Race to finish

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The weather was kind this morning and we just about managed to get the basic jobs done including trimming some more alpaca toe nails before the rains came down.  It has been raining ever since.

I noticed that one of the male weanlings was lying down on his own when all his mates were at the other end of their paddock.   I checked a few times and he was still there and when two other alpacas were lying down near him I walked over.  They ran off as I would expect but he lay very still and it was really easy for me to get to him and put my arms about him.   He allowed me to steer him  into the shelter and seemed to be in pain, although I could not be sure if  it was his gut or what.

I knew he was in trouble  of some sort and after checking an hour later with no change,I called the vet.   Rachel came quite quickly but could not be sure what was causing the problem.   The most likely was pneumonia as he had a high temperature and she detected some breathing problem. She thought his gut seemed to be a bit sluggish on one side, so we are looking out for scouring.  He also has a high temperature.

She gave him anti-biotic and anti inflammatory injections and we are keeping fingers crossed they work..  It would not be surprising if he had pneumonia because the weather  has varied between freezing, blizzards, and rain recently. A couple of days ago we had one of the coldest March days on record with very sgtrong winds and terrific chill factor.

An hour after the injections he seemed a bit brighter and was standing up and eating hay which was encouraging.  Dolly and I brought all his friends into the shelter for the night so they will help to keep him warm.  If it is something catching they will have already got it, because they are together nearly all the time.