Question:
We recently weaned two of our babies for a month and when we put them back in with the moms they both started nursing again. How long do we need to keep them separated to make sure they are really weaned?

Answer:
I don't think there is an absolute answer to your question. This issue was addressed to some degree when we discussed weaning age in the September, 1997 issue of Llama Banner.

First, lets discuss weaning males versus females. When we wean young males we wean them permanently from the female herd. Once weaned, we never run the males and females together. Some males can have sperm at a very young age. Some years ago we would run our weanling males and females together. Then one spring we ended up with three of the weanling females bred when the oldest weanling was only 8 months of age. We aborted the pregnant weanling females but the lesson learned was that is possible for 7 and 8 month old females to get bred and that very young males can be viable and have sperm.

If we do not already have a weanling herd of males or females to which we can add the weanling, we always try to wean two or more at a time. They simply wean with less stress if they have a known companion. It also helps if they can be weaned out of sight of the "moms". Another effective method of weaning that seems to lower the stress factor for female weanlings is to wean the "moms" and leave the weanlings with the female herd.

Back to your question, there can be a big difference in the separation time necessary for effective weaning. Some dams will actually have weaned their cria themselves by weaning time. There are other dam lines that have very strong lifetime bonding. These families will actually lie down together when resting or sleeping all their lives. It also takes longer to wean their offspring. Although, for convenience sake we may occasionally attempt to return the female weanlings to the herd after 60 days, we generally will wean them for at least 90 days.

When they are returned to the herd it is a good management practice to keep a close eye on them to assure that they don’t start nursing again or that the "moms" won’t let them nurse. Allowing them to nurse longer than approximately 5 1/2 months is much harder on the dam than it is effective for cria growth. Most dams are rebred by this time. The continued nursing will draw down the dam when she should be putting that energy in her new pregnancy.