Daily Care and Disease Prevention Methods for Alpaca Farming

Daily Care

One acre of grassland can graze up to 10 alpacas. They do not pull grass or other plants up by the roots, so they are considered better suited to pasture farming than most livestock. As long as there is a designated pasture and hay for the winter, alpacas can be raised. An orchard is a good choice; in fact, most breeders feed some camel feed, which you can easily buy in stores. Pregnant females or those with crias naturally deserve this kind of treatment.

Every 30 days, feed some deworming pills or insecticides, and most breeders also supplement some minerals, because these drugs can effectively ensure that each alpaca has an appropriate level of Helicobacter in its body.

Alpacas also need their nails trimmed regularly; small flower-pruning scissors can be used. Their ears should also be checked monthly to prevent lice. These are all routine tasks in alpaca care.

Self-Treating Illness

Alpacas generally can only be shorn once a year, and a fleece that has grown for 365 days can be shorn in two or three days. The degree of importance an alpaca owner places on shearing can reflect whether alpaca fiber sells well or not.

In 1998, alpaca fiber production was extremely low, because there had been no sunny days. Remember: never shear wet fleece! Adequate preparation before shearing is very important for successfully removing alpaca fleece. The same precautions apply to large-scale shearing and individual shearing. Arrange all personnel in advance, with clear and detailed division of labor, prepare the shears and shearers, and draw up a procedure beforehand to avoid mistakes.

First, do not dirty the alpaca fleece. Before shearing, keep the alpacas for at least 4 hours in a pen with no dirt at all, without food or water. There are usually three types of contamination: natural, external, and that caused during daily care.

Natural contamination mainly refers to black or colored fibers on white alpacas, because these fibers cannot be dyed into light-colored textiles. Dead-yellow fibers are formed by long-accumulated lanolin and sweat gland secretions; contamination from feces and urine areas is also naturally formed. Careful care and feeding habits can avoid these problems as much as possible.

External contamination is mainly caused by the alpacas' living environment and includes many factors such as forage: thorny grass, grass seeds, burrs, grass stems, twigs, bark, cactus, cedar, chaff on hay, and so on. Dust, soil, grit, mud clods, and volcanic ash are attached mineral contaminants. This kind of dirty environment can be avoided by improving the pasture environment and setting up suitable dunging areas for the alpacas.

If grassland that was once used to graze horses, cattle, or goats is used to graze alpacas, the horsehair, cattle hair, goat hair, and the like left behind will attach to the alpaca fleece. Jute, sisal, debris, cigarette filters, and carpet scraps falling from coarse burlap sacks will also get rolled into the alpaca fleece. So many strange things can be mixed into alpaca fleece: foam, stones, combs, toys, beer or soda cans, anything at all! When cigarette filters get rolled into alpaca fleece, these synthetic fibers look just like alpaca fiber but cannot be dyed.

Polypropylene (plastic) is a major contaminant, because it is often used in packaging, including feed bags, rope, and so on. These plastics break down and cause contamination in the final alpaca fiber products, since the content of various components in alpaca fiber is only measured when the final product comes out.

Daily contamination mainly occurs during care, such as paint brands, insecticides, and droplets from parasites, and so on.

The alpaca industry is an investment. Everyone knows: the securities market is an investment, ENRON is an investment, world business is all investment. So try giving your securities portfolio some insurance; the alpaca industry is a lower-cost opportunity!

Alpacas need only minimal fencing and a shady spot. They will not trample the lawn like other hoofed animals, and their environmental requirements are very low; they can live on just the grass of an orchard. Alpacas need routine deworming and vaccination. If you do not have your own pasture, boarding them at someone else's pasture costs only $2.5 per day.

If you decide to raise them on your own pasture, here is a one-day work schedule for raising 11 alpacas:

Morning feeding——1 hour; putting out some fresh grass takes less than 1 hour, but hand-feeding can maintain contact between the alpacas and people, and you can also carefully inspect each alpaca.

Cleaning up dung——30 minutes; this must be done every day. A clean pasture can reduce infection from disease, such as when there is no dung, and so on. Checking the dung pile can tell you whether the alpacas have health problems. Alpacas share a dung pile, and there is almost no odor. Alpaca droppings are also very good fertilizer.

Afternoon feeding——1.5 hours; putting out some fresh grass takes less than 1.5 hours, but after feeding the alpacas well, you may want to sit on the grass, pour a glass of wine, and admire your alpacas in all their varied poses. As the sun sets in the west, the crias happily run around and play, while the larger alpacas graze in a very comical way. This may be the most meaningful time in the alpaca business.

As mentioned above, watching your own alpacas run and play, watching your own alpacas slowly grow up, and watching the alpacas improve little by little under your careful raising is also a very meaningful experience. Being an alpaca owner has become a symbol of status and is also one of the things most worth cherishing.