Hundreds of cute baby camels due to be born on farm in just weeks

About 200 camel calves are expected to be born at Megan Williams' farm in central Victoria over the next few weeks in what she says is her largest calving to date.

The Kyabram camel milk producer said it was a busy â€" and cute â€" time of year, and she was hoping to have all calves ready for milking this season.

While any birthing process for a female is difficult, Ms Williams said camels do make it look a little easier.

"From the time you sort of see some feet sticking out of the mother, and a head and body, you normally see the baby on the ground within half an hour," Ms Williams said.

"They're usually up and drinking with their mum within about an hour and a half.

"Sometimes they do need assistance. They could be backwards, or the calf may be just too big for the mother to deliver it."

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'Old-school dairy'

Ms Williams sources both pre-loved pet camels or wild ones from the outback in northern and central Australia.

But during COVID-19, transportation has been difficult.

"Last year we were in the Northern Territory getting camels and we were halfway back through South Australia with our border permits and got a phone call to turn back," she said.

Megan Williams owns Camel Milk Co in Kyabram, in northern Victoria.(

ABC Rural: Eden Hynninen

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Ms Williams brings them to her 480-acre property where she trains them to be milked in her dairy.

"It's kind of like an old-school, walk-through dairy," she said.

"The camels line up one behind the other and we can milk up to 10 camels at a time.

"The camels have four teats. We have one person on either side and we let the babies stay next to them to suckle off their mums which helps stimulate the let down and helps the mum feel really relaxed."

"It's built on trust, camels will not let down their milk physically unless they're relaxed."

Ms Williams said camels need to feel relaxed in order to be milked.(

ABC Rural: Eden Hynninen

)Low in fat, lactose

Ms Williams said camel milk is really white compared to other milks, and is low in fat and lactose.

"It also doesn't have the whey protein beta-lactoglobulin which is a commonly-known dairy allergen," she said.

Demand for camel milk has continued to grow over the years, and during COVID-19 Ms Williams said it was booming.

"We're suppling milk in most places across Australia, and also overseas, but we're also supplying milk to go into powder," she said.

"The demand for camel milk seems to be growing ten fold at the moment."

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