The Pacablogger

When the Pellet Bucket Calls

I have a friend who is truly food-obsessed. It’s a trait we share. Every Thanksgiving we exchange minute details about what each of us is making – to the point where I swear I can almost taste her meal and she mine. Last week, I opted to skip turkey and chose prime rib instead. This scandalized a few uber-traditionalists I know. But my comrade-in-food shrugged and commented, “After all, it’s not just about the turkey – it’s how the whole meal works together.”

When people ask me what alpacas eat, I usually respond with a concise “mostly hay”. They nod and marvel at the simplicity of these demands. But there’s a lot of territory covered by that word “mostly”. When I think about all that goes into ensuring the nutritional needs of my animals are met, hay is certainly the ‘turkey’ centerpiece, but a lot more experimentation went into settling on the ‘side dishes’. But now I’ve finally settled on an inventory of supplements, whose amount is adjusted for each animal based on their condition, age, and breeding stage.

• Pellets and Crumbles: Whatever you call it, I’ve tried a ton! I started with Dr. Evans custom-ordered pellets (until they were no longer made), moved onto brands like Nutri Source, Kent Feed, and Mazuri, even tried Equine Senior (which a friend of mine uses instead of alpaca feed). Now I’ve settled on using crumbles only to avoid the problem of choke and buy either Nutri Source or Mazuri – both readily available brands at my local feed store. I usually feed this twice a day in the following portions: 1 c for underweight or late pregnant dams, 1/2 c for other pregnant dams and undersized weanlings, 1/4 c for weanlings and yearlings. I used to have a creep feed stocked with alfalfa and crumbles for crias still nursing, but that seemed to encourage some creative and very bad behavior on the part of some of the older animals, so I took it down.
• Fiber Nutrients: Some people swear by these, some think they’re a huge waste of money. And a bag is expensive. 50 lbs. run about $110 and that’s about a $15 decrease in the past two years. Although the idea behind these are to increase fiber quantity and quality without increasing micron, I actually like these for the pregnant dams and growing crias as a top dressing on their crumbles more for nutritional reasons (my animals are very light on the free feed minerals). Is it peace of mind or real benefit? I can’t swear either way, but the serving is small: 1/4c each once daily for adults. The actual recommended amount is 2 oz by weight for adults, much less for crias. I get this from the feed store that carries Mazuri.
• Free Feed Minerals: I’ve had quite a battle with free feed minerals. Most of the time, it sits there unused until I throw it out and put out new. I’ve tried Dynamite (the whole range), Golden Blend (with probiotics), and a few others, but have finally settled on Stillwater Minerals, the Lama-Min 104 to be precise. My animals eat it, still at a low rate, but I see a noticeable uptick in winter and by the late pregnant dams – so they must recognize it as good eats for whatever is lacking.
• Shredded beet pulp: I don’t always have this in stock, but use it as needed when a cria turns out to be a milk-sucking parasitic heifer that is literally nursing the weight off its dam before my eyes. At the point, I’ll add up to 1 cup of shredded (not pelleted) beet pulp to the crumbles for the poor mom. And no, I don’t wet it first. From my experience, my animals turn their nose up at the odd soggy mixture but quickly adapt to the dry texture of beet pulp. I’ve yet to have any problems from swelling, even at these high amounts. My vet advises not to feed over 3 cups total each day or it may actually take appetite away from eating hay, where the primary nutrition should come from.
• Alfalfa: I’ve already written much about my love of alfalfa in In Defense of Alfalfa, and now I have to admit something…I fibbed. When I said I would feed up to 25% alfalfa, I lied. Now it’s time to ‘fess up – I’ll use up to 50% alfalfa when I have thin dams that absolutely need fattening up and extra calcium for nursing. Although I always feed crumbles, if I can fill nutritional needs through hay and forage, this is my first preference.

  There …the truth is out. And I feel so much better.

• Probiotics: So this is not necessarily part of my nutritional program but at the same time is – because it enhances the animal’s own ability to use what I’m feeding him or her. I use probiotics during weaning for the mama’s boy (or girl), before/during/after a show, during antibiotic courses, for underweight animals. I used to buy Probios, but now use Natur’s Way MSE.
• Vitamin shots: Besides the regular AD&E shots for the growing weanlings, I stock a B complex that I use on dams that just don’t seem to have an appetite and don’t seem to be putting on weight on their own.

I know some people have had success with using grains as supplements but my animals turn their noses up at these and give me their butt views. And I just can’t help myself – like the mom who labors all day on that Thanksgiving feast, all I want are a few lip smacks, sighs of appreciation, and maybe a grateful look now and then during the actual consumption of all my hard work.