Inglefield Alpacas

Iolani has a red eye.

My alpacas have had a change of routine this weekend. It was my brother's fiftieth birthday ,  and as he lives in Germany this meant a quick trip abroad. A great time was had, thankyou Andrew.

Going away is an exercise in animal organisation. My elderly whippet goes to one friend, I had another feeding horses and alpacas, and another doing the mucking out.

Over the last few weeks I have been bringing my alpacas into half of my haybarn overnight. This is  an area of approximately 10 foot by 20 foot , with hurdles creating an open end. I do have a field shelter for them, but wanted to use my other small paddocks in rotation, and though the shelter is movable it is definitely a dry weather operation. HAving given Mary a quick lesson in guiding ( the camelidynamics way) in case of extreme weather, or needing to check an injury etc, I then left them in the paddock with he field shelter ,  so  it was less work. Now I am back, they are back in the barn overnight. I often work in the evenings, so , not wanting to bring them in too early they often come in about 11.30 after work. Thy have tea in the barn each evening , and their breakfast in the field each morning.

Iolani had a slightly red eye the other day . Had a quick chat to the vet, and decided to use some chloramphenicol eye ointment. A slightly stilted conversation when we discussed symptoms of a "member " of my household!  Anyway , she is much better now , which is great. I found the halter helper really useful when putting in the ointment -  it meant I could easily do it by myself without any struggle. As they come in at each side of the day, it was easy to fit the ointment into my routine.

An eco-friendly lawnmower - three in a row

if only it was this easy to mow the lawn!

Here is Barbilla -  overlooking proceedings

  

And , not to be left out, here is a picture of Isadora! One day I may have non-muddy alpacas!!

 

 

Subluxating patellae

Recently, I had cause to look at various breed standards in the different alpaca assosciations. In this country, all alpacas registered to 2 parents already on the register are eligible to be admitted. if alpacas are imported into this country , they have to pass a screening process .

When I visited Mariah Hill last year , I was able to see some of the alpacas go through the veterinary part of the screening process . One of the males was found to have subluxating patellae. These are a heritable fault .  Here is some information from the Canadian Alpaca Assosciation

Canadian LLama and aLpaCa assoCiation 

Congenital Disqualifiers 

Part IV- 

luxatIng Patellas 

“a luxating patella is a 

dislocating knee, a knee 

that keeps slipping out 

of  its socket or one that 

can be dislodged from its 

normal position” 

This article is the fourth in our series of  identifying and explaining 

congenital disqualifiers. A congenital disqualifier is a serious defect 

and will impair the quality of  life and use of  an animal. Many 

of  these defects are suspected of  being genetically transmitted and 

animals exhibiting these faults at birth are disqualified from being 

registered. 

Luxating is a veterinarian description for dislocating. Patella is your llama or alpaca’s “knee”, the joint 

on the front of her hind leg or if you want the front of the convergence of the femur and tibia of 

the back legs. So a luxating patella is a dislocating knee, a knee that keeps slipping out of its socket 

or one that can be dislodged from its normal position. 

There are generally four recognised degrees (grades) of luxation: 

1. The knee only slips out when the vet manipulates it. 

2. The knee luxates occasionally when the camelid is walking or running but usually slides back by 

itself as the animal continues moving. 

3. The knee luxates frequently and causes chronic lameness. Even when you put it back manually, 

it doesn’t seem to last long. 

4. The knee luxates, stays that way, and you can’t put it back into its socket. This grade is very 

rare. 

The defect is most easily identified by palpating the patella. A patella that is 

easily rotated from its correct position indicates the leg is unsound. Both medial 

(sideways) and lateral (up and down) patella luxations have been identified in 

camelid crias. Luxation may occur in one knee, or in both. Lameness caused 

by pain or mechanical impairment is present. Congenital bilateral (both knees) 

patellar luxation causes the cria to assume a crouched position (Fowler 1998) 

making walking difficult. Heat and swelling may also be present. Suspect congenital 

luxating patella if your llama or alpaca cria sometimes lifts one hind leg while it is 

running or moving quickly, or if it often moves both rear legs at the same time. 

Sometimes the knee slips only for a few moments, then slides back into place. 

Sometimes the knee slips out and stays out, and your llama or alpaca cria will hold 

its leg off the ground and limp, perhaps tucking her thigh into her body. 

Occasionally a luxating patella can become “locked. When this happens the back leg will be fixed 

in extension and the llama or alpaca will drag the leg if forced to move. This can be an acquired 

condition in older animals with a predisposition towards a congenital conformational weakness 

(straight rear limbs – post legged – and laxity of the tendons and ligaments. 

Acquired (not congenital) medial and lateral patellar luxation usually follows a traumatic incident that 

ruptures the ligaments holding the kneecap in place. Such trauma may occur by failed attempts to 

jump a fence, slipping on an icy patch of ground or rearing and chest butting by males. However, in 

the absence of such proof of trauma, the weak tendons and/or shallow kneecap groove of luxating 

patella in a new cria is considered hereditary. While in some cases defect can be repaired by surgery 

remember fixing the knee doesn’t fix the genes that caused the problem and the cria exhibiting 

congenital luxating patella is unable to be registered. 

 

Subluxating patella from Hilary Cross on Vimeo.

Toe Nails and the Bracelet hold

Today , I decided it would be alpaca toe nails day. I have recently changed where I have my catch pen. It is on hard core rather than grass currentl -  easier in this weather.

My next door neighbour Ray was walking up the lane, so I collared him to help. I have done them on my own, but it is a lot easier with help.

I asked him to hold them using the bracelet method. This is such an easy thing to do, and it does work! At least on 4 out of 5. My 2 Aussie imports and their crias were grand. I have an older female called Barbilla, who immediately cushes down ( as you work down her leg you can see her leg tremble). So with her, we did a little work just from the top of her leg. I have trimmed them a little before with her legs on the ground.

Here are a couple of pictures demonstrating the "bracelet". The picture are of Marty McGee Bennett , the founding influence behind camelidynamics

A new paddock cleaner

My last paddock cleaner, which I have had for 5 years , has been getting very tired recently. As this makes such a difference ( particularly with the horses) I decided to get a new one. PAul Helps , whose web site is www.paulhelpspaddockvacuumsales.co.uk  , kindly delivered it on Thursday. while he was here

, he showed me and a friend how to do some basic servicing  -   looks easy enough for even me to do.

Pictures are better than words  -  here he shows the basic servicing. Please excuse all the hay on the ground -  I had not cleared it up after the snow,

BAS : TB Awareness in Camelids

As I was driving back from the TB meeting this afternoon, I was listening to Radio 4. There was a discussion on the threat state to the UK, and the fact that Cobra had met and had put the state up to imminent. This is not the highest state, when there is actual intelligence of a specific attack,  but that many intelligence factors intimate that one may be imminent. Patrick Mercer was then involved in a discussion about the fact that the general population should be educated in what to observe/do to look out for a terrorist attack, just like one knows what to do in the event of a fire. ( Patrick Mercer was my last boss   - he was C.O. of 1WFR -  in the army, for a few months before I left  - ). The point was also made that people should not be afraid of an imminent attack, but this information may make people ( and organization )  more able to look out, be alert, and perhaps to avert an event happening.

for me, this linked in so well with the meeting today. The information given was not to make people afraid of TB ,but to give them the information so one can assess the threat , and do ones best to minimise an imminent attack.

Gina gave an excellent presentation  , with a lot of questions being asked along the way. The various tests being trialled and in use were explained , as were their limitations. The handout, which should be up on the BAS website at some stage, also gave some excellent information on biosecurity.

Included was also an example of a farm survey and biosecurity report, which  I need to read in greater detail. I realise that I do not know how to recognise signs of badger activity , apart from when I see them with the headlights of my car. There are at least 2 badger setts I know of within a kilometre of my fields, so one of my tasks will be to investigate this . I will also look at all aspects of my biosecurity.

TB in Alpacas : Skin tests vs blood tests

One of the big concerns about TB is that the skin test seems to be totally unreliable in camelids, even though thus us the designated test. The following was an email by Dianne Summers. It is a vivid exampleof how unreliable skin tests are.

" Hi All

 

This is a brief summary of the losses and test results of one of my Tb contacts in Worcs. She has given me her permission to pass this on - she has also fully updated BAS on her situation from the beginning. Please note she lost her first female alpaca on Sept 17th this year.

 

Sept 17th 2009  Had female euthanized and Post Mortem showed BTB

 

Between 18th Sept and October 4th she lost  2 more of her females one a 7 week cria - both confirmed BTB, even the cria had lesions on its lungs.

 

Oct 5th 2009 Skin tested entire herd of 47

 

Oct 8th 2009 Skin test results ONE positive Female. This female had no symptoms

 

Oct 13th Positive skin test culled and confirmed riddled with Tb on Post mortem.  

 

Between Oct 13th and Nov 18th she lost 5 more to TB. All passed the skin test.

 

Nov 18th DEFRA blood tested her remaining herd of 42 they used the Rapid Stat Pak test AND the Gamma Interferon IG test. Both these are under trial. She is the first in my Tb Support Group who have had both these blood tests used. I only had the rapid stat pak test done on my herd and half of my 4 blood test positives that were culled had nothing wrong with them.

 

Nov 24th  Results of her blood tests - 12 of her females Failed BOTH Blood tests and were therefore classed as positives

15 others all females fell into what they call a grey area which means all 15 failed one of the blood tests but not the other.

The remaining 15 tested negative to both.

 

Nov 25th.  All 12 who tested positive to BOTH blood tests were culled on her farm - also another who although fell into the grey area was showing symptoms of illness. All removed and Post Mortemed

 

Nov 25th That same evening DEFRA contacted her and told her all 13 were riddled with TB.

 

This 13 and the previous 5 = 18 All tested Negative on the skin test on Oct 5th and yet all were riddled with TB. So to even think of using the skin test as a method for shows/matings/studs is a joke isn't it.

 

Having said that - it appears from this case study that by using both the Rapid Stat Pak test and the Gamma interferon and only culling those that failed BOTH has produced a 100% accuracy rate in her case.  Could this be the answer?. It is too early to tell but maybe DEFRA will consider scrapping the skin test and use this approach - if it continues to be accurate. Only time will tell but it gives us a glimmer of hope for now."

.

TB in Alpacas - information links

TB is the one of the biggest health concerns to the national alpaca herd currently. Below are links to various sources of information,.This will be updated as more information becomes available. I will be attending the meeting in Wetherby a week on Saturday, so shall add more information after that meeting.

Download DEFRA TB Leaflet Camelids

Bovine TB blogspot

BAS code of conduct: biosecurity - TB

DEFRA advice re the use of anti-TB drug

Below is an email and video from Dianne Summers. Dianne's herd has been affected by TB , and it is only due to her hard work , and perseverance, that the alpaca community is now beginning to take action against this awful condition

Hi All

The one question I get asked over and over again from concerned alpaca owners like yourself are about symptoms of TB.  As you know symptoms do vary but in my case and several other TB infected owners coughing was a symptom -in fact my ONLY symptom with the exception of my first one.

Below you will see a link to a video clip of my last loss 2 weeks ago Raphael.  This clip was taken 4 days before I put him down and was taken by Gina Bromage and her husband Peter.
..
There are 2 reasons for sending you this.  

1. To show you not all TB infected alpacas lose a lot of weight which is a sign many people ONLY look out for - as I said before none of mine lost weight except my first one. He lost weight because my vet and I tried to treat him for everything under the sun - from pneumonia to liver fluke not knowing he had Tb.

2. Secondly to show you the cough now known as THAT COUGH and how different this cough is to the usual cough they make when they have eaten too quickly or swallowed a piece of hay that has tickled their throat. So hopefully it will put your mind at rest because many of you phone me and say you heard a cough and you ask me what does the cough sound like. For you the cough you may hear it is more than likely a normal everyday cough and therefore you have no need to worry.

I sent this clip to my fellow TB sufferers who had coughing as a symptom and THEY ALL replied to me saying this was the exact same cough as they had. It therefore isn't a coincidence.

Please note they DO NOT cough continually all day - Raphael and my others used to cough like this about 3 or 4  times a day so if you don't live in your fields with your alpacas you could quite easily miss it.

I am not saying for one minute that if your alpaca coughs like this it has TB - BUT and Gina Bromage agrees that if you see this same cough in any of your alpacas it would be wise to isolate it with a mate for company and get your vet in to give it treatment because the animal has something wrong with its chest that needs treatment - not necessarily Tb. But it is better to err on the side of caution - because when they cough like this and if it is TB then they are passing it onto your others and maybe onto you and your family/handlers etc.

When I told someone I had filmed the cough - she said what's the point in that and the point is very clear. If you see this cough act on it straight away.  I wish I had been sent this video a year ago - maybe I would have only lost one instead of 5 - that is my point. Better to be safe than sorry I say

You will see this video on the forthcoming TB Regional meetings but Gina agrees with me that it needs to go out to as many people as we can before that. I have copied Mike Birch BAS Chair into this email

Click on the link below to watch the video and by the way - he was very stressed and breathing heavier than usual because Gina was teaching me how to use a stethoscope on him and he wasn't happy - being the typical suri - bless his heart - he got into a strop and that is why his breathing rate was high. I do count my herds resp rates daily as it is a very good indication of trouble. Only count resp rates when they are calm - not when they are stressed.  

Please pass this onto to anyone you think may find it useful.

Kindest Regards

Di

Why breed for ultrafine alpacas

During my research in the alpaca world I came across one website, which caught my attention. It was well- presented, easily readable, informative, yet with a few fun elements at the same time . The site belongs to Oakgrove Alpacas in Australia . Julie , from Oakgrove, also has an online alpaca store, as well as , not surprisingly , doing web designs. I had a  great email conversation about breeding plans  ( more to be said in the future)

 Here is an article that Julie wrote for the Alpacas Australia magazine , Issue 59  , December 2009

"Why breed for Ultrafine Alpaca? – Consider the Vicuna

By Julie McClen of Oak Grove Alpacas 2009

Over recent years my interest in fine alpaca fibre and my involvement with the creation of the first Ultrafine Bale, has led me to research the role of Ultrafine alpaca fibre in relation to the world fibre market.

The word Ultrafine is a term commonly used in the merino wool industry, and was first introduced into the Australian Alpaca Industry by Alpaca Ultimate to describe the micron range in that first Ultrafine Bale.

In merinos the term ultrafine loosely applies to fibre around 16.5 – 15.5 micron or lower, and since Alpaca has on average a 2-3 micron finer handle to the equivalent micron in a merino, it was thought fair that the term Ultrafine could be applied to Alpaca of around 18.5 micron or less.

So why all this interest in ‘Ultrafine Alpaca’?

The answer is simple, the finer the fibre, the more valuable the fibre is on the world fibre market.

Why is finer fibre more valuable and why has it always been this way, and will probably always be so?

Because as humans we posses a sensitive outer covering called skin. Our skin enjoys the sensation of softness, producing a pleasurable experience. 

Ultrafine camelid fibre offers this softness as well as exceptional warmth without the weight associated with other fibres.

We value those things that bring us pleasure and comfort, and ultrafine alpaca fibre is highly prized for these reasons.

Combine this desirability factor with the natural scarcity of very fine fibres & you create a situation where demand is greater than the supply, this increases the value & therefore the price paid per kilo for ultrafine fibres the world over.     

This premium price factor is nowhere more evident than in the trade of Vicuna fibre.

The Vicuna, the scientifically proven ancestor of the Alpaca, has the finest natural fibre in the world averaging around 12.5 micron.

The Vicuna however only grows around 5cm of fleece every two years & this biannual clip weighs about 500 grams. The Vicuna only produces fawn fibre & also has to be dehaired.

Vicuna are a wild animal that has to be rounded up in an event known as the ‘Chakku’, which has traditionally involved many hundreds of Peruvian farmers & villagers.

So all things considered, why do the Peruvians bother to go to all this trouble for such a small amount of fleece?

Because, this rare fibre sells for around $700 - $1000+ a kilo.

The vicuna fibre is processed into an incredibly light weight, soft, warm fabric which is sold to exclusive tailors the world over.

Recently I interviewed John Cutler of J.H.Cutler, bespoke tailors established in 1884, and located in Sydney, who create high end clothing for their clients.

They purchase Vicuna fabric wholesale for between $2500 and $5000 per metre, from which on one particular occasion they created a world class full length men’s coat which retailed at $50 000.

John talks of the vicuna fabrics unique qualities of superior warmth coupled with a luxuriously soft handle, but without the bulk and weight normally associated with such high thermal properties.

He knows it is hard for Australians to value the degree of warmth offered by vicuna since we live in a relatively warm climate, but the European market sets a premium on these traits where keeping warm can in the coldest of countries sometimes be a matter of life and death. 

He believes that if we could supply sufficient quantities, there would be a market for Ultrafine alpaca fibre that could come close to matching the vicuna in micron, but be superior in length and quantity. As well as open up new colour options, as white fibre can be dyed, whereas vicuna is limited in this area. 

Australian Alpaca breeders already breed some of the finest Alpacas in the world & we have the benefit of a wool fibre technology background.    

Aiming for alpacas to start Ultrafine and be around 20 micron or less at 5 years old is a goal already being achieved by some in our industry, and then to maintain blow out to no more than 25 micron in it’s lifetime would enable the grower to extend the financially viable life span of an alpaca’s fibre production. 

Breeding for Ultrafine alpaca is the logical path for those wanting to maximise the financial return per animal on their fleece.

With Ultrafine Alpaca fibre achieving up to $66 a kilo in recent times which is at least conservatively 5+ times that of the price paid for 23 micron fleece, you would have to cut over 10 kilos of 23 micron fleece to match the value of only 2 kilos of Ultrafine.

Combine this difference over a few years and you have quite a substantial difference in return on the fleece of these two different micron Alpacas.

Furthermore, the husbandry, shearing and feed costs for both animals are the same, so it is much more viable to breed a herd of Ultrafine alpacas than a herd of mid twenty micron alpacas, even if they do cut higher fleece weights.    

Despite fluctuations in world fibre prices, the finest fibre has always made the most per kilo, so breeding an Alpaca that stays Ultrafine to Superfine for several years at least, will ensure the grower is positioned to maximise  return on their fleece production.

Once numbers of these Ultrafine alpacas increase, we will start to have a viable amount of Ultrafine fibre to negotiate higher prices with textile manufacturers on the world market.

It’s not going to happen in a hurry, but as the saying goes ‘all good things take time!’"

One small addition frome me. For this not sure what a vicuna is, here is a picture.

Wikipedia picture

Did someone say white alpacas?!

When the bad weather came ,  I decided to use half of my hay barn to bring the alpacas in at night, I do have a field shelter ,  but decided to save the ground around that  ,  and also rest the paddock that it is in ( though mobile ,one cannot really move it until the weather drives up). This has served a number of purposes .  The alpacas have now got used to coming in and out ( they get fed in the barn at night, and in the field in the morning) ,  and as it is an area I may well use if I have a sick animal , it will be helpful this is an area I know. They have become much more used to my presence around them  , which is great .

I have always allowed them to take their time down the track , a useful strategy in the icy weather at the moment  -  they are pretty sensible .

As for their colour -  one day I may have clean alpacas!