Question:
We just had a cria born and the dam does not seem to have much milk. The dam is a maiden. How can we be sure the baby is getting enough milk?

Answer:
There is a direct answer to your question — weigh the cria. There are of course many more complex issues when a cria is not getting enough milk including the dam who may not have enough milk. Let’s begin with the dam. Some of the more common issues may simply be a matter of herd management. If you have a dam with not enough milk there are a number of things to consider including — why not?

1. The most common reason for lack of milk is that the dam is or has been over conditioned (fat). If a female llama has been overweight she will get excessive fat in her udder and it will never leave. This leaves less room for milk and often not enough room for the dam to be an effective milker. This is especially true if the over conditioning occurred during her early development period between 6 and 18 months of age.

2. The female may be genetically inclined not to produce a lot of milk. It is always important to evaluate the ancestors on both the dam and sire side of any female prior to purchase. If possible, evaluate the history for several generations. It is generally accepted in most livestock that the sire is more prepotant to pass or not pass the milk gene.

3. Does the female come from line breeding or inbreeding? According to Dr. Frank Allaire from The Ohio State University, one of the first indications of close line breeding in other livestock is a reduction in milk production. He states that any relationship closer than 10% can usually assure a substantial decrease in milk production.

4. It may be that the cria is not nursing. This can occur for a number of reasons — from a weak cria that does not have a strong suck reflex to a dam with a swollen udder that is too sore to let the cria nurse. An easy solution for a swollen udder is to put lard on the udder. This reduces the soreness in as little as several hours and the dam will then let the cria nurse. The cria that does not have a strong suck reflex or is too weak to nurse will need other intervention. If a cria is simply to weak to nurse, supplementing with high energy electrolytes can often bring about an increase in strength and energy and the cria will nurse.

We like to leave the colostrum plugs in the teats. Then we check in about four hours to see if they have been removed. If they have, the cria has nursed. Seeing the cria up under mom is not always an indication that the cria has actually nursed.

5. Should you have a female with a marginal milk supply there are several of other considerations.

If she is having fall babies, breed her for spring babies. New green grass provides a great boost to milk production.

Then there is the more complex question. If she is a poor milker and has not been over conditioned the problem is probably genetic. Ask yourself, should you keep her in the gene pool and produce more poor milkers? This may be a hard and expensive decision but removing these females from the gene pool will improve the breed in the long term.

6. From a management prospective, it is never a good practice to put the dam and cria in a box stall for birthing or right after birthing. First, most dams do not like being penned in a small stall and the stress factor may reduce the natural instinct to drop her milk. The other reason is that too often the cria will attempt to nurse by sucking on the walls or dark corners looking for milk. We suggest leaving them in an open lot if possible or in a large barn area in foul weather.

7. Some females are simply slower in dropping their milk. In the first seven days one or more injections of oxytocin can encourage milk production. You should consult with your veterinarian for dosages and frequency.

Now to the cria.

Weighing is the only way to be sure the cria is nursing effectively and getting enough milk. Even attempting to milk the dam can fool you. She may not be letting the milk down when you attempt to milk her and will let it down when the cria nurses.

We use a dairy milk scale that can be purchased at most farm supply stores and a cria sling that can be purchased from your llama supply company. Most llama supply companies also sell complete cria scale systems.

Each cria should be weighed once a day for the first week. A cria with marginal weight gain should probably be weighed twice daily. Our normal minimum weight gain is one-half pound per day. Often, crias will not gain or even lose the first 24 hours and then start gaining. Here are some of the things to consider with the cria that does not gain weight.

1. If after 48 hours or if it is apparent that the cria is not nursing, the cria needs to be supplemented.

2. To tube or bottle feed? Experience has shown that both tubing and bottle feeding work. Bottle feeding takes a lot of patience and much more time. Tubing may be a bit more risky but is very effective and efficient. When tubing one must be sure the tube is in the esophagus and not in the airway. There is a very good section on proper tubing in Caring for Llamas by Clare Hoffman, DVM and Ingrid Asmus. The other important factor is to not put the tube all the way into the first stomach compartment. The positive factor of tubing is that as soon as you are finished the cria goes to mom and nurses, keeping the dam in milk.

Do not over tube. We generally start with three ounces every four hours and then monitor the weight. It is more effective to tube smaller amounts more often that to load up the stomach with less frequent feedings.

3. There are a number of products that can be used as a supplement. In the first 24 hours we like to milk the dam and supplement with the dam’s colostrum. If the dam has no colostrum one can effectively supplement with llama plasma instead of colostrum and end up with very respectable IgG levels.

If you have a cria that did not get enough colostrum — DON’T PANIC! A day or two won’t matter. In several days contact your vet and arrange for a plasma transfer.
Thereafter, we use Land-O-Lakes goat’s milk replacer. There are other commercial products available or goat’s milk and even cow’s milk can be used.

4. Another consideration is whether the cria has passed her merconium. If the merconium plug has not been passed the cria will not nurse as much and not gain weight. In this situation an enema is in order. One can go to the local drug store and buy a Fleets enema or warm water with dish washing detergent in a Fleets enema bottle is a very effective enema solution. Generally after an enema the cria will strain and void the merconium plug and then gain weight.

When you end up with a dam that does not have enough milk or a cria that does not gain weight, do not get discouraged. Some dams may have a marginal milk supply for as long as 3 or 4 weeks and then start producing enough milk. Supplement just enough to facilitate the minimum part of a pound daily weight gain keeping the cria a little hungry so it will nurse. Often they will simply start gaining from an increase in the dam’s milk supply or from beginning to eat other foods such as grass or hay.