Question:  What hay is best for alpacas?

I would like your opinion on the type of hay alpacas should have.  We have heard straight orchard grass, also orchard mixed with timothy and clover, or timothy, alfalfa, and clover mixed.  I know that second cutting is best, but what kind is best for them?

Answer:

This is Dan Linden returning your question about hay.

The sad thing is that there is no BEST hay. All hay is grown in different soils during different weather conditions. The only way to know if the hay that you are interested in is right for your animals is through testing.

Camelid hay should be fresh smelling, not dusty or moldy.

It should be more leaves than stems if legumes are involved (clover or alfalfa)

It should be free of briars, thistles, and prickers. They just hurt.

If it is tested, the crude protein should be around 10-12%.

Total Digestible Nutrients should be as high as possible. 60%+

Neutral detergent fiber should be roughly 50%, acid detergent fiber roughly 30%.

As far as second cutting versus other cuttings, it is a rule of thumb that later cuttings are better, however, anything that was cut at a mature state or has been rained on would be of lower quality. So, a third cutting that has been rained on may be of worse quality than a second or even a first cutting that was harvested before seedheads developed and harvested during appropriate weather.

The question of plant variety is also not a simple question.

Orchardgrass, timothy, clover, and alfalfa can all make good, nutritious hays. However, each has negative aspects as well.

Alfalfa hay is generally of high quality and nutrition. However, alfalfa can be very stemmy especially with excessive handling. This knocks off leaves and increases the stemmy plant issues. Stemmy plants may lead to tooth root abscesses. 

I generally avoid high percentages of alfalfa in hay because alfalfa can often times be too high of quality and leads to obesity issues.

Grass hays are usually softer and less stemmy than legume hays.

Orchardgrass can be a rapidly maturing grass that makes overly mature hay. Newer varieties are slower maturing. I prefer an Orchardgrass hay that has been properly harvested and managed.

Timothy seed heads can be difficult to remove from an animal's fiber. But, if it had seed heads should we have really made hay with it anyways?

Clover is difficult to dry and makes very dusty hays.

In short, camelid hay should be fresh smelling, non stemmy, pricker proof hay. It should be tested to determine quality. Plant variety and number of cutting matters less than timeliness of cutting and nutrient quality.

This is the short and sweet answer to hay for camelids.

I hope that this has answered some of your questions.

Feel free to email me back if you have any more questions.

Good Luck and Good Grazing,

Dan Linden