The last thing I ever want is my seemingly healthy Alpaca Mom to be underweight. This can become a chronic problem and also jeopardize future breeding.
Weight loss during lactation can be caused by females that are heavy milkers and/or have aggressive cria. It is related to rumen limitations. In short, very productive females simply cannot eat enough to maintain their weight. Organic microbial probiotics are key to avoiding this downward spiral into infertility and for treating thin females. It helps prevent and treat lactation weight loss by improving nutrient utilization and reducing nutrient loss due to stress-induced changes in the rumen.
Our ranch has seen some of our older lactating females or females with very large 4 to 6 month cria that are pulling the female down making it difficult to maintain body weight.
I have found adding organic microbial probiotics to my grain helps my Alpaca moms to keep a good weight.
Cold Increases Stress Levels
In Colorado due to our cold winter it is important to keep a close eye on these thin lactating dams since the cold increases the stress level to stay warm and keeping up with feeding the cria. The rumen levels can quickly change due to the induced stress load on the animals making it more difficult to properly utilize the nutrients in the feed.
Organic microbial probiotic helps to keep the microbial system in check. Most alpaca breeders know that once you see the animal acting ill it is usually to late. It is good to body score your animals on a regular basis and use organic microbial probiotics with your grain as soon as you start to see the loss in body mass.