Nitrate Toxicity in Alpacas

What is nitrate and how does it get in the hay, supplement and water?

Nitrate is required by all plants to grow. As plants grow they take the nitrate from the soil and use it to make protein. How excess nitrate accumulates in our forage and pastures is by over fertilization, any weather change that stops the plant from growing and converting the nitrate to protein, such as hail, frost, sudden drops in temperature, four or more consecutive gray days, drought (drought can be created by irregular watering of pastures and fields). Plants remain toxic for up to five days after a drought. What the farmer can control is the amount of fertilization, the timing of the harvest and the height of the cut. The rest is controlled by nature.

Nitrate gets in ground water by run off and it gets in the supplement by the use of high nitrate hay.

It has been a year since nitrate was removed from my feeding program and all the symptoms have not healed in my herd. My herd experienced, tetany, ataxia, foaming urine, excessive thirst (three gallons a day), edema, failure to impregnate, first trimester absorbtion, angular limb deformities, rickets, photosensitivity, delayed milk production, estrus ceased, injection site abscesses, failure to heal and sand colic in the entire adult herd, belligerence, anemia, hypothyroid and hyposelemium. I have researched these symptoms and have linked them all to nitrate exposure.

This chronic nitrate exposure happened to two species, alpacas and cows on four farms. The same symptoms appeared in the cows and alpacas. The cows had a higher level of nitrate and suffered late term abortions, calves dying in the birth canal, a calf born with cornea ulcers, one alpaca died from kidney failure, one died from sand colic. One died from a broken back, due to the condition of belligerence in the herd. One alpaca lost the tip of his tale from a skin condition and lack of oxygen caused by the nitrate. All of the crias born last year had skin damage on their noses, all crias had angular limb deformity when born and not all healed, one was stunted.

So now I ask you, what is the degree of risk that you are willing to take with your herd? Learn where your hay is grown, test for nitrate before you buy, then test for nutrition. Remember to always feed safe and that if you have nitrate you do not have the nutrition program that you think you do. Always feed safe by testing for nitrate in you hay and pastures. This test will cost you less the $20. Not testing can cost you your entire herd.