• Basic Camelid Nutrition
» Topic Index
Dry Matter (DM) – dry matter of a feed is used to denote the dry content of the feed. This is an intuitive statement, right? If you are comparing several feeds, then you need to be able to compare them on an equal basis; dry matter is that equalizer.
How do you convert as-fed values to the determined dry matter…multiply your feeds composition value, ie. crude protein, by the decimal dry matter as shown below:
If the DM = 90%, then multiply by 0.90.As-fed Crude Protein x 0.90 = DM Crude Protein
To convert DM feed values to an as-fed value, then you divide the feed composition value by the decimal DM value:
DM Crude Protein / 0.90 = As-fed Crude Protein
Keeping values in DM or As-fed format while calculating feed requirements or availability is important.
Protein, or Crude Protein (CP) as it is most often denoted in feed analysis, is the portion of the diet that provides the amino acids required for the building of cells and function of cells. Amino acids are called the building blocks of the body and contain nitrogen atoms. There are twenty amino acids, ten essential (required in the animal's diet) and ten nonessential (not needed in the diet; can be made by the animal).
The importance of CP in the diet is for the amino acids. Proteins are found in the plant cells like the animal cells. So, as the animal eats the plant material the microbes of C1 (see Camelid Digestive Tract) will break down the plant cells making the components available for further digestion. The protein is digest, or broken down to amino acids, and absorbed into the blood stream for use where the animal needs.
Amino acids are used by the cell to make protein hormones like insulin, to make milk proteins, to make cellular proteins, and a host of other proteins needed by the body.
What happens when the animal consumes more dietary protein than they need? The body has a way of using the excess protein, but it requires energy to utilize this protein. The excess amino acids are deaminated; this means the nitrogen atom is taken from the amino acid molecule leaving basically a carbon skeleton. This carbon skeleton is then used as an energy source. So why does it cost the alpaca to liberate the nitrogen? The cost comes in the liberation of the nitrogen from the amino acid and the process of excreting that nitrogen out of the body in urine. The nitrogen itself is toxic to the animal and has to be transformed to a compound called urea. Once it is in the urea state is is no longer toxic to the alpaca and can be excreted via urine.
Does that mean that urea is bad? No, not if in limited amounts. The camelid family has adapted to low protein diets and part of that adaptation is that they recycle the urea they produce. This process of urea recycling takes the urea from the blood into C1 where the microbial population uses it for the formation of microbial protein, their own cells amino acid requirements.
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The fiber is the polysaccharide content of plants and can be expressed in two different ways; both are describing the same component of a feed. The two methods of expressing fiber are the Crude Fiber method and the Fiber Fractionation method. The component they are both describing is the structural component of the plant cells. The crude fiber method looks at the overall fiber content of the feed, while the fractionation method breaks the fiber down into sugar, starch, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and lignin fractions. Plant cells (see figure 1) are the basic unit of the plant. Millions of these cells together make up the plant. The plant cell is similar to our cells, except they have a structural component called the cell wall. This cell wall is made of cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectins, fructans, beta-glycans and lignin. Each is made up of molecules of glucose (a sugar) and other materials. Cellulose is long chains of glucose (see figure 2), hemicelluloses consist of xylans, glucomannoglycans, arabinogalactans, arabinans and arabinoxylans; and lignin is a matrix of polyphenolic compounds associated with polysaccharides. The camelid can break down the hemicelluloses most of the cellulose and none of the lignin. So, the fractionation method gives you more information in your feed analysis about what portion of the feed your animal is able to digest and utilize. |
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Carbohydrates are saccharides; saccharides are commonly known as sugars. There are several sugars that are important, glucose being the most important. Others include fructose and galactose. Fructose is found in fruits and when couples with glucose forms table sugar. Galactose bound to a glucose is lactose, milk sugar. Glucose linked in long chains is known as cellulose. Glucose in chains and branched like a tree is known as starch. So, the plant takes solar energy and transforms it to chemical energy, glucose, and uses this glucose to make cellulose for the cell structure and stores it as starch in the seed, an energy source for the seedling. Carbohydrates are the dietary energy source for the alpaca. The plant material the alpaca eats is madeup of carbohydrates. |
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Energy is the ability to do work. Energy exhists in many forms and includes solar, chemical, mechanical and heat. Plants, through photosynthesis, convert solar energy to chemical energy, glucose. The plant uses this glucose for structural needs, for its own cellular energy needs and will also store it as starch. The plant material the alpaca eats is then broken down through the digestive process, liberating the glucose for its energy needs.
Glucose is an energy storage molecule. The cells of all living orgaism breakdown the glucose molecule, step-by-step, transforming the energy it contains to a usable enrgy form called ATP. The ATP is then used by the cell as the energy its needs to function properly. These funtions go on continually, so energy is needed continually.
What does the body do if it is short on energy? It begins to look for other energy sources. Fat and protein are body stores of potential energy. If energy needs are not met through carbohydrates the body will start taking from fat stores and even from protein stores. Have you seen one of your pregnant females go from being in perfect body condition to being skinny soon after she has her cria? Her energy needs have increased due to lactation and the diet is not meeting her energy needs. So, she starts taking from her fat stores (see body condition). Once she has depleted her fat stores she will begin to use her muscle protein. This should give you an idea of the importance of energy.
Fats, or lipids as they are also called, are important to the body in many way. The alpaca accumulates lipids from dietary intake and by making them. Lipids are stored in fat cells throughout the body. Lipids are stored in fat cells for future energy needs.
The "fat" nutrient category includes a number of substances which include: glycerides, most commonly known as triglycerides; phospholipids, cell structure; cholesterol, also cell structure; and sterols, which include testosterone and estrogen.
Triglycerides are composed of four molecules bound together: glycerol and three fatty acid molecules (see figure to the left).
Minerals are elements required for good health and productivity. Minerals are divided into macro- and micro-minerals depending on the amount that is needed. Macro-minerals include: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, chloride, potassium and sulfur. Micro-minerals include: iodine, iron, copper, zinc, selinium manganese, chromium and cobalt.
A good way to supplement minerals is to include it with vitamins in a pellet or crumble and feed this on a daily basis. DO NOT mix supplements, you will over supplement your alpaca and that will lead to problems. Find one supplement that is good and use it at the recommended level.
Vitamins are compounds that have very important for health and productivity like minerals. Vitamins are divided into two categories: fat soluble and water soluble. Fat soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E and K. Water soluble vitamins include the B vitamins (B1, thiamine; B2, riboflavin; B3, niacin, B5, pantothentic acid; B6, pyridoxine; and B12, cyanocobalamine), biotin, vitamin C, choline, folic acid and inositol.
Vitamins A, D and E are the vitamins that need to be supplemented, while the others are found in dietary levels meeting the animals needs. Some of the vitamins are produced by the microbes of C1 and are then available to the alpaca.
Pasture management is a very important component of your alpaca business.
More will be added soon!! Please check back and we will discuss how to sample your pasture for nutrients.
There are many thoughts about what type of grass is best for alpacas.
More will be added soon!! Please check back.
There are many aspects to consider when looking for and managing grass hay. Before you buy your hay have it tested. Most hay producers won't have a problem leting you test it. The more you know about the hay the better your management will be. By testing the hay you will also get a sense of the baling quality; whether it is moldy or dusty. Most important is what nutrients will it provide to your animals. Hay is a major yearly investment that will have a great impact on your animals, especially during the winter months where, for most, the cold is a real stressor for the alpaca.
More will be added soon!! Please check back.
Alfalfa hay is either thought of as not being a good feed for alpacas because of its high CP content. Although this is true in some cases, alfalfa hay can play an important role in the nutritional health of your alpacas.
More will be added soon!! Please check back.
Grain supplementation is a tool in your nutritional management scheme. What grain supplement to use and who should it be fed to are the first questions to ask. There are several supplements on the market.
More will be added soon!! Please check back.
The analysis of your feeds is an important tool in your management of alpacas. There are several forage labs across the country that can analyze your pasture, hay, grain supplement and water. Click here for a listing of certified labs. Understanding the results can sometimes be difficult, but once you learn what you are looking for the results will become a valuable tool.
I use the Dairy One forage lab because I am familiar with their printout and have great confidence in the results. Most labs will analyze forages by "wet chemistry" methods or by NIR (Near Infrared Reflectance spectroscopy) methods. Wet chemistry will cost more and is more time consuming because each test is determined individually. NIR is cheaper, faster and the technology has improved to provide accurate results. NIR can only be used for certain forages, so look at the"Applicability" documentprovided by Dairy One.
The sample you send in needs to be representative of the entire forage lot. For example, if you have a hay stack, randomly pick atleast twelve bales throughout the stack and obtain a core sample using a hay core sampler (see picture to the right). The easiest way to mix the core samples is to dump them into a large ziploc bag. Seal the bag, then roll it around, mixing the content. A sample from the bag is then taken and placed in a small ziploc bag and sent to the lab.
Click here to see a sample of a forage test result.
The camelid digestive tract is a unique organ among herbivorous (plant eating) species. Camelids have a stomach system that is composed of three compartments: C1, C2 and C3. Compartment 1 (C1) is similar to a cows rumen and is a fermentation vat where microbes (bacteria, fungi and protozoa) break down the plant material consumed. Compartment 2 (C2) filters the material and absorbes water. Compartment 3 (C3) is the true stomach, or the acid stomach.
The camelid stomach has glandular saccules associated with C1 and C2 which secrete buffers to maintain the pH of the digestion material for optimal microbial growth. These are the glandules that keep the camelid from bloating like other ruminant species (cows and sheep). This buffer allows the microbes to remain health and growing while breaking down as much of the plant material consumed as possible. "Happy bugs means a happy alpaca!!!"
In the digestive tract of the alpaca there are microbes; bacteria, protazoa and fungi. These microbes help the alpaca digest the plant material they eat. Part of the digestion process includes the microbes using the plant material to build themselves (ie. protein and other cellular components) so that they can divide and build in numbers. A healthy C1 and C2 require these microbe populations to grow and flourish. There is a symbiotic relationship between the alpaca and the microbes; the alpaca eats the plant material, the microbes utilize the material to grow and flourish and in return they breakdown the plant material for further digestion by the alpaca and also provide nutrients themselves. As the digesta (ingested plant material) passes through the digestive tract these microbes also pass through. They are madeup of lipids, proteins and other compounds that the alpaca can absorb and use for their own needs.
Microbial protein is one of these compounds that the alpaca can use. The protein is broken down to amino acids and the amino acids are absorbed and used by the alpacas cells to build proteins they need.
More will be added soon!! Please check back.
Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN)
Total digestible nutrients; the name pretty much explains what it is. TDN includes crude protein, crude fiber and fat. Other components are included, but are very minor and really do not add much to the TDN value. TDN depicts the nutrient availability of a feed to the animal. The percentage value of a feed does not tell you what each (CP, fiber or fat) makes up the feed, so its sole purpose is to give an overall evaluation of the feed available nutrients.
Nutrient requirements for camelids is sparse at best and what is out there is mostly derived from goat and sheep data. Nutrition requirements for camelids have been published in several books or scientific articles. The references are presented below:
- Nutrient Requirements of Small Ruminants, 2006 National Research Council
- The Alpaca Book, Eric Hoffman
- Alpaca Field Manual, 2005, Dr. Norman Evans
The nutrient requirements are outlined in the advanced nutrition page. I have taken my nutrition seminar presentation and adapted it for the webpage. You will also find examples there to help guide you through your own application.
As you look at nutrient requirements you will see metabolic body weight (MBW) used. When you see
then MBW is being used to adjust the animal's weight to a metabolic basis.
An example of how to calculate MBW is presented below. If we have a 150 pound alpaca, first we need to convert the pounds to kilograms (kg; most requirements are based on the metric system), so we divide the 150 by 2.2. Our alpaca weighs 68.2 kg.
So, the MBW of our alpaca is 23.7. MBW is used to convert the physical weight of an animal to its metabolic weight, or the portion of an animals weight that is metabolic rate. Once converted it can be compared to other animals of the same species or another species; for nutrition purposes, comparing "apples to apples". If you are using a spreadsheet, or on some calulators, to raise the weight to the 0.75 power you use the "^" character which is "shift" 6.
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