2023/2024 Alpaca Owners Guide

 HAY CATCHER: The invaluable“under $1 tool”can be purchased at any pet supply store! Great for use with both automatic waterers and water buckets. Use this fish net to catch all that fine hay, and keep your hands out of the water.

 AUTOMATIC WATERER: Automatic waterers save time and resources. No need to haul gallons of water, lug around hoses, or dump and clean out water troughs.

Waterers provide a reliable source of cool water during the summer and prevent freezing during the winter. Fresh flowing water also means less breeding ground for disease-carrying insects such as mosquitos.

 CUSTOM POOP SIFTER: This is the “rake that sweeps”— which means fewer flinging and flying beans. This device requires a little bit of assembly. Buy two rakes: one, a Durafork-brand rake (with unique angled design), and the other, any generic livestock pen rake. Take the Durafork rake and attach a piece

of hardware cloth with plastic ties. Use the two rakes together to sweep and scoop, like a broom and dustpan. This Custom Poop Sifter is designed to collect the beans, yet leave the paddock pea gravel and sand behind. Approximate cost is about $14 for the generic broom, and about $18 for the Durafork rake.  HANGING WATER BUCKET: These flat-backed buckets come with custom hooks that allow you to hang them on livestock panels — especially good for county fairs and alpaca exhibitions. No more water spills due to kicked over buckets! Just cut a piece of angle iron to the size of the flat bucket back, drill two holes in it, then install two 8” threaded “J” hooks through holes and secure with a nut on each side of the hole. We also added a piece of Velcro to the handle, so it can be tied back to the stall panel.

 WASTE-FREE HAY BUNK: This hay bunk is solid cedar, 20” x 48”, and is sealed for weather protection. The wheels and handles make for easy transport, especially useful when moving the feeder to a spot out of the rain. We added

a wire grid, which greatly reduces hay sorting and waste. The grid goes down as the alpacas empty the feeder. The smooth coating on the grid eliminates fleece loss on noses. And, “heads down” feeding does away with top knot contamination that can occur with overhead

feeders. The wire grid, known as grid-wall, can be found at outlets that sell store fixtures, and can be cut to the desired size using an angle grinder.

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