Alpaca Care&Nutrition

We worm regularly. Over the years, we have shifted from routine periodic wormings to an "as needed" basis to avoid parasite resistance to wormers, which can develop with over-use of worming medications. We highly encourage you to learn to conduct your own fecal tests. It requires minimal equipment and can dramatically improve the health of your herd. We ALWAYS use our veterinarian as a back up for any questions, unusual parasites, or persistent parasites. We encourage you to work closely with your veterinarian to develop your own individualized worming protocol for your farm based on geographic location, climate, weather conditions, grazing conditions, and stocking density.

In the Southern United States region, we commonly see stongyle and coccidia. Occasionally, we see whip worms, tape worms, and blood parasites such as EPI.

For strongyle, we use Panacur to treat. Ivomec will kill some strongyle, but not all. We used to treat the entire herd monthly with Ivomec as a broad spectrum wormer, particularly useful as a preventative for menengial worms, but we have heard many convincing arguements from vets recently to reduce that to quarterly (basically concluding that the risks from menengial worm are less than the risks for parasite resistance in our area of the country).

For coccidia, we use Albon, Corid, & Deccox Feed. If we have an outbreak in an entire pasture, we treat by water bucket method, but we try to catch it sooner and drench (administer orally) individual animals. Any animal with a clinical problem is also drenched. The definition of clinical is that they are showing signs of distress in either behavior, body condition, or both.

Other drugs we occasionally use to treat parasites with are Marquis, Cydectin, Tramisole/Levimosole, or LA200.

Alpacas need constant access to clean, fresh water. There are many opinions on alpaca feeding, but most experts agree that alpacas should get about 85% or more of their nutrition from roughage such as hay and grazing. Work with your veterinarian and farm extension bureau to develop a feeding program that will work for your area. Your hay can be easily analyzed for nutritional content. Your supplemental feeding program should compliment this to fill in the rest of their protein, vitamin, and mineral needs. Some farms feed grains, pellets, and crumbles. Alpacas in general don't need a great deal of protein (about 14%) on average - less for gelding males and more for late-term pregnant and lactating females. Pellets and crumbles are supplemented with vitamins and minerals. It is also a good idea to free feed these by having a bowl available at all times. Stillwater Minerals is a good source www.llama.org/minerals . We also give our crias and underweight adults booster shots of selenium (BoSe) and vitamins A, D, and E with higher and more frequent dosages for Fall and Winter crias who get less sunlight. Selenium is particularly important in the Northeast where the hay and grazing has low selenium content. If you want to know more about nutrition, here are some very good articles.

http://www.alpacaregistry.net/journal/spr99j_01.html - This is more complex reading. We give our crias vitamin/mineral boosters like selenium, A, E, and D on a regular basis - and more in the winter because sunlight (or lack) effects absorption. We give the adults free choice and many of the vitamins and minerals are covered with the pellets. If an adult has a low body fat, we will boost it with the same shots we give the crias, but that is rare. Lots of it is in good hay too. We are feeding local hay that looks and smells pretty good, but I haven't had a chance to run an analysis yet.

You should work with your vet to develop a vaccination schedule. We give annual vaccinations of CDT & Lepto. Rabies is also recommended if you are in a high risk area. We give newborn crias BoSe selenium and vitamin D at birth and every month for about three to six months - longer in the fall and winter. We give our crias their first CDTs at 3 days old (and a booster every 4 to 6 weeks for 3 times) - but theories on this vary by vet. We don't give pregnant females their vaccinations in the first or last two months of pregnancy. Our girls get their annual shots the day after their cria is born. The boys and juveniles get their annual shots at shearing time.

See our page on Alpaca Delivery. For more detailed information, I highly recommend the neonatal book below.

These two books are a must have for anyone caring for alpacas. If your vet doesn't have them, lend them yours or buy them their own set.

Understanding Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Camelids: Reading Between the Lines
Paper presented at the Twelfth annual Oregon State University / Willamette Valley Llama Assoc. Herd Health Day, Corvallis, OR, Feb. 27, 1999

Trace minerals are indirectly or directly associated with a tremendous variety of metabolic processes. Deficiency diseases affect almost every physiologic function and include immune dysfunction (copper, zinc, selenium); developmental abnormalities (copper, manganese, iodine); abortion (copper, iodine, selenium); retained placenta (copper, selenium, iodine); and metabolic disturbances (cobalt, iron, zinc, iodine). Similarly, vitamin deficiencies are also associated with specific disease syndromes. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that works in concert with selenium in protecting the cell from damage by oxidation and modulates immune function. Vitamin A is also an antioxidant but has many additional metabolic functions including maintaining normal epithelial (skin) development and health, bone remodeling, vision, and immune function. Vitamin D is a critical nutrient for calcium and phosphorus balance and bone development. These nutrients, along with many of the macro-minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodi-um, and potassium), are components of most dietary supplements fed to camelids. The problem we face is deciding which dietary supplement is most appropriate for our feeding situation in an effort to prevent nutrient deficiency diseases.

To determine adequacy of a given nutritional supplement we need two pieces of information: nutrient requirements of the animal and nutrient analysis of forages being fed. Feeding recommendations for most domesticated animal species are based on nutrient requirements established by the National Research Council (NRC). Unfortunately, no NRC publication deals with the nutritional requirements of New World (NW) camelids. Most recommendations for feeding NW camelids are extrapolated from the requirements of sheep, goats, or cattle. From a physiologic perspective, recommendations for sheep or beef cattle may be the most comparable to those for NW camelids.

The objective of this presentation is to address issues of forage analysis and nutrient requirements involved in assessing the adequacy of dietary supplements available for NW camelids. Nutrient characterization of commercial supplements will be summarized, and specific examples of matching supplements to forages will be demonstrated.

A requirement for an essential nutrient is based on its ability to maintain normal body functions over time and is adjusted to accommodate other physiologic states (growth, pregnancy, lactation, and work). Requirements can be described on the basis of nutrient density (percent, parts per million [ppm]) or totals (ounces [oz], grams [g], or milligrams [mg] per day [d]). Animals require specific amounts of nutrients daily to meet their basic needs (it must be remembered that animals eat amounts of nutrients, not percentages!). Nutrient intake equals feed intake times feed nutrient density. Therefore, when describing dietary nutrient content on a density basis, one needs to consider dry matter intake and how it affects daily nutrient intake. This is a concern when extrapolating nutrient requirements from cattle, sheep, or goats to camelids.

Although it would seem that camelids are easily compared to other ruminant animals, there is one glaring difference: dry matter intake capacity. Unlike all other ruminant animals, camelids have a lower intake capacity on the basis of percentage of body weight (% BW). At maintenance, most ruminant animals will consume between 1.5 and 2.0 percent of body weight as dry matter feed intake. In contrast, camelids have been observed to consume between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of body weight as dry matter. Granted, feed intake is affected by a great deal of individual animal variation as well as feed ingredient-based issues such as feed composition. Another factor is that cam-elids have adapted to their natural environment and available forages by slowing rate of passage through the pregastric fermentation system. This allows more complete fermentation of lower-quality cell-wall materials (fiber) and results in increased generation of available nutrients to the animal. A negative consequence of reducing rate of passage, however, is a reduction in dry matter intake capacity.

Table 1 presents NRC nutrient recommendations for beef cattle and sheep on both a nutrient density (ppm, IU/kg, IU/lb) and a totals (per-day) basis (mg/d or IU/d). (IU is the acronym for International Units, a measure of vitamin activity or potency; d stands for "day.") These nutrient recommendations were then calculated to an amount per kilogram and pound of body weight (BW). Surprisingly, these calculated values were very similar for beef cattle and sheep. Nutrient recommendations for camelids are then extrapolated from these data, taking into account the difference in dry matter intake capacity. It can be seen from Table 1 that on a nutrient density basis, camelids would have a slightly higher requirement. Again, this is only a result of differences in dry matter intake. These extrapolated nutrient recommendations can be used as a starting point for minimum suggested nutrient concentrations in formulating diets. Further research is necessary to determine if camelids have trace mineral requirements higher or lower relative to other ruminants.

A typical NW camelid diet consists mainly of a forage, in the form of either hay or pasture originating from legume, grass, or mixed sources. Supplements fed NW camelids to complement their forage diet include free-choice salt mixes, various cereal grains, commercial pellet products, or some combination thereof. Is supplementation really necessary to meet the nutrient needs described above? To answer this question, one needs to compare nutrient content of typical forages with the desired nutrient requirement to make some initial assessment regarding need for supplementation (Table 2).

According to the data presented in Table 2, northwest forages are deficient in a number of nutrients, most notably zinc, copper, and selenium. If legume hays are being fed, then excessive calcium is present, which may further exacerbate zinc deficiency. Iron content of all forages is high, which can interfere with copper availability.

Another notable difference is the excessive amount of potassium in all forages relative to requirement. High dietary potassium can interfere with magnesium availability in ruminant animals. Supplementation with vitamins A, D, and E will depend upon the forage type and quality. Pasture is sufficiently high in vitamins A and E, whereas stored hay is commonly low in all vitamins. With a need for nutrient supplementation, the next question is, Which kind of supplement?

Most supplements are purchased on the basis of word of mouth from other producers, based on their experience or whatever is available at the local feedstore. Forage is the mainstay of the camelid diet, so any dietary supplement should complement the nutrient deficiencies of the forage in an effort to meet the animal’s nutrient requirements. But as already addressed, specific nutrient requirements of camelids have not been defined. As a result, most commercial camelid supplements mimic current products for sheep, cattle, horses, or some variation on the theme. Meanwhile, the nutrient content of many supplements does not account for variation in forage nutrient content, let alone whether grass or legume forages are being fed.

Table 3 summarizes the nutrient composition of a variety of commercial and custom pellet and vitamin-mineral supplements available for feeding camelids here in the Northwest. From these data it can be seen that the nutrients in these products have a tremendous range. Part of this variation can be attributed to differences in expected intake of pellet supplements.

To better compare these supplements, absolute amounts of each nutrient were determined (Table 4). Pellet intake was calculated according to feed-tag directions for a 300-pound animal (a llama, not a fat animal). Free-choice mineral intake calculations were based on the expected intake as indicated on the feed tag. From these data it can be seen that there is not much agreement among products as to what should be the appropriate amount of a given nutrient. Some amounts of nutrient delivered by the given products differ by over tenfold from lowest to highest.

When one compares the nutrient amounts delivered (Table 4) to suggested nutrient requirements (Table 1), it can be observed that mean nutrient amounts are adequately supplemented, except that the range spans into the deficient side. Unfortunately, there is no consistency among products relative to each nutrient. Some products may be adequate with respect to one nutrient but may be the lowest of the group for another important nutrient. What these data suggest is that even though you are feeding a supplement, you still may not be meeting the nutrient needs of your animal. Of greater concern is the confounding effect of intake. These nutrient amounts are based on feed-tag directions. For the pellet products, most are fairly reasonable at or near 1 pound per day. However, if you do not feed that much, in the case of overweight animals, for example, then these nutrient intakes need to be appropriately reduced.

Intake is a more critical issue for the mineral products. The expected intake of most of these products is 1 to 2 ounces per day. Practical feeding experience suggests, at best, free-choice salt-based mineral intake of 0.25 to 0.33 ounce per day. If this is what you observe with your animals, then the calculated nutrient amounts in Table 4 need to be reduced by one-fourth or one-third to account for the lower intake. Clearly, using these products opens the door for even more potential problems with inadequate nutrient intake.

The ideal supplement would be one that is readily consumed (palatable), has a nutrient content to complement the forage program, and is consumed at a rate sufficient to meet the desired intake of all nutrients (acceptability). Regrettably, many of the available products do not meet these criteria. Salt-based mineral products are convenient and commonly used; however, palat-ability and intake are problems. Observations suggest that camelids do not consume salt-block products as well as loose salt. Pelleted or similar products often do not meet nutrient needs as a result of inappropriate nutrient content, intake rate, or both. These problems are not the fault of the manufacturers but the result of a lack of definitive information on the camelid’s nutrient

requirements. At present there are no good answers to this problem. One needs to complete forage analyses and use the best product to complement the given forage program or have a custom product formulated to meet the required needs.

How do we go about determining the adequacy of a supplement? Ideally, to start, we would like to have information on the intake and nutrient composition of the forages being consumed by our animals. This is not as easy as it may seem because it depends on the type of feeding system present. Determining intake of pasture and browse is extremely difficult. Nutrient content of forages and pasture is somewhat less difficult to determine in that one could have all forages analyzed ($25-$60 per sample depending on the lab). An alternative to direct analyses would be to use the average values for nutrient content of various forages present in Table 2 as a basis for comparison.

The second step is to determine how well the supplement’s nutrient profile complements the profile of the forages. For this you need to be able to interpret and use the information presented on the feed tag of the product. The difficult part here is interpreting and comparing nutrient concentrations of differing products based on label information. This can be a difficult task. You do need to compare apples with apples. Therefore, you must carefully read the label information and convert the information to an equivalent basis for comparison. For example, nutrient content of a product may be presented on a per-pound basis, per-ounce basis, or per-dose basis. These are not necessarily the same for all products. Table 5 shows some basic conversion factors that may be helpful in comparing and using label nutrient values.

Two methods can be used to assess adequacy of a given supplement. First, one could calculate the total amount of a given nutrient that would be consumed from the supplement and then compare this value to the extrapolated nutrient requirements presented in Table 1. If your supplement meets each of these nutrient requirements on its own, without the forage, then you can assume the supplement is adequate. If the supplement does not meet the suggested requirements, then determine if sufficient amounts of the nutrient in question will be available from the forage. In general, forages provide very little additional trace minerals, except for iron and manganese. This method requires a fair number of calculations and could be made considerably less difficult through the use of a computer spreadsheet.

According to the calculation and comparison method, none of the mineral supplements and only two of twelve pellet supplements provide sufficient copper. This may be the result of concern over potential copper toxicity, which at present is undefined in camelids. Only 50 percent of mineral supplements provide sufficient selenium; however, if intake is reduced from expected observed intake, none will be adequate. Most (ten of twelve) pellet supplements provide sufficient selenium. Iron is sufficient in 67 percent of mineral and pellet supplements. Vitamins A and E are generally adequately supplemented with either product. Zinc is adequate in all mineral and five of eight pellet supplements but would be a problem if mineral intake was lower than expected. Of concern is that only 25 percent of all supplements meet vitamin D requirements.

The Pearson Square calculation method is a second way to assess nutritional adequacy of a given supplement. The Pearson Square determines how to combine two feed products to achieve a desired nutrient content. For example, if you wanted dietary zinc concentration to be 50 milligrams per kilogram (22.6 milligrams per pound) and your forage and supplement were 20 and 400 milligrams per kilogram (9.1 and 180.9 milligrams per pound) zinc, respectively, how much of each is needed to be fed?

To do the calculation, you set up a box with the desired nutrient density in the middle (Figure 1). You then place the two available feeds with their nutrient density on the left side of the box. Subtract the values across the box diagonals, using absolute values (the difference will always be positive). The differences are shown on the right side. Total the differences and then determine what percent of the total is represented by each value - for example, 350/380 = 92 percent. What these percentages mean is that hay needs to be 92 percent of the diet and the pellet 8 percent to achieve an overall dietary zinc concentration of 50 milligrams per kilogram (22.6 milligrams per pound). To put this in better perspective, if the animal will consume 1.5 percent of body weight, then 8 percent of 1.5 percent requires the pellet to be fed at 0.12 percent of body weight, or 0.12 pound per 100 pounds of body weight. If the feeding directions suggest feeding at 0.3 pound per 100 pounds of body weight, then this product will be more than adequate in supplying zinc.

This calculation can be completed for any or all nutrients to assess adequacy. If you do a similar calculation for copper (13 milligrams per kilogram [5.8 milligrams per pound] desired, 9 milligrams per kilogram [4.1 milligrams per pound] in forage and 65 milligrams per kilogram [29.4 milligrams per pound] in a pellet), you would find that you need to feed about 7 percent pellet. This would suggest that the copper and zinc content of the pellet are well matched. In other instances, you might find that you need to feed more pellet than the directions specify to meet the copper requirement.

An objective approach to estimating nutrient requirements for NW camelids was presented. A critical issue in estimating nutrient requirements is difference in dry matter intake compared to other ruminant animals. Research is necessary to confirm or modify these suggested nutrient requirement values.

Forages grown in the Pacific Northwest are deficient in a number of trace minerals, most notably copper, zinc, and selenium, which re-quire additional supplementation to meet daily needs. Nutritional supplements commonly available for camelids include free-choice salt-based mineral blends and pelleted products. Comparative analysis of these products shows a wide range in total nutrient delivery.

Concerns relative to intake potential for mineral products were addressed. Two methods to assess adequacy of these supplements were described. Most of the current products were deficient in one or more nutrients. More complete nutrient composition and requirement data are needed in order to make final recommendations for usage and reformulation of commercial supplement products.

Dr. Van Saun received his DVM from Michigan State University in 1982. He practiced in northern New York in a mixed animal practice prior to returning to Michigan State to complete an MS degree in nutrition and a residency in theriogenology (reproduction). He also completed a PhD program in ruminant nutrition at Cornell University. Dr. Van Saun is a board-certified diplomate in the American College of Theriogenologists and American College of Veterinary Nutrition. Currently he is an assistant professor of theriogenology and clinical nutrition with the College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University. Dr. Van Saun’s research interests focus on all aspects of ruminant and equine nutrition, especially minerals, and nutrition-reproduction interactions. His research activities with camelids include documentation of the role of vitamin D in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of hypophosphatemic rickets. Current research work is focusing on trace mineral requirements of camelids.