You have learned a lot about alpacas. You have done your financial homework. Maybe you’ve found breeders you can trust and work with, and picked your initial herd, or maybe that’s still going on. Before your flock arrives, it’s time to prepare. Here, we’ll talk about grass, shelter, water, and hay.

Planning your pastures: Think Fencing first. Alpacas will not normally challenge a reasonable fence, so a 48-inch no-climb horse fence supported by T-posts is excellent for this job. A small tractor, a fence stretcher, a post digger, and a good pair of fencing gloves and pliers, and you’ll have the job under control. Work with breeders you’ve met to develop a pasture plan based on your herd composition and pasture health. Pets only? One pasture might be enough, but having more will allow you to rotate the herd to replenish the pastures. Player? You’ll want separate pastures for boys and girls, and possibly another for mothers with nursing young. You will need access to shelter, water, and hay at each pasture. You’ll also need a convenient way to move your herds from pasture to stables or pens for toe clipping, injections, vet visits, etc. exercise in mind. They need to be in shape so your alpacas can run well – great for body conditioning!

Planning your shelters: Yes, sometimes you can accuse the alpacas of not getting out of the rain.. But that doesn’t mean shelter is optional. Think of a summer shelter and a winter shelter in each pasture. What are you doing shelter mean? A roof and walls sufficient to protect from wind and sun, rain and snow. A floor that will remain dry, with a surface suitable for cooking. Coarse gravel is not a good idea, and neither is concrete slab. Horse stable mats (3/4″ recycled rubber) are excellent. Compacted soil works well, as long as it is dry. Make sure there is enough space for the number of animals that will have to share the shelter. Alpacas they don’t tend to line up nice and parallel, all in a group. The most important thing is to make sure all your animals can stay cool enough in hot weather and stay dry. Good air circulation is key. It’s also important to make sure animals are Very young animals can keep warm in very cold weather (although coats can help with this).

Water planning: Alpacas should have a ready supply of clean, fresh water. Automatic filling equipment is not needed, as long as someone keeps the tanks or pails reliably filled. One thing we have found helpful is keeping the water supply out of the ground. Our buckets are suspended at approximately shoulder height for our younger animals (26″ to 30″), and we use the 24″ high version of the metal holding tanks. This prevents the animals from kicking up the water and make it dirty. In case someone spills a bucket or your storage tank has a leak, it’s a good idea to have a second water supply in place. In winter? Freezing water is a problem for your alpacas and their tanks and buckets. Alpacas also tend to drink very little if the water is too cold. Consider heated buckets (about $50 each) or storage tank heaters (about $90 each) in cold climates. Finally, it’s a good idea to be able to control access to all the water in your herd Sometimes medications like coccidiastats they’re administered through drinking water, so you’ll want to make sure your alpacas are using an adequate supply.

Planning for hay: Hay must be available all day, every day. Here in the Pacific Northwest we see an annual consumption of 700 to 800 pounds per alpaca, about 1 ton of hay for every 2.5 to 3 alpacas. What kind of hay? Alpacas do best on a diet of 8% to 12% protein. what it does orchard herb an ideal choice. The second or third cut of the orchard grass avoids the seeds and stems, and we have found that this creates less waste. Cost? In 2007, prices here in the Northwest for the second or third cut of orchard grass were $260/ton. By the end of 2008, prices were sitting at $300/ton. Driving? We recommend what many hay suppliers call two-string bales. These weigh around 80 to 90 pounds each. The larger three-string bales (110-130 pounds each) are more difficult for one person to move. A yard cart can be your friend when it comes to moving hay! Storage? Hay should be stored dry, preferably not directly on a concrete slab. We use recycled wooden pallets for hay storage and keep hay a few inches away from the barn walls. This improves air circulation, helping to prevent mold.

There are many opinions as to which hay feed stations work best. Tub-style feeders, where alpacas graze hay in tubs below head level, can help keep hay out of that spot just above the shoulders where it tends to collect and get dirty. On the other hand, wall feeders don’t take up as much floor space in your barn and allow animals to graze with their heads and necks in a more upright position. If you are a handyman, you can build your own. We did, and you can see an example in our video section on our ranch website.

Nutritionally, orchard grass is not sufficient for breeding stock and young stock. Supplements in the form of grains and mineral salts can make up the difference. For pregnant and nursing mothers, and young calves, you may also want to keep a few bales of alfalfa on hand. We will talk about cereals and salt in another article. Good luck! We hope this helps you prepare!