Birthing Services

Bluebird Hills is excited to start offering this new service in 2006.  It was inspired by a friend who has to work away from their farm during the day.  She was constantly worried about her dams running into difficulty while giving birth with nobody there to help them.  She asked if we would be willing to watch over her dams that are due to deliver, in order to keep an eye on them for the 45 days or so before their due date, until they "unpack".

Since we are here at the farm year round, it was easy to say yes to keeping a watchful eye on her girls, but it got me thinking that we could do the same for other owners in similar predicaments.  If  you are going on vacation during the birthing season, working off the farm during the day, or you are a new breeder worried about the birth of your crias, you may want to consider taking advantage of our experienced and knowledgeable birthing service.

Our farm is located in Springfield, Ohio, just 45 minutes west of Columbus off of Interstate 70.  We have been raising and birthing alpacas since 1997 and take great pride in keeping up with the husbandry and science of alpacas.  Before raising alpacas, I was a physician assistant and Tim was a volunteer paramedic.  I have attended neonatal seminars and attend almost all of the camelid education events that Ohio State University offers, as well as other workshops.

We have 3 camelid knowledgeable and responsive veterinarians within 15 minutes of our farm, and we are located just 45 minutes from Ohio State University Veterinary hospital.  Our experience gives us the edge when it comes to noticing the subtle changes in a dam's behavior that convey an impending birth.  The moment we suspect that your gal is in labor, we will contact you, and keep you posted as labor progresses.  If possible we will take pictures of her labor and the cria as it makes its debut.  We have experience with problem births, and crias that have had challenges.  I am pictured above with another owner's cria that came to our farm for bottle feeding after her dam died.  We had to take her to Ohio State for a plasma transfusion due to a low IgG.  This cria is now an adult and pregnant with her first cria!

With our Birthing Service you can expect:

• Regular checking of your dam throughout the day

• Observation of the birth (we do miss a few, but not very often) with pictures for you

• Assessment of the cria after birth to include weight, temperature, and maturity

• If the dam experiences difficulty, we will have the vet come immediately

• Observation of the last stage of labor where the placenta is delivered

• Examination of the placenta to be sure it is normal and intact (we don't weigh placentas normally, but if you would like us to weigh and/or save the placenta, we can do that too)

• Drenching of the cria's naval at least 4 times in the next 48 hours

• If requested, we will have the vet out to examine the cria within 24 hours of the birth (earlier if we suspect something is not right)

• Observation to guarantee that the cria is nursing effectively

• Daily weighing of the cria

• Observation of the dam to be sure that she is doing well postpartum

• If requested, draw blood for an IgG or other testing you request

• We always have plasma on hand if it should be necessary to give the cria plasma

• We have experience bottle feeding crias, if the dam does not have enough milk

We would be happy to discuss any other care you would like added to the above list, and we want you to know that we will treat your cria and dam as though they are part of our herd.

Our 2006 birthing fee schedule:  A Birthing Contract must be signed and BVD testing will be required of the dam.

• $150.00 birthing fee for dams birthing between April 1st and October 31st

• $300.00 birthing fee for dams birthing between November 1st and March 31st

• An agisting fee of $3.00 per day will be charged for the dam and includes all routine feeding and worming

• Any veterinary expenses for the dam or her cria will be the responsibility of the dam's owner

• Any medication administration to the cria or dam will be charged to the owner as described in the Birthing Contract (generally $5.00 per administration plus the cost of the medication)

• Transportation to and from Bluebird Hills Farm will be the responsibility of the dam owner, however we can provide transportation for a prearranged fee, if that should be necessary