You come visit our alpacas and learn about them close up. AlpacasĪll these things together, and you can see why alpacas are considered They work with, it speaks volumes about the quality of the alpaca business. Someone with hard training and long experience buys the very animals That is a very good sign for this industry. Other point about vets: A surprisingly large number of alpaca ownersĪre veterinarians. "If these were horses, we'd be out here a lot more often."Īlpacas tend to be more disease-resistant than other livestock. Speaking of how much easierĪlpacas are to care for than other animals, I once heard a vet say, On rare occasions that we need to use them. In camelids (alpacas are members of the camel family), but it's only They pretty much know what they need, so we just make sure they have AlpacaĪre easy to care for, as they are excellent at taking care of themselves. Orange crunchy things again, let's go get some." Boy do they come They'llĮat them right out of your hand and will come running to the fence if Special treat we like to offer the alpacas is baby carrots. (Mostly because it's fun for us.) Another To build animal confidence in socializing with people or as a rewardįor good behavior when halter training. Their daily feeding, we also often feed the alpacas pellets by hand: WeĪdd a pinch per animal each day to their pellets. To help them run faster, jump higher, and have nice straight legs. Lama Items.) The supplements are made especially for alpacas The pellets we add some additional vitamin and mineral supplements. See footnote below for a lot more pellet info. We like the Hallways best because of it's smaller pellet size. We combine two different brands: MazuriĪlpaca Chews and Hallway Alpaca Developer. They are specially formulated for alpacasīy feed mills which prepare the blends in conjunction with veterinaryĪdvice. These pellets are made from a mix of various grains AlpacaĪlso supplement their forage intake with pellets once a day, normally We think a better number in these difficult circumstances is four or five per acre. Having seen our pastures ravaged by two years of this drought, we have revised downward the number of alpacas that are recommended per acre.
While it's not as dry as last year (Level 4 - "Exceptional" drought - the worst you can get), it's still pretty bad. For the second year we remain in a rain deficit, with our part of Tennessee currently at a Level 3: "Extreme" drought.
We are in the midst of dryness of historical proportions here in East Tennessee. Mother and her baby per acre.) August, 2008 Note: Change in thinking due to two years of continuous drought. (Compare this to cows, where it's recommended that there only be one On the grass, it's possible to keep up to ten alpacas per acre of pasture. Thus saving the pasturesĪnd keeping them green all year long. Instead they clip the grass above the ground level, at a height thatĪllows the grass to grow back again quickly. Of teeth like horses, they do not destroy the grass roots as they eat. There'sĪnother reason alpacas are easy on pastures: Because alpacas have onlyīottom teeth that close against a top dental pad, rather than two sets Soil, and thus wreck the grass as cows and horses tend to do. On their feet, they don't churn up the ground, cause compaction of the There's about eight flakes in a square bale of hay.) See footnote atīottom of this page for more info on hay types. They eat about half a flake a day per alpaca.
We buy Orchard Grass hay grown locally and baled in forty-pound In the winter, when the grass is growing slowly or not atĪll, we give them extra hay each morning for them to munch on throughout TheĪlpacas free-graze in the pasture all day long. Silver Thunder Alpacas - Alpaca Care and FeedingĪre primarily grass eaters, feeding on hay or pasture.
0 kommentar(er)
