Joy of joys the end of the week is here and the weekend now lies before me like an unblemished pasture....

In fact there is now only this Blog entry about my daily alpaca experience between me and a stiff drink so please don't expect anything too profound or meaningful.

I followed a fascinating e-mail conversation today between members of an AOBA alpaca affiliate of which I am a member.

The conversation started around what problems might exist if alpacas eat oak leaves and/or acorns. A few alpaca owners chipped in with anecdotal advice that their alpacas ate some acorns or oak leaves but without ill effect and that the oak trees provided excellent shade for the alpacas in the summer.



Someone added that oak trees do attract mistletoe and this is very toxic to alpacas and many other animals including humans so should be removed. Good advice I thought.

Next someone raised the issue of "birth rate % Male alpacas to Female alpacas on
farms with oak trees available to snack on since the acidity factor in water
and soil seem favor more female births and they wondered if the trees would also
then contribute to higher female birth rates"... don't you just love an optimist?

A farmer with oak trees replied to say they had 65% male alpacas overall so probably not.

Eventually someone came up with an official low down on oak trees toxicity:

Apparently the principal toxin is gallotannin, a polyhydroxyphenolic combination of tannic and gallic acid. The tannins found in the leaves, bark, and acorns of oaks produce poisoning through their effect on the intestinal tract and kidneys. Gallotannins are hydrolyzed in the rumen to smaller molecular weight compounds including gallic acid, pyrogallol, and resorcinol. These compounds react with cell proteins to denature them, with resulting cell death. Most severe lesions occur in the kidneys, liver, and digestive tract. In small quantities the rumen microflora detoxify the tannins, and only when large amounts of tannic acid are eaten and bypass the rumen does poisoning occur. Goats and wild ruminants are apparently better able to detoxify tannic acid than over livestock because they have a tannin-binding protein in their saliva that neutralizes tannic acid. Goats have been used effectively to browse on oaks thereby reducing the spread of the oak and increasing the grazing capacity of the range. Oaks at any stage of growth are poisonous, but they are particularly toxic when the leaf and flower buds are just opening in the spring. As the leaves mature they become less toxic. Ripe acorns are less toxic than when green. Cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs are susceptible to oak poisoning.

Bottom line:
I wouldn't let my alpaca herd chew on acorns.
Do I want to buy alpacas from farms that have oak trees and let their alpacas eat acorns? Having read the above I have to say that all things being equal I probably wouldn't. Who knows what internal problems might be slowly accumulating.

My simplistic view remains that alpacas and acorns do not mix.

Unlike say gin and tonic.
Which I find go together very well .
Enjoy your weekend.


Adrian Stewart click here for Mulberry Alpacas

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