Thanks 'gg'. I guess it will be ok to apply it once during this season to the perennials and add as much as I can into our compost bins.

One analysis of Alpaca manure I have seen is 1.5-0.2-1.1, fairly low. There seems to be a dearth of information about the nutrients of animal manures today, a lot of long discourses about using manure but no useable numbers.

I see it often posted as 1, 2, 1.

(I would assume that regardless of the animal, once poo is composted there is nothing really to choose between them. Alpaca is only 'special' in that it can be safely applied raw to plants w/o harming them?)

Alpaca, llama, rabbit and goat manure all share that characteristic - can be applied directly to the garden, straight from the source animal ;-))

To be specific, these manures are "dry", have little urine and, as a result, have little urea. Urea is a powerful nitrogen fertilizer that does it's work by releasing ammonia which is nitrified in soil. As a result, low urea manures are safe to put directly on plants. No chance of being burned by ammonia. Also as a result, they add little oomph to a compost pile. They're almost a "brown".

The nitrogen content of animal manure, in general, depends on how much FRESH urine there is in it. For wet manure that sits around for a while, the urea has broken down into ammonia, and is pretty much gone. Now, wet manure that dries quickly can preserve that urea as a solid. That's why you can't just pin a nitrogen nutrient content on a particular flavor of manure. It depends.

I would assume the same cautions apply as with any manures related to e coli etc. Avoid putting it on root or low-growing crops you'll be eating within a couple months like lettuce, radishes etc. Unless it's already been composted for a few months.

Was at the Alpaca farm this morning.

Various piles...some old, some new.

Under the surface it was quite warm with 'ash' readily apparent:

Shovelled as much as I could into some of the farm's feedbags and brought it home.

Wish I was close enough to get some of that.........:-) Good stuff!!

And yes, I would compost or certainly age for a decent period of time (6 mo) before applying to edible crops but no worries with any ornamentals.

Too bad the farmers are moving much further away come August :(.

Interesting. Where is this farm, and how much are they selling their manure for?

About a 45 minute drive for me. No charge. I had to bag it.

Sweet! (Ironic to say that in a thread about manure). Out here there is a mushroom farm that does the same thing with their mushroom compost (manure).

Trying to understand the benefits of alpaca manure. It's got less urea than cattle manures, and it's actually got less organic matter as well. I think that's because alpaca digestion is very efficient. It does have a higher nitrogen content, but the nitrogen is tied up in very slow to digest proteins. Does have more potassium and phosphorus. I understand it's pretty dense, and does not contribute well to soil porosity. As a result, I've heard that it is somewhat challenging to compost it. Sounds like good enough stuff, but maybe not worth going out of ones way to procure.

Went to the farm's website, interesting animals. I'd imagine their feed would not be low quality stuff so the manure ought not to be as well.

I think the point is that alpaca's digestive system is more efficient than cattle, with a pH closer to neutral in at least one compartment, according to what I read. That encourages cellulose digesting bacteria. Alpacas don't eat as much as cattle, per unit body weight, and of what they do eat, less comes out, and less of what comes out is fiber, which increases soil porosity. Now that being said, poop is always good, but it's not completely clear what all the excitement is about.

Dan, you're the only one talking about cattle manure, no one else has even mentioned it. Why not just let people be excited about what they like to be excited about for whatever reason they are excited about it. I was interested in the farm itself and was curious as to why they were moving. Upon seeing what they do, made the assumption that they would not be using cheap feed for their animals.

Lloyd, I'm just asking a simple question. It's trivial to get cattle manure, and not so trivial to get alpaca manure. So I guess I'd like to know why alpaca manure is worth the effort. Alpaca farming is indeed interesting. As far as I can tell, in some respects alpaca manure is good, in others not so much.

Why not let people be excited about what they like to be excited about? Well I certainly don't want to discourage excitement, but if that excitement is going to be recommended to others, one might like to have a reason.

Again, my point is that it is only partly about their food quality, and also about their digestive process that determines the gardening quality of what comes out of them. I'm not an expert at either, and I welcome wisdom.

"but it's not completely clear what all the excitement is about."

1) it generates NO weeds

2) it can be used fresh without any chance of 'burning' young plants

3) it improves soil texture and water holding capacity

4) it has a reputation for keeping deer at bay, although I cannot find any information that would give credence to that theory. It has no strong discernible aroma and why the manure of one ruminant should deter the presence of another ruminant is a bit of a mystery..........but it apparently works.

"It's trivial to get cattle manure, and not so trivial to get alpaca manure."

How do you know it is not so trivial for them to get it? How do you know it is trivial for them to get cattle manure?

Yes, the lack of weed seeds is a definite plus, as is the fact that it can be applied directly to plants. But, as I said, it is very dense, and if applied directly to plants, I hear that it takes years to break down. What I read is that density makes it less than optimal for improving soil texture. But opinions on that may differ. I have not used it, but I'm curious about it

Let's have a show of hands. How many people find it easier to get alpaca manure than cattle manure? Lloyd wants to know.

"Let's have a show of hands. "

Now you're being an ass, again. You make a statement without any kind of knowledge of the situation. When challenged on your idiotic comment, you deflect.

I don't read posts by daninthedirt and I can heartily recommend the omission.

Oh c'mon Lloyd. Please refrain from the personal insults and the boldfaced yelling. It doesn't become this forum. I have a lot of knowledge of the situation in the various locales I've lived in, and no, it hasn't been easy to get it at least for me and my gardener friends. I welcome people chiming in telling us that it's easier for them to get than cattle manure. I welcome you telling me that what I said isn't true for you. You really need to chill. But yes, I did give you a little tickle. No apologies.

And parsley, that's what's so good about an online forum. You can ignore things that you don't like. Best wishes to you. I read your posts, if it makes you feel any better. Though you're probably not reading this ...

Telling a person they are being an ass is an intervention. I've tried to cut you some slack by asking questions that a normal person would comprehend as a clue that maybe what you are writing is/was goofy. You do not seem to be able to read between the lines, ergo more forceful language was used. Bold was for emphasis, all-caps is yelling. Apparently everyone else can have no other experience than what you have seen or experienced. Not every post is about your situation and not every poster is in your situation.

Sorry to the OP for hijacking your thread. I will endeavour to take the good advice from theparsley, clearly more intelligent than I.