Monday, May 7, 2012

Essential Oils and Alpaca Weaning

It's day two of weaning Djembe.  The first day, Djembe seemed to handle it fairly well.  He ran the fence line a number of times and then went off with his herd and grazed.  He repeated that cycle throughout the day but seemed to be doing better than many others that I have weaned.  On day two, however, his anxiety went up and he was running the fence-line in a panic and trying to break through my gates to get to his mom.  I offered him pellets to see if that would distract him.  He ate a few mouthfuls and then ran back to the fence to see if he could get through the gate's slats.  I thought I would try the Essential Oils that I used during shearing to see if that would help calm him down.

I went into the house and got one of my spare bandanas which I've been using to help identify my pregnant dams that are imminently due. I put a drop of the Peace and Calm oil on one side of the bandana and Stress Away on the other.  Djembe comes readily to me now and eats a few pellets from my hand.  He also lets me hold him calmly.  I put the bandana on him and observed his behavior.  He was walking around in the cria submissive position with his tail up and neck shrunk into his shoulders.  Djembe went back to the far area of my pasture where he can still see his mom.  Within 2 minutes, he stopped walking around in the cria pose and no more racing about.  He started grazing and although humming and watching for his mom, he calmed way down.  He is still anxious and not happy but he is observably calmer.  I'd like to see him with his herdmates more but at least he isn't running in a panic.  The oils appear to have taken his energy and emotions down a notch.  No cure-all but definitely an improvement. 

A Calmer Djembe with his Essential Oiled Bandana

1 comment:

  1. Love it! Noticeably different is better than being a stressed young alpaca! The bandana's are an excellent tool, Cindy!

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