[AlpacaTalk] RE: corn/beet pulp

 

<<< Yep, you're right Tina.
Any kind of sugars will cause an elevation in acid. Studies have found
too much corn has been causing ulcers in alpacas ( which are very
difficult to treat especially when one has no clue as to which stomach
chamber the ulcer is in... ).
Janice, sign up to the alpaca site/ yahoo group. Lots of good health
questions come up there. Got a few vets who often chime in!>>>

Thanks Dede, Tina, Wayne......I took all my animals off corn several
years ago because of the GM aspects and my concerns. I even stopped
feeding my chickens whole corn which I used to throw out for them in the
winter to help add calories/heat. But last winter and this winter
have been so cold that I have revisited that possibility. At the same
time I began looking for ways to cut my time and costs. It has been
quite an eye opener for me to discover that corn is now the most costly
ingredient as it used to be the cheapest - thank you ethanol. So a
double reason to avoid corn. After a week of pricing and thinking and
gathering all your input I have come to the conclusion that the pellets
formulated for each species is actually cheaper than trying to do it
myself by mixing my own grains - which do not have the vitamin/mineral
fortification formulated for each species which are added to the
pelleted feeds.
So my conclusion is to just keep doing what I have been doing. I have
not had an alpaca emergency in several years now for which I am
extremely grateful. Those of you who have been on here a long time may
remember that I used to have constant paca emergencies and have lost
more babies than I can count, along with adults. Knock on wood I have
not had to bury one in 3-4 yrs now.

I too also only feed a small amt of pellets to the alpacas - mainly just
to keep em coming. But also in the winter I give a bit more for the
calorie. After the bitter cold last winter that left my elderly
matriarch shivering one night I managed to purchase enough of the XXXL
dog blankets to have a coat for each of them this year. So any time we
have wet cold coming in the blankets go on. I have already used them
3x this winter - and we are in the south! I am grateful to have found
these great deals which made it possible for me to purchase coats for
them all. I don't remember who first posted about this - Allison
maybe? But I am eternally grateful.

I also think I am going to shelve my idea of taking them off pellets and
doing the chopped alfalfa way for the AM & PM "treat" giving that now
alfalfa will also evidently be GM :-(. Why mess with success.
The alpaca pellet formulation that I get from Southern States is
inexpensive (tho a long drive for me) and Dr Evans told me many years
ago that S States was using his formula. Whether or not that is still
the case I don't know. All I know is that I have not had a health
issue or emergency in several years.

So its back to the laying pellets for the chickens and the alpaca
pellets for the alpacas :-). I did however stop at the bread outlet
yesterday - which I have been meaning to do forever. I discovered they
sell a cartload of bread for $8 as feed. I loaded up my trunk. But
even that is not really all that much cheaper than the 50# bag of laying
pellets for about $10 with the proper balance of protein and calcium for
poultry.....and this is nothing more than white flour with additives -
no nutritional benefits at all. But the ducks, guineas and the
chickens sure enjoyed it when I started tossing it out for them
yesterday afternoon! Maybe I'll just do that instead of corn for a mid
day treat and extra warming calories in the cold.

I top dress the alpacas feed with soaked beet pulp. That is what is
taking so long to feed. It seems to need to soak for 1-2 hrs to plump
up nicely....so it turns into pretty much an all day rotation thru of
soaking, then back out feeding, then soaking again for the evening,
feeding, then soaking again for the morning......over and over ad
nauseum. Those of you who are feeding beet pulp - how long do you soak
it? I feed it to all the critters here except the cats who won't touch
it and the poultry. But it seems to do good things for the dogs,
horses, and alpacas.

Janice

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