece, after a bit of grooming.

Here's Bluff after grooming, waiting for her bath.

Now to the "after" shots!

Poor Duque got the worst haircut!  In a month you'll never know how terrible it looked at the beginning though!

April looks pretty good if I say so myself.  Even though she really didn't want to cooperate for some reason...

Beautiful "baby" Kara.  Her cut wasn't as good as I hoped, but it is nearly impossible to get a smooth cut with such a fine fleece!  She feels a lot better now though, and that's the most important part!

Bluff is the only one with a really nice cut.  There are a few rough spots, but again in a month she'll look awesome!  She will probably be shown by her new owner, so I wanted her to look good!  This is the first time in several years that I haven't body shorn Bluff...she's moving to New Hampshire in June, so she won't have the Indiana heat and humidity to deal with.

And last but certainly not least...Mr. T.  By most people's standards he probably got the worst haircut, but I think he looks awesome!  His neck and legs were incredibly matted, so I wanted to get that fiber off.  Now I can body shear him every year and use 100% of his gorgeous fiber!  The funny patch on his side is for walking fleece shows, even though he won't be going to any this year unfortunately.

Now I have lots of bags of beautiful llama fiber to play with!  I explained already what I'm going to do with April's fiber.  Duque and Bluff's fiber (from this year and last year) is going to get blended with a purchased alpaca fleece and a purchased Bluefaced Leicester (sheep) fleece, and get made into a grey roving.  Kara's will be spun into yarn that has been pre-purchased, and T's fleece was also pre-sold and has already been sent to the lucky recipient!  Ralph's fleece is pre-sold as well, and will go out this fall.

Shearing A Llama: Kara's 1st Haircut!

FINALLY I'm back in the land of camera-computer cords, and can update the blog!  I spent the past week back home in Indiana on the farm, and took lots of pictures as I was busy grooming, washing, and shearing llamas, but I somehow managed to forget the cord that connects the camera to the computer, and thus I couldn't share any of them!  But I'm back in New York now, and want to show off my naked llamas!

But first, the story of a baby llama's first haircut...

In case you don't remember her from previous posts, this is Kara (aka Autumn Hill's Karakoram).  She's the last baby llama we had born on the farm- she was born April 29, 2012.  She's been growing a beautiful fleece for the past year, which even won 2nd place at a llama show last fall (in walking fleece, which is judged on the llama).  It's been getting hot in the Midwest though, so Kara was more than ready to get rid of her heavy fleece.

This is baby Kara, the day she was born.

This is (a very wet-nosed) Kara, looking very grown up at just over a year old.

The first thing that had to be done was lots and LOTS of grooming!  Kara LOVES to get dirty, and her fleece really showed it.  Over the course of 2-3 days, I spent several hours brushing Kara.  Luckily she has her mom's sweet and manageable personality, so most of this was done with her loose in the training pen in our barn (as opposed to being tied in the chute so she doesn't move).  I brushed out the surface of her fleece, which had most of the dirt and grass, and then dug in deep and worked through every other inch of her barrel (belly) area!  I like to use a soft slicker brush when I groom, it gets a lot of debris out, and doesn't seem to pull the fiber.

Kara, BEFORE any grooming!

Grooming Kara out in the training pen.  She laid down about half-way through, but that's still not bad!

The second step was to blow the dirt and dust out of her fleece with a high power blower.  Kara had never had this done to her before, but luckily was very well behaved for it.  (A lot of babies freak out the first time they are blown out!)

Blowing Kara out.  It's not easy with such long fiber!

The AFTER grooming photo, BEFORE shearing.

The third step is another big one...washing!  Luckily Kara had a few other baths last fall for the two shows she went to, so this wasn't as scary for her.  When washing, I first soak the area I want to wash (when shearing I typically only wash the barrel (belly) area), then apply soap/shampoo with a handy contraption that hooks to the hose and dilutes the soap as it is sprayed, scrub just a little, and then rinse REALLY well with plain water.  I walk the llama around a bit to shake a good amount of water out, and then either stake them in the yard or put them in a pen to dry.  Kara isn't stake trained (yet!), so she and her mom Bluff went into a pen beside the barn to dry for a few hours.  I washed them around 10am, and Kara was still slightly damp when I sheared her about 8pm.

Kara getting washed.

Kara trying to escape from her pen beside the barn.

And last but not least, I do the actual shearing.  With Kara (and most baby llamas), I first removed the fiber with scissors, and then went back with electric horse clippers and smoothed out the cut.  She looked a bit ridiculous before I smoothed her out!  As I shear I'm very careful to place the fiber in a clean bucket or paper bag, and don't let it touch the ground.  This year I found a handy bucket that would hang on the doors of the chute, which made it easier to deposit the fiber.  And as I should have expected, Kara was an absolute angel when I sheared her!  She was rather worried while I sheared Bluff before it was her turn, but once she got in the chute she mellowed out very well.  Lots of grain helps too!

Shearing Kara, just starting on the second side.  You can see how rough her coat looks after the hand-shearing portion!

Now I have a beautiful shorn llama, and an even more beautiful bag of shorn fleece that I get to spin!  Kara's fleece was sold as handspun yarn as part of our new CSA program, so I get to process and spin all of her fiber, and then send it off to a very lucky person!

And the final AFTER shot!  I'm not the world's best shearer, so her cut is still a bit rough, but in a month you'll never be able to tell.  Kara is now much happier (and cooler!), and I can't wait to spin up her fiber!

I'll make another post soon with before and after pictures of the rest of the herd!

Hot, Hot, HOT!!!

It is absolutely miserable here at our farm in central Indiana.  The llamas are definitely not happy with the heat!

Bluff gets really miserable in the heat.  Its not uncommon to find her open-mouth breathing when it is over 90F, even if she's laying in front of a fan.  And it seems to be genetic...poor little Kara is not happy either.  Luckily she has developed quite a taste for electrolytes in the water!

Kara does love her water!

Getting a big drink!

Electrolyte lips have replaced milk lips!

If you've got animals, be really careful and watch them like a hawk.  We're hosing down the llamas every 2-3 hours when possible, and making sure they have tons of fresh water.  The fans are on full blast, and we put hay in the barn to keep them inside rather than grazing outside.

The main herd in the barn.  From L-R: Duque, Ralph, T, and Bluff.  (Kara's behind Bluff, April's in her own pen for a few weeks.)

Luckily no one has shown any serious symptoms of heat stress, but Bluff is showing weird symptoms due to a lack of exercise.  She's developed edema in front of her udder and between her back legs.  We opened up one of our extra pastures last night to encourage her and the rest of the herd to graze out there at night while its cool.

Bluff's edema swelling in front of her udder.

We've got 1 more day of hot weather to come (106F tomorrow!), but then it hopefully will cool down, at least to the high 80s.

Beat the heat!

Well I was going to write about obstacles and performance training this week, but considering the massive heatwave that is hitting most of the country, I thought it might be better to write about how to help your animals beat the heat!  These tips are mainly focused on llamas and alpacas, but should work for other livestock and outdoor dogs/cats too!  I'll try to list my tips in order of importance.

Shearing


I wasn't originally going to mention shearing, but now that I think about it shearing is very important.  But personally, every llama (except maybe classics if they are properly groomed) and alpaca needs to be shorn once a year no matter what.  At least the barrel/belly of the lama needs to be shorn.  For my breeding stock, I prefer to do a lion cut (goes about halfway down the back legs) or a full body cut (everything comes off!).  Once you know your animals you will start to tailor how to shear them every year.  I have an old girl who gets cold in the winter but tolerates the heat, so she just gets a barrel cut, even though she is very heavy wooled.  I have another female (light/medium wooled) who hates the heat, so she gets a full body cut every year no matter what.  Crias I will just start with a barrel cut until they are full grown, and all my adults get a barrel or lion cut every year, with a full body cut every 3 years or so.


Fresh Water


Fresh, preferably cool, water is the most important thing that your animals need to get them through a hot day.  Granted, they should have it available every day, no matter what the temperature is.  It's a good habit to dump and rinse out water buckets daily, as animals won't normally drink dirty water!  In the summer, add some ice cubes (or frozen water bottles) to the buckets to keep the water cool, and locate them in a shady spot so they don't heat up as bad.  In the winter, warm water is greatly appreciated.  Electrolytes can also be added to the water- more on that later.

Shade


Being able to get out of the hot sun is key to your animals keeping cool in the summer.  Most livestock have access to barns or shelters of some sort usually, but if this is not possible at least give them some large trees to lay under.  Sometimes the trees are cooler than inside the barn!


Fans


In most parts of the country, fans are also a necessity during the summer.  In Indiana, our fans usually come on in April and don't go off until October!  It makes for a large electric bill, but it can be the difference between life and death for your animals.  You need at least one fan per animal, because the dominant ones won't let the others near their "spot"!  We put most of our fans about hip-high, but also have a couple angled downward from above.  20-24" hanging fans are ideal, but I know many people who use good old box fans in a pinch.  We also have a large (36") high-velocity fan that is amazing!

Hosing


Now onto tips that are more optional, but still useful!  Hosing is one practice that my lamas could not live without during the summer.  They will literally line up outside the barn when they see us turn on the water!  The thing to remember is to only spray the bottom 50% of the animal (legs and the underside of the belly and chest).  The inside of the legs where the hair is short is a good place to hose, it is easier to get the water to the skin quickly.  And don't spray them superficially...try to soak them to the skin.  I've seen too many people "hose off" a llama in 30 seconds...it takes me at least 5 minutes to completely hose one of my animals.  Some animals don't like to be hosed, but most come around with time.

Electrolytes


Over the years, I've himmed and hawed about giving electrolytes.  Sometimes the animals love them, other times they refused to drink them.  They are back to drinking them this summer though, which makes me happy.  I buy a horse electrolyte mix, but a lot of people use powdered Gatorade.  No matter what you use, just follow the directions about how much to mix with a bucket of water (and know how much water your buckets hold!).  Some mixes don't dissolve in water very easily, so shop around if you have that problem.  I realized a couple years ago the added benefit of giving electrolytes to my animals...it can help them drink "funny" water when they are at shows.  A friend of mine had a llama at the state fair who wouldn't drink the city water, so we added some of the electrolytes that I had brought (I had already added them to my llamas' water buckets), and he immediately started drinking.  Two tips regarding electrolytes: Since some animals don't like them, always offer an additional bucket (or more than one) of plain water so they can choose.  Most of the time on my farm the electrolyte bucket gets emptied much quicker than the other buckets though!  And be sure to clean out your electrolyte bucket frequently.  The added sugar makes the water a haven for bacteria, and the bucket can get nasty quick!

Wading Pools


Wading pools are a more controversial topic.  I don't normally like the idea of leaving a wading pool out for most of the year, but when the temperatures get over 90, I don't really care if the animals will use it.  I have heard horror stories about crias drowning in wading pools though, so I don't recommend that you use them if you have young crias or dams about to deliver.  And keep the water fresh!  Prolonged use will rot the fiber too, so be wary if you are letting your show string have access.  My little alpaca Ralph loves water, so I tried giving him a wading pool for the past few years, but he never uses it!  It turns out that my youngest llama Annie has taken a shine to it though.  Supposedly she lays down in it (well, half-way, she's too big so she just puts her front legs and neck in)...I need to get my parents to take a picture!

Concrete/Damp Sand


The last tip is something that I've only heard about, never really tried myself.  Giving your animals access to concrete or damp sand to lay on can help them stay cool.  Unfortunately we have mats in our barn as the concrete is very slippery, so we haven't been able to try it, but I have heard many success stories.

Hopefully this helps give you some ideas on how to keep your animals cool this summer!  This past week has been way too hot...shows all around the midwest are being cancelled (mostly 4-H fairs), and animals are dying.  Be careful in the heat, and be cool!