Alpaca Nutrition
News
March 2009
Alpacanomics
When money is
tight, alpaca producers may be inclined to omit feed
additives like probiotics. Some may feel their animals are doing
well, and there is no apparent benefit form these additions.
The absence of
symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, or upper respiratory
illness following a stressful event (show, birth, weaning,
transportation, or shearing) with the use of probiotics such as
MSE, is actually an indication that the product is effective.
Without their
protection, these non-heritable illnesses are quite common, and
expensive to treat.
Consider the
cost of one emergency vet visit, or worse, an emergency farm
call. We all know that many emergencies do not occur during
office hours. Now compare the bill for such an occasion to the
cost of either a bucket of granulated MSE dry concentrate
($156.75) or a gallon of MSE drench ($136.00). The minimum dose
of MSE drench is 5 cc. The cost/cc is $0.036. That means that
dose costs about $0.16.
Doesn t look so
expensive anymore, does it?
That bucket or
gallon would have protected a lot more than the animal that
required the vet visit. When MSE drench is given prior to
scheduled stressful events such as those listed above, or
immediately after unscheduled ones, it can save the producer
money, lost productivity, and emotional anguish. Although the
latter has no direct monetary value, one cannot dismiss the
emotional cost and potential detriment to the health of the
producer.
Not all alpaca
diseases and illnesses can be prevented. These include those
caused by genetics and parasites. However, many of them can, and
should, be avoided or minimized with the preventive use of MSE.
MSE can also help minimize symptoms of those diseases that can
not be prevented.
Prevention always makes good cents, and MSE is
the best probiotic out there for both prevention and treatment.
Please send
questions and comments to Lark Burnham at
lark@naturs-way.com.
MSE granulated,
paste, and drench can be purchased at
naturs-way.com.
