WINTER PLANNING
PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT – PLANNING AHEAD In the last of her series of practical management articles Kate Brookes, Mullacott Alpacas, offers some useful pointers to ensure your herd is ready for autumn and winter.
Why should I prepare now for winter? It is much easier to prepare in advance for winter. Putting up shelters and fencing is easier in dry weather rather than attempting either job when the ground is wet and muddy. You may also find there is a waiting list for your preferred shelter or for a worker to build it if necessary. Hay will probably be less expensive, and you can be sure of the best selection, when you buy early - so long as you have space to store it, or can arrange for your order to be kept for you. How can I make the most of winter grazing? You are likely to have enjoyed maximum grazing for the last few months and those months when the grass hardly grew, or disappeared under water or mud seem a long time ago - but they will be back. Plan how you can maximise grazing as grass growth slows and stops once the temperature is below about eight degrees Celsius. Thorough poo picking will limit areas unsuitable for grazing and
> Making hay while the sun shines
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good weed control will keep your entire paddock edible. Ask yourself; can you add drainage to allow more of the field to be grazable during the winter? Have you a system in place to rotate and rest paddocks? Should I buy hay or haylage? Hay is fully dried and does not need plastic wrapping, but when unwrapped hay will need to be stored undercover. Haylage is partially dried and can vary in moisture content when baled. It will have been plastic wrapped to exclude oxygen and stop the rotting process. Haylage needs to be eaten within a few days of opening – spread it out well after opening to allow further drying. This will help to make your bale last longer otherwise it can overheat and start to rot. The wetter the grass at baling the quicker this will happen. Owners with small herds may find there is considerable wastage with haylage when the bale is not eaten quickly.
Hay and haylage comes mainly in big round bales and small square (actually rectangular) bales. A round bale is equivalent to about 10 small bales. Buying a round bale is more economical but you will need specialist equipment to move it and round bales may not suit your available storage area. Wrapped bales can be stored outside saving you inside space but make sure there are no holes in the plastic. Hay is not normally a huge expense which means it may be easier to have bales you can handle without too much difficulty. How much hay will I need? This will of course depend on the number of alpacas you have but pregnant, nursing, working or growing alpacas will need more hay than those spending their time “relaxing” in a field. The amount will also vary depending on how palatable your hay is. My alpacas prefer their hay not to be too coarse and stemmy. They will carefully burrow Continued on the next page >>
