Hi there, I know most farms supplement their alpacas and llamas with vitamin A & D in the fall and winter. But I am going through something right now that I would not wish on anyone. About a week ago I noticed one of my cria, black, very dense fleece acting very depressed. No crooked legs mind you, just not very happy or bouncy. I put her and her mom in a pen and observed for 24 hours. The cria kept cushing, even when eating, and moving back and forth on her legs while standing. After 24 hours I took them to my vet. My vet told me she had seen very many cases of this in the last several weeks in cria at the age of 4 months and older. When they really start growing. She pulled blood, took fecals and per her on IV's with glucose, vitamin B and gave her an A & D shot. In talking with my neighboring alpaca ranch we both discoverd that our A & D vitamins had EXPIRED! We had been giving our animals A & D that had NO POTENCY! Thus several of our best animals are now experiencing clinical rickets. I am just sick about it and the pain they are going through. This disease is not cured in a day. It will take weeks and hopefully they will all pull through. Please look at your expiration dates on your paste and all of your medications. You wouldn't think that an expiration date on vitamins would mean so much, but it does. I always does my cria at birth and throughout the winter, but it doesn't do much good if the vitamins I am dosing have lost their potency.
