Question:
Last summer our breeding male got heat stress and did not get our females bred. What can we do to prevent heat stress in our heavy wool sire?

Answer:
When breeding males experience heat stress they do lose their ability to reproduce. The good news is that this condition, except in very extreme cases, is temporary. Normally, in about three months the male is again producing sperm and settling females.
The solution to heat stress problems is prevention. We use some or all of the following management methods depending on the situation.

1. Perhaps the most important factor in preventing heat stress is a nutritionally balanced, high selenium diet. The best way to achieve the correct diet is to draw blood from your herd and have it analyzed for proper levels of vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals.
Each area of the country is different with regard to which of these trace minerals is freely available in the forage and a supplement should be developed and fed accordingly.
Living in the Ohio River Valley, we feed the Hubbard Milling Llama Nutrition "Micro" pellets that are specifically developed for this area. In fact, our herd is the test herd for the Hubbard ration and they re-test our herd annually to assure that the correct nutritional balances are maintained.

Herd sires on the year round balanced, high selenium program are less susceptible to heat stress.

2. In areas of high temperatures and high humidity, heavy wooled herd sires need to be shorn. We shear all of our sires annually. We give them an extended body cut from the neck to the tail leaving the wool on the neck, shoulders and hips. Not only does this make them cooler but makes them feel better. A shorn, heavy wool llama is simply more active.

3. Don't let your sire become over weight. An over weight llama has more of a problem dispersing heat and is more susceptible to heat stress.

4. Use fans. We do not place our fans overhead or where they blow on the body of our males. They are placed at ground level. The males will them, by choice, back up to the fans and lay down with the fans blowing across their testicles and belly.

5. Provide shade. A properly shaded area is essential for all of your llamas. The best shade is under trees. If you do not have that option and need to provide a man-made shade area, place it where there is a breeze or you can place fans in the shaded area.

6. Water is an important tool in heat stress management. We not only provide fresh drinking water, we hose down the rear end and belly of our herd sires every several hours during severe heat conditions. Hose the non-woolly areas and not the top of the wool. Wetting the top of the wool simply mats the wool and prevents the body heat from escaping.

Providing drinking water with electrolytes during stress periods can also reduce heat stress. Electrolytes can be purchased to add to the water or a simple effective electrolyte can be mixed by adding one tablespoon of salt and one tablespoon of baking soda to each gallon of drinking water.

Hosing the ground area several times a day also provides a cooler place for the llamas to lay.

7. Do not add additional stress to your sires during the hot summer conditions. The stressful situations to avoid are summer breeding, traveling, additional exercise and shows.

8. One can always provide air conditioned stalls for the breeding males. If air conditioning is provided I strongly suggest that a door way is drapped to keep in the cool air but permit the llama to go outside as he pleases. Llamas simply do not care to be restrained in closed in stalls.

I will leave the discussion of the diagnosis and treatment of heat stress to our veterinarians. As I stated above, the secret to heat stress problems is prevention. With attention to heat stress management the loss of sperm in breeding males can be prevented.