ALPACA NUTRITION

I have just come back from the Australian Alpaca Veterinarians’ annual conference. We had a number of very good local speakers, among them Dr Jane Vaughan, who spoke about alpaca nutrition, amongst other things. Jane has a background in animal nutrition, particularly of farm animals and it was good to hear her views on the basics of alpaca nutrition.

When thinking about the feeding of alpacas, we tend to get sidetracked into worrying about all sorts of supplements and trace elements. What we tend to forget is that the basic requirements in nutrition are for energy and protein. Many of the nutrition-related problems I see in alpacas are due to problems with getting this basic principle right – resulting in either overfeeding or underfeeding. The other thing to remember is that alpacas are adapted to eating fibrous food. They are not used to eating large quantities of concentrates such as grains - these sorts of food just do not grow in the alteplano in South America.

To get these basics right – for maintenance an adult alpaca needs about 1.0 to 1.2kg per day of pasture or grassy hay. That is how much alpacas eat if they are grazing pasture ad lib. For growing crias or lactating females, that is not enough, but for wethers or non-lactating females that is all they need to maintain their body weight and stay healthy. Most alpacas have some access to pasture, so they may only need a bit of hay as a supplement, or nothing extra at all, if there is enough grass. If you can’t get grass or “meadow” hay then a mixture of one part lucerne hay to 3 parts oaten hay provides the right amount of energy, protein and fibre.

Lactating females and growing crias need more protein and energy than this. Jane recommends a mixture of oats and lupins, in addition to the pasture or hay, to achieve this.

The following mixtures are recommended as a guide:

Crias:
2 parts oaten hay
2 parts lucerne hay
3 parts oats
3 parts lupins
(These proportions are by weight, not volume, so you need to weigh out the ingredients to get the mix right)

Lactating females:
3 parts oaten hay
2 parts lucerne hay
2 parts oats
2 parts lupins (by weight)

The hay can be fed partly in the form of chaff if you wish, to make it easier to mix in the oats and lupins, but remember that they need some long stalky stuff.

The best way to check whether your animals are getting enough to eat (and not too much) is to do regular checks on their body condition. Learn how to do body condition scores and get into the habit of doing this at set intervals (say once a month) and keep a record of the results. Aim for a body condition score of about 2.5 to 3 out of 5. If the scores are getting outside that range, then adjust the total feed intake accordingly but stick to the same proportion of ingredients.

The above information is a basic overview of alpaca nutrition. It is not meant to be taken as specific advice for any particular alpaca owner or herd but if you follow the above guidelines you will have a good, balanced and economical way of feeding your alpacas to keep them healthy. Seek expert advice if you want specific recommendations for your own situation.