Hi Janice,
I'm so sorry you've had such a terrible time with your herd. We've lost
animals over the years, I think everyone has. It is never easy and
always breaks our hearts no matter the age of the alpaca (or cat or
hen...).
This discussion group is for everything related to raising alpacas.
Lately, there has been a lot of AOBA goings on that I feel should be
talked about. People are silenced on other discussion groups.
But we definitely do talk about health and feeding and actual alpaca
care here.
My first question to you for your herd is: What are you feeding them?
We took our herd off grain based supplement pellets over a year ago,
and have never had healthier alpacas. We have fed our cats and dogs
corn-free food for many years, and now they also are on a non-grain
diet. My mom had our feed custom milled to provide exactly the
nutrition they need for our area and the hay we boy. We're shouted down
on EVERY other discussion group for talking about this feed, as they
say it's marketing. However, on a "holistic" group, it's a non-stop
Dynamite marketing gospel hour all day every day. They're all Dynamite
distributors! Good lord!
But back to the feed issue. We found that we had had some difficult
births, unhealthy animals, even some deaths... one death was from fatty
liver, one from a perforated ulcer. She died on her first birthday and
was a color champion at halter. Another died from scours (diarrhea) at
10 weeks of age, no cause was found for his scours.
When we changed the feed, we had no more health problems. Even
susceptibility to external parasites decreased. We don't have to give
CD&T shots since we have no danger of enterotoxemia because we don't
feed grain.
We used to have consistently over 20 lb birth weights. That used to
excite us, look how healthy our crias are! But in reality, they and the
dams were just fat, and now we have birth weights in the normal and
correct 16-20 lb range. We have had not a single sick alpaca in over a
year.
The old adage "You are what you eat" is very true. We are trying to get
all of our animals on a correct diet for their needs and species. Every
day we learn more, but I'll say it is of the utmost importance that
everyone take their livestock off grain altogether. If your vet could
find nothing to go on, that would be my first line of action.
Also, we have much better fleece since we have stopped feeding grain.
Lower micron, higher amplitude crimp on our huacayas. More saturated,
deeper color. The hair tells about the health of the animal.
If you'd like more info please feel free to ask!
Best wishes.
Heather
On Feb 24, 2008, at 6:57 AM, houckj@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 2/24/2008 5:02:33 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com writes:
>
> My 'take' on it is pretty
> simple, but as I get older, I get more simple -- life doesn't need to
> be so blasted complicated.
>
> I just wish ya'll would settle down -- when I start posting stuff
> like this, I know that winter has gone on much too long -- I need
> some more active kinds of entertainment to get involved with ---
>
> Susan
>
> I would like to ask if there is an alpaca yahoo list that talks about
> ALPACAS? I first joined this list last summer as I was having so many
> deaths among
> my alpacas and needed some advice. In the beginning it seemed it was
> all about
> advertising various farms and particular alpacas. So I stopped
> reading for a
> while. In the fall I logged by on to see if perhaps anything
> interesting was
> being discussed. And there were lively and helpful discussions on
> alpaca
> care and a lot of support.
>
> A few things came up that took my attention and all of my time thru
> the rest
> of fall and most of the winter so I was not able to attend to my
> alpacas or
> the list, or anything else for that matter.
> These things (having to do with my baby) recently calmed down to the
> point I
> could once again start attending to other aspects of my life. So I
> started
> opening these digests again. I have checked sporadically for the past
> few weeks
> and every time it is the same old hostile convoluted crap having
> nothing
> whatsoever to do with caring for alpacas.
>
> That is fine if that is what those on this list are interested in.
> Frankly I
> am not and hence the request for input for another list that might
> speak more
> to my needs.
>
> There is enough hostility and complexity in my life already. Every
> day seems
> to bring more stress. I come to my lists for camaraderie, support, and
> information, not to listen in on more threats, defenses, and
> accusations being
> thrown around. I am quite sure for those of you that involved in
> whatever the
> heck is going on this is quite serious and interesting. But I have to
> agree with
> Susan here, the older I get the simpler I get and WANT to be. I have
> learned
> all to painfully that people do not seem to have the capacity to see
> any side
> but their own, and all the he said, she saids can be thrown around
> all day
> and there always a bit of kernel of truth in each one, but the actual
> truth
> never seems to see the light of day. That is why I do not engage in
> such
> conversations any more in my life, even when I was present and know
> exactly what
> occurred. It is futile. All this present conversation has done is
> show me that
> all these big name alpaca farms are not the Gardens of Eden they
> appear to be in
> the marketing materials.
>
> I am an outsider here. I do not know any of you, or any of the
> obviously BIG
> names in the alpaca world. I am just a self employed single woman
> struggling
> to make ends meet, who fell in love with alpacas after meeting my
> first one
> 16 yrs ago and longed for a few for many many many years. Then I got
> my first
> female about 7 yrs ago as a Christmas present, then my stud came
> along about 6
> mos later, then the babies began being born premature and dying; then
> one
> died for no apparent reason at app 9mos. I purchased 3 more adults to
> try and
> increase the size of my herd more quickly as I wanted to get into the
> fiber
> business. Then all 3 had babies that died; then my stud died, then
> one of the new
> females died at childbirth. THIS is want I want and need to talk
> about. I
> am down to 2 females, 1 gelding, and 1 young stud all of whom I am
> desparately
> attached to and was as well to all those I have bottle and tube fed
> every 2
> hrs around the clock only to have to bury them within the week as
> well as to the
> adult female and particularly to my amazingly funny, affectionate, and
> handsome studman.....Charlie Brown. I miss him every day; it was
> about this time
> last year I had to bury him.
>
> Alpacas are not my life and I am busy up to my eyeballs raising my 2
> girls
> alone, one only 18 mos old. My husband of 25 yrs died last year
> leaving me
> alone with the farm, the children, and no money. My alpacas are
> dearly loved, as
> are all my animals. But they are not my business. I sympathize with
> all of
> you for whom this is your business. It sounds down right cutthroat to
> me and
> after reading here off and on for the past few weeks I am thankful to
> be an
> outsider and thankful I never had the money to do as I wanted which
> was to really
> get into the alpaca business full time.
>
> I apologize; I didn't intend for this to be so long. I won't be
> checking in
> for awhile. I just wanted to point out how far removed from my life
> and my
> alpacas this list has become. That is fine; I am sure there must be
> other lists
> that address my needs. This one was recommended to me by a friend who
> has
> time to do much more surfing around and research on such things than
> I do and
> she found it for me. So again I ask, can anyone here suggest a list
> for me that
> would be more along the lines I am looking for? If so, please email me
> privately.
>
> Sincerely, Janice
>
>
>
> **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.
>
> (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-
> campos-duffy/
> 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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