I have a male llama, five years old, who has a problem with choking and sometimes vomiting after he eats grain or hay. Our other llamas seem to be having no problem at all. The male seems healthy. His shots and worming are up to date. Could he be eating too much to fast or should I be looking for some other reason for this problem. I am feeding coastal hay and pellets that I feed him out of a large wash pan and by hand. He is our only male. The hay also makes him choke. He is more nervous about eating when the females are around and he seems to want to eat quickly and keep an eye out. When I hand feed him, he tends to slow down and is, for the most part, alright, but today we were hand feeding them just hay and again the male started choking and foaming at the mouth, then started throwing up. Other than this, he seems all right. He has lots of energy and when he's grazing he does just fine.
Answer:
The issue of llamas choking on their feed arises periodically. Generally it is more of a management issue than a health problem. It is, however, possible for the llama to have a throat or esophagus problem.
First, let’s talk about the pellets. There are many different kinds of llama pellets available on the market today. There are large pellets, small pellets, soft or hard pellets and crumbles. When a llama chokes on pellets, several things are usually occurring. Generally the llama takes too large a mouth full and then swallows and as the pellets get moist they expand and get lodged in the esophagus. Then, in attempting to cough it up, the llama aspirates fluids. The problem becomes critical should some of the pellets or fluids be inhaled into the lungs. An untreated choking llama is in fact likely to aspirate and inhale the material into the lungs, which can lead to pneumonia. Severe choking due to an esophagus being blocked by food should be treated by a vet and is usually reduced with a stomach tube.
The most effective solution to choking is prevention. There are several herd management techniques that can be utilized to prevent choking.
1. Feed in a larger container. The most effective method is to build feeders out of vinyl roof gutters. They come in 10 feet lengths. They can either be attached to a fence or a wall or they can be mounted on a 2 x 4 with feet attached. Plan to have enough so that there is 10 feet of feeder for every two llamas. Then scatter the pellets very thin the entire length of the feeder. I prefer the vinyl gutters over 6 inch PVC pipe cut in two pieces that some people use because the pipe is larger and they can still get a large mouth full.
In the case of your male, I would suggest giving him 20 feet of vinyl feeder and spreading out the pellets so that he cannot get a mouth full and eat it so fast.
2. You can try to find a different llama pellet. Having fed many different types of pellets over the last 20 years we find that a small hard pellet seems to work best. We feed a small, hard pellet that is 1/4 to 3/8 inches long and 1/16 inch in diameter. This pellet does not dissolve as easily in moisture so we don’t see the choking problems that occur with other pellets. Hubbard Milling makes our llama nutrition in this size pellets. Let us not however, forget why we feed pellets in the first place. Pellets are fed as an effective method of maintaining proper nutrition and there is a big difference in the nutritional value of the different brands of pellets. Your pellet selection should always be made with proper nutrition as the most important criteria and then use feeding methods that prevent choking.
3. If you continue to feed in feed bowls, you might try putting a few large stones in the bowls so they cannot get a large mouth full. When hand feeding, giving him small amounts at a time should also be effective.
Having a llama choke on hay is something I have not seen or heard of in many years of raising llamas. It would suggest that your male might have a medical problem with his esophagus and needs medical attention. Taking him to a veterinarian facility where they have fiber optic equipment would be advised. Providing a low protein, free choice hay would also be advisable to prevent the llama from feeling the need to eat it too fast. This should reduce the anxiety factor when your male thinks he has to eat real fast when in the proximity of females.
In conclusion, I suggest that your male may have two problems. It appears that he eats too fast from basic anxiety when around the females which you should be able to solve by altering your feeding methods. In addition, the choking on hay problem would concern me enough to seek an evaluation from a veterinarian with a fiber optic scope to look for a problem with his esophagus.
