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A camelid's full gestation is 11 1/2 months or around 350 days. Up to two to three weeks prior to the due date, you may notice signs of the coming delivery with the development of mom's udder, swelling and elongation of the vulva, and also the mom choosing to lay off by herself away from her herdmates. As the Mom starts into labor, you will notice her visiting the dung pile often with no results, possibly rolling onto her side, and getting up and down frequently. It may be as long as a couple of hours from this time before you see the first presentation of the cria.The first thing you should see is the presentation of the nose closely followed by the two front legs. The head and neck follow with the contractions. Once the shoulders are through, the hardest part of the delivery, the body and back legs will follow quickly. Delivery is normally from a standing position and the cria will fall to the ground. Wet and covered with a thin membrane, you will want to check and see if the membrane is cleared away from the nose and mouth to allow breathing. Baby will quickly start to thrash around and get in a sternal position. Mom does not dry or lick her baby clean so in cool weather you'll want to dry the cria with clean towels. Mom will be interested in her cria and maternal bonding will take place, so your interaction should be at a minimum.After the membrane is removed, you'll notice a thick covering on the cria's toenails called slippers or epinychium. These are pads that prevent the cria's sharp toenails from injuring the Mom during the birthing process. They will come off when he starts kicking around and trying to stand. Using your finger, check in his mouth for teeth and also check the roof of his mouth for defects. As you have your finger in his mouth, he should demonstrate a strong sucking reflex on your finger. Check his breathing and also see that his eyes are clear and alert.Your next step should be to sanitize the umbilical cord as that is where bacteria can enter the body. Pour some dilute iodine (a weak tea color) or dilute chlohexidine solution (1:4 dilution with tap water) into a small container (a plastic film container or plastic lid work well), hold the cria up and get the entire umbilical cord into the container. With the container firmly against the cria's belly, shake the container with the Iodine against the cria's body to coat the cord well. Do not cut or trim the umbilical cord.
Take the cria's temperature. A normal temperature is 100-101° F. If it is low, the cria will not be able to absorb the colostrum from the mother's milk and you will need to take measures to warm the cria up. A hair dryer will help to dry the cria completely and also warm him up. If the temperature is quite low, try one of these methods to bring your cria's temperature up to normal, you can use a heating lamp to warm the cria up. Take care not to put the lamp too close to the cria, as these lamps let out a lot of heat! Do not leave the cria unattended with a heat lamp. Warming up towels and using them to dry the cria off is another method of warming it up.
Next weigh the cria. For the first week, weigh the cria every day. It is very common for the cria to lose a little weight the first couple of days, but then he should start gaining. Most will gain 1/2 to 1 lb. a day, but any weight gain is a step in the right direction.The first steps can occur sometimes within 15 minutes or up to an hour or more. During this time, Mom is still having contractions from trying to pass the afterbirth and still feels uncomfortable. She usually will pass the afterbirth about 45 minutes after giving birth, but the time does vary. If she doesn't pass it within 24 hours, you need to contact your veterinarian. When she does pass the afterbirth, place it in a trash bag for evaluation by your veterinarian then for disposal. Leaving it in the pasture may attract predators to the area.Once the cria is up and taking steps, he'll nuzzle around Mom trying to nurse. Our experience has been that most of the time, the cria does not nurse until after the afterbirth is passed. It is most important that the cria nurse within 6 hours of birth and get the colostrum from the Mom's first milk. The cria has no immune system of his own when born but his Mom passes him immune anitbodies through her first milk. This is called the passive transfer of immunity. These antibodies can only be absorbed through the cria's stomach during the first 18-24 hours after birth. If sufficient absorption hasn't taken place, the cria's immunity is compromised. The first milk, or colostrum, is very thick, kind of yellowish, and sticky. The ability of the cria to absorb this colostrum lessens with each hour after birth so the sooner the cria nurses, the better.The cria will search around quite a bit and you'll hear sucking noises as he sucks on her leg and belly trying to locate his first meal. You can only be sure that he's latched onto the right place when you actually see his mouth around one of the teats. If he seems to be having a difficult time finding the right place, you can squeeze a little milk from the teats and rub it around on her udder. Then let the cria suck on your finger that has the milk on it. Once he gets a little taste and the smell, he seems to be able to locate the source of milk quicker.
Once the cria is nursing, he and Mom can remain out in the pasture with the herd or you can put them in a stall together. Mom and cria will bond just as well out in the pasture and if the weather is cold, you can put a cria coat on the new arrival. During the first 24 hours, you may notice the cria's pasterns are a little weak. They normally will strengthen within the next couple of days. Also occasionally the ears will be tipped or a little floppy. They also will normally correct themselves with a little time.During the birthing process, if no progress is seen over a 30 minute period, there may possibly be a problem and you should call your veterinarian as the uterus may be twisted or the position of the cria may be abnormal.
If the cria doesn't nurse within the first six hours, cow or goat colostrum can be given to him with a bottle. An IgG level (the level of passive transfer) can be tested after 24 hours by taking a blood sample and sending it to a lab. If this is dangerously low, an intravenous plasma transfer may be done to improve the immunity.
If the Mom doesn't have any milk, an injection of oxytocin may bring her milk down. Some dams require domperidone to develop milk in their udder. This can be obtained from your veterinarian, and usually milking occurs within a few days of starting on this medication. If she has no milk, after giving the cria colostrum, you may have to supplement feeding with a bottle. Goat or calf milk replacer is recommended to supplement the cria.
A cria's intake should be at least 10% of their body weight. One pint equals 1 pound, so take the weight of the baby, move the decimal point one space to the left and that's how many pints. Example - a 30 pound baby should drink 3 pints daily.
Often it's difficult to get the cria to accept this foreign bottle. Enlarge the hole in the nipple; however, do not enlarge the hole too much! If milk pours out of the hole, aspiratory pneumonia may be a concern. Be persistent.
If, after time, the Mom isn't too receptive to her cria and doesn't allow him to nurse, she may be experiencing soreness in her udder or if she is a maiden, she just may not be sure what to do. Enclosing Mom and her cria alone in a small area for a few days, may bring her around to accept the cria. If it is painful as he nurses, applying warm, wet towels to her udder will help and she'll eventually allow the nursing process.
The first bowel movement the cria has is very dark in color and hard - called meconium. It is important that all the meconium is passed, If your cria isn't gaining weight, is bloated, straining to defecate and seems lethargic, you may suspect that some of the meconium remains. Some breeders routinely give a warm Fleet enema to the newborn cria on the first day. If a Fleet enema does not resolve the issue, please contact your veterinarian. Items to have on hand for birthing:
- Towels
- 7% Iodine
- Thermometer
- Scale
- Vaseline or Other Lubrication
- Colostrum
- Cria Coat
- Hair Dryer
- Feeding Tube
- Baby Bottle
- Oxytocin
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