[AlpacaTalk] RE: corn/beet pulp

 

<<< One more quick point regarding beet pulp, I don't think it's
necessary to feed it for the purpose of adding fiber to the diet, hay
itself is really chock full of fiber. And I have read that many
alpacas are allergic to it. And certainly the product treated with
molasses is not advised at all.

Simpler is better. If we did not have our custom feed, we would feed
nothing but our 2nd cut orchard grass hay with free choice Stillwater
104 mineral/vitamin mix, and some dairy grade alfalfa, no more than 1
lb per head per day.

Heather>>>

I have long envied you your custom feed! You say your mom had it
formulated with just enough grain to get the alfalfa to hold together in
a pellet. I tried alfalfa pellets a year or so ago but they were too
large and my pacas rejected them. I also tried alfalfa chunks and
about half my guys rejected that as well. I am now considered the
alflafa pellets again and perhaps soaking them. Or Tractor Supply now
carries a chopped alfalfa hay which is what I have been thinking about
using. But it will be messy and difficult to store out of their reach
and out of the reach of all the other critters. The pellets in a bag I
can keep in the dead chest freezer I use for feed storage.

I can't get a steady source of decent orchard grass around here. That
is what I started out using when I got my first alpacas as that is what
I read was the preferred hay. But the only guy around here that grows
it ripped me off 3x in a row (I was a newbie) and I will not do business
with him. I know there is controversy about feeding bermuda, but that
is what I have been feeding for years. For simplification I had to
find a hay that would work for both the horses and alpacas. There is
also a lot of controversy about feeding bermuda to horses....sigh. I
could feed them much cheaper fescue, but then I would have to keep
something different for the alpacas and it just got too complicated.
So now I just have about 8 round bales delivered at a time and that can
feed it to both and move it around when one runs out before the other.
I have been doing this for at least 5 yrs and they all seem to be doing
great.

I truthfully cannot even remember why I started the beet pulp and likely
will let it go when spring gets here. I know it helps the dogs a lot -
I can tell a difference in their stool and their coat; and I know it is
good for the elderly horses. We were already using it for the horses
when folks here started talking about giving it to their alpacas so it
was easy enough to add to their feed. Now I recall - it was because it
helped keep the additives I was using - flax seed, minerals, de, on the
feed rather than at the bottom of the feeding tray going to waste. I
no longer top dress their pellets with any of these additives - no
reason, just got out of the habit.

Janice

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