[AlpacaTalk] Re: feed
Dear Heather,
As a basis for the feed, i.e. instead of pellets, what you say
definatley makes sense. My situation is different as I wanted to use
the alfalfa pellets instead of alfalfa hay to put weight on 1 or two
getting very thin moms whose parasites (cria) can't be weaned yet do
to the ice storm destroying the shelter I was going to move them too.
They get free choice good 2nd cut orchard, but I wanted to add the
alfalfa, just can't find it anywhere. I didn't want to use calf manna
as the copper makes me nervous and I don't want to get stuck with 50#
of beet pulp if they don't like it like the Lucerne ($18 down the
drain...). Plus the stimulation of ruminating the alfalfa, as opposed
to using peelets or beet, helps raise their body temp (it is 8
degrees here).
Cheers,
Morgen
--- In AlpacaTalk@yahoogro
wrote:
>
> Hi Morgen,
> Our alpacas eat primarily free choice 2nd cutting Orchard grass
hay.
> They eat this all day long, and probably a good part of the night
as
> well. :) We have no question that their rumens get adequate
> stimulation.
>
> Our pellets are solely a carrier for the vitamin/mineral mix.
Alfalfa
> is a bit higher in protein and fat than grass hay is, so it does
> provide a small increase in that, but as I said, our pregnant and
> nursing dams only get 1 cup per day, so this is not a major portion
of
> their diet. We don't rely on any alpaca pellet to provide rumen
> stimulation, period.
>
> I hadn't heard that about the alfalfa pellets being lower quality
than
> alfalfa hay. However, if it is true, I still feel it's a better
thing
> to feed my alpacas than brewer's or distiller's dried grain, wheat
> midds, soybean hulls, or even corn that may not be a by-product..
And,
> what alfalfa pellets are made from is probably bits of alfalfa leaf
> that falls off the stems during baling and whatever other
processing.
> Hmm, actually, baling is done in the fields, all waste from that
> operation is plowed back into the soil.
>
> I haven't been to AS in a very long time, I can't stand RH's stupid
> tantrums and irrational behavior. I may waste a lot of time, but at
> least I spend it doing something enjoyable rather than watching his
> circus. My family has been raising alpacas for over 10 years. Some
of
> these "respected people", like RH in particular, have only heard of
> alpacas maybe 6 or 7 years ago... hasn't been caring for them for
> nearly that long,
>
> Also, we don't drylot, and we certainly do not pour the pellets
onto
> the ground and make a free-for-all feeding situation where the
> bossy/dominant animals get most of the feed and the lower ranking
ones
> get nothing or dust. He wants everyone to believe they only take
what
> they NEED, and no more, but that is not true. Ask the person who
lost
> the two dams to cyanide poisoning after they broke into her flax
seed
> bin after a gate accident.
>
> Heather
>
>
> On Dec 21, 2008, at 8:54 AM, dreamwoodalpacas wrote:
>
> > Heather, I am curious about this b/c I was using pellets since I
was
> > having an impossible time finding alfalfa hay and I tried the
Lucerne
> > AlfaSupreme, but they wouldn't eat it. However, several well-
respected
> > people (and vets) on alpacasite said that pellets aren't as good
b/c
> > 1. they do not provide the necessary rumen stimulation b/c the
rumen
> > needs long stems and 2. the pellets are usually made from the
waste
> > and small bits at the processing plant and thus are a lower
quality.
> >
> > Morgen
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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posted by Chaddo at 8:27 AM
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