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Breeding Alpacas: Part 5 (Early Cria Care)
- Fostings Alpacas
- Jan 5
- 10 min read
Updated: Feb 13
Next in our alpaca breeding mini-series is early cria care. For the complete series, check out part 1 (selecting your breeding herd) or part 2 (the mating process) or part 3 (gestation and pregnancy testing) or part 4 (birthing) and part 5 (early cria care) or part 6 (cria care beyond the first week).
Introduction
The first hours and days of a cria’s life are critical for setting the foundation for long term health and development. Close monitoring during this time helps ensure the cria receives essential care, especially successful suckling and adequate colostrum intake. This blog covers the basics to consider from birth through to weaning, to help you raise strong, healthy cria.
What's Normal in New-born Cria
Slippers
Crias are born with whiteish ‘slippers’, which is soft cartilage covering the tips of the hooves to protect the dam from sharp toenails when the cria is in the womb. These will naturally fall off after a day or two.
Being born is tiring!
Birth is a tough and exhausting process, and it can take a little time for the cria to recover, activate its muscles, and begin to lift its head or attempt to stand. For instance a newborn cria, like the ones in the photos below, might initially appear lifeless but is in fact just acclimatising to the new world they have found themselves in. As long as you can see the chest moving in a steady rhythm (indicating breathing), and subtle movements like small head shakes as it clears fluid from its nose and mouth, it’s best to step back and allow the dam and cria to bond. Intervening too soon can disrupt this process and may lead to the dam rejecting her cria, or vice versa.
Up on their feet
The above being said. cria are still pretty quick to come to and should be sitting up in the cush position within 10 minutes and be standing within 30-60 minutes of being born.
Suckling
Cria should be attempting to suckle within 30 minute and successfully suckling within 2-4 hours of birth. Once begun, cria should be feeding from the dam approximately every 2-4 hours.
Weight
Healthy cria weigh an average of 8KG at birth. Cria less than 6KG should be checked for signs of prematurity, closely monitored for adequate weight gain and signs of FPT (failure of passive transfer).
Sex Organs
When checking the sex of the cria, also check that the anus is present and has an opening to allow defecation and that the vulva on females is open to allow urination. If either anus or vulva are sealed, call the vet who may be able to correct with minor surgery.
Temperature
Healthy cria have a temperature range of 36.8°C - 39.2°C. If you are concerned about the cria being cold and need to dry it, leave the head & bum areas, as the dam uses these areas to be able to identify her baby.
Poop!
A cria should do it’s first poo, called meconium, within 24-48 hours of life and is typically a mustard yellow colour.
Cria Checklist
Once the cria has been born, carry out these essential quick checks:
Airway
Check the cria can breathe freely and the nose is free from membrane.
Iodine the umbilical cord
Spray the umbilical cord with Iodine 10% to prevent infection & help dry up and seal the cord (easiest to do this before they find their feet!).
Gender & sex organs
At the same time as iodining, check the sex of the cria, check that the anus is present and has an opening to allow defecation and check the vulva on females is open to allow urination (if either anus or vulva are sealed, call the vet who may be able to correct with minor surgery).
Weight
Healthy cria weigh an average of 8KG at birth. Cria less than 6KG should be checked for signs of prematurity, closely monitored for adequate weight gain and signs of FPT (failure of passive transfer).
Temperature
Healthy cria have a temperature range of 36.8°C - 39.2°C. If you are concerned about the cria being cold and need to dry it, leave the head & bum areas, as the dam uses these areas to be able to identify her baby.
Boost
Fastract Jump Start can be given to cria after a difficult/long birth, or just as routine to help get them kickstarted.
Let dam and cria bond
Once the essential checks have been done, leave the dam & cria alone to bond, as interfering too much can lead to one rejecting the other.
Standing
Check from a distance that the cria is standing within 30-60 minutes of being born.
Suckling
Check from a distance that the cria is suckling well within 2-4 hours of birth (this usually happens quicker within 30-60 minutes) and feeding from the dam approximately every 2-4 hours.
Signs of a Premature Cria
Premature (also called ‘dysmature’) crias may need more support and possibly veterinary intervention and care.
Signs of prematurity include:
Arriving before the due date - a very obvious thing to check!
Low birth weight (typically less than 6KG)
Unerupted lower front incisor teeth
Floppy or rolled ears
Lax tendons (bendy legs, inability to stand, dropped pasterns)
Lethargy
Difficulty regulating body temperature
Poor suckle reflex
In the dam: milk not present
Many of the above can result in the cria not getting enough colostrum and antibodies, which can lead to Failure Of Passive Transfer (covered later on in this blog), so it is vital that you closely monitor premature cria. Ears can be carefully taped for a few days to train them into the correct position. Underweight cria can feel the cold more, so may need a coat - but they can equally get too hot in warm weather, so may need taking to shade.
Lax tendons or dropped pasterns may require veterinary attention if they do not correct in the first couple of weeks of life. It is good practice to leave them for a couple of weeks and encourage movement in the hope they correct on their own with improved tendon strength. Don’t leave it later than two weeks to call the vet, as the malleability window is up to 6 weeks of age and thereafter the tendons stiffen too much, making manipulating the joints improbable.
Suckling and Colostrum
Cria are born without antibodies, so in order to develop immunity against infectious agents in the environment, cria must receive antibodies from their dam via the colostrum (first milk). Cria need to receive 10-20% of it’s body weight in colostrum within the first 12-24 hours of its life - 5 % of this in the first 6 hours. As a general rule, cria should be up and suckling well within a couple hours of birth. After 8 hours, the gut’s ability to absorb the antibodies drops significantly and after 24 hours, this ability is lost completely. If a cria has not absorbed the necessary antibodies by 24 hours old, this is referred to as Failure of Passive Transfer (FPT) which can cause lethargy, stunted weight gain, susceptibility to infection and can be fatal.
Signs of a cria suckling successfully:
Milk around the cria's mouth
A sucking noise
Lifted tail when they are on a teat
Absence of waxy plugs on dam’s teats
Feeding every 2 - 4 hours
Signs of a cria not suckling:
Cria frequently trying to nurse
No milk around the cria's mouth
Usually quite vocal
If the cria is struggling to suckle, before jumping straight to bottle feeding, first try to encourage the cria to feed directly from the dam. This may require you to hold the dam still and a second person to gently push the cria to the teats and possibly help it to latch on. If this does not work, you will need to progress to bottle feeding.
Bottle Feeding
Why would a cria need bottle feeding?
Cria may not obtain enough colostrum for a variety of reasons, such as, but not limited to; dam not producing milk, mastitis, loss of dam, difficulty suckling large teats, dopey or exhausted cria (especially after a difficult birth), rejection (on either part), cleft palette, premature cria, first time mothers not standing for cria to suckle, cold/hot weather causing cria and/or dam to be reluctant to rise. If a cria is struggling to obtain colostrum for any reason, you will need to step in with a supplementation.
Supplies you will need
It’s a good idea to prepare and purchase bottle feeding essentials ahead of the cria season to help reduce stress trying to source these tools in an emergency:
Bottle and Pritchards teat (red and yellow in colour)
Disinfectant
Weigh scales (to weigh cria for calculating feed quantities and checking for daily weight gain)
Calculator
Jug
Stomach feeding tube & syringe
Your chosen colostrum
Feed quantities (Claire Whitehead provides a helpful bottle feeding volume and frequency guide here)
What milk to feed a cria
Milking the dam and offering this in a bottle is the primary choice, but if this is not available there are a couple of alternatives. You can select a safe (free from TB, Johne’s and other diseases) colostrum from an alpaca, cow or goat. It should be fresh or freshly thawed in warm, body temperature water - do NOT use boiling water or defrost in the microwave, as this will alter the proteins! Or a good quality colostrum replacer (not just a milk powder) such as Immucol Platinum can be used. This product is preferable to many on the market, as it has high IgG content to ensure it will deliver the necessary antibodies, in addition to energy.
How much milk does a cria need?
Up to a couple months of age, cria will need 10-15% of its body weight each day, split between feeds given every 2 hours (or less frequently if the cria is getting some milk from the dam). It is very important to split the feeds down like this to mimic how the cria would naturally feed from the dam - little and often. Too much milk provided at once above the recommendation can lead to scouring and colic (belly pain, which can be fatal). It is also important that you do not force the cria to feed as this can cause milk to be pushed into the lungs. Once the cria is a couple of months old, feeds can begin to increase in volume and reduce gradually in frequency and the cria should be able to cope without feeding through the night, with a last feed at midnight and first feed of the day at 6am.
How to bottle feed a cria
When bottle feeding, we find it helpful to put the rear of the cria between your legs and very gently squeeze your knees in front of their hips to reduce wriggling and allows you both hands free; one to open the cria’s mouth and the other to hold the bottle. You can then shift to one hand on the bottle and the other stroking the neck to encourage swallowing. It is advisable to stand behind the cria and avoid talking to the cria during bottle feeding and always gently push the cria away, back to the dam and/or rest of the herd group to prevent the cria imprinting on you - which can lead to Berserk Syndrome later on in life. If bottle feeding is not working, especially if the cria is lethargic, you may need to tube feed (never more than 120ml per feed). If you have never done this before, call your vet, as if done incorrectly, the milk can be passed into the lungs and effectively drown the cria.
Failure of Passive Transfer
If at any point you are concerned about how much colostrum a cria has received, IgG testing can be carried out. In the event Failure of Passive Transfer is identified early enough, a plasma transfusion can be carried out by a vet, which puts antibodies directly into the bloodstream. If 24 hours have passed since birth, a plasma transfusion is the only way to increase the cria’s immunity, as the gut is now incapable of absorbing antibodies. Without this intervention, the cria is not likely to survive.
Plasma is not commercially available in the UK. Blood should be taken from a donor alpaca within your herd, so they have the antibodies to fight infectious agents local to your farm or smallholding. Adult males or large, non-pregnant females weighing 60KG+ are preferred donors. Donors can produce 2 bags of plasma, but can only give once per year. This can be done either prior to the birthing season or at the time it is needed, but of course the latter will be more time sensitive and no doubt more stressful. The blood is processed in a centrifuge to separate out the plasma and can then be stored for up to 5 years in a freezer. The freezer must not have an auto defrost system to ensure the plasma viability is maintained. Your vet may be able to store the plasma for you. One bag of plasma is enough to treat one cria.
First Few Days to Weaning
Poop!
A cria should do it’s first poo, called meconium, within 24-48 hours of life and is typically a mustard yellow or orange in colour. Meconium is a thick, dark, sticky substance made up of everything the cria ingested while in the womb (like amniotic fluid, mucus, and skin cells). It's usually passed within the first few hours after birth, and it’s a really good sign that things are working as they should.
If a cria is straining and hasn’t passed poop by 24 hours, an enema is often the go-to solution. To administer an enema, mix 20 ml of warm water with a small amount of washing-up liquid in a syringe, then lubricate the tip of the syringe and gently insert it into the rectum, before slowly squirting the solution in. Poo usually follows shortly after! If one or two enemas don’t work, it’s time to call your vet.
Weight
Crias weight should be monitored to check for steady average gains of 1.75 KG per week (or 0.25 KG per day) for the first 2 months - but don't be alarmed if they dip in weight by about 0.25 KG on day 2, as this is normal.
Vitamins
Cria should receive Vitamin AD&E supplement in the form of injection or oral paste at the relevant dosage rates and frequencies to prevent rickets.
Clostridial Disease
See our blog on how to prevent Clostridial Disease for more information.
Expand your knowledge
There's a lot to learn about breeding alpacas, such as selecting your alpacas, the mating process, supporting the female through gestation, testing for continued pregnancy, the birthing and what to expect as well as trouble shooting problems including malpresentation - when you can correct it and when to call the vet - as well as early cria care and care beyond the first week. The Alpaca Breeding Course, here at Fostings Alpacas offers all of this in a mixed theory and practical delivery, so you come away confident in knowing what to expect when breeding alpacas.
Disclaimer: Fostings Alpacas are not a veterinarian body. Always consult your vet when creating a health plan for your herd and if you are ever concerned about your alpacas.
