# We have a baby!



## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

A snow white alpaca baby! I was needing a source of white fiber!!! :goodjob:

Trying to get Mom to nurse. She is being real flighty. I am going to go ahead and get the baby some goat colostrum. According to the curly ears she is a tad premie. But, she has tooth buds so that is good. Temp is good and she is searching for food. But Mom is in almost freakout mode. 
More pics to come later!


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

WOOOOT! Congratulations!!!!!!!!


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

Congrats! Hope momma has calmed and baby is eating and staying warm tonight. Yay!


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Mom is being weird. :shrug: We finally got her to stand still - with DH feeding her a little at a time out of his hand. I was not able to get any milk out of her at all. Neither did my little Snow baby. I managed to get about an ounce of goat colostrum in him. We are going back out in a bit and trying to get more in him. I am hoping and praying that we can get him fed enough to keep him alive.


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

Do you have a calm, experienced female you could put with her for a while?


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

raccoon breath said:


> Do you have a calm, experienced female you could put with her for a while?


Unfortunately we lost her last summer. I have another girl I could put in there, but not sure how they would do. She is by no means experienced.


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

It could still calm her down having company, but you know them better than me. If it was my girls, I'd do it making sure the baby was positioned to make sure she didn't get trampled.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

They are herd animals she may be feeling lonely.


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## Candy (May 12, 2002)

Congratulations, she is darling!


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Couldn't get Abby in there with her last night. She would get right up to the gate and then run the other way. About midnight I made him a blanket, he was still cold. His temp was 101.5 which is normal, but he was shivering. Lined it with some slightly felted Shetland. Went out about 1:30am and he was toasty warm. Mom got up and he tried nursing again. She was way calmer and even let me help him some. She still doesn't seem to have milk. I tried milking her some with no results. We will continue watching and supplementing the milk.


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

AWWW ... what a cute baby !!


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

What a darling little baby!!! He's just so cute! I hope momma continues to settle down and her milk comes in. Sounds like you're doing everything right!


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

MJ, how is the baby doing?


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## lambs.are.cute (Aug 15, 2010)

Talk to a vet and see if you can get OxyCodone (sp) to get her to let her milk down. I had to do this when I had a preme lamb. It is the hormone that they let down when they birth and it doesn't always come in when they are preme. Shot works great. Good luck and enjoy the baby. Most skid dish first time moms turn out to be the best next year.q


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

Lambs.are.cute, I think you mean oxytocin. Wonderful idea and I had forgotten about that! That might just do the trick!!!


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I need better photos too, if this little dude survived this far....

:cute:


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

Do you have the book, Llama And Alpaca Neonatal Care Mamajohnson?


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Raccoon breath, I don't have that book. Maybe I should. I will have DH get pics tomorrow. Today I had to drive a couple of hours up to DIL's dance studio. Doing alterations on about thirty costumes. I was gone all day. DH was the baby care taker. It almost made him crazy. Lol. Never got more than a few oz of milk in the little guy. But he seems strong and does keep going to nurse. I am pretty sure that he latched on once or twice when I was out there last. We now have a nice collection of different bottles trying to get a good fit. Basically a syringe is the best way to get milk in him. Keep your fingers crossed! So far he seems good. DH is fretting around this one like a mama hen. Lol! I really am hoping he makes it.


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## lambs.are.cute (Aug 15, 2010)

yes that's what I meant thanks. The dumb ipad kept correcting the spelling and wouldn't let me not use that. That's why I described it so maybe I would make sense. My preme lamb only drank 2 oz a feeding (but he was 5 lbs) and got fed every hour for about a week until he could get 4 oz down at a time at which point it went to two hours. He was so preme it took weeks for him to stand.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

lambs.are.cute said:


> Talk to a vet and see if you can get OxyCodone (sp) to get her to let her milk down. I had to do this when I had a preme lamb. It is the hormone that they let down when they birth and it doesn't always come in when they are preme. Shot works great. Good luck and enjoy the baby. Most skid dish first time moms turn out to be the best next year.q


 no no no - not *OxyCodone*!!!! that is a synthetc opiod analegesic and will do NOTHING for milk let down!!!! and it is for humans not animals! Be careful out there!

If anything, veterinary PITOCIN or OXYTOCIN aka "pit" - is the hormone you are talking about - but even it may cause strong contractions which CAN cause uterine prolapse if used improperly (which is why they don't just hand it out like candy)! :shocked:  


"Pit" is not a cure-all for failure to let down milk - but the body will produce more of that hormone as the baby tries to suckle and the mama relaxes. Thats what they need - together time!


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

There's a common misconception that oxytocin will "make" milk. It doesn't, it only let's down what is already there. If there's no milk to begin with, it won't produce any.


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

If you continue to breed, I would definitely keep an eye out for that book. The authors are Bradford Smith, Karen Timm, and Patrick Long, all vets. There is a section in it specifically covering premies, evaluating them for common premie problems and then the care of mom and baby. For example, their suckle can be weak, watch for respiratory problems (listen for rattling and wheezing while breathing, check for a cleft palate, hypothermia (you're doing an excellent job there with the coat!!), and then behavioral problems such as figuring out that mom is the source of milk even if mom had lots of milk so a little slow at figuring things out. 

Crias instinctually try to nurse in dark corners so if you have a very bright light lighting up the room (no dark corners) she's in with her mom, she'll naturally go under mom (dark) to try to eat..if mom has any milk yet or ever will. Another tip..when mom goes out for her roll in the dirt bath, watch her and you can see if she's filling up with milk or poochy at all there. Premies can be unsteady on their feet, blind, and not able to stand, but this can all resolve at 3 to 6 days old with your extra nursing along so keep at it. Ohh, periodically rub the cria's body and legs to stimulate circulation. 

You and hubby keep at it. You're doing excellent


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