[Alpacasite] Re: Question about the use of Concrete

Good Morning Paul,

Your question does not sound crazy at all. In Colorado, we had
exposed dirt "floors" in all the barns. Colorado has very low
humidity, year round, so the constant "haze" of dust inside the barn
was terrible. It did not seem like a healthy environment for anyone
exposed to it, much less the alpacas. Plus clean up was a
nightmare. We tried covering the dirt floors with rubber mats to
eliminate the dust storms but that was even worse as it caused mold
and mildew hot spots. We tried to cover the surface with pea gravel
which worked better but still created a cleaning problem. We were
constantly shoveling old gravel out as quickly as we shoveled new
gravel in. I am positive it works well for some breeders but it did
not work well for us.

Two years ago when we moved to Dallas, we built two new metal barns
to house the alpacas and poured concrete floors with textured
surfaces. It gets really hot here in Texas during the summer and the
concrete floors in the barn have been a real life saving element for
the alpacas. Combined with fans and lots of air movement, we stay a
constant 80 degrees inside the barns.

Cleaning is a breeze and it is much more sanitary. We can now power
wash the entire barn as we put drain strips in the floor as well that
drain out to an engineered septic system. It is glorious. We check
the animals constantly for signs of arthritis or pad problems due to
living on concrete but so far, no issues whatsoever.

We have coyotes, feral hogs, bobcats and mountain lions in our area
not to mention the usual array of neighborhood dogs that stray off
the front porches at night, so we lock up our alpacas at night to
keep them as safe as possible. In the early morning, we open the
doors to the corrals and pastures where the crias are born. The
corrals are still natural dirt surfaces but we clean the outdoor dung
piles twice daily.

Yes, we have had crias born on the concrete. So far, no issues
whatsoever due to the concrete. We move the new crias and dam to a
birthing pen inside the barn and have heavy rubber mats on those
floors with heat lamps. It has served us well so far.

Amy McCroskie
Greenville, Texas

--- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, "cpqcolor" <PaulKimball@e...>
wrote:
>
> This is going to sound crazy, but I was asked to post this:
>
> My Father in Law read the recent article in Hobby Farms regarding
the use of concrete in stalls, etc. and he is now interested in
putting down concrete in all our stalls in both barns AND the
overhang (shed) areas on the barns sides to facilitate cleaning and
lessen dust.

> Has anyone else done this? I'm thinking unless you put down rubber
> mats over the concrete it would be too rough on the Alpaca's
joints - not to mention that every gasp of panic when a newborn is
trying to stand and is falling on their face. Any opinions? What
about spray-on rubber over the concrete?
>
> Thanks
>
> Paul Kimball
> Bluff View Farms LLC
> Birchwood, TN

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