Winter - Classical MileEnd Alpacas

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… not likely, says the Royal Veterinary College's Claire Whitehead. Follow her practical guidance and healthy livestock in the spring are assured. © Claire E Whitehead bvm&s ms Dipacvim mrcvs Winter is the time that things can go horribly wrong if you have not prepared adequately and holes exist in your management plans. Clearly, certain groups of alpacas are going to be at greater risk under winter conditions. These include neonates if you have females giving birth during the winter and young crias, geriatric alpacas, alpacas having inadequate fleece or poor body condition, and sick alpacas. Neonates are more at risk in cold conditions even once they are dry because they have a larger surface area compared to their body size from which they can lose heat. Geriatric animals may have dental issues resulting in loss of condition, and may not grow back their fleece as quickly as younger animals following shearing leaving them more susceptible to the effects of cold weather. All groups may have varying degrees of immune compromise or immune incompetence leaving them more susceptible to disease, especially if they are put under further stress due to cold. Additionally, if alpacas are confined in barn accommodation during cold spells, closer proximity to each other increases the risk of disease transmission – for example, respiratory viruses, gastrointestinal parasites and coccidia. Barn accommodation should be well-ventilated to reduce respiratory problems. It takes more energy to maintain body condition and organ function in the cold and this is why nutritional management is especially important during the winter. In winter, grazing quality is not as good as it may be at other times of year such that more supplementary feeding is likely to be necessary, especially for lactating dams, late gestation females and growing youngsters. Alpacas will tend to lose body condition during winter if feed quality deteriorates. This can cause all sorts of problems for females due to give birth in the Spring since this coincides with the period that they actually need to be on an increasing plane of nutrition due to rapid growth of the unborn cria. Most alpacas will be out grazing throughout the winter, but they may still need hay provision if the quantity of grazing is insufficient. You will also need hay if animals are brought inside. Whether you make your own or buy in hay, it is worth having it analysed for quality so that you know what it is likely to provide in terms of energy and protein. Don't take the supplier's word for it, especially if you are buying in large quantities. If you are feeding supplements, make sure that this is feed specifically marketed for camelids as this will have the right balance of minerals. Camelid feed is also usually supplemented with vitamin D. Other species non-specific feed-stuffs may also be used, such as alfalfa or sugar beet. The latter is an excellent source of carbohydrate and doesn't induce ulcers unlike corn. It is especially good for feeding to underweight animals to help them put on weight. The volume of supplementary feeding will vary depending on gender, age, stage of gestation, body condition, quality of grazing etc. But you can start off using a measured amount per head as recommended by the feed manufacturer or other breeders and monitor the effectiveness of that amount by monitoring body condition. If your alpacas lose condition, then you will need to feed more, and if they gain condition then reduce the volume. With any changes in feed volume though, make these changes 44 Alpaca World Magazine Winter 2007 / 08
slowly in order to allow the fore-stomachs to adapt. Small changes in feed volume are likely to be okay though. When feeding supplements, always make sure that you have sufficient trough space for all alpacas in order to reduce the effective of competition – ideally 3ft per head. Pay attention to any dominant or recessive feeders and make provision for any alpacas seen not to be receiving enough. Monitoring body condition is a key management tool in alpaca farming and one that I cannot emphasise enough. I recommend body condition scoring adult alpacas rountinely once monthly but you can do it more frequently with animals that you are worried about and when monitoring the effectiveness of dietary changes. Routine condition scoring allows you to spot problem animals but also to group animals and make the best use of feed. For example, you don't want to overfeed nonpregnant maidens that will become fat on the same ration as a late gestation or lactating dam. This is not only a waste of feed but can be detrimental to the health of the animal. It is important to keep records of your findings so that you can easily check back and notice any changes. Some herd management software packages will allow you to show this data graphically making trends in condition loss or gain easy to spot. It is also important that the same person is responsible for scoring at each time point because different people will score slightly differently – this is not a problem per se, but it will make it harder to establish whether a change in condition is real or just individual variation between testers! The main area to palpate for body condition score (BCS) is over the back where you are feeling the muscle and fat that surrounds and supports the spine, but you will also need to feel over the ribcage. Suris will body condition score differently from Huacayas as they tend to store more fat around their backbones for insulation because of their different coat types. Also, older animals will feel different from younger animals and you can often get a better idea of their body condition by feeling the ribs. Finally, males have more muscle around the spine, so feel the rib cover to get a proper idea of their condition too. I prefer to use a scale of 1-10, with 1/10 being a very thin animal with a knife-edge spine and prominent ribs (you can fit your fingers between them easily) and 10/10 being obese (flat to bulging back, can't feel the spine or ribs). An ideal body condition score for a female at any stage of gestation or lactation is 5.5-6 out of 10: at this BCS, the muscle cover either side of the spine feels slightly rounded and you can feel the ribs, but you cannot fit your fingers between them. Fatter animals will start to store fat on their chests and in the perineal area (under the tail) as well as starting to "Monitoring body condition is a key management tool in alpaca farming and one that I cannot emphasise enough." Many thanks for the use of photographs of alpacas in the snow to Jenny MacHarg, Fowberry Alpacas, Northumberland. UK. deposit fat at the tops of their thighs. This fat deposition begins at BCS 7.5 upwards. Other than monitoring BCS to assess the effectiveness of diet in maintaining good condition, there are other preparatory measures that can be done in order to maintain optimal health of your alpacas during the winter. A couple of factors that will have a big influence on an alpaca's ability to maintain condition during winter are the presence of any gastrointestinal (GI) parasites and dental problems. GI parasites essentially 'steal' the food that your alpacas consume and can also cause anaemia. Ensuring that your alpacas are free from parasites before the winter comes helps to give them the best chance during the colder months. Then retest in the Spring to see if they have picked anything up during the winter. This can be done by evaluating faecal samples and worming appropriately based on test results. Worming blindly, without knowledge of the parasites present in your alpacas may at best be inappropriate, and at worst ineffective as drug selection may be wrong for the parasites present. Faecals must be fresh and taken from individual animals and not from a communal pooping area. This is important because it allows you to identify particular animals with problems and may show up patterns if you have a herd parasite problem. Try to collect a good size sample – a minimum of 8-10 pellets. Put it in a clean pot or ziplock bag and clearly label with the animal's identification and the date. Labs do not like to receive samples in inside-out gloves! Give to your vet as soon as possible after collection to prevent deterioration of the sample (or have the vet collect the samples). If there is any delay, refrigerate the samples. I recommend collecting samples from 10% or 10 animals in your herd, whichever is the greater number. If you have fewer than 10 animals, then test them all. If you need to choose between animals, select those that may be a little on the skinny side and from a variety of ages, but younger animals between 6 and 18 months of age are useful as they act as herd sentinels – they usually have not developed much immunity to parasites and can have higher levels of infestation. Dental problems also will have a greater negative impact on animals during cold weather as any reduction in appetite due to oral pain or dental malocclusion will result in more loss in body condition. Carefully check your alpacas for evidence of tooth root abscesses and these will be evident by hard swellings along the mandibles, or sometimes purulent material may appear on the face if the abscess ruptures. Compare with the opposite mandible or other animals if you're not sure whether what you are feeling is normal. Also pay attention to any alpacas that do not have good dental conformation, especially those with overshot lower incisors. If these are overgrown, they can sometimes trap the jaw preventing side-to-side jaw movement that is necessary for chewing forages. Incisors can be trimmed by your vet using a dremel tool with a cutting disc. Sedation will probably be required. During winter, if your alpacas are kept on pasture, the ground is likely to be soft. This will result in overgrown toenails in many animals. If severe this can alter weight-bearing and potentially cause injury and lameness, Alpaca World Magazine Winter 2007 / 08 45
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Page 9 and 10: ng and l Birthing & Cria Care a gui
Page 13 and 14: FIG. 1 C-banding pattern of alpaca
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Page 21 and 22: Banksia Park Alpacas Jenny and Dr G
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Page 46 and 47: Health and Welfare Winter Worries ?
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Winter - Classical MileEnd Alpacas

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