Oat Pellets and Hay in Alpacas of Pastures of the Andean Zone, Perú

Abstract

The research was carried out at the INIA's Quimsachata experimental center in Puno, Peru; with the purpose of evaluating oat pellets and hay in Alpaca pastures in the Andean Zone. A total of Sixty-three 15-month-old female alpacas were used to evaluate their weight gain and feed consumption. The experiment was conducted with three treatments and 21 replicates under a completely randomized design where three sub-samples were included for weight gain. The results showed that weight gain varied significantly (p<0.05) among treatments. Alpacas supplemented with oat-vicia pellets showed an average weight gain of 3.10±0.27 kg, while those fed oat hay showed 0.98±0.33 kg. In contrast, Un-supplemented alpacas experienced an average weight loss of -0.64±0.22 kg. In addition, differences in feed intake were observed, being 575.60, 579.50, and 502.00 g/alpaca/day for alpacas supplemented with oat-vicia pellets, oat hay, and no supplement, respectively. Supplementation with oat-vegetable pellets proved to be significantly (p<0.05) superior in terms of weight gain, attributed to their nutrient supply, digestibility, and palatability. This practice can be crucial to prevent metabolic disorders in animals, especially in critical periods. In the high Andean zone, several nutritional supplements are used, such as oat hay, multi-nutritional blocks, urea-treated straw, and cultivated pasture silage. Pellets offer advantages, such as reduced transportation costs, ease of handling, and extended storage time, thanks to their compact format. During production, binders such as cane molasses or cassava starch are used to ensure proper consistency. Haymaking preserves the cut fodder but can lose nutrients through chemical changes during drying.