Category: Alpaca

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Self Feeding Bottle Baby

We were thrilled with our first cria and with it came instant challenge. It was the dam’s first cria and she didn’t have any milk and when we got that going she wouldn’t let baby nurse. (Trust me, we tried everything) Of course that means we now have a bottle baby on our hands.

Thankfully Albina would actually drink from a bottle and not only that it turns out very little intervention from us was needed to get her going. We noticed she liked to drink her milk in the corner of the stall and when she got hungry would always go to the same corner. This got me thinking that I could fashion some sort of bottle holder so I could just put the bottle in there and let her go at it.

If you haven’t figured me out yet I’m one for recycling “junk” found in the barn. I found my old bike and eyed up the water bottle holder. I bet it would hold a baby bottle upside down no problem. So I confiscated it. I put it next to the wall and noticed it didn’t give enough clearance between the bottle and the wall so I dug around the barn again. Ah ha! A section of 2×6. Perfect. Nailed the 2×6 to the wall and screwed the bottle holder to the 2×6 at an angle. The bottle holder bends easily and I could work it so that it would best hold the bottle of milk.

The end result was perfect. I tested it out and Albina immediately took to it. She seemed to enjoy drinking this way and now runs to the corner and nudges the bottle holder when she’s hungry and wants me to come out with more food.  I love it for night feedings.  I use a smaller 8oz human glass bottle.  After warming the milk I stumble out, put the bottle in the holder and stumble back to bed.

A few notes:

  • Milk needs to be kept below 45 deg F to prevent spoiling
  • Warm milk will spoil within 15-30 min
  • Newborn cria need milk to be warmed close to 100 so they are not spending calories to warm milk and to prevent a drop in body temperature.
  • When cria are gaining weight regularly, weather is cooperative, and body temp flux is no longer a worry cold milk could be used so bottles can be kept out longer without supervision.
  • I have read and heard a lot of conflicting information about warm milk vs cold.   Consult your vet and do research before offering cold milk to any cria. 
  • Cold Milk Cons:  body temp loss and promotes diarrhea.
  • Cold Milk Pro:  Ability to offer free choice of milk (if kept cold with an ice pack) prevents cria from over eating in one sitting which tends to lower problems with digestion and lower the chances of them getting diarrhea.

Why bottle feed this way?  If you have a male cria, bottle feeding with little to no human intervention could help prevent berserk syndrome.

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Dutch Hollow’s Albina

Baby’s Arrival Story:

Like many alpaca ranchers we have 2 full time jobs, alpacas and my the day job.  Which means I’m usually working when alpacas are known to go into labor.  No worries we recently fitted the girls stall, paddock and pasture with cameras so I can monitor them while at work.  Seemed like a bit of an expensive thing to do but worth every penny after the arrival of our 1st cria. 

Around 2pm I noticed that Bella was acting strangely on the camera.  She was just a little white dot out in a big green field but the fact she wasn’t with the others concerned me.  By 3pm she would stand up, lay down, roll, walk to a new spot and lay back down.  That was my confirmation that she was truly in distress.  I bid my boss farewell and rushed the long 20 minute trip home.

When I go home sure enough she was well into labor.  The bad news? The weather took a turn for the worse.  50mph winds and driving rain arrived about the same time I did.  I quickly changed clothes, grabbed my cria kit and ran out into the field.  I tried to coax Bella up but she wasn’t about to budge.   Since the weather was so poor I decided to give a little pull on baby to help speed things up.  In about 1 minute of help baby slid out at 4:09pm and was kicking, humming and all around feisty.  I quickly wrapped it up in dry towels and brought it back to the barn in a warm dry stall.  I returned for Bella and managed to get her up and slowly walked her in too to be with her baby. 

I finally had time to dry off baby and check it out.  Whoo hoo a baby girl and a white one at that.  Pink skin around the eyes, nose and clear toe nails.  She’s white alright! 

So what to name her?  Well I’m from Polish decent and my Husband from Italian, it was only fitting to try and pick a name from our roots.  I was pleased to find a Polish/Italian name in my Polish name book that couldn’t be more fitting for this little girl.   Albina (ahl-BEE-nah)  Meaning bright white.

I present to you Dutch Hollow’s Albina! (1/4 Accoyo, Full Peruvian)

 

 

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Economy Horse Run-In Shed Shelter Barn

My weekend was a busy one.  With winter coming so are my winter horse boarders.  This year I ended up filling up my 20×35 run-in shed with hay which means I needed a place for the horses to get out of the wind, rain, and snow. The problem?  Yeah I’m broke.  So after researching shelters that are frequently used for alpacas, sheep, goats, and other small livestock I got to thinking; Why can’t it be modified for horses?   The general idea was to use cattle panels for a shelter as I saw at this site.

Saturday morning I woke up with an “ah ha” moment on how to modify the cattle panel shelter for horses.  The idea was to sink some wood posts, use 3/4″ plywood as a kick board, and attach the panels to that.

How to build the horse run-in shed shelter barn
My Supply List

  • (8) pressure treated posts (round or 4×4 will work)
  • (3) 3/4″ ply wood sheets – non treated ok if painted
  • (3) Cattle Panels 52″ x 16′
  • 12×16 heavy duty tarp
  • box of 2″ screws
  • box of fence staples
  • 30 thick UV black cable ties 11″
  • 100 8″ UV black cable ties
  • Can of barn/fence paint
  • Paint Brush

I placed the posts 4′ apart down the long side and 9′ wide.   We get some good snow and wind storms so I didn’t want to put the posts any wider or the dome wouldn’t hold the wind/snow load.  Once the posts were in I put up the ply wood and made sure it was level holding it up with just a couple of screws temporarily.

So far this was all a 1 person job.  I needed help to put the cattle panels in place.  We bent them up and placed them between the posts and the ply wood pushing them down 2 squares on each side and then screwed the plywood back to the posts.  I also held the panels to the top of the posts with staples.

We over lapped the cattle panels as seen in the photos and secured them heavily with cable ties.

Putting the tarp on was easy, I unfolded it, tied a rope to the 2 end corners and threw the top over the dome and pulled the tarp up and over.   I made sure it was even and secured it down with cable ties.

Finishing touch was to paint the plywood so it would weather better.  You can paint the plywood before securing it but I really didn’t have a place to paint it first and found it easier to paint it after it was up and off the ground.

Cost:  $250
Time: 4hrs – This assume you have a Post Hole Digger or Pounder on your tractor or have rented one.



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UPDATE: On 9/28-29/09 we had some nasty storms roll through.  Sustained winds of 20mph and gusts fof 50mph.  The shelter held fast and didn’t appear to even move in the wind.  I thought the horses would be afraid of the sound of the tarp or the cattle panel roof as the wind hit it but nope.  Even my scardy-cat took cover in the shelter.  I have high hopes for it this winter.  I do plan on brushing snow build up on it not to give it any excuse to sag.
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UPDATE: on 10/25/09 Well the winds have snapped off some of the thick cable ties holding the taprt to the cattle panels.  I’ve decided to replace them with twine from my hay bales.  I folded the twine in half and made sure the knot was tight. I’ve had twine hold a fence gate up for 2 years before it failed so there’s no doubt in my mind it’ll be up to the job of holding a tarp on.
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UPDATE: 12/5/09:
So far so good.  We’ve been putting the Big Bale Buddy in the center of the run-in which is keeping the hay dry and allowing 4 horses, 2 on each side, eat without a problem.
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UPDATE: 3/26/2012:
This year I had to put up new panels and a new tarp.  Nasty wind storms of 70+ mph along with wet snow collapsed the roof finally.  The new roof I put up I decided to shorten a bit and slid the cattle panels down an extra foot on each side.  I’ve also gotten good enough moving the panels that I replaced the whole thing by myself with no assistance!
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UPDATE: 5/15/2012:
I just got some photos from someone else who made one of these shelters.  She made some changes to fit her needs and here’s what she said….

Well I finally finished the run in and I think it came out great!. We adjusted your plan a little. I put pressure treated 2×8’s along the bottom so the plywood wouldn’t rot and put silicone in between the plywood and the pressure treated boards. We also used pine 2×8’s to hold down the cattle panels in addition to putting them behind the posts.  I bolted those on to secure them really well. I cemented all the posts to steady everything. I bought a heavy duty tarp hoping that will hold. I put some plastic edging on the plywood inside so they wouldn’t chew on the wood. I have a young boy who loves to chew. Of course they are really afraid of it since I put the tarp on.  It will take time for them to get used to it. If I feed them in there they will eventually come around.  The size is about 9′ x 24′. I thought it was way too big but it seems fine.

CLICK HERE to see photos of her shed
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Installing Alpaca Paddock Fence

Like most ranchers I’m sure we spent our Labor Day weekend hard at work.  With a new cria due any week now it was long past due to put in field fence.  The last thing I’d want is for a healthy cria to be born just to sneak under the fence and into the horse paddock!

While I worked on taking down the old and installing the new the girls got to enjoy a temporary graze on my “lawn”.   I used, SunGuard II Fiberglass step in posts, Kencove electric twine and a nice wheel winder to make it easier to handle the twine.  Oh, mental note; when using the winding wheels they are fully insulated so if you don’t use all the 800 feet of twine just keep the rest on the wheel, hand the wheel on a nail or something and electrify the fence!  Saves the hassle of cutting your twine just to want it longer the next time you put up a temp paddock. 

Tractor Supply had a great sale on field fence.   Red Brand Field Fence, some t-post clips, and a few wedge-loc diagonal brace kits and I was ready to go.   We decided to take out the old fence totally, grade out the area to level it off and re pound all the t-posts.  I opted to use t-posts instead of wood because our barn is old and located in a bad spot so some day it’ll have to come down and all the fence will have to be moved again.

I’m very happy with the finished look.  The field fence is 47” high and we topped it off with a strand of hot rope.  This way my nosy horses keep their heads on their side of the fence and feet off of it too.


If any of you moved into an old farm and had to work with what was left over after years of neglect you’ll appreciate the first few photos.  

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How to Build an Economical Alpaca Hay Bin

At all the alpaca farms I visited everyone had a different method of feeding their animals hay.  The general consensus was that alpacas (like any other livestock) will make a total mess of hay and instead of eating all of it will make it into a bed, poop or pee on it.  All not good for your hard earned $ that is supposed to be food, not bedding.

I’ve seen folks who just toss out the flakes of hay and let the animals have at it, others who make fancy wooden boxes with cattle panels weighing it down, overhead feeders, and hay nets.

My first year I just threw it on the ground and had a lot of waste so this year I had to think of something else to help save $ on hay.  I really didn’t feel like sawing, nailing, screwing, cutting yadda yadda yadda to make a hay bin, nor did I feel like spending that kind of $$$ to make one either.  My solution had to come from items I had already in the house or barn with minimal out of pocket expense.

The solution? Rubbermaid pink tote hay bins!  Who doesn’t have a ton of Rubbermaid bins hanging around the house?  It turns out 2-3 flakes of hay fit beautifully into these tubs and you can still put the lid on.
COOL! 

Trials:
1. Put hay in bins without lids.  – Resulted in just as much hay waste, the alpacas thought it was a game to dig all the hay out of the bin.  The bin also became a toy and was kicked around.

2. Secure bins to stall wall with screws and washers. – This solved the kicking around the bins but didn’t slow the hay waste down.

3.Cut a hole in bin cover and line the opening with duck tape (hole size ~10”x~12”.  Voila!  – The alpacas can easily get their head in the bin and the lid provided a lip so they couldn’t rake all the hay out of the bin with one mouthful.

Total out of pocket cost?  $0!  I had everything laying around that I needed.  However I’m sure I’m now going to want 2 more bins for something else but at $5 ea. I think I can manage that cost.

I know what you’re thinking, but their heads will get stuck!  Actually, it hasn’t been a problem.  Because the bin is screwed into the wall it’s not moving anywhere and the lids snap on pretty tight.  I guess the worst case scenario would be an alpaca manages to pop the top off while they pull their head out of the bin.  In that case, they will be wearing an interesting necklace until you catch them and take it off.  I’ve been monitoring mine via AlpacaCam and so far no one has even struggled getting their head in or out of the box.  2 alpacas seem pretty comfortable eating out of one box too.

Alpaca Hay Feeder Bin
Alpaca enjoying their new hay bins

Some other cool things about these hay bins.  Easy to load, pop the top off add 2 flakes of hay and snap the top back on.  Should they get really dirty on the inside, 2 screws/washers hold them to the wall.  Unscrew, hose out, dry, and screw back onto the wall.