We bowl feed our alpacas, rather than trough feed them. We feed them Blue Seal's Norm Evans Formula. The nursing moms get Gestation & Lactation. The crias and weanlings also get Gestation & Lactation until one year old. The amount is determined by weight and age. Everyone else gets the Maintenance Formula. As you can see, trough feeding would be impossible with this feeding program. Slow eaters are together and with green panels and gates, we can put 2-3 alpacas in each section. The bowls are marked with their names so that each animal gets his/her rationed formula. At feeding time the gates are opened and each alpaca runs to his/her spot, even the two-month-old crias. We currently have 14 alpacas and will just add extra spots as we need them. Another thing that we do is use commands for the alpacas. We use stand when we need to trap or halter. If an alpaca crowds another alpaca or wants to enter another alpaca's eating spot, we say, back. The alpaca will back up. When we need to get by an alpaca, particularly when they are all just standing around the paddock, we say, excuse me and they move out of the way, I'm not kidding!

Geri and Frank Gabriel
Lakeside Alpaca Farm

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