Winter - Classical Mileend Alpacas

Advertising Feature
Functional
Complementary
Feeding for
Camelids
Gro-well Feeds suggest that
camelids benefi t when their natural
digestive function is complemented
to maintain foregut microfl ora.
34 Alpaca World Magazine Winter 2004/05
Camelids are viewed as pseudo
ruminants or cranial digestors. The
three, compartmental foregut is the
‘Fermentation Vat’ of the animal, which houses
the means of extracting nutrients from forage. It
is the process of fermentation involving billions
and billions of bacteria that achieve this. It is
estimated that one millilitre of ‘fermenter’ fl uid
can contain 10 to 50 billion bacteria, protozoa,
yeasts and fungi. Maintaining the status of this
microbial soup is crucial for the well being of the
camelid.
Functional feeding is the incorporation of
‘nutricines’ i.e.nutritional elements that also
convey health benefi ts, into feedingstuffs that
are complimentary to the physiology and natural
state of the animal being fed. These ‘nutricines’
include prebiotics, galactolipids, polar lipids,
antioxidants, yeast cultures and beta glucans.
To maintain natural digestive functioning in
the Camelid is to compliment the status of the
foregut microfl ora and to provide only positive
nutrition in terms of encouraging microbial
digestion through selected feedsources,
environmental stabilizers and the exclusion of
antagonists. Prebiotics are energy sources for
benefi cial bacteria. Yeast cultures, antioxidants
and polar lipids provide environmental stability,
regeneration of the gut wall and protection to
the mucosal lining of the gut. Galactolipids act
as natural emulsifi ers for both aiding digestion
and the absorption of the products of digestion.
Beta glucans act as immune stimulators, feed
for bacteria and a vehicle to carry alien bodies
like mycotoxins and viruses harmlessly out of
the body.
The normal foregut of the camelid is
adapted to ‘Trickle feeding’ whereby forage
is ingested on a little and often basis with
the production of large quantities of saliva
caused by constant chewing. The saliva is
necessary to help maintain pH in the foregut
while a steady input of feed coordinates with
the contractual movements of digestion. The
feeding of heavily molassed, starchy feeds
is a treble negative because it causes rapid
intake of feed, low production of saliva and the
introduction of starch, which will be converted
to copious quantities of lactic acid. A drop
in pH in the foregut can severely inhibit the
benefi cial bacteria population, which could
reduce digestive capacity and the production of
microbial protein that is available for digestion
in the small intestine. A more acid environment
can also predispose digestive ailments like
ulcers.
The key to nutritional sense when feeding
Alpacas and Llamas – look at the animal,
understand its physiology and compliment its
natural state.