Alpaca Shed #3 -- the Hay Shed and Lean-To

Our third shelter is a 6x12 lean-to added onto the east side of our hay shed. This structure is a roof supported on one end by a 2x4 nailed to the hay shed wall and on the other end by three pressure treated 4x4s standing on cement bases. The hay shed blocks the west wind, and the other three sides are open.



The primary problem with the lean-to is that it is just too small. a 10x20 lean-to in the same location may work just fine.



We made some serious mis-calculations when we designed the lean-to. While the shelter does have drainage, it still has water problems. I have installed a French drain uphill of the entire area with the outflow running underneath the sheltered area and into a rock drain in the pasture. This has addressed the surface water flowing uphill of the French drain very nicely and it has addressed some of the saturated ground issues adequately. The problem is, it hasn't addressed the water coming off the roof of the hay shed and lean-to. This water falls to the ground and runs into the sheltered area, meaning the alpacas don't have a dry place to lie down out of the rain. In addition, the narrow depth means any rain from the east blows into the sheltered area. Rain gutters on the hay shed and lean-to would help the situation, but given the space constraints, I really hate to add gutters before the other problems are fixed.



The lean-to works much better for summer shade than it does for winter rain protection. It's still a little small and the morning shade is inadequate. We do have morning shade in the pasture from a tree and the really hot parts of our summer days are the late afternoons when the hay shed supplements the shade provided by the lean-to.

If I were to build more shelters, I'd combine the best aspects of our alpaca sheds as follows:
1) Use a pole barn structure set at least 3.5' into the ground as in alpaca shed #1. I would continue to use the 10x20 main covered area, but I would use an eight or ten foot overhang to create a larger partially sheltered area.
2) Install drainage under the shed and in the high-traffic areas approaching the shed.
3) Construct a raised sand floor by putting down gravel to level the floor 2-5" above surrounding ground level. This gravel would extend and/or taper into the high traffic approaches to the shed. Then I would put down weed-block fabric over the gravel and add 4-8" of coarse sand. Pea gravel could be substituted for the coarse sand, but anything sharp enough to cut fiber when the alpacas roll is to be avoided.
4) I would use wood siding and a shingle over plywood roof as in shed #2. I'm very impressed by this construction. The wooden shed is cooler in the summer, quieter in the rain, and just feels better to me.
5) I would create an area in one shed with a raised dry floor. This could be either wood, cement, or cobbles. The area would house the chute and scale and would allow us to work on the alpacas' feet out of the mud. This area could also be used for shearing.
6) I would install solar lights on the other sheds -- ideally with a remote control to turn on the lights from the house in the middle of the night.
7) If money and building permits were no object, I would build a nice, enclosed shed with a cement floor, workroom, running water, electricity, lights, etc. easily accessible to all pastures. This shed would contain the scale, chute, a small refrigerator for veterinary medicine, etc. In addition, there would be rodent-proof storage for alpaca pellets. The work area would be large enough to stretch an alpaca on the floor for shearing. Electrical service would be strong enough to support a pair of professional sheep shears.

Thus ends the structural story of our barns. Structure, however, is only the beginning.

The other aspect of barns is utilization. Because we use small sheds instead of barns, we don't know a great deal about barn organization.

Marty McGee Bennett in her Camelidynamics site offers many suggestions about barn organization. Her site and her books are well worth reading and even if you can't make your layout just like hers, she will give you lots of food for thought.

In planning for your alpacas, I want to point out the catch pens utilized by Marty McGee Benett. Catch pens are your friends. Build lots of catch pens. Build them where you can get animals into them. Build one with a clean, dry, cement floor inside a barn. We use catch pens as "airlocks" so we can walk into a pasture without alpacas escaping through the open gate which has really helped us. Unfortunately, we don't have any catch pens out of the wind and under a roof. Working with an alpaca's foot is trying enough -- much less in the rain and mud when you have to clean the foot anew every time you or the alpaca put it down for balance.

Dr. David Anderson of the International Camelid Institute at the Ohio State University has done studies about how much shelter area per alpaca is necessary. It turns out that the worse the weather gets, the closer together they're willing to get while maintaining social comfort. The issue is an animal like our Donovan who is low in the social hierarchy. Unless the rain gets really bad, Donovan will say out rather than struggle for space in the shed -- even though the shed is plenty large. There are also issues of feed bunk layout to prevent "social starvation" and other health considerations. I'm not quite sure where on his site to point you for this information. The site is a wealth of information for anybody considering camelids, so I'll just point you at the whole thing.

Steve Hull at Timberlake Farms offers lots of thoughts regarding construction of alpaca barns. One of his suggestions for cold areas is using a cobble floor over a sand/gravel base and putting heat tape -- such as for heated basement floors -- under the cobbles. This lets the animals lie down on a heated floor in the winter time.

The list of barn issues includes hay storage, equipment storage, pasture access, predator protection, fresh water, fire safety, ventilation, manure clean-up, and a multitude of other issues. I have only scratched the surface, but I hope it helps.

Alpaca Shed #2

Today's entry continues my description of our alpaca sheds, their advantages, and their disadvantages.

In the first installment of this series, I mentioned some serious drainage problems with the shed we call alpaca shed #1 also known as the metal shed. In reaction to the drainage problems with our first shed, we tried a raised floor on our second shed. This shed is a wooden structure with a plywood floor over pressure treated beams. The beams rest on blocks to raise the shed off the ground and to level the shed. A wooden ramp was constructed for access to the shed. This ramp was painted with non-skid paint.

In general, I like the wood construction much better than the metal construction. I think the overall shed is more comfortable. However, the shed is almost unusable in some months due to slip hazards and I have questions about the long-term durability of the plywood floor.

We haven't had any wear problems on the plywood floor -- yet. The floor has been painted with several layers of exterior grade latex primer, but no final paint. The primer has worn in places, but the floor is still in good condition. We have had a rubber mat on the busiest part of the floor and even though we show no wear yet, I am quite worried about the durability of the floor. The final plan for this shed is to paint the floor with a very hard and durable marine-grade paint, then put some sort of non-slip surface over the paint. Non-skid is essential because the floor is slippery when wet and alpacas do fall when they slide on this floor.

The ramp is the other major problem. It is built with pressure treated lumber, primed with exterior latex and painted with a non-skid exterior paint. The anti-skid paint works fairly well when the ramp is wet. However, when frost gets on the ramp or when mud is tracked up the ramp, the ramp is slippery and dangerous. We're very uncomfortable with the wooden ramp. We lose sleep worrying about it all winter long.

Watching an alpaca slip and fall on the wet floor is scary. Watching said alpaca then jump to his feet, slip on the ramp, fall heavily, and tangle four feet in the fence along the ramp is truly frightening. Fortunately, Percy pulled his feet out of the fence, rolled over, and walked away unharmed -- all before I could finish gasping and truly start to panic. Unfortunately, events like this are all to common when the ramp is muddy. We've been lucky so far, we're scared every time something goes bump in the night.

The third problem with shed #2 is drainage. Because we raised the floor, I didn't bother to install drainage around the shed. A wet area formed at the base of the ramp, and this wet area has been churned into ankle-deep, gooey, liquefied, mud. This mud, of course, gets tracked onto the ramp making the ramp even slipperier. Even with the raised floor, this shed needs a drainage system and a sand/gravel approach area. Ultimately, the wooden ramp into this shed needs to be replaced with a properly drained gravel/sand ramp.

All in all, I like shed #2 a lot better than shed #1 and I feel like we learned from a lot of our mistakes. Unfortunately, our attempts to avoid drainage problems led to the ramp which renders the shed unsafe in muddy or icy conditions. As I will explain in future posts, I like the raised floor in our hay shed, but I think a pole shed rather is a better design for animals.




Alpaca shed #2 from the side. Note the cement blocks supporting beams. The floor is more than knee-high on the downhill side and six or eight inches off the ground on the uphill side. Note also the ramp described in the story, the overhang on the open side, and the need for a coat (or 2 or 3) of paint.




Alpaca shed #2 showing the ramp and the floor. The pile of straw is over the mud at the base of the ramp in an attempt to maintain footing. The ramp is dry at the moment, but very slippery when wet. The black rectangle on the floor is a rubber mat.




Interior shot of alpaca shed #2. Note how wet the inside has gotten despite the raised floor. This is due to wet animals and tracked mud.







Alpaca shed #2 from the front -- the open east side. Note the slope and the longer ramp on the downhill side. The dividing wall is tall enough that adult males could shelter on one side of this shed with adult females on the other side. The structure on the right side of the shed is a chute used to confine alpacas for herd health.

Barn Basics & Alpaca Shed #1

jenifleur wrote:
Any chance you'd show us a picture of their sheds? Our barn is a shambles and we're kind of curious as to how it should be laid out for our as yet unpurchased alpacas.

I started out writing a very long entry all about barns. It's really too long for one sitting and I only have pictures of the first shed -- something about digital camera batteries. Today's entry is going to discuss what we call Alpaca Shed #1. I'm planning future entries to talk about our other shelters, our hay shed, our wish list, and other things to think about when building barns for alpacas.

There are two major aspects of barns. The first is how much protection from the elements the barn offers. This is the first thing people think about when they think about barns. The second aspect is the layout of the barn and how it functions for you and the alpacas. This includes how well you, the farmer, are able to function in the shelter with the animals and how well the alpacas are able to maintain a comfortable social and herd dynamic while utilizing the shelter. A million dollar shed is useless to the alpacas if herd dynamics force half the herd to remain out in the weather or if feed bin layout causes social starvation. Not only does the barn have to provide adequate shelter for your climate, but you and the alpacas have to be comfortable and productive using the barn.

We are finding major flaws in our sheds from both perspectives and I will discuss those shortcomings as well.

Our barns are an example of minimalist/budget shelters that can function in Western Oregon. Three sided sheds are perfectly adequate for alpacas in our area. They may not be right for your situation. Our primary sheds are 10x20' three-sided structures open to the east with an additional five to eight foot overhang on the east. This provides shelter from the winter wind, winter rain, and summer sun.

Alpaca Shed #1
Our first shed is a basic pole barn with metal siding. The shed is 10x20 with the long sides oriented north/south. The shed is open to the east with a 5' additional overhang to the east. The floor is raised with 3/4 minus rock topped with sand. The front porch is raised with sand.

I like this shed the best of our sheds, but there are several things I would do differently.

The biggest issue with this shed is drainage. We raised the floor with gravel and then put sand on top of the gravel. Water pools against the uphill side of the shed and then seeps through the gravel to dampen the sand. We've spent a lot of time digging trenches to carry the water away from this shed. This shed really needs to have several french drains constructed to carry the water away from it. One drain needs to be on the uphill side and extend the length of the front porch and around the back of the shed. In addition, one, and preferably two drains should be placed under the porch area with an additional drain under the shed proper.

We thought four inches of gravel would be enough, but it's not. The floor needs more gravel. In addition, we should have put weed fabric between the gravel and the sand to prevent the two from mixing and we should have put more sand on the floor. As it is, the alpacas have rolled and pawed at the sand to the point they're down to the gravel in places. Others have suggested pea gravel or decomposed granite in place of sand.

I like using coarse sand for bedding because it allows water to drain and it shakes readily from the fleece. If the alpacas have a good place to roll in sand, they are less likely to roll in mud and burrs. It's a nice theory, but the good sandy area has to be maintained.

The other issue we have had with our primary shed is the metal siding. We recently had an alpaca kick her foot between the metal panels, and then slice most of the pad of her foot off when she pulled her leg back. She's in recovery. We're running up vet bills. This shed probably should have all-weather plywood nailed inside up to about four feet tall to prevent a repeat of the foot incident.

I have spoken with breeders who prefer plywood to fencing or any metal siding in area where alpacas roll because they tend to kick and catch their feet on things when they roll. Since this shed is a primary rolling area, we probably need to provide more protection for feet.

This shed is very noisy in the rain. Rain just drums on the tin roof. I often think the noise bothers the alpacas, but they go into the shed because it is the only place to get out of the rain. Shingles over plywood as we have on our other sheds are much quieter in the rain. There are trade-offs in terms of expense and durability, but I think I prefer the shingle over plywood roofs.

My final complaint about the metal siding is that it gets very hot in direct sun. Our summers are very hot and dry -- daytime temperatures over 100 degrees farenheight are not uncommon. Because of our location, we get very strong, hot, dry afternoon canyon winds in the summer. The metal of the shed gets too hot to touch and radiates heat decreasing the value of the shed for summer shade. Our wooden sheds don't seem to collect and radiate so much heat in the summer.


Alpaca Shed #1 looking into the shed from the east. Note the basic pole barn construction. The roof and siding are metal. This is inexpensive and durable construction, particularly if pressure treated lumber is used in the construction. The chain-link gate in the left foreground is the catch pen I will talk about in later posts.


Alpaca Shed #1 from the downhill side. Note the slope and raised floor. Water ponding against the uphill side of the shed was a major problem until drainage was added and this water continues to be a problem. You can also see the "porch" area extending under the overhang to enlarge the effective area of the shed.



Alpaca Shed #1 showing the sand over gravel floor and a small area at the back of the shed cordoned off for feed and hay storage.



Alpaca shed #1 showing the roof. This roof is noisy in the rain and hot in the summer.

Interim Barn Post

jenifleur wrote:
Any chance you'd show us a picture of their sheds? Our barn is a shambles and we're kind of curious as to how it should be laid out for our as yet unpurchased alpacas.

I have the article about the sheds all written. All I had to do was go outside to take pictures of the sheds and the mud and edit the article slightly to refer to the pictures. Honestly, I was listening to my loyal readers and responding to comments.

We ended up taking Ipo Nani to the vet instead. We're just now home and it's too dark to take pictures.

Instead of posting a nice, interesting, article about barns, I'll note that Jen mentioned unpurchased alpacas and go into my shameless salesman mode and say, "We have alpacas for sale!" Please visit our sales page and our AlpacaNation listing.

The real barn explanation will come out sometime in the next several days.

Poor Poor Pitiful Wet Alpacas

Those of you living in Western Oregon know how much rain we have had this winter. Those of you living elsewhere have doubtless heard how badly Northern California is getting pounded by storms. If you take a two-second look at the weather map describing the pounding by said storms, you will notice that the media and the population may be centered in Northern California, but the storms are centered north of the border. Specifically, the storms are focused on the central latitudes of Western Oregon.

Just ask our alpacas about the rain.


Del (left), Percy (right) and the rest of the boys looking wet and miserable -- pleading to come in out of the rain. Not! Del and Percy are checking out the camera to see if it contains pellets.

The truth is they are wet on the surface, but not at the skin. They look skinny because the rain has dampened their normally fluffy fiber.

The begging, however, is for their beloved and tasty pellets, not for shelter. They don't like the rain and they'd prefer not to be out in the rain, but they have dry sheds and plenty of hay. They just don't have enough pellets.



Ipo doing her best to look wet and pitiful as Anna looks on. She'd really like us to take pity on her and let her into the shed where the pellets are.



Little Maggee and the other girls are milling around outside the gate to the shed. Just listen to them tell you how awful the rain is when the pellets are in the shed.

The girls have two areas in their shed and they seem to be able to all get out of the rain quite comfortably. They share their shelter fairly readily.



They boys do have a legitimate complaint about the muddy moat they must wade through to get to their shed, but once in the shed, they have a nice, dry, raised floor. The problem is the boys tend to look on the shed as an oversized hay bin which must be defended against all interlopers. They don't share their shelter very well unless it's really pouring.



The alpacas will tell you how pitiful and wet they are -- just ask them at feeding time.

To be totally honest, our pastures are a muddy mess and the high traffic areas are sodden swamps. We've got ditches dug to channel water away from the sheds to keep them dry. We've had storms stacked up off the Oregon Coast like airplanes at O'hare since Christmas with no end in sight. The outer layer of fiber on our animals has probably been wet for three weeks at this point and we're going to lose some fiber to felting. We're not enjoying our trips outside to take care of the animals. We know from their behavior the alpacas are have some cabin fever and they're tired of hay -- we see them staying out to graze in ever heavier rain even though the hay bins are full. That's the downside.

The upside is, the animals are healthy. Despite the nasty weather, our animals are healthy and basically in good shape. They're plenty warm. They're dry at the skin. The rain probably doesn't bother them nearly as much as watching them stand in the rain bothers us. Oh, they know how to play on our pity at feeding time, but they're not in bad shape.

Just don't ask them when they think you might have pellets.

Thank You

I'd like to thank June of Two Sheep for her kind and consistent comments. For some odd reason, she seems to think I will eventually learn to construct beautiful finished objects quickly and easily using two pointy sticks. I've seen what I'm doing -- I'm less convinced.

I'm impressed by the double helix scarf June designed and I may, someday, attempt the pattern myself. I once pursued a Ph.D. in genetics and even though I decided not to finish my degree, I have not lost all interest in the subject. The problem is, I don't wear scarves and my knitting is not yet up to the challenge.

I've done a little spinning and knitting recently. Yesterday, I finished a knitting loom hat to match the wrap. Today, I've been working on spinning the black suri alpaca I last worked on a month ago at the Christmas Craft fair.

Early Knitting Loom Results

I have had several days now to play with my knitting loom. This wrap is my first finished project in alpaca. I can't tell you the technical term for the wrap -- it's a very wide scarf or a rectangular shawl or … whatever. Anyhow, it's alpaca, it's knit, it's open, and it ought to be warm. The yarn is Classic Alpaca from America's Alpaca, known to alpaca breeders as AFCNA Classic. It's DK weight and the color is Annapolis Navy. I created the wrap using the largest size round (yellow) Knifty Knitter knitting loom. Instead of working in a circular pattern as in making a hat, I worked back and forth around the loom to make a flat fabric.

As I suggested in an earlier entry, the Knifty Knitter calls for super-bulky yarn and suggests holding sport-weight yarns double. I thought I could achieve a very nice, open, alpaca garment using a DK weight yarn held single, and that's exactly what I achieved.



The piece still needs to be blocked. I haven't figured out how to block an item this large yet. I'm not going to try Yarn Harlot's mattress pad technique and our carpet is in no condition to touch clean, hand-knit alpaca. I guess I might try the towel over the carpet trick, but I'm going to have to think things through.

I need to fringe the wrap -- well -- I think I want to fringe the wrap, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure if the proper technique is to fringe the wrap before or after blocking it. Given my uncertainty, I think I'm going to wait a couple days before I do anything to see if my readers offer wise advice or comment. If I hear nothing, I will probably block the wrap and then look at it carefully to decide if I want a fringe.

I have decided I really like my knitting looms simply because they don't require the counting and attention that needles require. They don't offer the flexibility of sticks and I suspect I will encounter limitations very quickly. Until then, however, I think they're a wonderful way to make simple pieces fairly quickly. Because I spin and have the capability of creating interest in the spinning process, I think I can do well creating simple, open, garments on knitting looms.

New Year -- New Fiber Adventures

The New Year is bringing new fiber adventures. I got a set of knitting looms for Christmas -- and some yarn to play with. The yarn is Lion Brand Color Waves in the Sunset Red colorway. It's a boucle-like yarn in acrylic and polyester. Synthetic yarns don't compare to handspun alpaca, but I like to use them for new patterns and new techniques.

I like the knitting looms because they are easy and relatively mindless to use. Anything that allows me to knit without furious concentration is a good thing. Part of why I so enjoy spinning is that I don't have to concentrate so hard.

The big drawback of knitting looms for me is they have these great big pegs -- something between a size 8 and 9 knitting needle or between a size L and M crochet hook. These pegs are fairly widely spaced and seem to make great big stitches. Big stitches are great if one is using super-bulky yarn. In fact, the instructions for my loom suggest working with two strands of yarn held together. I'm going to have to play with my looms to figure out how to take advantage of these great big stitches without using super-bulky yarn.

I have spun some beautiful super-bulky alpaca, but it does have limited applications. Alpaca fiber is much warmer than wool and doesn't have as much fiber memory. Heavy garments made from alpaca fiber can be too warm to wear and may lack the fiber memory necessary to maintain shape.

As I have mentioned previously in this blog, I want to learn to take advantage of the warmth and weight of alpaca, to make fairly open garments, and to learn to knit lace. It occurs to me that I can somehow take advantage of the large stitches created by the knitting loom to make open garments using approximately sport-weight handspun yarn. With a little experimenting, I'm sure I'll come up with something nice.

The Lion Brand Colorways turns out to be perfect yarn for loom knitting -- large diameter and very squishy. I wonder if I can figure out how to do something similar in handspun alpaca -- without taking a year to make a skein.

Spinning Guy in the JenLa Awards?

It seems I made JenLa's Second Annual Knit Blog Awards. I came in at number sixty-seven out of seventy-five with a mention for technical spinning, "He spins his own alpaca fiber. AND tells us how to get it out of our plumbing." Thank you. The article about Unusual Spinning Tools remains one of the most-read pages on our site. In fact, based on the search terms people are using to find our site, I'm tempted to put plumbing-related Google adwords on the page.

I wrote the post to educate and in hopes others would not repeat my mistakes. When it comes to fiber and drains, I still maintain that prevention is the best approach. Please learn from my experience -- it is far easier and much cheaper to prevent the fiber from entering the plumbing than to remove the fiber once it's in the pipes!

The awards blog is well worth the read -- and not just because it links to my site.