How to Manage Feed for High Quality

Author: Barbie Tilton, Someday Farm Alpacas

Feed quality is something that is a partnership in the livestock industries. Feed mills do their best to deliver the highest quality feed. The rest is up to the farm personnel to maintain that feed to the point of consumption.

Winter poses a special challenge to keep feed fresh, but with proper bin management, the effects of winter can be diminished. Be sure to place all feed off the ground when storing and in a feed bin of some sort for feeding out.

Feed should be fully used before the next load is started. Dumping new feed on top of old is not recommended. Some types of feed lose their nutrients after a short time after being opened.

Periodically inspect the bin checking for cracks, breakage or holes and replace or repair if needed. Be sure the bin lid seats correctly at the top in the closed position, this will keep feed fresh and keep out bugs or rodents.

Brushing, washing or air blasting any feed that is sticking to the inside of a bin is recommended to help prevent the propagation of mold in the bin. By doing so, you are preventing the spread of mycotoxins and other contaminants of feed from reaching your livestock.

How to cut the cost of cria coats

Author: Susan Evon, Sleeping Monk Farm

I find buying cria coats in all the various sizes to become very expensive so I go to consignment shops and purchase as many zip up fleece vests as I can find. I buy sizes from toddlers to about size 6 or so, in a great variety of colors.
They cost $2 to $3 a piece and they are machine washable and dryable. I put the cria’s front legs in the armholes and zip the zest up the cria’s back. They don’t slip off and they provide great coverage for the cria’s internal organs and also some neck protection. Give one a try. I find them much better than the professionally manufactured cria coat, and you can buy about 10 fleece vests for?the price of 1 cria coat.

How to milk an Alpaca

Author: Liz & John MacEachran, Kilblaan Farm

Sometimes you need to milk an alpaca. Maybe a cria is a little slow getting started, or maybe a dam is engorged and you just want to relieve the pressure for her. I am not a good alpaca milker. You need a syringe that fits the alpaca. We needed to strip milk off a girl with huge, engorged teats so we used a 60cc syringe, but sometimes a 20 or even a 10 might work. You’re going to fit the tube over the whole teat and hold it against the udder to create suction.

First remove the plunger and cut off the needle end of the syringe so it is one consistent diameter its whole length. Now re-insert the plunger from the cut end. This way the smooth uncut end of the tube will rest against the alpaca. Ready?

Place the syringe over the teat and hold it against the skin of the udder. Now pull the plunger part way out. It should suck the teat down a little into the syringe. Wetting the end of the tube or using a little lubricant may enhance the seal. Give Mom a minute to let milk down. Now you can pull the plunger out a little more. When the milk starts, it will stream into the syringe. Empty the syringe and start again. You can even pump the plunger a little while it’s on the teat and increase the flow.

If Mom is sore, I don’t imagine this feels great, but at least you’re not pinching or pulling the teats. Our girl, who is not an easy animal to manage (200 lbs. plus), began to relax and stop screaming as her pressure was relieved. And it’s much easier to save the milk if you want it. Definitely worth trying.

How to save time with opening and closing gates

Author: Norman A. Nadeau, SunsetHill, llc

Use quick latches on your heavy traffic gates, they cost $3-4.00 apiece and they save time&The latches are basically “u-shaped” hooks attached to a “z” chain that connects around the swinging gate. One side of the hook slips into a metal eye on the fence post. The o-ring attaches to the other side of the u-shaped hook dropping down against the first side simply by gravity. Once in place, the latch is in the way. These quick latches can be opened one handed, by squeezing the o-ring up and slipping the hook out of the eye. This is very handy when you are carrying a bale of hay or a water bucket leaving you one handed.

How to Stock up on Colostrum

Author: Shelley Riley, Golden Touch Farms

Alpaca owners could seek out a local goat or llama farmer in their area for colostrum and keep this in their freeze. It’s important to have this on hand if and when you need it rather than scrambling when the need arises. Just remember to date it and replace it when needed. I also believe in having a feeding tube on hand sterilized and ready to use.

How to use a down vest as a cria coat

Author: Marcia Humphrey, Fancy Fleece Alpacas

Another idea that I read I believe on Alpaca site, is to use a down vest for an animal that needs extra warmth. I had a cria who needed a coat, so I bought a child sized, artificial (saves on cost) down vest. It goes on easily, zipping up over her back, and is washable. By accident I discovered that having a flap inside the zipper helped to keep fleece from getting stuck in the zipper.

How to use a Dremmel

Author: Janet Swift, Mariah Alpacas

Trimming teeth is made fast and easy with a Dremmel! We use a battery-operated model with a diamond wheel. It takes two people – one to hold the alpaca and one to operate the cutter. If the person cutting is right handed stand on the right side of the alpaca facing the same direction as your animal. Place your left arm around the alpaca’s neck and your left hand (GLOVED! THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR OBVIOUS REASONS!) with your fingers under the jaw and your thumb in the alpaca’s mouth to keep it open and hold the tongue back. With your right hand you can quickly and easily cut the teeth. We have tried many, many ways to cut teeth and this is the easiest, fastest and best method by far. It takes less time and stress to do it than it did to read this!

How to wrap the tail-simplified

Author: Catherine Conner, Ibiwisi Alpacas

Instead of wrapping the dam’s tail with vet wrap prior to breeding; just slip a knee high over it. The tail fibers are contained and out of the way, it’s easier than taping, and once the breeding is finished-just pull off the knee high!

Proper Weaning

Author: Jozi

Regardless of the time of year, in order to keep stress to a minimum, Moms should be the ones moved to a different paddock, not babies. Taking babies away from Moms instead of the opposite makes way more stress by requiring babies to: get used to a new location-shelter,wind, sun,fences, view; get used to new place to eat (whether it is a creep or not) and drink on top of losing the milk; get used to new social atmosphere – especially when only one or a few crias are taken out of a big group ; get used to a new routine (like the regular time of feeding, being looked at, etc.) Losing Mom and milk, her protection and company, are hard enough without all the rest.

As far as other species go, I have found females need a little extra time with Moms more than the boys. Some boys who have stayed too long tend to be sulkier than the girls, and are more apt to run the fences if Moms are kept too close, but I like the girls to have a little extra time. I believe it helps the little girls learn more good female behavior besides have security and milk (with the immunities) a little longer. Boys benefit from the opposite in order to learn to be boys. Handling PROPERLY, halter training manners into them early makes a big difference here.

For instance, with lambs and kids, ( and I realize there are a lot more factors here than I have space to mention), I usually (all other things being reasonably equal, like size and condition) wean bucks first and give female sucklings another week or three with their Moms, Particularly with twins and triplets, which can mean moving Moms and girls away from the sons.

The other factor here is the whole subject of smart and healthy drying up of the udders. Moms of boys are likely producing more milk (if they are able to do so), but all Moms should be carefully dried off by cutting their intake for at least a week, better longer. You may think this is unkind, but ask any woman who has breastfed a baby which way is kinder — To have less nutrition at the end while still feeding the baby to taper off easily or suddenly stopping it.

I believe there is much more mastitis going on than is noticed, and is still not recognized even when the alpaca breeder wonders, “But she had lots of milk last year…what happened?”