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fiber falling out
I searched everywhere google would take me to find specific info on what causes fiber to fall out by the handful & besides stress, i haven't really seen anything that "feels right" to my gut (& i'm all about intuition) to explain what i'm seeing with 2 yearlings...both are having fiber fall out literally by the handful. one yearling developed diarrhea 2 weeks ago & was immediately put in a quarantine area downwind from everybody else (lesson learned from the "snots" a couple years ago) . he was alone but could see alpacas around him including his normal pen mates...fecals revealed scant coccidia but nothing else. treated with albon, biomycin, probios, pep talks & prayer. 10 days later noticed his fiber falling out (can it happen that fast from stress?????) & put him back with his buddies (7 juvie to yearling males whose fecals were negative & who weren't showing any signs or symptoms of illness but treated w/ same med routine as him just in case); on day 11 i began 2nd round of albon on entire group. yesterday noticed fiber hanging on another male; thought at first he'd been wrestling w/ other boys but when i got my hands on him, found same condition as the other one. this guy is 18 months old & hasn't left his pasture since weaning at 6 mos of age. he's one of the oldest in that pasture. I feed blue seal pellets, as much orchard hay as they want & have free choice minerals available at all times. they body score 2.5-3 on scale of 5 . hope like **** this is an isolated condition but just in case i find more today when i literally pull the fleece on the entire herd, i wanted some input as to possible causes. any & all input will be MOST appreciated!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Maryann Marsh on -
Terri,
Katy Spears did a blog about one of her boys with what sounds to be the same condition. Check out her blog page on her site and see if it looks the same.
Bad new is, I dont think she has any clue of the "fall out" either and it just "happened" for no apparent reason as well. Wish I had more for ya but chat with Katy and see if anything is familiar with both your animals.
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Permalink Reply by Terrie Reynolds on -
Thanks hon, been busy with the last birth of the season...great news...but even better is that she didn't need my help (((: just sent you pics (: i'll check the blog later this eve...
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Permalink Reply by Mada Vemi Alpacas on -
Terrie,
Check thier protein levels! I'll bet it shows that their protein is low. It's the fastest way to a fiber break which is what causes the chuncks of fiber to fall out. You may also find that there is a fiber break only in certain areas rather than everywhere across the blanket. The fiber is made up of protein and if there's not enough protein in their system for maintaining their body condition AND their fleece so their body will use it up first and the fleece suffers the loss.
Yes, fiber can fall out from stress VERY fast. We had an alpaca come here with chuncks of fiber falling out after a transport from the midwest. She and several others had been alpacaknapped along the way, suffered a stressful high speed getaway chase in a trailer, and then the continued journey to my house once they were rescued. I'm sure this was an extreme case of stress but the point is that she went from gorgeous to 1/2 naked in just a few short days. Luckily shearing weather was soon after and we were able to get the broken fleece off her and allow the new fleece to grow in.
The other times I've seen fiber breaks or fiber chuncks falling out are when an animal has suffered an illness/stress and the fiber starts falling out a month or so later. My reasoning is that the fiber thins out when the protein levels drop so when the fiber is grown out about a month (1/2 inch-ish) or so afterwards it tends to be heavier at the tips then the skin level. The outer tips weight it down until it breaks at the point along the fiber where illness or stress occured. It can be up to several months after the stress.
Dawn
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Permalink Reply by Terrie Reynolds on
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Hey Dawn, thanks for following up with a call (: I'll let you know how it turns out...he's so freaking cute...will it fall out around his face too?????
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Permalink Reply by Mada Vemi Alpacas on
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Terrie,
Past experience says yes it will also break on the topknot and facial fleece... eventually. If it's not already breaking then as it grows out it probably will. I know that cute face fiber is endearing but if you must leave that on him then keep it trimmed short as it continues to grow out. Once you make it past the break then you're all good to let it keep growing. We tried leaving some of the topknot after shearing one with a fiber break. Several months later it was a horrible mess with big chuncks missing and we had to trim it short. Looking back I wish we had taken a little off the top every month until we got past the fiber breaking point. That might have allowed the topknot to grow out better.
Dawn
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Permalink Reply by Terrie Reynolds on
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i jinxed myself 3 weeks ago...i was sitting on the deck sipping wine looking out over my beautiful herd grazing serenely looking so healthy & happy...i remember thinking how long it had been since i'd had any health issues....how stupid am I?????????!!!!! just look at this head...i almost can't bear the thought of him being bald ):
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Permalink Reply by Terrie Reynolds on
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p.s. i'm off to bed now...just finished chewing the *** off of some guy in who knows where representing Dell computers...note to self...next time buy a mac...or go "old school" with paper & pen (;
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Permalink Reply by Ian Watt on -
Terrie,
Fiber breaks (it does not 'fall out') when the nutrition to the follicle is restricted by whatever cause, as it creates an ultra-fine micron at that point.
If the stress is considerable enough, the hair will break off as it emerges from the skin otherwise it may only break when the weight of the staple becomes too much as Dawn has said.
Isolating the animal from the others would only add to the stress and may have been enough to create the break if the original stress was not enough to do it on its own.
Personally I would not move an animal from a group on the strength of sloppy poo as I have seen, many times, one animal in a group develop it in isolation from the rest - a bit like one child in a family getting the 'trots' and everyone else OK!
The best thing to do is pull all the fiber off by hand so he will look like he has just been shorn and rug him for a week or so until he gets enough length back to protect him from the vagaries of the weather.
Regards
Ian watt
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Permalink Reply by Terrie Reynolds on
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Many thanks for your reply Ian, i tend to be on the over cautious side with any medical related symptoms & freak out with projectile poop (: i did go thru the herd today & the break is limited to these 2 boys. After i posted this chat this morning i went out to the boys pen & opened one of the affected ones fiber(the one with the history of recent "trots") & gently tugged a staple at the skin...it came out with the slightest pressure leaving perfectly bald, pink skin in it's place. It's much closer to the skin than a shearing...would you still recommend pulling it all off? I'll have to call Maryann to see if he can winter in FL rather than here in WV (;
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Permalink Reply by Ian Watt on
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No. leave it for two weeks so the following hair growth provides some protection for the skin otherwise you will get drying of the natural oils, possibly cracking and the potential for an infection through, primarily, rolling.
Regards
Ian
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Permalink Reply by Terrie Reynolds on
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will do...thank you so much for taking the time to care (: kind regards, Terrie
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Permalink Reply by Nancy Schell ~ Walnut Hill Farm on -
Yep, I agree with the others that it was some sort of stress.... In my case it was a cria who was heat stressing... was placed in shaded housing with round the clock fans, electrolytes, and was shorn before her and her mom came home. She was fine after that :o)
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