Llamas, alpacas and goats: did you really think you could escape the trend?

So there it is: Rhona Crilly, shepherdess for 350 ewes at Home Farm and a client you like working with (or at least used to, up to this point!), excitedly tells you that she has bought half a dozen alpacas as guard animals for the flock. And, of course, you will provide veterinary care to these, won’t you, since you are already looking after the flock and the farm dogs?

She is about to give the flock its clostridial booster and should she include the alpacas? What about worming? Do they get endoparasites and, if so, which ones and can she just use the same wormer that the lambs are treated with? Surprise, surprise, the NOAH datasheet compendium does not list any drugs for camelids.

By the way, they are entire yearlings and the breeder suggested they best get castrated to stop fighting. And something about fighting teeth that need regular trimming. So a whole new train of thoughts: can you ‘twist-and-pull’, do they need knocking down or could you do them standing, same dose of local as you would use in calves? And what about those fighting teeth?

Exotic livestock demystified

There definitely has been an increase in more ‘exotic’ livestock. A couple of small holdings have started milking some goats. And the annual audit of clients is showing a substantial number of pet lambs and goats being registered (and pet pigs, but we are not going to go there).

You survived your first goat caesarean section. Actually, a nice outcome: three live kids and the dam doing well. Extrapolating from more familiar species does work! Although you have been wondering whether there are goat-specific aspects to anaesthesia and surgery that may be useful to know.

While pondering this, your thoughts return to the alpacas at Home Farm: they have not been any trouble since arriving and you’re establishing the routine husbandry procedures for them. Murphy’s Law of course dictates that this will change. And indeed, Rhona seeks your advice on one of them who has lost weight and appears quite pale on clinical examination.

It is late August, so a faecal egg count seems sensible. Unfortunately, other than showing 100 trichostrongyle type eggs, it comes back negative. The results from the haematology analyser are not much help, either: normal PCV but reduced red blood cell count, and the platelet numbers are through the roof. The alpaca definitely appears anaemic and is getting quite weak. And there is the mange-like skin problem Rhona briefly showed you: she injected the alpaca twice with doramectin, but this has not made much difference.

These are serious questions and challenges, but we have answers for you. Join us for a day on common procedures and problems in camelids and goats on 30 March in Scotland.