After 11 years of raising alpacas, we finally have a bottle baby.  And no – it’s not a good thing.  Alpaca crias can become bottle babies for any number of reasons – mother’s lack of milk, loss of mother, etc. This happens to be an orphan. This cria, Phylicia, was just over a week old when her mother died. We’re happy that Phylicia at least was able to nurse off her mother long enough to get the colostrum and the immunities it will provide. But suddenly we were faced with a very young cria who needed to be hand fed. She has been trying to nurse off the other mothers in her pen, but with no luck.  It’s very sad to see her getting kicked and pushed away when she tries to nurse!

Alpaca crias are notoriously difficult to bottle feed – they don’t generally take to the rubber nipple easily – and Phylicia was no exception; she sat with the bottle in her mouth, but didn’t drink.  We finally used a syringe to feed her and she drank that right down.We figured that was a good way to get her used to the taste.

Sonya – the owner of Phylicia’s mother – brought up several gallons of fresh goat milk which is perfect for feeding to a cria. Finally – after a few sessions with the syringe – Phylicia started to suck on her bottle. She’s more active today and seems to be doing OK. She’s taking the bottle more readily, drinking down what she needs, then jumping up to go back into her pen. For now, that’s great. We’ll see how soon she becomes more independent.  We’ll keep you posted…

Thanks you to all who helped with Phylicia this weekend – Ellie & Lisa, Annette and Larry and of course, Sonya who is providing her with fresh milk!