One option is to separate the llama from its herd, at least temporarily, so it can be fed a specific diet. I started this program this year and she lost 40 pounds.
Often in the form of pellets, these supplements are usually commercial products that may or may not be made especially for llamas. I like to do a 1 to 4 ratio of llama pellets to oats. For example, llamas in the U. In addition, certain areas of the U. In addition, people raise llamas for different reasons, and this may factor into whether or not they provide supplements.
For example, some people focus on breeding and selling llamas, while others may raise them for the fiber they produce. Other people simply have them as pets. He also shows his herd at local fairs. Instead, they have long bottom teeth, and they have molars on both top and bottom to grind vegetation.
Nevertheless, llamas love fruit and vegetables. Therefore, some llama owners will cut up these treats into small pieces that their animals can consume safely. Aislinn Sarnacki, a staff writer for Hello Homestead, is an avid hiker and wildlife enthusiast who is passionate about conservation and has an interest in self-sufficiency, survivalism, foraging and all things green. She and her husband live in the woods of Maine, where they collect chaga mushrooms, befriend flying squirrels and struggle to garden in the rocky soil.
How to start a market garden. Is it possible to have carbon neutral — or even carbon negative — beef? Mealworms can safely eat toxin-laden polysytrene. If some grains are recommended, be sure to purchase pelleted grains designed specifically for llamas and alpacas. It is important to know that, while many llamas in the US and Canada and many other places graze where they are kept, they are also browsers and will nibble shrubs and tree leaves.
Providing opportunities to browse in addition to grazing can provide a diet closer to those where they originate. While they consume quite a bit of dry fiber, there is a maximum amount they should consume daily. While there is some variation, some estimates range between 1. You should always speak to your veterinarian for their suggestions. For example, if Ellie weighs lbs and requires 1.
Pasture grass should be tested for sugar, protein, and mineral content, as the results will help guide you in the right direction. This is about safety, as too much or too little of some components can cause health issues, requiring limited grazing or vitamin and mineral supplementation. Grasses that are grown as pasture may become weather-leached when they reach maturity, resulting in reduced digestible energy, protein, as well as soluble carbohydrates, carotene, and other minerals.
The type of grass and location or season in which it is grown may also affect nutritional quality. There are two main types of grasses: cool and warm season varieties. The cool season grasses tend to mature at slower rates, and therefore, their overall quality also tends to deteriorate less rapidly.
Grass hays are generally better than alfalfa because of the potential for excess protein and calcium intake; this can cause hypercalcemia Hypercalcemia refers to a condition where calcium levels in the blood are above normal. There is a debate on the provision of alfalfa to llamas for this reason. Smaller amounts mixed with grass hay are often fine depending on the resident and adding alfalfa to certain residents with additional protein requirements can be beneficial. There are many types of grass hays with different nutritional values.
The crude protein levels in grass hays have a particularly wide range. More mature grass hays may not have enough protein to meet the needs of residents, requiring additional sources, possibly from alfalfa. Additionally, the area it is grown in, what season it is harvested, whether it is a first, second, or third cutting, and whether it is a cool or warm variety of grass all impact the nutritional content. Cool grasses are grown in temperate regions and include timothy , orchard , and fescue.
Overall, these have a little higher level of digestibility and crude protein. Warm grasses are grown in tropical and subtropical environments and include bahama , bahia , and dallis grass. Alfalfa nutritional content will vary as well, with some being lower or higher in protein.
Keep a watch out if the alfalfa has a lot of rich leaves, as this can cause them to selectively eat just the leaves, potentially resulting in an undesired outcome for the resident. This is why all forage intended for resident consumption should be analyzed. Otherwise, you are just guessing and residents may not get their nutritional needs met.
Interestingly, llamas and alpacas differ in their forage preferences, with llamas often choosing lower quality, coarser forage, whereas alpacas often choose softer, moister, higher quality forage when given the choice. Llamas are selective foragers, so providing a mix of pasture and mixed hays can allow them to express this natural behavior. As previously mentioned, llamas are browsers as well as grazers. Browse includes shrubs, bushes, and trees, and really any woody plant. When they are browsing, they often select leaves, twigs, and buds.
Browse can vary in nutritional content and can be difficult to analyze if it grows naturally in their outdoor living spaces. If you have a good amount of browse available, you can follow your residents to see what they choose and then gather a sample for analysis.
Care should be taken to prevent access to any plants that may be toxic to llama residents. Supplementing browse in a grass-only pasture can allow for natural selective feeding behaviors, which can help create a llama-centered feeding program and environment. Llamas healthy adults require percent protein, depending on their activity levels, life stage, and pregnancy status. Llamas have the notable ability to internally recycle nitrogen that is part of amino acids consumed in protein sources.
This results in a lower need for protein in their diet. However, proteins are still important as they provide both the essential and nonessential amino acids that llamas need. How much of these amino acids an individual llama needs depends largely on their age, activity level, and whether they are pregnant or lactating.
As mentioned above, hays and pasture grass contain protein, so careful attention must be paid to the protein and sugar content of hays and grass. Legume hays, such as alfalfa, are generally significantly higher in protein and could cause health issues in resident llamas if they consume too much.
Your veterinarian may recommend a certain amount for certain individuals for health or growth-related reasons. Otherwise, offering a small handful as a treat now and then or mixing it with larger portions of grass hay may be an option for some residents.
Llamas and alpacas, being similar to ruminants, require dietary fat content to be carefully controlled, as fat can adversely disrupt the microbial populations in the fermentation vat. Be Careful With Copper! Do not feed trace mineral products to llama residents that are designed for other species. Llamas require much less Copper to meet their nutritional needs than many other resident species. Too much Copper will result in Copper toxicity, which is generally a progressive disease that can result in death, so care must be taken.
However, Copper deficiency is also a problem, so you still need to be sure their nutritional requirement for Copper is being met. Talk to your veterinarian about Copper toxicity and how to provide the right balance for your residents. Free-choice salt feeding is the easiest method to provide salt, especially for llamas eating pasture. Here is a chart with some basic feeding guidelines for a lb adult llama who is not lactating:.
Like horses, llamas can potentially choke from eating too much grain too quickly and from not drinking enough water. You can prevent potential choking by feeding your llamas their daily grain separately from one another. This allows them to eat at their own pace instead of trying to compete with other llamas. You can also layer their grain with hay, to force them to eat more slowly. They will have to hunt for the grain within the hay instead of eating it in mouthfuls at a time.
Always make sure that you llamas have adequate access to water while they are eating to prevent food impaction within their throat. Most llamas enjoy eating alfalfa cubes or loose alfalfa hay but it should only be fed with an abundance of caution and only in moderation. If your llama is overweight, they will not need the additional protein, but alfalfa can be beneficial to underweight or pregnant llamas.
While it is impossible to determine an exact cost of owning a llama, it will be noticeably less than the cost of feeding a cow or horse.
If you have a grass pasture, the cost to feed a llama will be relatively low. Three llamas can comfortably graze on a single acre of good pasture without the need for additional feed. If you need to provide hay and grain to supplement limited grass, especially during winter months, then the cost will go up. A llama eating hay will need between 1.
As a general estimate, a single llama will eat between 50 — 75 pounds of hay per month. Hay costs vary based on the type of hay as well as from region to region. A pound bag of grain will last one llama about 50 days if you feed one pound per day. Grain or other feed developed specifically for horses should not be fed to llamas. Horse feed can be high in copper, a mineral that can be toxic for llamas when consumed in high amounts.
Sweet feeds should also be avoided because the high sugar content can cause digestive issues in llamas. The best rule of thumb is to only feed your llamas natural forage, vegetation, and fruits as well as grains made especially for camelids. Llamas are relatively easy keepers and do not require a lot of work or money if you have at least an acre or two of high-quality pasture.
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