Have you ever noticed how annoying it is to break your routine? Or what a relief it is to get back to it? I travel quite a bit, and one of the things that I have noticed is that the closer that I can stick to my normal 'home' routine, even when I am half a continent away in a strange hotel room, the more grounded I feel.
After almost 14 years working with alpacas, I have no qualms at saying they feel the same way. Of course their routine does not involve a morning cup of tea or 20 minutes of yoga, but they do have a routine. Feeding schedules, type of feed, pen cleaning, moving between barns and pastures, cud chewing time...the more I can keep them on the same schedule, the more secure they are.
I have had visitors ask if the alpacas get bored, and surely they do if there is not enough in their daily routine for stimulation. But generally the more I can keep their daily schedule the same from day to day, the more calm the alpacas are. Moving things around - changing feeding times, switching pastures or stalls, putting different alpacas together - causes stress, which for an alpaca manifests as: more talking (whining), more spitting or aggressive behavior between alpacas, and less quiet time. Stressed alpacas, just like stressed humans, get sick more, especially ulcers.
So my role as alpaca caretaker is to try to keep the number of changes to a minimum, or, as the humerous saying goes: change is good - you go first! Of course, by keeping my alpacas' routines on schedule, I keep myself on schedule, and then I am also less stressed. It's the alpaca farm version of yoga!
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