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TipTop Camels is more than just the name of our ranch. When
talking to prospective buyers some of the things they are told by other
producers, as sell tactics, that aren't true are how their special
bloodlines of pure Bactrian or Dromedary camels are superior to any
other. In the United States the Bactrian Camel industry is very young in
the terms of history and this simply isn't true. I've also been told that crossbreeds are somehow superior in either conformation or disposition and this is also Hogwash. I have seen Bactrian, Dromedary and crosses that are both very wild and others that are very tame, their interaction to, and training by humans is 95% of what makes up each camels personality. Anyone that has visited our ranch can tell you our entire herd is very lovable and come calving time I can lead any of them in and milk them by hand if need be. This is due to our hand feeding them twice daily, and of coarse, halter breaking and teaching them manners at an early age. Keep in mind that we have put our herd together with different bloodlines from all corners of the U.S. and have had excellent results making tame lovable pets out of all of them. That being said, I will now share with you why I think ours are 'TipTop Camels'! Several years ago a new local veterinarian visited our ranch, and after a few visits due to our camels being constantly sick and having diarrhea after ingesting nearly every kind of internal parasite on the planet she shook her head while I was following her through one of our manure covered pens and said something like "this just isn't going to work". I asked what she meant and she explained to me that simply worming the animals was not enough, I needed to get them on new ground after worming. I thought that sounded pretty silly at the time as the exotic ranches I visited did the same thing I was doing, worm every month or so, at least through the spring, summer and fall. But after giving what she said some thought I started doing research on the web as I was really tired of sick animals. That led me to fencing out 16 different two to three acre pastures so that I could rotate the females, males and youngsters to a new pasture every 25 days or so throughout the growing season to break the parasites cycle as most need 28 days to complete their lifecycle. We then drylot them throughout the winter months. With this program we have been able to keep the camels free of parasite outbreaks by worming them only 2 times per year. We see the results in their ability to breed back along with keeping them in excellent physical condition while consuming less grain and hay. By keeping the parasite numbers down our animals are able to build resistance to the parasites that are present between their semi annual wormings. This resistance will follow them throughout their lives as long as they are in an environment with low parasite numbers. This is key and is easily achieved taking each camels situation in their new home into consideration. We are happy to work with our camel customers with fencing and a rotation program to fit their needs. Most of our customers are only interested in a camel or two for pets, in these cases 1 acre or less can be easily divided up into 3 or so small pastures and the rewards in the camels health will be well worth it. i We fence our pastures with 4 strands of barbless wire (horse friendly type wire) at a height of 48 inches. People are always very surprised at how such a fence can keep such large critters in! Just one more reason among many that camels are so appealing. We feed our camels a mixture of grain along with 3 to 4 ounces of 12/12 mineral with high levels of copper and selenium and XP yeast to help them digest their feed and hay. We feed our older breeding bulls around 25 lbs of feed per day as they refuse to eat much of anything during their rutting period but please keep in mind that we work them up to that level of feed slowly, feeding this heavy is a bit risky but we feel its worth the risk as they are always in poor condition after the rut. We feed our other camels only a small fraction of grain in comparison and that also varies depending on adult, lactating or weanling animals. Always consult your local vet or dietitian before starting a feeding program for your camel as each area requires different needs as far as nutrition is concerned. These are just a few of the reasons we feel our camels are 'TipTop'! Give us a call and reserve your 'TipTop Camel' today!
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