PLEASE NOTE: This guide was written for camelid owners in the Pacific Northwest Region. Different geographical regions in the US may have different parasite issues, soil deficiencies, hay availability, etc., so always be sure to consult with your veterinarian when determining annual vaccinations, feed supplementation, etc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Bedding Feed/water

Shearing

Medical/Health Training

Gear

Useful books/links Routine care

Bedding

STALL SHAVINGS

Wood:

Straw:

Best options are Douglas Fir (lowest dust) or Pine

Flakes size varies from micro (like sawdust) to large flake. We like to put the micro or small flakes down as a first layer and then mix some larger flakes on top to make it cushier.

Shavings do get into alpaca fiber some, but it’s never been an issue for us for shearing each year

Some alpaca owners use straw in their stalls. We have never used it because we prefer shavings so we can't speak to it's usefulness

Stall shavings vendors:

JTS Bedding: Pros: local to Central Oregon, very low dust bedding, price point better than local farm stores.

Wilco: Fir Microshavings or Pine Shavings

ODOR CONTROL

Sweet PDZ granular. Apply to any wet spots on the ground after mucking

TOOLS

Stall rake

Muck bucket/tub

Muck cart (not necessary but helpful when moving filled muck buckets longer distances)

Feed/Water

HAY

Orchard Grass hay is best and you should offer as free feed year round. Alfalfa hay can be fed in moderation if the alpaca is underweight and in need, but it is very high in protein so always consult with your vet to make sure it’s appropriate.

Oregon Hay Facebook Group

We built fence line hay feeders for our animals based off of these plans from Premier 1. We're happy to share how we made them too. These feeders can be made in various sizes. We made ours to hold a week's worth of hay so we need to refill hay just once weekly. You can also just use a standard hay feeder from a farm store, or a poly bucket, etc. if you are okay with refilling more frequently.

We use a handy steel utility cart like this when we need to haul just a couple bales of hay or unload larger bags of feed and move them, etc. You can find these carts a various farm stores and places like Home Depot or Lowes. We also use a poly garden dump cart for various things.

PELLETS

If you have good quality pasture and hay, grain/pellets are generally only needed for young animals, underweight adults, lactating moms, or ill animals. Be careful of choking and only feed in small amounts at a time when needed. If you alpaca starts to choke, massage the left side of the neck using downward strokes. Always make sure you have enough bowls so your alpacas don't fight to get to the pellets since that can

increase choke risk. Also, always spread the pellets in a thin layer. We like to use these boot trays which can be found on Amazon.com or Home Depot or Lowes. These trays allow us to spread a thin layer of pellets out and we use a couple so they are large enough that the alpacas aren't competing for feed.

Haystack Naturals Special Blend: best for animals that need extra nutrition (e.g. underweight, lactating moms, elderly, very young)

Mazuri Alpaca Life: general pellet feed

For alpacas that are elderly and have dental issues and can't chew properly: Soak pelleted feed in warm water to create a mash before serving. Pellets can be fed at 2-3 cups per day for

adult alpaca that needs weight put on, but this amount may vary depending on the alpaca's health, so always consult with your veterinarian.

WATER

Bar Bar Automatic Waterer. Hands down the best investment for your ranch and we highly recommend installing one. Automatic waterers keep the water clean and no buckets to scrub, no freezing water, and your animals have constant water access.

Heated Bucket: These comes in various sizes and are good to have on hand if you have an animal that needs to be separated in a stall in colder

temps and they need their own water source. If your stalls are heated you don't need this.

Poly stock tank or metal stock tank: Both types come in various sizes. The larger size tanks have a drain so that's a bonus, but they are harder to tip over when you want to dump them quickly.

Stock tank heater/de-icer

Stock tank barley straw cleaner. These help to keep stock tanks clean, though only so much.

MINERALS

Stillwater Minerals - Llama 104. Offer free choice in mineral feeder near hay.

TREATS

You can offer fruits and veggies but be sure to cut them in to small pieces to avoid choking. You may need to do a trial and error to see what they like. :)

Shearing

Shearer: Please contact us for recommendations on shearers NOTES:

Shear and trim toes each Spring in May, ideally. Be sure to contact shearer in January or February to get on their schedule.

Do annual alpaca injections at the time of shearing. Shearer will shear, trim toes, and give injections at the same visit so have them ready to go.

You'll need a shady area to shear, access to an electrical outlet, a trash can and broom to sweep up shorn fiber, and a halter and lead for the alpaca to wear. The shearer will bring everything else.

Keep a bottle of DIY Frontline Spray handy for any mite issues. Frontline in the spray form has been discontinued due to issues with the sprayer, but you can mix your own at home.

Directions here. Shearer will spray any "hot spots" if he sees any. Each alpaca gets the following in injectable form. Be sure to buy in advance because Ivermectin can be hard to find due to the

pandemic:

Ivermectin (NOT the Ivermectin PLUS version!). DOSE: 1 cc per 110 lb body weight given subcutaneously. 20 gauge needle.

Vitamin A&D. DOSE: 1 cc per 100 lb body weight, given subcutaneously. 18 gauge needle because the solution is thicker.

Bo-Se. DOSE: Need to get from your veterinarian! 1 cc per 40lbs given subcutaneously

inarian in Central Oregon please

can be found here

Checklist you can reference prior to your vet visit

ALPACA HEALTH

Dealing with Common Maladies of Camelids

Diseases of Llamas and Alpacas - Merck Manual Body condition scoring

Hooves

Teeth (check with your vet on the need to remove fighting teeth in your male alpaca depending on age and more)

Info on deworming and FAMACHA scoring (4 part video. Not Alpaca specific but the explanation of different dewormers and explanation of worm cycles.)

Deworming/medicine dose chart

FIRST AID/MEDICAL

Order an all in one kit from useful-items.com or piecemeal together from Wilco or Coastal. If you put the items together on your own,

I'd recommend getting a a toolbox to keep on hand so you can move the medical items with you easily when you are caring for the alpaca

Disposable plastic gloves

Vetericyn Plus Wound Treatment Vet wrap

Thermometer (purchase here or get at Walgreens) Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment

Clear Eyes Sterile Eye Care Solution

Gauze pads

Betadine or Chlorhexidine Durvet Blood Stop Powder

Weight tape (you could also buy a scale but those are much more expensive)

Catron VI Spray or Swat Original Ointment (use in summer if alpaca has a wound and you need to keep flies off of it)

Hoof trimmers

SYRINGES AND NEEDLES

You can buy the syringes and needles together in a set, or buy them separately where the needles screw on to the syringe. Here's a helpful guide to different sizes. That guide is for humans, but the size descriptions are handy. Here's a helpful guide for giving injections to alpacas. For our animals, we keep the following on hand, and purchase additional sizes when needed:

20 gauge needles with 3cc syringe

Catheter Tip Syringes in 35cc and 10cc size for administering oral medicine. If you only need to administer a small amount of liquid orally you can just unscrew the needle tip off of the 3cc syringes and use those too

Training

PLEASE NOTE - overhandling an alpaca when it is young can result in something called Berserk Male Syndrome or Aberrant Behavior Syndrome. It's a very serious thing. Please check out the following resources: This article talks about it

and here's an informative video that's long but very informative. The best thing

you can do is not over-handle your alpacas. If they invade your space and are in your face aggressively do not tolerate that. We make a practice of never over handling our babies here to specifically avoid Aberrant Behavior Syndrome, so rest assured if you adopt from us you aren't receiving an alpaca that's been set up for this syndrome. If/when we need to bottle fed a cria it's always very business like and we make a point not to over coddle or over handle the cria. To ensure they continue to be properly handled once they are in your care, please just be aware of Berserk Male Syndrome and research how to avoid it. You can most definitely train your alpaca to be okay with being haltered and be social in an appropriate manner, so don't feel like you can't handle them at all, just be aware of the proper ways. Thank you!

TRAINING RESOURCES ONLINE

Basic Camelid Handling, Management, and Monitoring by the Alpaca Owners Association (very helpful video!)

CAMELIDynamics: Training courses BOOKS

The Camelid Companion - The Ultimate Guide to Training your Alpaca or Llama

Gear

HALTERS

Purchase here: https://www.useful-items.com/product-p/002.htm

How to position and train (keep halter high on bridge of the nose to not obstruct breathing): https://youtu.be/L8suUEyYU14

LEADS

You can purchase at any farm store, but we get these from

Wilco: https://www.farmstore.com/product/weaver-leather-mini-pony- poly-lead-rope-with-solid-brass-225-snap-1-2-in-x-7-ft/

COATS

Alpacas don’t need coats unless it’s under 30 degrees and they are under 30 pounds, OR they are elderly/sick and low in weight. Should you ever need a coat, these from Etsy are our favorite due to the style. Warning though, they do take longer to ship because they are

handmade. https://www.etsy .com/listing/211526696/

If you need one faster, this is an option, though in our opinion, they slide around the body more: https://www.useful-items.com/product-p/096.htm

OTHER HANDY ITEMS

Alpacas really enjoy getting their bellies and legs wet during hot weather.

They can do this either in your irrigation sprinklers, or you can buy a sprinkler for them to use. You also just use a regular garden hose and give them a good hosing off. Just avoid their backs and faces. Many

alpacas also enjoy using a baby/kiddie pool to cool off when the temps are high.

Mentioned above in the HAY section, but we use a handy steel utility cart like this when we need to haul just a couple bales of hay or unload

larger bags of feed and move them, etc. We also use a poly garden dump cart for various things. You can find both of these types carts a various farm stores and places like Home Depot or Lowes.

Tarps. Make sure you have a couple of tarps on hand.

Hay twine cutter or you can just use a scissors.

Useful books/links/etc.

BOOKS

Dr. Evans Alpaca Field Manual (pricey, but considered the bible of alpaca care)

WEBSITES

Merck Manual - Veterinary Manual

Useful Llama Items Inc.: Gear, books, medical, etc

GROUPS

Alpaca Everything Facebook Group

TOOLS

One handed gate latch

Routine Care

We’re including our general schedule below in case in helps, but you'll want to develop your own care routine and schedule, and some

of that will be dependent on what you choose to use for your hay feeder size, what type of waterer you choose, your vet visit schedules, etc.

First, the scoop on poop. Check out this article for some great tips on manure

management. Some alpaca poop highlights:

Alpaca poop is often referred to as "beans" because they look like little black beans.

Alpacas poop in communal piles which makes for easier clean up. You can even encourage your herd to poop in a certain area by putting their poop in that spot.

Alpaca poop makes great fertilizer and you can often give it away to gardeners that want it for their garden, or you can spread it in your own field (in an area the alpacas are currently off of) to enrich the soil. Please note - Only spread poop if your alpacas are in good health and parasite free. If you have one sick alpaca you don't want to spread their poop across your pasture and risk others getting sick.

A few companies make "poop vacuums". They can be expensive but folks swear by them. Two examples are the Bean Machine and Greystone Paddock Vacuum

SCHEDULE

Our schedule is below, and additional herd health recommendations from our vet Dr. Oxley can be found here

Daily

Get an eye on all animals for a "wellness check". Make sure no animals are showing signs of being off, such as low energy, not eating, separating themselves from others, not moving around.

Check hay and water. Clean water buckets if needed.

Spot clean stalls as needed with muck rake. Create a pile and dispose of poop there daily, or collect poop in a large muck bucket and add it to a pile weekly.

Weekly

Refill weekly hay

Do larger stall clean outs and replace bedding Quarterly

Health check

Body condition and scoring chart. Video on how to body condition score.

Check eyelid membranes. Pale membranes can indicate anemia and require a call to the vet.

Check toes and trim toenails if needed

Semi-annual

Rotate animals off of main forage pasture and wait 60 days if possible before reintroducing.

Annual

Shearing

Give Covexin 8 Way Vaccination or CD&T injections (consult with vet to determine which one) at time of shearing

SPRING:Get fly control bags and/or order Fly Predators ordered and set up to prepare for fly control for warm months

LATE FALL: order coats, extra bedding, heated water buckets, etc. if needed to prep for cold weather