On Barn Flooring and Alpaca Poop Usage:
A recent question was posed to a group of alpaca owners by email, to which I answered…
Bare dirt! Used to do the Stall Fresh and Woody Pet, but now save for when visitors are expected and in the dead of winter. Mainly, I've noticed that the Woody Pet doesn't decompose as well as the poop by itself in my compost hill. Gardeners do come by and get poop. I sell it at $20 a tractor bucket full, but no one wants me to scoop up the stuff with Woody Pet in it. I use this in my garden, and as far as I know, I'm the only person in my neighborhood that gets a great crop of tomato plants going; I credit the poop. When I have an area that I am reclaiming from alpaca dust bowls into pasture again, I will take scoops of the poop and spread it out... nice thing is the poop comes pre-seeded, so all you have to do is spread some straw or grass clippings over it and tada, fertilized & seeded.
Tried limestone way back when; judges at shows would pat the side of my alpacas and cough to make the point. Wade Geese went so far as to pat my alpaca and lecture the audience for 2 minutes about how stupid it is to use limestone... thanks Wade! (side note: next time in front of Wade, he lectured me about "over preparing" the fleece, trying too hard to get the dirt out, how I should bring the animal "as is"... geez) Sand is definitely a no-no... come shearing time either you'll regret it, or your shearer will never book you again -- pure death to blades and combs. I've heard of some kind of crushed walnut husks or something, but have never seen it used.
I would love to figure out how to make the poop into a slurry mix that would produce biogas to power my barn fans; but that's probably a bit more than I could ask for. Hope some idea comes out of this!