Please also see our other blog at
http://nywildliferescue.blogspot.com/
It is more active than this one. Always check there for updates, too.
Northeast Llama Rescue was started by Wes and Darcy Laraway of Middleburgh, NY.
Several years ago they rescued their first llama out of a tiny horse pen. Since that day, Northeast Llama Rescue has helped dozens of Camelids from several different states. The primary mission of Northeast Llama Rescue is to educate owners on how to properly care for their animals.We also offer assistance with a traveling chute to shear, worm, and trim toenails on hard to handle animals. A 'TRUE REPUTABLE BREEDER" should help out the llama down the road that is not being cared for by owners that understand the needs of llamas.If you know of a llama owner who is no longer able to care for their animals, there is help available. Members of Northeast Llama Rescue will adopt any unwanted animals. Rescue animals will be relocated to farms of members for training and necessary vet work.If a llama is able to be rehabilitated, he will be available after a careful screening process. All rescues are placed in homes with a contract that says they shall be provided for and can not be sold. In the event a rescue animal becomes unwanted, the llama MUST be returned to Northeast Llama Rescue.If you share our philosophy and love for the animals, you are more than welcome to join us! There are lots of llamas that need a person to love.
We also rescue farm animals, and are licensed wildlife rehabilitators.
This site is copyrighted by Wes Laraway.
Lambing
Seems like just yesterday I blogged, I love having stuff to write about. As I sit here at 1am on a school/work night waiting for bottles to warm up I am catching my second wind....which I will definately pay for tomorrow morning at 5am. lambing every March for the last several years is something that I love. I love the trek out to the barn every 2-3 hours for a couple of weeks. I love the sleep deprivation. It is like Christmas morning every time I find a Ewe contently licking her newborn lamb. I know my sheep so well that I can usually tell when they are going to "pop" and they usually do quite well without me lurking around watching and waiting but it makes me feel good so Im there if they need me. As much as I love lambing, triplets are hell. Ive found that sheep can usually count to two quite well....anything past that usually gets complicated. Lambing is complicated even with my veteran registered Scottish Blackface Sheep. Lambing can also be very sad and emotionally draining . I hate to lose any of our babies.
From my last blog, Tuesday a goat that I am boarding popped. She had great twin doe kids. She was attentive and a great mother. We always seperate the mothers and their offspring in their own pen as soon as they give birth for a few days so the new family can have time to bond without the pressures of the flock. This nubian goat was doing everything right. I watch them closely for the first couple of hours, Ive actually had sheep kill their babies in the past. We checked the goat every 2 hours around the clock. I came home from school on tuesday every free period...things were going too good. At 5 am Colin checked in on them, they were doing fine....By 6 am when I got out to the barn, she had laid down with them to snuggle and smothered both of them. There really wasnt anything that I could have done different to protect them other than take them away from the doe, milk out the colostrum and bottle feed them. I didnt think that it was a necessary option...I feel bad. 24 hours after their birth, they were accidentally killed by their mother.
The ewe that had the triplets on tuesday night also had some problems... They were nursing, she was taking care of all 3....I noticed that the lambs were getting lethargic (not good). The ewe didnt have much milk, we milked the goat and started supplementing the lambs while leaving them with the ewe while her milk came in. One was weak enough last night that I made the decision to pull her, bring her in the house and really work on her. She died in my arms after finishing part of a bottle. The other two were doing great and I just blamed it on triplets and lack of milk. The real shocker came this am when Colin came in to tell me that one of the other lambs had died during the night. Guess we wont know why....It had a full belly when I did the late night feeding. The surviving triplet is doing well with her bottles and mom but I dont want to jinx it. When I came home at lunch time to give her a bottle, I noticed another ewe getting ready to deliever/"pop". By the time I milked the goat, got the bottle and got back she had delievered a great little ram lamb and was happily licking and "talking to him". I had to get back to work. An hour later, I ran back home during a prep period. She had another ewe lamb that was cleaned and walking but unfortunately I was about 5 minutes too late for the third lamb (a little ram) that she was working on but the afterbirth was still on his head and even after I got it off and almost revived him...it wasnt meant to be.
We dont eat our animals at Red Maple Farm. My Scottish Blackface Sheep are part of my Celtic Critters show that I do at Scottish Festivals to generate money for the rescue work we do. They are a rare breed of sheep in the USA...only about 4000 registered SBF here. There are over a million of them in Scotland. When you drive by a sheep farm in the spring and you see all of the lambs frolicking around in the pasture....most people really don't understand what the shepherd has done to get those lambs out in that green pasture. Lambing is one of the toughest things that Ive ever done. I love to complain about it but I love every second of it. It would be nice to go through a lambing season without a single loss but I think that is impossible and unheard of unless your flock consists of two ewes and a ram. I will keep you updated.
I had a pygmy goat come in today. I have 3 geese and 2 llamas and a goat being adopted this weekend. I also have a pheasant coming in this weekend that has been rehabilitated and is ready for a soft release here on the mountain....I like spring, I like lambing....I am the luckiest guy in the world to be going to the barn right now. Till tomorrow, Wes
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Northeast Llama Rescue by Wes Laraway
The Northeast Llama Rescue was started by Wes and Darcy Laraway several years ago after they rescued their first llama out of a tiny horse pen. Since that day, the Northeast Llama Rescue has helped dozens of animals in 5 states. The primary mission of Northeast Llama Rescue is to educate owners on how to care for their animals properly. We also offer assistance with a traveling chute to shear, worm and trim toenails on hard to handle animals. If owners get "tired" of the daily maintenance of their herds, members of the Northeast Llama Rescue will adopt or buy, if possible, any unwanted animals. Rescue animals go to the farms or members of the organization.
The Northeast Llama Rescue does not wish to compete with other rescue organizations, although any llama or alpaca is welcome. We need to cooperate to help ALL camelids, not just registered or "nice-looking" ones. Everyone has the right to breed and sell llamas, but a true reputable breeder will "help out" the llama down the road that is not being cared for, regardless of its age, sex or conformation.
Our last rescue came from Central New York. A farm had purchased 9 animals from a Midwest auction. Four of the animals had died from natural causes....starvation? The owner had health problems and no longer wanted the animals. After several other concerned people failed to negotiate their sale, I eventually called and within five minutes we had agreed on a price and the deal was done. The next night, Wes Laraway, Kim Scheurerman and P.J. Wagner went to pick up the animals. The owner informed us that the llamas were wild and could not be handled. Within five minutes all were calmly caught, on lead ropes and in the trailer, with us using a wand and some TEAM Training techniques. The owner thought I was the "llama whisperer" because I got those llamas to do things in five minutes that she couldn't do in a year. She unfortunately knew nothing about handling llamas.
Three hours later, we were back into quarantine at Red Maple Farm starting "damage control". The animals were immediately wormed, fed fresh hay and grain, and watered. All were body scored under three by sight and by feeling through their wool. This hands-on inspection revealed barbed wire that needed to be cut out of the fiber. We decided NOT to shear because it was too late in the year and they were too thin.
Another concern was an ingrown halter. One of the best ways to remove ingrown halters is to undo the buckle(s) and cut the nose band with sharp toenail clippers on each side of the nose. Then gradually, over time, the remaining pieces will fall out. With application of an antibiotic cream, any wounds from the ingrown halter will heal quickly. In this particular case, the halter came out of the nose and was added to the "wall of shame" in our barn (along with the barbed wire and ear tags still on them from the auction they were purchased from). The blood stream stopped within fifteen minutes and now, after a month, we can tell that scarring will be minimal. Please tell everyone you know that owns camelids, NEVER leave a halter on a llama! Even in a week, with wet conditions, a halter can embed itself in a llama's nose.
My biggest concern was the 10 month old female that was exposed to her father. If bred, we decided to abort the unborn cria for the safety and well-being of the young female. None of these five animals were over the age of three years. All of them, over the following months, would need intense care and proper nutrition. The animals were all updated on health requirements and gelded. All of these animals would need training before they could go up for adoption.
New problems continuously arose. Two weeks after they arrived, one of the females surprised us with a weak, constipated fourteen pound male cria. Within hours I knew it wasn't "normal" so mom and baby were moved to a quarantine pen in the barn. The decision was made to supplement the cria with goat colostrum and give him an enema. Although the cria was walking, he continued to strain to relieve himself. Around the clock surveillance did not reveal any nursing or defecation. At two days old, I found very small maggots between the cria's toes and by his umbilical cord. After consulting my vet again, the cria got a bath and dried out in the heated office before going back to mom in the barn. My vet explained that crias born on rainy days must be completely dry or flies will lay eggs in moist areas of umbilical fluid. I've never heard of this problem before but I know now to check my newborn crias for maggots every day. After five days of constant care, we lost "Trooper"....I guess it was not meant to be, but we tried.
The rest of the animals are doing well today. Concerned individuals found them, bought them and will protect them. Today is actually a special day, because the vet did fecals on them and all five of them are parasite free and can join our llama herd. After training and further rehabilitation, by Spring 2001 this group of animals will be available for adoption to carefully approved homes. All animals sold or placed by Northeast Llama Rescue will be adopted with a legal contract. The contract states that if the llama ever becomes unwanted or is not cared for properly, the animal will return to Red Maple Farm for a full refund. I used to think I could save every unwanted llama in the world...I know that I can't . It is too great an undertaking for one farm to rescue all the unwanted camelids out there. For this reason, several other farms have joined in the effort with Red Maple Farm to pool resources and save neglected and unwanted camelids.
Any farm that shares our philosophy that every llama deserves a life with proper care is welcome to join us. We are people who genuinely love all llamas and want to make a difference one llama at a time. Eventually we will print an educational brochure to hand out at events with member farms listed. Don't just tell people that you love your llamas; show people by making a difference and actually save one. Always quarantine new animals for at least one month while getting wormings, vaccines and nutritional needs in order. Always do a fecal exam and consult your vet about when new animals should go out with the herd. Geld all males and most of all BE PATIENT. Llamas are very forgiving animals and will learn to love and trust again with gentle care and training.
1 comment:
Great blogging Wes. You are getting a lot of hits ... it's always interesting to hear how life on the farm is treating you. Here in Cherry Plain, we have SNOW SNOW and MORE SNOW.
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