[AlpacaTalk] feeding alpacas
ALways glad to see this subject come around again as each time I feel I
improve my feeding regimine.
<<<<My current preference is to use 1 cup of alfalfa pellet, 1/2 oz
Golden Blend, 1 oz whole flax seed. Mix it up with a bit of wheat
germ oil or rice bran oil to make the flax seed and mineral stick to
the pellet. This would be a ration for one alpaca, for one day.
Heather>>>>
So what is "Golden Blend"?
I added alfalfa pellets as well as flax seed after we last had this
discussion, but I grind mine as I do for myself and for the dog.
Otherwise it is indigestible - don't know about alpacas and their
digestive system. But it is also indigestible for them they would not
be able to get the Omega 3s out of the seed.
I continue to feed the alpaca pellet tho as I was worried about
vitamins. The next time I have to order minerals I am going to get the
vitamin/mineral mix and hopefully get completely off the grain pellets
once I feel confident they are getting the vitamins they need. That
will save me a lot of driving and time as my local feed store doesn't
carry any alpaca feed at all and I have to special order it from the
Southern States store in the next town.
Hay - the only source of orchard grass I could find when I started out
with my pacas was close by - but by the time I had purchased my 3rd roll
from him it was obvious he was ripping me off and selling me bad hay. I
was suspicious by the 2nd roll and went for the 3rd determined to pick
out my own roll. But when we got there he was waiting for us out by
road with the roll of hay on his front end loader and he just dropped it
into our truck. I mentioned to him that it looked wet - just on the
outside he said. The following day while out checking on things I saw
mushrooms sprouting from the hay. I called him and told him and he said
not to worry, it was not a problem. Yeah right. that roll of hay got
rolled out of the pasture and sat on the sidelines for years rotting
away. I never purchased from him again.
I feed straight bermuda - and pay a pretty penny for it. The long
drought we have had has made all hay really hard to get and very
expensive. I suspect that some of my birthing problems were related to
bermuda hay that had fescue in it. I don't know enough about hay to say
for sure, but now that I know for sure I am getting good quality pure
bermuda hay for the past year, it doesn't look like what I was getting
before....when I had 3 premature births that did not survive, one
stillborn at about 6/7mos age, and any number of abortions/miscarria
over the years.
Pam - I highly recommend Dr Evans alpaca vet manual. It is a wealth
info and invaluable to have not only for yourself but to share with your
vet as he gives drug dosages and has warnings about certain things that
are commonly given to other livestock but should not be given to alpacas.
Welcome, you're gonna LOVE your pacas :-). And watching them prong
about is the most wonderful sight in the world!
Warmly, Janice
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posted by Chaddo at 7:00 AM
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