Question:
We are having winter babies and we have snow with temperatures in the teens and single digits. What precautions should we take? Should we put a blanket on the cria? Can they have their babies outside or do we leave them in the barn? Should winter babies be supplemented? In general, what do we need to do differently for winter babies?

Answer:
I am going start my response with a bit of advice. The voice of experience says, if you live in a cold and snowy climate, don’t have winter babies. Winter babies are simply at a higher risk and create more work. For a number of years we bred year around and learned that spring and fall cria have a greater survival rate. In our fall breeding schedule we currently stop breeding on Christmas day, which gives us our last cria around December 10th and the do not start rebreeding until April 15 (Income Tax Day) which makes your earliest babies due the last of March.

If you have bred, or do breed for winter babies, I will attempt to answer your questions.

Stalling:
Even though it will be warmer and you can use a heater, we do not recommend putting a female that is due in a stall. Llamas generally do not like being penned in a small stall and stalling them just adds more stress to the already stressful birthing event which is hard on both the dam and the cria. If you feel you must stall her, always stall with another female. The other problem with confined stalling is the cria may start sucking dark corners instead of under mom. When they start this corner sucking it can be difficult to get them to start nursing. If it is real cold and nasty we recommend providing an open panel stall, large enough to accommodate two female, in the barn, out of the wind and weather, close to the rest of the female herd.

Supplementing Cria:
There is no more need to supplement a cria in the winter than any other time of the year. Weigh each cria daily for the first week and if you don’t see at least a half pound of weight gain a day, then supplement with something like Land-O-Lakes Kid Milk Replacer. We expect close to a pound a day weight gain. We actually don’t get very concerned with weight gain the first two days. A cria will often lose a little weight the first day and then begin to gain weight. If the cold weather cria seems sluggish try supplementing with 4 oz. of warm, high energy electrolytes. These electrolytes can actually be tubed every 4 to 8 hours until the cria is more active.

Cria Blankets:
Cria blankets are a great idea. If it is below 35 degrees we use cria blankets for about the first week. If it is rally cold, the blanket may be used longer than one week. The blanket is removed when we get days when the temperature gets up to around 40 degrees and then reapplied at night if temperature drops. It is recommended that the cria be fairly dry prior to applying the blanket. Cria blankets can be purchased from most llama equipment suppliers. I recommend a cria blanket that is also water resistant.

Keeping Dam & Cria Separate:
It may be advisable to keep the dam and cria separated from the rest of the herd for several days in cold, inclement weather. Llamas are less active when it is cold and separation may enhance bonding and nursing. The opposite, not separating, may also be advantageous. Some females are so stressed when separated from the rest of the herd that they do not produce enough milk. We have seen milk production increase dramatically when the dam and cria are put back in with the rest of the herd. It is generally best to evaluate each female and birthing situation and each llama individually and respond accordingly.

Cold Cria:
The response to finding a cold cria is a matter of determining how cold the cria really is.

If the cria is simply shivering, dry the cria with towels and a hair dryer and apply a cria blanket.

At the other end of the spectrum, if the cria is found cold and stiff, more dramatic measures are necessary. You can start by taking the baby’s temperature. If the temperature is below 99 degrees the cria needs help immediately. The most effective method of thawing out a cria that has been compromised by the cold, is to take it in the house and put it in the bath tub filled with warm water. We have actually found winter cria in snow drifts with a temperature as low as 94 degrees that after an hour in a warm water bath tub start moving and within two hours seem like normal cria. The cria then, of course, needs to be thoroughly dry before being put back with mom. As a note of interest, one these snow drift babies from years ago is still in our herd and producing champion cria. We named her Floata, after her bathtub experience.

After drying the tub cria, it is also a good idea to supplement the cria with four ounces of "warm" high energy electrolytes. The cria has obviously been severely stressed and the electrolyte simply gives it a shot of energy.

The other thing to watch with newborn cria in cold weather is the ears. If it is below freezing, the ears are very susceptible to freezing if they are exposed to the cold prior to being completely dry.

If you find a cria with frozen ears, time is of the essence. If they just froze, putting DMSO on the ears while they are thawing will help prevent damage. If, however, they have been frozen long enough to be frozen hard, there is not much you can do to save the ears. The ears in this case have lost their blood circulation and will simply shrivel up and the frozen part will eventually drop off.

As I said in the beginning, the best winter cria management is to not breed for winter cria. This is a little bit of, do what I say, not what I do. We bred one female late for a January 2, 1999 cria. Sure enough, she had it when it was very cold and we ended up with a great looking cria with frozen ears. Winter babies are just not worth the risk of a compromised baby.