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We offer free financing for one full year with an initial payment of 25% followed by quarterly payments.  Discounts may be available on multiple purchases.

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WindSwept Farms Alpaca Feed:  The why and the how we got here...

Several years ago, my vet was on the farm when I was feeding animals and they were sneezing. His comment was "I want that feed in their stomachs, not their lungs! You should get feed without dust!" That lead to many questions and discussions about feed and feed shelf life. Soon the search for a better feed began.

Like many other farms - we purchased several different feeds and experienced: clumping, dust, mold and old pellets. We wanted to find something better for our valued animals.

Jack visited a feed mill in Ohio that he had met at the Buckeye show. After explaining our requirements for alpaca feed - together they researched and spoke with nutritionists - finally agreeing on what was needed by an alpaca. Items closely reviewed included: 1) IF Local soil (and therefore our pasture grass and hay) had all the minerals and vitamins that the animals needed, we would not need to feed anything but hay and grass! But we do not have the ideal things in ideal proportions so we need to add the "one a day vitamin" option to help the animals get what they need. 2) Shelf life with out vitamin depletion - the resulting WSF feed should be consumed within 6-8 weeks from manufacture 3) Options for processing feed that produced most consistent vitamin values per bite/ounce of feed. 4) Soft vs hard feed pellets - softer pellets being easier for the animals to deal with. Many things contribute to choke, feed type and pellet size are two factors that we try to control.

The formula for feed was developed and WSF Alpaca feed began! 

As our requirements for feed quantity and quality continued to grow - production of our feed was moved to Sauder Feeds, of Grabill Indiana. Several years later - Sauder is producing a consistent quality feed that we are very pleased with. While we now average sales of over 1 1/2 ton of feed weekly to alpaca owners - our efforts and requirement for the feed remain the same: we want the best alpaca feed we can get, a product that we can trust, at the lowest price, while maintaining the highest quality.

In addition to retailing feed at WindSwept Farm we now have 3 distributors of WSF Alpaca Feed serving different regions of Indiana and Michigan. Our distributors are:

Indian Prairie Alpacas - Steve & Renae Ruple, Middlebury, In

Heritage Farm Alpacas - Tim & Beth Sheets, Flora, In

Excalibur Alpacas - Alan & Robin Shaffer, Noblesville, In

Basics of WSF Alpaca feed and feeding

and "things we have learned"

COMPLETELY EMPTY YOUR FEED STORAGE CONTAINER EVERY TWO WEEKS

This if more important in the summer, The dust in the feed (there is that dust thing again!) sticks in the corners and crevices of feed containers and can mold or sour.

NEVER STORE/LAY BAGS OF FEED DIRECTLY ON A FLOOR

Put feed on a skid or on some boards. Air flow under bagged feed is good. Improper storage will allow bags to draw moisture and encourage mold.

WHEN FEEDING, FEED LOWER RATHER THAN HIGHER

The lower we set the the feed pans the less animals tend to choke. We feed in individual pans hanging on "bar style " gates, and will adjust pans to lower rungs and even to the floor level as needed.

LETS ADDRESS THAT DUST IN THE FEED

The vast majority of the dust you will find in our feed today comes from two things: how the feed bags are handled, and the feed scoop that is being used. The feed is intentionally engineered into soft pellets. This allows the pellets to melt quickly if an animal does choke. Remembering that - it makes sense that if the bags of feed are thrown or rolled or walked on - the soft pellets will easily crush. Harsh handling of the bagged feed causes dust. Dipping out feed - the scoop will also create some dust and broken pellets.

VITAMINS ETC

WSFAlpaca feed is NOT grain! while it has some grain ingredients, the pellets represent our animals daily vitamin/mineral supplement. Pellets supplement our grass and hay forage. It does not make sense to reduce or stop feeding pellets just because your pastures are green!

FREE CHOICE MINERALS

I discussed with the nutritionist - why we shouldn't "put every mineral in the feed that the animals need". Or goal was to arrive at a complete feed that would not require additional supplementation. The experts said "NO". Their answer was simply, while we are all created equal - our bodies differ somewhat in things or quantities that individuals need. Think of humans - some crave a lot of salt (aka Anita) and some don't (aka Jack) !! Therefore the the experts agreed that a free choice mineral available to the animals would enable them to address their individuality....

FEEDING AMOUNT

I have to date given away more that 150 scoops to farms! If you do not have one yet - call me! I want the animals feed correctly. We feed (dry measure) approximately 8 ounces of feed per animal per day. Nursing moms are feed double that ration to compensate for their and their cria's needs. Our creep feed pans are maintained at free choice while needed. Other than special need animals - our normal feeding is 1/2 lb per day per animal, full hay and water at all times and the best pasture we can keep.

DISCLAIMER

The way we do things and what we have learned we try to share. These are our OPINIONS. We are not DVM's or nutritionists. We seek the experts for guidance and advice. I will try to share with anyone why we do what we do. Keep in mind the Jack is a Cutting Tool Engineer and Anita is a bean counter. .. That being said - take all you learn and hear from all well meaning alpaca people with that proverbial "grain of salt" and do with the information as you wish!

HAPPY HEALTHY ALPCAS TO ALL

Jack & Anita