The Alpaca Vet

08/10/2025

Inside The Camelid Care Handbook, you’ll learn how to:

📅 Create solid daily routines
💩 Manage parasites and nutrition
🚑 Handle medical emergencies with clarity and confidence.
This book was written for owners who want to care with knowledge—not guesswork.

📘 Available in Paperback & Kindle

👉 https://www.ukalpacavet.com/.../the-camelid-care.../
or from my own personal online bookstore if you’re outside the UK: https://books.by/the-alpaca-vet

07/10/2025

This course provides an incredible opportunity to literally transform the nutritional management for your alpaca or llama herd using knowledg gained from the most comprehensive Camelid Nutrition Masterclass ever offered! And you'll be taught by the world’s foremost expert on camelid nutrition, Bob Van Saun.

👉 Special offer to save £100 ends midnight on Thursday!

https://nutrition.thealpacavet.com/

02/10/2025

Hi everyone!

Just a quick note to say that I will be at the this weekend, speaking on one of my favourite topics - MANGE!!!! Looking forward to seeing everyone. Please bring your Camelid Care Handbooks with you, come and find me and I'd be super happy to sign your copy!! 😀📖🖋

Pssst!! If you don't yet have a copy, I'll be bringing some along! 😉

02/10/2025

‼THE TIME HAS COME! 🥁

Thank you to everyone for your comments from my last posts! I’m really looking forward to sharing this course with you, and from the looks of it, there's a great deal of excitement about this training opportunity too! 😀

A quick recap: this is your opportunity to literally transform your nutritional management for your alpaca or llama herd with the most comprehensive Camelid Nutrition Masterclass ever offered! And it’s being taught by the world’s foremost expert on camelid nutrition, Bob Van Saun.

The Masterclass will be available as an on-demand course to watch at your own convenience and with two LIVE Masterclass Workshops for you to come and ask your questions and you'll also be set some homework to help you make the most of the training!

Now, down to the bits you want to know!
🌿 I have limited the number of places available on this training opportunity, in order to make sure that we are able to answer your questions.
🌿 This time you can watch the course when it suits your schedule. PLUS...!⤵️
🌿 There are two LIVE workshop sessions on the 14th October and 18th November that will be focussed on getting and interpreting your own forage analysis. We'll be there to help you understand the results and how to use them!
🌿 You'll get LIFETIME ACCESS to the course so you can watch it again and again, and interact with folks in our brand new private online community!
🌿 Get £100 off by using coupon code CAMELIDNUT by midnight on the 9th October!

👉 Follow the link to see this unbeatable offer! https://nutrition.thealpacavet.com/

PS. Remember… you don’t need to panic. I don’t expect to sell out immediately. However, if you want one of these spots at the Live Masterclass Workshop sessions, then please don’t delay. They’re going to go fast and I don’t want you to miss out.🥂🍾🦙🍾

30/09/2025

‼️ANNOUNCEMENT!!

After this being an incredible success in 2023 and 2024, I am excited to be able to bring you the opportunity to transform your nutritional management for your alpaca or llama herd with the most comprehensive Camelid Nutrition Masterclass ever offered! 😀🍾

Just imagine this… having all your animals in tip-top shape, fed the perfect ration that optimises their immunity and gives them the best ability to fight off disease… having crias born at optimum birth weights and just thriving… their dams having the best quality colostrum so that the crias acquire sufficient passive immunity and sail through their first few months of life… your males and females having the perfect balance of nutrients to ensure their fertility… you spending less money on treatment of sick animals, and having more time to just enjoy your animals rather than rushing around fixing problems… 🙂

Sounds good doesn’t it?

🌿Managing nutrition is at the root of animal husbandry, and is able to ensure optimal immunity as well as reproductive performance, and yet so few people know how to do this properly. Very few people bother to take the time to analyse the forages they feed their animals and so have little idea of what their animals have to work with and instead just top up with supplements, only stopping to consider whether there is a nutritional issue when problems crop up that perhaps can’t be easily explained. By then, you can be fighting a losing battle and it can take a lot of work to figure out what is going on and to correct those underlying issues. We will address all this in the Masterclass….

Bob van Saun is a veterinarian based at Penn State University. He is double board-certified as both a reproduction specialist, and a nutrition specialist. This gives him a unique perspective on the use of nutrition in optimising reproductive performance. He has done extensive research in the world of large animal nutrition and is particularly well known for his work with small ruminants and camelids. His camelid-specific research projects included vitamin D metabolism, hepatic lipidosis and trace element nutrition. In addition to this, he is a great guy who is really keen to share his knowledge with you to help you improve your camelids’ nutrition and performance.

This time, the Masterclass will be available as an on-demand course to watch at your own convenience and with two LIVE Masterclass Workshops for you to come and ask your questions and you'll also be set some homework to help you make the most of the training! There is a Special Offer (I will be announcing this tomorrow) too...
Come back again tomorrow for a bit more info and a free training! 😀

Can you afford to miss out on the most comprehensive training on camelid nutrition…?!

Please comment below if you’re excited to learn about camelid nutrition or have taken the course before! 🦙😃

PS Bookings will open on Thursday morning!

30/09/2025

26/09/2025

So how do you go about testing forage then? 🌿

For stored forages, you need to do this when you need to be making management decisions about what to feed to which animals in your herd. So, before you starting feeding it so that you know what it will achieve for them - and how much other feed you may have to provide for any given group based on their requirements.

There is a method in collecting your forage that makes sure that you get the most accurate answer.... 💪

Here is a link to a really great resource from the Beef Cattle Research Council of Canada 🍁 that outlines how to do this, with some great diagrams and videos: https://www.beefresearch.ca/tools/feed-testing-analysis-for-beef-cattle/

Most importantly though, you want to collect a representative sample from your stack. This means that you collect from a bunch of different bales from different areas of the stack. If you have different lots then sample them separately. Also, don't just grab the hay from the outside. You need to use a corer to sample from deep within the bale... This devices are available from feed merchants, sometimes to rent. You can source hand held devices or corers that attach to a decent drill.

26/09/2025

Happy National Alpaca Day to my North American friends! 🎉🎈🎉

25/09/2025

Forage Testing: A Smart Investment in Camelid Health and Performance 🌾💼

Investing in forage testing is investing in the health and performance of your camelids! 🦙💪 Today, we're highlighting the importance of this essential tool and why it's a smart choice for every camelid owner.

Forage testing provides valuable insights into the nutritional quality of your hay and pasture, helping you make informed decisions about your herd's diet. By analyzing factors like crude protein, fiber, and energy content, you can ensure that your camelids receive the nutrients they need to thrive.

Join us as we explore how forage testing pays off in dividends, from preventing nutritional deficiencies to optimizing growth and reproduction. With a small investment in forage testing, you'll reap big rewards in the form of healthier, happier, and more productive camelids. 🌟

Stay tuned for expert guidance on incorporating forage testing into your herd management routine and maximising its benefits!

24/09/2025

Today, I'm really pleased to announce publication of a paper put together with some fantastic colleagues at the UKHSA, and University of Cordoba (Spain) and University of Surrey. "Histological and immunohistochemical characterization of granulomas in alpacas (Vicugna pacos) naturally infected with tuberculosis" - find it in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. Link below.

This paper characterises, for the first time, the immunopathology of granuloma development in naturally infected alpacas with M. bovis. The research addresses some significant knowledge gaps about the pathological features of tuberculous granulomas in camelids and their role in the epidemiology of the disease. When I asked these guys to help me with some histopathology during a large breakdown on an alpaca farm, I had no idea that they were going to be able to generate so much amazing information for us!

A huge thank you to my colleagues for their work and their patience!

Link below in the comments.

23/09/2025

This year's weather conditions have caused hay harvests to be much reduced. 🌞🌞🌞 It is likely that the quality will also be reduced... In addition, many people probably had to supplement their non-existent grazing over the summer with last year's leftover hay and maybe some of the crop meant for this winter...

Have you got your supplies organised for this winter?

Whether you've bought in or made your own, let me know if you're sorted below in the comments... 👇

If you haven't tested this year's crop, it would be worthwhile doing so to see what nutritional value it will provide your animals. This will help you plan ahead in case you'll need more, or to plan for extra supplementation to make up for poor quality. If you don't know how to do forage analysis, or what to do with the results (!), stay tuned for some exciting news!! 🎓🥂

20/09/2025

Can I keep just one llama or alpaca?

Short answer: No.

Camelids are social animals. Keeping a single one can lead to loneliness, stress, and behavioural issues. This is not good welfare. It’s better for animals to have social contact with their own kind also.

Always keep at least two—but ideally three—to ensure proper social interaction. Want more practical tips? It’s all in The Camelid Care Handbook.

👉 https://www.ukalpacavet.com/.../the-camelid-care.../

or from my own personal online bookstore if you’re outside the UK: https://books.by/the-alpaca-vet