Llama Life Moves On

Last night The Farmer dug a hole and we buried the little cria.  Little being the operative word here.  I was checking out the average weight of llama babies, and found this chart at Hinterland Llamas:

Weight at birth for llama crias:

• 18 lbs. or less – suspicious; probably premature; be aware of the ‘failure to thrive syndrome”
• 18-20 lbs. – guarded
• 20-22 lbs. – monitor carefully
• 22-30 lbs. – average, normal birth weight
• 30-35 lbs. – may be slow
• 35 & over – monitor carefully, can be slow and dumb, but are not necessarily so.

While it may sound strange, I must admit I found a lot of comfort in that chart.  Notice that the average birth weight of a llama cria is 22-30 pounds.  Even if we dropped down to the next level because our lady llama is on the small side, that would be 20-22 pounds.  And if the cria weighs 18 pounds or less, it’s in danger of the “failure to thrive syndrome” because it’s probably premature. 

Well, I weighed the little guy that was delivered yesterday.  He weighed 12 pounds.  That’s it, 12 pounds.  No wonder the first words out of the vet’s mouth after the baby was delivered were, “Is this baby early?”

I find comfort in that chart because it helps get rid of the guilt trip.  It doesn’t matter what I did or didn’t do.  It doesn’t matter what the vet did or didn’t do, or how fast he got here.  That baby was just too little to survive.

So it’s time for llama life to move on, and I’m concentrating on our getting our girl back to normal.  She didn’t move yesterday, although the midwife in the picture here:

… left when the vets did.  Yes, she stuck with Keira through all the labor and delivery, but as soon as the baby was delivered, she went out in the back yard and had a nap.  I guess she figured her work was over; there was nothing more she could do.

And though Keira rested up yesterday and never moved out of the shed, she did move early this morning out into a grassy area.

She’s very weak though, so I’ve been giving her a favorite treat, cracked corn and sunflower seeds.  I squirted some Nutri-drench on part of it to see if I she’d eat that.  I thought a millisecond about trying to squirt the drench in her mouth but had an immediate picture in my mind of how that would turn out… no drench inside the llama because I’d be wearing it!

She’s also got a bucket of sugar water to drink, and she did get up on wobbly legs to graze a little.  I’ll keep a close eye on her until she seems to have regained her energy.  I want to see her healthy and happy again, and no more llama tears.

She’s been my baby since she was 6 months old, and I guess she’ll be the only llama baby we ever have around here.

Yes, it’s time for llama life to move on.