BUMBLE HILL ALPACA MUESLI

(makes approx. 90 – 100 handfuls)

Ingredients

• 1 x 10 litre bucket of lucerne chaff
• 2 x 10 litre buckets of oaten/wheaten chaff (either/and/or)
• 1 x 10 litre bucket of flaky bran (fine bran is unsuitable but horse bran is OK)
• 1 x 250 ml cup of seaweed meal*
• ½ x 250 ml cup of dolomite (calcium and magnesium)

add on alternate weeks* either:

• 1 teaspoon of selenium additive (Sel Plus is best) or 1 teaspoon each of finely powdered copper sulphate and sulphur

Mix dry ingredients together well and moisten with:

• ½ x 250ml cup of olive or canola oil (to condition skin and fleece)
• 1 x 250ml cup of apple cider vinegar (source of potassium)
• 1 x 250ml cup of water

Mix well again to ensure there are no large moist lumps.

Store in small bin with tight fitting lid (but not airtight). The apple cider vinegar will stop the mixture from moulding for one week in all but extremely humid weather. But check the smell every couple of days and throw away if becoming sour, or after one week AND ALWAYS check that any hay you offer to your alpacas is not mouldy, too.

Feed at the rate of three big handfuls of muesli per animal per day for weanlings/tuis and pregnant females. Increase to four handfuls daily for females in their third trimester of pregnancy and feed four handfuls twice daily for lactating females. You may need to increase the overall protein and calorific intake of lactating females further with pellets or lucerne hay or stream rolled grains/seeds if the pasture is in short supply or you have exclusively kikuyu grasses.

NB: depending on the protein levels in the Lucerne chaff, this mix yields around 12% protein. Lucerne chaff and alpaca pellets have upwards of 12% protein, which is what a lactating female needs to ensure she and her cria, are well nutritioned. Lucerne hay can have up to 18% protein depending on the season and the cut.

Augment with hay (lucerne/clover/oaten) and a handful of alpaca pellets per animal per day in feed (wethers, weanlings & tuis) and up to four handfuls of pellets for lactating females, if pasture is scant or animals fall below 3 in body scoring. Never mix selenium with other minerals, which can render it unavailable to the animal.

Feed at the rate of three big handfuls of muesli per animal per day for weanlings/tuis and pregnant females. Increase to four handfuls daily for females in their third trimester of pregnancy and feed four handfuls twice daily for lactating females. You may need to increase the overall protein and calorific intake of lactating females further with pellets or lucerne.

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As is probably obvious, Vet Hmmmings is not intended to be a replacement for professional advice and can only ever be a guide. For all matters relating to the care of your animals you must always talk to your local vet and ensure that any advice (whether sourced from here, the Internet, or anywhere else) is confirmed with them prior to taking any action.