Re: [AlpacaTalk] pasture questions
Thanks very much, Heather! Valuable information, as usual!
- Caryn
On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 12:34 PM, Heather Zeleny <
alpacatalk@westwind
> Contact your County Extension office for help with soil and forage
> testing. You may wish to mow your pasture to a 4-6" hight. We rarely
> have problems with the forage being overgrown, but we're at capacity
> and definitely need to supplement with hay. We do have to mow in the
> spring and summer to keep the thistles and other stuff they don't eat
> at bay. However, they do eat thistles some, and they love dandelions
> and field daisies. So I try to avoid those when I mow. Well, I'm
> pretty ruthless with the thistles.
>
> Many breeders don't feed a supplemental pellet at all, but I would
> recommend having a free choice loose mineral mix available for them.
> And, in the pacific Northwest, it is pretty necessary to supplement
> with ADEB12 paste monthly, and especially in the winter months.
>
> I don't know how many alpaca can graze an acre without requiring
> additional hay, we've never had that luxury. Hopefully someone who
> does have experience with that will offer their wisdom!
>
> Heather
>
>
> On Jan 26, 2009, at 12:08 PM, Caryn Law wrote:
>
> > Hello!
> >
> > Thanks for all of the advice people have given to me off- and on-
> > list so far
> > about my newbie questions. I have a few more relating to pasture.
> >
> > Just to recap, I'm hoping to own alpacas for the first time this year,
> > starting with just two and gradually working my way up to more. We
> > have 0.8
> > acres of fenced pasture that was previously used for a couple of
> > horses.
> > It's been two years since any animals have been on it, so the
> > grasses in it
> > have REALLY overgrown. (Just for further reference, I live in the
> > Pacific
> > Northwest.)
> >
> > I've researched the grasses that are growing in there and they're
> > appropriate for alpacas, although I know I might have to do some
> > reseeding
> > (I'm not sure, though). My question is this: because of how
> > overgrown and
> > old that grass is, do I need to go in and do some major cleanup
> > before I put
> > any animals on it? I'm guessing that grass is both too old to be of
> > any
> > nutritional value now and probably just too darn much for the
> > animals to
> > comfortably walk around, nevermind actually eat.
> >
> > I see a LOT of talk on here about feed mixtures and nutrients and
> > to be
> > honest, it's kind of scary. :) I've been told by an experienced
> > alpaca owner
> > that I can comfortably have a small number of alpaca on my pasture
> > without
> > having to supplement with hay, so I really want to make sure the
> > pasture is
> > in the right condition, of course, before putting any animals in
> > there.
> >
> > Any advice is appreciated, as usual!
> >
> > (By the way, are there any alpaca owners in the Issaquah area
> > reading this
> > list? If there are, would you be available for a personal visit to
> > your
> > farm?)
> >
> > - Caryn Law
> > Issaquah, WA
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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posted by Chaddo at 12:44 PM
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