Cria Care - milk and nursing for Llamas

Cria Care (milk & nursing)

Our prime concern is to raise a healthy cria. We want the cria to receive the first milk called colostrum. We pull on each teat to remove the wax plugs so milk will easily flow as nursing begins. I am so happy to see an alert and spry cria find where the milk is stored. Some moms are willing for you to place the cria under the udder for it’s first meal. We have spent many hours in a cold barn waiting for a cria to nurse. We don’t go to bed until we know it nursed. Weigh the little guy and keep track of its weight. We have used a bathroom scale, some use a hanging or fish type scale. We now use an old

Grain scale. We pick up the cria and weigh, then subtract my weight and this we follow for a month. By weighing daily we see the progress of gain.

I have heard some cria have gained 1 pound per day. If ours gain ½ pound and not show a loss we are satisfied. All of ours have weighed in over 23 pounds when born. We have heard many coming in at over 30 pounds. Our largest came in at 30 pounds.

Sometimes goat milk or cow milk is used to supplement the feeding of these little guys if for some reason the mom cannot supply enough for nursing. I find it is better to feed in small amounts several times a day. You can read books on tubing of llamas. I would rather they nurse as they need from a bottle and nipple. But always be concerned that they bond with the mom.