Feeding Alpacas in Australia

Alpacas are modified ruminants — often called pseudo-ruminants or camelids — with a three-compartment stomach rather than the four-chambered rumen of cattle, sheep and goats. This distinction has practical implications for feeding management that are frequently overlooked when goat or sheep feeding advice is applied directly to alpacas.

The alpaca's digestive system is considerably more efficient than that of true ruminants at extracting nutrition from poor-quality roughage. Alpacas can maintain body condition on pasture or hay that would leave sheep and goats losing weight — a trait that reflects their evolutionary origin in the sparse, high-altitude grasslands of the Andes. This efficiency is an asset in drought conditions and on poorer-quality pastures, but it also means that well-intentioned overfeeding causes problems: alpacas fed high-energy rations appropriate for sheep or goats will become obese, which creates metabolic, reproductive, and birthing complications.

The practical implication is simple: most well-managed alpacas on adequate pasture or reasonable-quality hay do not need grain supplementation. Grain should be reserved for specific high-demand situations — late pregnancy, peak lactation, animals recovering from illness, or animals in poor body condition. Routine grain feeding to animals in adequate body condition is a management mistake that creates fat animals and hides condition changes behind excess weight.

Like true ruminants, alpacas are hindgut fermenters and rely on resident gut microflora to digest fibre. Diet changes must be made gradually over a minimum of ten to fourteen days to allow the microbial population to adapt. Sudden diet changes — even from poor hay to good hay — can cause digestive upset and loose droppings. This is particularly important when transitioning animals onto lush spring pasture after a dry winter.

Good-quality pasture or hay is the foundation of alpaca nutrition. Alpacas do well on mixed pastures of perennial ryegrass, cocksfoot, fescue, and clovers in temperate Australia, and on improved tropical pastures in Queensland and northern NSW. Unlike goats, alpacas are predominantly grazers rather than browsers, and a well-managed pasture system is both the most natural and most cost-effective feeding approach for most Australian properties.

The key pasture management principle for alpacas is avoiding overgrazing. Alpacas graze with a scissor-bite action (unlike sheep and cattle, which tear grass) and will graze pasture very short if given the opportunity. Overgrazed pastures increase parasite contamination risk — larvae climb the lower portions of grass stems and an overgrazed pasture concentrates both the larvae and the grazing animal's mouth at the same level. A minimum pasture height of 5–8cm before regrazing significantly reduces larval intake.

Hay quality is important but often overestimated in terms of the fibre profile required. Alpacas do not need the high-energy legume hays sometimes recommended for cattle and horses. Good-quality oaten hay, wheaten hay, or mixed pasture hay (10–12% crude protein, 8–9 MJ/kg ME) is appropriate for maintenance. Lucerne hay is appropriate for late-pregnant and lactating females but should not be the sole roughage source for all animals — its high protein and energy density will overcondition animals that do not have elevated requirements.

Hay should always be offered off the ground in racks or feeders. Alpacas fed from the ground ingest more soil, which increases worm larval uptake and can cause hypocalcaemia through soil mineral interference. Simple hay nets or racks at chest height are sufficient and dramatically reduce wastage compared to ground feeding.

Australian soils are among the oldest and most mineralogically depleted on earth, and pastures grown on them frequently reflect those deficiencies. Selenium deficiency is widespread across much of southeastern Australia and parts of WA, and is a significant cause of white muscle disease in cria and reproductive failure in adults. Zinc deficiency affects many properties in the southwest and parts of the eastern coast. Copper deficiency occurs on some soil types, though alpacas are more sensitive to copper toxicity than sheep, and supplementation must be done carefully.

Selenium is the most critical supplement for most Australian alpaca properties. Deficiency causes white muscle disease (nutritional myopathy) in cria — a condition that presents as weakness, difficulty rising, and inability to nurse, often fatal if untreated. In adults it causes reduced fertility and compromised immune function. Selenium can be supplemented via annual injection (selenium-vitamin E injectable products), selenium-fortified mineral licks, or selenium-fortified alpaca pellets. Test your animals and soil before supplementing — selenium toxicity (selenosis) causes hair loss, hoof deformity, and death at excessive levels. If you are unsure, have your animals blood-tested for selenium status.

Zinc is required for healthy skin and fleece quality and for immune function. Deficiency causes fleece breaks (a weak point in the fibre that causes breakage during processing) and reduced resistance to infection. Many alpaca-specific mineral supplements include zinc at appropriate levels.

A note on copper: alpacas are considerably more sensitive to copper toxicity than sheep and goats. Do not feed alpacas products designed for cattle or sheep without checking copper levels — copper toxicosis is a real risk and causes fatal liver damage. Use alpaca-specific mineral products and do not assume that sheep minerals or multi-species products are safe.

The simplest approach for most Australian properties is to offer a quality alpaca-specific loose mineral supplement or mineral lick free-choice, supplemented by annual selenium injection where blood tests indicate deficiency. Do not supplement based on assumption — test first, supplement to meet identified deficiencies, and re-test to confirm adequate response.

Water management is frequently underestimated as a nutrition variable in alpacas. Adult alpacas require 4 to 8 litres of clean water per day at moderate temperatures. Lactating females in summer heat can require significantly more. Alpacas will reduce water intake and consequently reduce feed intake when water is of poor quality — fouled, algae-contaminated, or high in dissolved minerals — which leads to body condition loss and reduced production without an obvious immediate cause.

Troughs should be cleaned at least weekly in summer. Algae develops rapidly in warm, sunlit water and produces compounds that give water an unpleasant taste and odour that alpacas will reject. Dark-coloured or shaded troughs reduce algae growth substantially. Fresh water access must be available at all times — not just when the manager is present. Check automatic float valves regularly; a stuck float that causes a trough to run dry overnight in midsummer is a genuine emergency.

Water quality (as opposed to availability) is worth testing if you are using bore water, dam water, or water from old infrastructure. High sulphate, high fluoride, or high salt levels in water reduce intake and can cause chronic health issues over time. A basic water quality test through your state agriculture department or a commercial laboratory costs very little and can identify problems that are otherwise extremely difficult to diagnose.

Alpaca nutritional requirements change significantly through the production cycle, and a flat feeding program that treats all animals identically will underfeed some and overfeed others.

Dry females and wethers (non-pregnant, non-lactating) have the lowest nutritional requirements and should be managed on pasture or good-quality hay without routine grain supplementation. Target body condition score 3 out of 5.

Pregnant females have increasing nutritional requirements as pregnancy progresses. In the first seven months of the eleven-month alpaca gestation, requirements are only modestly above maintenance. In the final three months — when 70% of foetal growth occurs — energy requirements increase by 30 to 50% above maintenance. Begin grain supplementation gradually from month eight or nine of pregnancy: 100–200g per day of a quality alpaca pellet or an oat-based supplement. Do not overfeed late-pregnant females — fat dams have significantly more birthing difficulties and poorer cria survival rates. Target BCS 3 to 3.5 at birth.

Lactating females have the highest energy and protein requirements of any production stage. Peak lactation occurs in the first three to four months after birth. Maintain supplementary feeding of 200–300g of alpaca pellets per day through peak lactation and monitor condition carefully — a lactating female losing condition despite supplementation may have a health issue, a dental problem, or inadequate pasture access.

Cria and weaners should have access to high-quality pasture or good hay from birth, and begin consuming solid feed alongside the dam from a few weeks of age. Post-weaning is a nutritionally critical period — the stress of weaning combined with the loss of the dam's milk requires that high-quality forage is available ad libitum. Do not wean onto poor-quality dry pasture or inadequate hay.