[AlpacaTalk] alpaca feed

If anyone wants to see graphic proof of my claims, please take a look
at my Alpaca Nutrition page.
http://www.whitelotusalpacas.com/nutrition.html
This the difference between a grain and by-product based feed and a
premium feed.

In addition to all of the nutritional information found in The Alpaca
Field Guide, here is a wonderful page with excellent information about
dietary needs of alpacas.
http://www.alpacaresearchfoundation.org/papers_reports/
Basics%20of%20Alpaca%20Nutrition.html

Be sure to read the section regarding grain, it's about 3/4 the way
down the page. Here's some of the text on grain:

Readily available carbohydrates like grain are an energy source. They
are not a protein or mineral source (Table 4), and are to be used only
in moderation for alpaca if the animal needs more energy. Times of
higher energy (and nutrient) requirements for the alpaca include late
gestation (last one third), early lactation, growth, in extremely cold
weather and at times for the geriatric animal. Grain is commonly used
as a carrier for a mineral supplement, and daily small amounts (quarter
of a 8 ounce cup) are not a problem. Now as I am discussing this, some
of you will say that the instructions for commercial pellets will
recommend up to 0.5 kg intake. Remember that commercial pellets are
only a portion grain and most pellets are high in dehydrated alfalfa –
a forage. When purchasing a pelleted supplement, one needs to evaluate
exactly what the pellets are made of and follow the recommended levels.
Thus, one needs to be careful when defining what a grain is. When I
indicate a "quarter of a 8 ounce cup" of grain, I am talking about
whole grains such as corn, oats, barley and other grains, not
commercial pellets.

The problem with overfeeding grain to alpaca primarily deals with the
microbe population. Remember that the microbes in Compartment I
digest/ferment the cellulose from forages. They also ferment the starch
in grains. Starch is much easier to ferment than cellulose, and if too
much grain is fed, then the microbes ferment it very fast producing
large proportion of lactic acid rather than the traditional fatty acids
we talked about earlier. The pH of lactic acid is very low and can
actually burn the inside of Compartment I. In ruminants this is called
acidosis, in camelids it is called "grain-overload." The problem with
grain overload in the camelids is that by the time you see any
symptoms, it is probably too late to save the animal even with drastic
surgical measures. For example...

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