RE: [AlpacaTalk] Pasture Management

Tom:

You might laugh, but one of the most important items in your fields for herd
management is the number of gates. My formula is to guess the maximum
number I could possibly need, then triple it.

Remember, you need to get equipment in and out. Your horse trailer, you
need a catch area or at least a "funnel" area to move the livestock in and
out. You need to get in the tractor to pull out your truck that got stuck
in the mud etc.

Another source is the local county ag. agent. He should know a lot about
your local soil, its nutrition and fertilization requirements.

Brad Neuman

Big Meadow Creek Alpacas

Troy, ID

www.bigmeadowcreekalpacas.com <http://www.bigmeadowcreekalpacas.com/>

_____

From: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of tomtmaine
Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2006 5:51 PM
To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlpacaTalk] Pasture Management

I was looking to see if there is a short list of key points that someone
should keep in mind
when thinking about their fields. In other words, how many alpacas per acre,
how often you
move the animals from one section to the next, waste management. Any
thoughts
appreciated!

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Re: [AlpacaTalk] Pasture Management

>>>Other tasks are 'dung spreading' (if you work organically and even if you
don't), to
>>>feed the ground naturally. Dung spreading is carried out in the late
>>>spring/early summer weeks on pasture that is to be rested before stock
>>>is put on it.

There was a discussion recently that un-composted alpaca manure had no
nutritional value for your pasture. If you are going to use it on your pasture,
best to compost it.

I agree with most of the rest of this post, although not everyone is going to
be blessed with pasture - some of us are stuck with drylot. Hay is a viable
alternative. Also, it would be nice to stock at 4 per acre, but that isn't
always feasible either - other sources say up to 10 per acre. All depends on
your herd make up and pasture layout. More smaller pastures are better than a
few big pastures, they each need ample shelter, and have an extra pasture to
rotate off of - most sources suggest a 3 week period to allow parasites etc to
die.

Heidi

Heidi Christensen
WingNut Farm
5412 252nd St Ct E
Graham, WA
(253) 846-2168 or cell (253) 592-0200
www.WingNut-Alpacas.com
www.Alpacanation.com/WingNutFarm.asp

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