Munching small areas
March 2nd 2008 22:20
I’ve never tried tethering an alpaca. Llamas are used for carrying gear on hiking trips and are tethered at campsites to stop them wandering away. They are very closely related to alpacas, so I guess it would be possible to train an alpaca to tether as well. They take to lead training pretty easily.
I occasionally put up temporary fences so the alpacas can munch the grass down in an areas where I don’t have permanent fences. For a large area, I use star pickets and sheep wire. It goes up pretty quickly and the alpacas are generally respectful of fences so it doesn’t need to be a great job to keep them in. I put a strand or two of plain wire along the top as the sheep wire I have is a little low on its own. I think you can buy it in taller rolls though, so that would be the way to go.
Just hammer in the star pickets, roll out the wire, fix it to the pickets and you’re done.
For smaller areas I use farm gates. Just put them where I want and tie them together with baling twine. If they’re to stand in a straight line, I put in a couple of star pickets to lean the gates on (makes it more stable), but I find they’ll stay put pretty well on their own if the gates are put at angles to each other and tied up securely.
I also have these nifty connectors which my dad made. They join two gates together and you just tighten them up and they hold the gates together really well. Super idea. Baling twine is also magnificent stuff to have in your pocket on a farm. It’s held up many gates around here.
I occasionally put up temporary fences so the alpacas can munch the grass down in an areas where I don’t have permanent fences. For a large area, I use star pickets and sheep wire. It goes up pretty quickly and the alpacas are generally respectful of fences so it doesn’t need to be a great job to keep them in. I put a strand or two of plain wire along the top as the sheep wire I have is a little low on its own. I think you can buy it in taller rolls though, so that would be the way to go.
This is sheep fencing, with plain wires on top and a star picket.
Just hammer in the star pickets, roll out the wire, fix it to the pickets and you’re done.
For smaller areas I use farm gates. Just put them where I want and tie them together with baling twine. If they’re to stand in a straight line, I put in a couple of star pickets to lean the gates on (makes it more stable), but I find they’ll stay put pretty well on their own if the gates are put at angles to each other and tied up securely.
Temporary fence using farm gates
I also have these nifty connectors which my dad made. They join two gates together and you just tighten them up and they hold the gates together really well. Super idea. Baling twine is also magnificent stuff to have in your pocket on a farm. It’s held up many gates around here.
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Comment by katyzzz
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Comment by Rosemary
Alpaca Notes - Tasmania
My dad is pretty clever and handy with these sorts of things. I don't think I've inherited those skills though - I use lots of baling twine remember
Comment by AmyHuang
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Comment by Rosemary
Alpaca Notes - Tasmania
Tethering is putting them on a rope attached to a stake in the ground.
The animal can munch the grass as far as the rope will reach. Once they've eaten the grass down, you move the stake to the next patch of uneaten grass and they munch there.
It's so the animal/s can eat grass where there are no fences, without being able to wander away (or onto roads etc).
I'd worry about my pacas getting tangled up in the rope and they do like a bit of space to wander about so I'd rather just put up a temporary fence for them.
Comment by AmyHuang
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I always feel sorry for those live stock that are tied up, but maybe it doesn't make much difference to them because they don't really wander that much.
Comment by Krystal
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Comment by Rosemary
Alpaca Notes - Tasmania
I'm learning all the time. There's always something new to figure out and plenty to do around the place.