What do alpacas eat?

Eighty percent (80%) of the alpaca and llama diet must be grass and/or quality hay. Alpaca and llama diets vary in different regions of North America, depending on pastures, available supplements, and breeder preferences. The remaining twenty percent (20%) of the diet should consist of pellets, minerals, and probiotic supplements.

The Camelid Stomach

Alpacas and llamas have three stomachs. The first stomach is a big “fermentation vat” for all the hay and grass they eat. The second and third stomachs extract the nutritional components of their food intake. So, to keep your alpacas and llamas healthy, you need to keep the first stomach, the fermentation vat, in constant good working order.

Pasture grass and hay

The grass or hay from your pasture should have about twelve percent (12%) protein. You can contact your county agricultural extension office for information on how and where to test your pasture grass. Typically, a grass or hay test will cost around $15 to $20 US dollars. If you’re buying hay, get “horse quality” hay. You will need approximately one 70-pound square bale per animal per week, plus another ten percent (10%) hay for contingencies. For example, if some females come to your ranch to breed. If you need to feed 6 adult alpacas hay for 16 weeks, you would buy (6*16) = 96 plus 0.10 * 96 = 9.6, or 106 bales.

The hay you buy should be free of mold. Do no let the hayboy unload the hay from his truck until he has done a “smell test” on several bales. It should have a sweet grassy smell. If it smells moldy, it’s moldy. So don’t buy weed.

regular meal times

It doesn’t matter what time of day you feed your alpacas supplemental pellets, as long as you feed them at a regular time every day. This helps keep your first stomach in good working order.

The alpaca’s stomach generates a lot of heat. Therefore, you can change the feeding schedule to better match the season of the year. For example, if you live in a very hot summer climate, you can feed them at night, rather than during the day, to avoid generating unnecessary body heat during the hot part of the afternoon.

Supplemental pellet feeding

Many alpaca owners are feeding too many additional granules. There is a relationship between how much an alpaca eats and the production of fine or coarse fiber. Overfeed the alpacas and produce thick fiber! While we don’t want to starve our animals to produce fine fiber, the goal is to feed them efficiently.

There are different brands of quality alpaca pellets, which usually come in 40 to 50 lbs. trousers. A pellet with about fifteen percent (15%) protein is recommended. Each bag has a final label that gives the nutritional values, the amount of granules for males, non-pregnant females, pregnant and lactating females and crias (babies). Generally, pregnant and lactating females should receive 1 pound of pellets per day. Males and nonpregnant females should receive 1/2 pound daily, and pups should receive 1/4 to 1/3 pound of pellets daily.

In winter, when there is no grass available and the alpacas eat hay, I increase the amount of pellets per day by fifteen percent. In the summer in my area (East Texas), I cut back on the daily pellets a lot because the animals have access to plenty of grass. In addition, it is so hot that the animals do not go out to eat in the sun. Rather they sit in front of fans all day. So they don’t move around much and therefore don’t burn as many calories. They need less food in summer.

Alfalfa

I also mix alfalfa with my pellets for certain animals, at certain times. However, you should be careful about overfeeding alfalfa. Too much alfalfa interferes with the balance of available calcium and potassium in an animal’s system. I typically feed 5 parts pellets to 1 part alfalfa to my pregnant females. Males only get alfalfa in winter.

Other supplements

Other food supplements include minerals and probiotics. Alpacas and llamas need selenium and other minerals that are not available in some North American soils. Minerals come in the form of loose granules and as compressed blocks. I have found that mineral blocks are significantly less expensive than loose granules. When you buy mineral block, don’t no buy salt blocks You probably won’t find mineral blocks made specifically for alpacas and llamas. So buy the equine or goat mineral blocks.

Probiotics are another important food supplement. Probiotics have microorganisms that help the alpaca’s first stomach break down the tough cellulose in hay and grass. There are two categories of probiotics: those based on lactobacillus and those based on brewers’ years. They are both excellent. If you see an alpaca having diarrhea, probiotics help get their digestive system back on track. You can sprinkle a teaspoon of probiotics on top of the granules daily for several days. I always offer probiotics to my alpacas and llamas after giving them oral deworming medications.