It is not all plain sailing in alpaca land as bad things do happen. This week it was flystrike that is very unusual in alpacas but almost certainly caused by the fact that they have had damp fleeces in this incessant rain.
The first thing you see is a big dark patch that looks wet. One of our stud males had just such a patch that was not there the day before. First job is to get him into the barn, find the shearing handpiece and shear all the wet fleece with a good margin of normal fleece around it. Already this is disgusting as you see all the tiny maggots. I am standing there holding the animal praying that none of the maggots fall on me.
Next spray with Crovect that mercifully kills them all in a few minutes, they just hurl themselves onto the ground. Once they are dead, a quick wash down with hibiscrub, a liberal coating of baby bum cream and more Crovect in case the blowflies decide to have a second go.
Big sigh of relief as none of the maggots had punctured the skin. I was on full alert after that and found a second stud male and a female, both struck. Same treatment, all three fine the next day.
So today, hopefully all the alpacas will dry out, it is positively summery even though my favourite holly is in full berry.
