We’ve already had some hot and humid weather this summer and it sounds like there’s more to come this week. If you’re new to owning alpacas, you need to know how to keep them cool during hot weather. Alpacas are native to a dry, high elevation and are not comfortable in hot weather, especially with high humidity. Heat stress is a very real and dangerous condition and you should be alert to the symptoms during hot spells.
There are a few things you can do to ensure the comfort and health of your alpacas in the heat of summer:
1. Shear your alpacas.
2. Provide shade. Our alpacas always have access to the barns because we have little shade in their pastures. Our main barn has overhangs on both long sides and the alpacas spend a lot of time under them.
3. Provide cool, clean drinking water.
4. Provide fans. The hotter and more humid days seem to have little or no natural breeze. Our alpacas love to cush in front of the fans.
5. Provide pools or sprinklers. We use the round brass ring sprinklers and have at least one in each pasture. They work well because the alpacas will cush on top of the sprinklers and these have no sharp edges or moving parts. We set the water to spray only about 18″ – 24″ high. We turn them on for 10-15 min at a time. This is enough to allow the alpacas to cool off and they usually go back to grazing.
