We've just found our first dead cria. I stupidly allowed them up to the top field where the good grass is knowing that Julia was due sometime soon. Rog assumed that I thought she wasn't going to produce today, which I didn't. Have just been up there to find a full term, large, perfectly formed cria dead and cold. I assume that it was a breach birth as the head and neck were covered in blood and the feet had never touched the ground, one horn of the placenta was torn. I am assuming that the baby probably asphyxiated in the birth canal, there was a lot of blood around Julia's hind quarters. We both blame ourselves for not checking, I should certainly know better. But nothing can be changed now even though the paramedic in me ran inside with her, put her on the Aga and tried 30 mins CPR. My question now is Julia was a maiden, she was sat with the cria, we have put it back in the field as it our belief that animals work it out for themselves (we bring the dogs back from the vet and put them in their basket for 24hrs before they go to their final resting place. Are we doing the right thing with Julia and how long should we leave her baby? Do I need to do anything for Julia to stop her milk or will that happen naturally?
