November 15, 2004

Need some help...I have a male cria born on November 6th, 2004 to a mother with no milk.  I have been feeding ~ 3 ounces in the am and 6-8 ounces in the evening of warm Vit A& D milk with a small teaspoon of mollasses and some Half and Half cream added.  This cria will not take more than 3-4  OZ in the morning.  Any suggestions or alternatives to get him to eat more? He still is suckling from mom but not getting much if anything.  Not as frisky as my other two crias born this past  month.  He did get ~ 12-16 ozs. of colostrum within the first 24  hours  of birth. Thanks for your help.

Answer:

Is the cria gaining weight? If so, sounds like you are OK.  If not, you need to offer milk more frequently. We feed every 1 to 3 hours here and try to get 2 to 4 oz per feeding depending on how many feedings we need. We expect a cria to eat about 12% body weight per day in milk. That equates to 1 oz milk for every 0.5 lbs body weight.

David E Anderson, DVM , MS , DACVS

I hope your cria is doing well.  Dr. Anderson sent me your question and his answers so I can put them into our files.  I thought this additional information about crias might come in handy (see below).  If not, you know where to file it. 

At OSU, we have the best luck with goats milk as a camelid milk replacer.  Cow's milk does not always settle well with them and they can get diarrhea.  They also can get diarrhea from eating too much in one sitting or from rapid dietary changes.  If using condensed goats milk, then dilute it 50/50 with water.  There is also commercial cria milk replacer available.  Frequent feedings are the important part of raising a bottle fed cria.  They rarely fit into a regular persons schedule.

Again, I hope all is going really well for your cria, it is great that he also gets to grow up with his mom, even if she doesn't produce enough groceries.  I hope he is growing and thriving and will soon be playing with the other crias.  Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help you.

Tracy J Miesner, DVM
ICI Associate Director
miesner.2@osu.edu
614-403-1016

Neonatology in Llamas and Alpacas

David E Anderson, DVM , MS , Diplomate ACVS