Re: [AlpacaTalk] alpaca feed
Hi Heather,
No matter how carefully I try to write, I seem to
always end up on the wrong side of things, and seemingly in a spat with
you. Believe me that is not my intention. I am sure that you have a
wonderful feed with wonderful results and, if I were you, I wouldn't
change at all. I certainly have no problem with your supplement, but I do
have a problem with the assumption that other ingredients that are
byproducts of milling or distilling are bad.
As I wrote
last time, I acknowledged rumen acidosis and its greater consequence of
causing the blood to become acidic. Ulcers further down in the
3rd compartment may or may not be caused by an acid imbalance higher in
the gut. For years in human medicine it was assumed that almost
ulcers in humans were caused by hyperacidity. Now we know that many are
caused by bacteria. It is my personal suspicion that 3rd compartment
ulcers in alpacas are also caused by a bacteria, perhaps one allowed to
thrive under stress or improper diet. It is just a guess.
I
acknowledged that literally any feed can cause GI upsets and rumen
acidosis, although it is very unlikely with straight grass. But this
is if these feeds are offered inappropriately. You mention grain as
causing acidosis and I acknowledge that this can happen, but the beauty of
distillers grains and wheat middlings is that the starches that are the
major culprits in causing rumen acidosis have been consumed in milling or
distilling, leaving the fiber and protein behind.
I am not
trying at all to confuse folks. Actually, I am trying to make them feel
more comfortable with the feeds they are using if they contain distillers
grains or wheat midds. There are many good feeds out there for alpacas,
and many sport different ingredients. The pellet sizes will differ and the
consistency might be different, but that does not make a feed bad or good.
By the way, I have had choke with small pellets, larger pellets, and
crumble. Choke is mostly caused by the behavior of the alpaca snarfing
down the feed, not the form the feed comes in.
I too am not
wild about the use of molasses, but in the small proportion it is provided
in most feeds, it probably makes little difference. I use feed that has
some cracked corn, distillers grain, and wheat midds, and my alpacas are
very healthy. It is possible that there is more than one way to
achieve the same result and I acknowledge your success with your
feed. I envy that you have a mill that is safe enough to do this for you.
I do not have that luxury, and in reality, most folks don't.
I
guess the point I am making is that the ingredients you shun, are
also excellent sources of nutrition when handled in proper proportions in
a supplement, just as the alfalfa, flax, barley and the ingredients
your feed posesses are excellent. All of these ingredients, yours
and mine, can cause rumen acidosis or other problems, if not fed
properly. All can be beneficial as can beet pulp (another
by-product), and numerous other special supplemental feedstuffs.
Hopefully, we all feed these in minimal quantities relative to the
forage our alpacas consume. In other words we can both have success using
all of the ingredients we use.
I had not read the paper you
sited from the ARF, but the parts you quote aren't really applicable,
since the ingredients in my feed are not grain, but grain by-products. As
I said before, the starches that are associated with rumen acidosis are
not in these by-products, for they were used to make flour or alcohol. As
for the comparison to finishing beef cattle, it really isn't appropriate
since these animals are put into feed lots where they are changed over to
a diet where a much larger proportion is grain and by-products than the
forage their rumen was designed and accustomed to.
The irony of
this discussion is that we probably agree more than disagree. I don't
agree with using molasses, I don't agree with regularly supplementing with
straight grains. We both agree with the need for fresh feed and we both
agree that we need to use supplements carefully, and only as a means to
get necessary proteins, vitamins, and minerals into the alpaca.
My alpacas are healthy and I have never had issues with lactation, nor
have I ever had to use a creep feeder. The crias handle the pellets just
fine and we have never had issues with enterotoxemia (knock on
wood). I have over 70 alpacas on my farm and they are all in good
health. So evidently we both have learned that there is more than one way
to skin the cat and both have had great success.
There are many
more breeders out there experiencing the same success using all sorts of
different feed programs including no supplements at all. All of this
means that the alpacas do just fine in spite of us.
God's Peace
in this Joyous Season,
Laurel
Bluebird Hills Farm
937-206-3936
www.bluebirdhills.
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posted by Chaddo at 8:11 PM
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