Cria-ting an investment the whole family can enjoy!

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Mauricio's Story

On April 22, 2005, while most other alpaca farmers were away at MAPACA 2005, one of our maiden females delivered her first cria.  The delivery was difficult, stressful and intense (for the mom AND for me!).  We call the vet to let her know there was a delivery in progress and we would call if problems arose.  Within the first few minutes of labor, it became clear that there was trouble and the vet was on her way.  After the delivery was over, the mother was so stressed, she laid down and zoned out.  The cria initially had difficulty breathing, due mostly to having his nose stuck in one place for so long.  Shortly after he was born and it was discovered he was struggling to breathe, he was propped up off of his sides to take pressure off of his lungs.  This was only the beginning of his struggles.  The mother did not settle down and in fact, rejected the cria.  She only stopped for a few glances at her newborn cria and likely after what she had just been through, believed him to be some monster.  Not only were initial attempts to get him to nurse unsuccessful, but even later, she would spit him away.  We immediately began bottle feeding him, including colostrum in the first 24 hours. Many thanks to Dr. B.J. Campbell, DVM,  that stayed with us the first few hours that evening, as all other alpaca friends and family were out of town at MAPACA.

Mauricio's first six weeks were spent juggling his weight, milk volume and diarrhea.  Dr. Campbell was very instrumental in managing the long term diarrhea, as she stayed in regular contact for both professional support and concern.  Believe it or not, we were eventually able to get the mother to allow him to nurse, but only when we went outside to her.  It was a long process to get her to this point, but worthwhile if we were able to get mother’s milk for the cria.  If the cria attempted to nurse on his own, she still spit him away. Mauricio was fed bottles of milk that were alternated with putting him with his mother to nurse as well.

Not only was it sad to see the mother reject him, but also the rest of the herd did not initially accept him.  In the evenings after his bottle feeding, he would run out to the pasture to lay down next to one of the others.  Whenever he attempted to lay next to any of them, including his mother, they too would spit him away. Sadly, he would just come back into the barn and lay under the heat lamp to be warm.  The next day while I sat in the pasture with him, along came one of the barn cats to lay in the sun with him.  Gretchen the barn cat rolled on her back as to play with Mauricio and get his attention.  Mauricio would just lay in the pasture, zoned out from the world that had rejected him.  After Gretchen came over to greet him, apparently the rest of the herd realized there was nothing wrong with him.  Gradually, other members of the herd came over and either checked him out, nuzzled him or even laid next to him.  I captured all of this with my camera, which is included with the pictures on Mauricio's Delivery Page.   It is priceless!  What a sad start to life, not to mention, Mauricio was certainly a high risk cria.  He was born during a dystocia, born to a maiden female, and had to be bottle fed.  Any of these three makes a cria a higher risk, but all three certainly made things even more intense.

By 2 months of age, we were noticing Mauricio's weight increase, though we were not giving as much milk and he was certainly not being allowed any more time nursing by mom.  Soon, we saw that he was snitching milk from another mom.  This mom was allowing him to nurse along side her son at the same time.  One thing about this particular mom, other than it being unusual for an alpaca to allow another cria to nurse, is that her delivery the previous year had produced twins.  She had lost these twins because they were born early, but somehow, it seems at least in this instance, she now had “twin boys” that both needed her very much.

Thank God for Henny that stepped in as a surrogate mother and thank God for Gretchen the barn cat that broke the ice and prompted other animals to stop the cycle of rejection.

Needless to say, after spending a great deal of the summer of 2005 bottle feeding Mauricio, he certainly has my heart wrapped around any two toes of any of his four feet.  While this little guy had a rough start in life, he fits in anywhere.  Perhaps what some could consider a survival skill.  He is social and friendly with people for a bit and after a short visit, runs on out to the pasture to be an alpaca. 

 hertless@visi.net