Female Alpaca with no appetite

[Farmer Jim]

Good morning

I have a 9 year old Female that used to eat with gusto but lately she is just nibbleing and ahs trouble eating all of her food. She is pregnant and we are quite worried for her. I see her chewing her cud from the hay

Please help my wife is very worried for her

Jim

 

[ksalvagno]

How far along is she? I have a female who towards the end of her pregnancy just doesn't eat grain. I think the cria is just taking up too much room and she doesn't feel like eating. Is there a way to leave food out for her? Could you put the female and maybe another thin female in a pen together so they could have the food for a longer period of time?

What I end up doing with my female is feeding her in the middle of the barn so she gets a longer time to eat it. I feed her first and then work on feeding everyone else. But my girl does eat some grain.

You could offer alfalfa hay. As long as she is not too thin, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just make sure you have very good quality hay. She is eating hay fine right?

The other thing you can do is treat for an ulcer. That is the other option. Not eating grain can be a sign of an ulcer. You need Sulcrafate. Given at 1 tablet per 50 lbs twice a day for 14 days.