Camelid Herd Health

Jones, Meredyth; Boileau, Melanie

The area of herd health is particularly important when considering camelid operations because of the high frequency of travel for exhibition, breeding, and boarding. This article outlines the considerations for routine husbandry, facility and animal maintenance, and infectious disease control in the form of biosecurity, vaccination, and health testing that should be included in any farm's herd-health plan. Veterinary input into the design of programs for biosecurity and infectious disease prevention is critical and requires an active veterinary client-patient relationship with identification of the goals of the operation. Risk assessments should be made based on farm activities and should be the foundation for herd-health program design.