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| Are You Prepared For Death? |
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| In regards to the health and welfare of the animals at Red Maple Farm, I used to think that I did everything right. After owning llamas for several years, I was hardly a novice. In the early years of the camelid industry there was not a lot of information on raising camelids but I read everything that I could get my hands on and I did everything by the book. No expense was spared to make sure that our animals were happy and healthy. During the fall of 1999, I had a very educational experience with internal parasites on my farm. Although many farms have a bury and don't discuss it philosophy towards dead animals, I am too proud to conceal this negative experience. By sharing this experience, I won't get my dead animals back but I might save a couple of llamas in your herd. Please trust me, if this can happen to me, it can happen to you! |
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| We didn't really know that we had an internal parasite problem for months. Our first indication should have been in August '99 when a female named Bianca went "down' in our pasture. Bianca had been rescued in may. She had a cria by her side and was doing great on our farm. Our vet came promptly and we got Bianca back to her feet but couldn't find anything wrong with her. She had been recently wormed but our vet wormed her again because he thought that she looked thin. We discussed extra grain for all nursing mothers and thought that she would be fine. Exactly one week later, as I was getting home late form the llama exhibit at our local fair, I noticed Bianca down again in the barn. While waiting for our vet to our vet to come to the farm, Bianca died in our arms while her 4 1/2 month old cria nuzzled her and hummed. My wife and I cried our eyes out. The vet could not come up with an explanation, so my wife and I insisted that we take Bianca to Cornell University for a necropsy but it was very hot that august and we decided that it would be best to bury her immediately. |
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| For the next month, things were relatively uneventful. In mid-October another female named Ripple went down. Ripple had just weaned her cria and was also thin from nursing. Just like Bianca, Ripple never acted different in any way. After she crashed, I got her up and moved her into the barn. She was weak so Ripple spent most of her time kushed. Ripple continued to eat and have bowel movements for 3 days. I tried everything to save her as she gradually lost the will to live. I gave her shots of penicillin twice a day. Yogurt culture, probios, electrolytes and pedialite... Nothing helped. I wormed her again, even though she was not due to be wormed. Ripple got lots of treats, grain and the best hay that money can buy. Ripple was an awesome llama and I checked on her every 2 hours around the clock. I was devastated when I found her dead and cried while hugging her dead body. At this point, this was no longer fun, my wife stopped going to the barn. My vet was "baffled" since I do everything by the book. Since both females were older (over 10 yrs.) and were nursing crias we assumed it was stress from nursing. The decision was made to feed even more grain to the nursing mothers. They were already getting twice what they needed but I reluctantly agreed. At this point, I am extremely depressed and very concerned about my herd. The same day we buried Ripple, we had llama twins born. Keeping the twins alive kept our minds off of our dead females. Having twins born at our farm was an interesting sleepless nightmare. The ordeal ended when one of the twins died after a week of around the clock care. Once again, we cried but we were thankful there was an explanation for this death. Twins don't normally survive and we were fortunate to have one of the twins survive. |
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| That same day that we lost one of the twins, another female named Grace gave birth to a beautiful appaloosa colored cria. We were thrilled since we used to breed for that color. The cria was very weak because it was born over three weeks early. Grace was the best mother ever and produced tons of milk. Everything was going great but I kept a very close eye on grace because something didn't feel right to me. A day before anyone else noticed, I began to think that Grace was kushed more than usual. I was in denial that anything could happen again and thought that Grace must be tired from birth. Eventually Grace refused to get up anymore. We all know where this is headed but I fight around the clock to save them both. In between naps, I head out to the barn at 5 am to check on them. Sometime between the hours of 3 and 5 am, Grace had struggled to her feet to allow her cria to nurse. Apparently, as the cria was nursing Grace must have crashed down. I found the crias head and neck pinned underneath Grace. The cria was cold but alive, lifeless and in pain. I cried as the cria was euthanized later that morning. Not to outlive the other females, Grace also died the next day after being down for three days in a normal kushed position. When Grace died, I didn't cry! I got really mad and loaded her on my truck to make the long trip to Cornell University. I left my 5th dead llama in a cooler at Cornell with barrels full of cow parts in the necropsy lab. It broke my heart but I had to get some answers. |
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| While waiting for the necropsy and lab results to come back from Cornell, my fourth adult female went down in the pasture. Annie was my favorite llama. Annie was a very old pasture ornament that personally greeted every visitor to our farm. Realizing that 3 days kushed equals a death sentence, my vet called Cornell and pushed for answers. I definitely wasn't prepared for what the results said. The reports showed the cause of death as "parasitism" and complications from heavy internal parasite loads. I couldn't believe it and went into a stupor. The only animals in my herd affected by the parasite overload were animals that were weak from nursing or that were older. Even after an aggressive deworming treatment, Annie was too far gone and had to be euthanized a week later. |
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| The morale of this story is simple! Do not assume that your worming practices will protect your animals. I wormed every 6 weeks with the suggested dosages of worming products. We alternated between injectable and paste products. The llama litter box in the barn was cleaned and disposed of daily. All new rescued animals were isolated in quarantine until they had been wormed and updated on all shots. What I didn't know back then was that the suggested doses of well known worming products kill less than half of the parasites living within your animals. My old worming practices were like hitting a hornets nest with a broom, I was bound to kill some of the parasites but the rest were developing resistance and continuing to multiply. In order to eliminate my parasite problems, I had to make some simple changes and educate myself on animal parasitism. |
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| For starters, we now worm once a month unless the ground is frozen solid. A scale is useful to get exact accurate weights of youranimals. Weight tapes are cheap and easy to use as well. Keep in mind, my "new" methods are do it often and don't be afraid to double the suggested dosage. Be sure to alternate worming products so your parasites don't develop an immunity or resistance to the products. Before we go any further, I want to stress that I AM NOT A VET and I strongly encourage everyone to consult their vet for the best worming routine for their region of the USA. |
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| The standard is currently to use Ivermectin (cattle) injectable wormer. Dectomex is also a personal favorite of mine. These shots work well with a 6 cc syringe with an 18 gauge needle. The shot is injected SQ (under the skin). Giving injections is easy with a little bit of practice. Ask your vet or a llama friend to show you how to do it. I usually try to find an injection site near the base of the neck. I part the fiber, find skin and pull up on the hair next to the skin to make a little tent with the skin. Then I inject the wormer in that spot under the skin. I usually double the recommended dose of injectable wormer. The average sized llama will get about 6 ccs. I've heard of people using pour on and daily worming pellets. I don't because they are not proven to be effective to prevent menegial worm. I've picked up rescues with menegial worm, it is a lousy, slow and nasty way to die. Better to be safe than sorry. The advantage of the injectable wormer is that it also kills external parasites as well. |
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| In the winter, once the ground is frozen. We use panacur or safeguard paste. We use 3-4 times the suggested dose. I use a full tube for the average llama. I put it in the corner of their mouth, squirt as much of it in at once as I can, then I attempt to keep the end of the tube in their mouth as long as I can to get them to swallow instead of spit the wormer out. This usually kills about everything but tapeworms.... They can be tough. In order to kill them you need to worm again in about 10-14 days to get the new ones that hatch. I like using paste in winter, I think that by alternating paste and injectable it lessens the chance of the parasites developing resistence to your crusade to kill them. To save money, I buy safeguard in a big tube that looks like a caulking gun. I would suggest this for folks with more than 10 llamas. |
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| Iam not saying that this is fool proof but it has worked for me and due to the story I just told.... This is what most of the llama breeders and vets are doing now. I've also found that small llama farms don't need an expensive chute. I use to halter and tie them to the side of the barn. I use the catch pen now..... I get as many llamas as I can into it, I wade in armed with preloaded syringes. I wander amongst them and give them shots while they are loose. The best thing that you can do is take several random fecal samples to the vet. Have you vet do a flotation and tell you what parasites are escaping your good efforts to kill them. |
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| We all need to look very closely at our husbandry. Most parasites need heat and moisture to live outside of the host animal. If possible, rotate your pastures so the grass can grow up from the ground. Parasite reinfestation is often caused by letting your livestock eat off of the ground. I also believe that a couple of chickens, ducks and guinea hens are worth their weight in gold if left to free range the farm. Clean up your pasture dung piles, esp. if you have small paddocks. During warm weather, I put my lawn mower on the lowest setting and run over the dung piles so that I can scatter and spread it almost instantly. I use lime to disinfect the wet spots afterward. Another option is to stock pile manure someplace away from your animals and sell it as fertilizer to local gardeners (you might need to give it away at first to get them addicted). |
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| Proper diet (free choice hay, daily grain and pasture), minerals, fresh water and routine health care is important. We take random fecal samples to the vet a couple of times a year to keep informed and avoid surprises. Animals that are acting unusual get a fecal instantly. Llamas are so stoic they don't go down until they are going to die. Knowing your animals and an ounce of prevention is vital since there is no cure for parasites once the animal goes past the point of no return. My nightmares were introduced to my farm by a parasite loaded rescue animal. Bianca was the first to die, that should have been my warning. You MUST quarantine all new animals to your farm in complete isolation. Don't assume that they are "clean" because you wormed them. Send a fecal back to the clinic with your vet when they come out to give your new animal their shots and health check and/or gelding. |
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| By sharing this story with you, I might be able to come to terms with my loss. Some positives can come out of a negative experience. I hope that people learn from my mistakes and change their farm deworming routines. |
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| ****Authors post 2/28/2005**** |
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| Since I wrote this article that was widly published world-wide in llama and exotic animal magazines, much of the llama industry has changed the way that they worm. I am not taking credit for it, but I think that people started to think when they read what happened to me when most wormed their camelids a couple of times a year (if at all). I still have no regrets sharing my bad experiences if others can learn from them. I think that more people should do the same. Camelid health is still a mystery in many aspects, we need to work together with funding camelid health research. |
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| Copyright © 2005 by the Northeast Llama Rescue Association (NELR). No reproduction of any kind, of any of the material on this site (including the photos and graphics), is permitted without the written permission of NELR or in the case of previously published articles, the indicated author. No reproduction of any kind, of the photos on this page is permitted without the written permission of the photographers of jabed.com. |
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