by John Dowd
Safe Haven Llama and Alpaca Sanctuary in Corvallis has been open since 2004. Since then, Char Hakes, the founder and operator of the nonprofit, has been working to help as many llamas and alpacas as she can. This can be an extremely expensive endeavor. However, one of the main ways she has been doing this comes from the very animals themselves. As she put it, “It goes from one end to the other.” In other words, to pay to feed the animals, Hakes turned to alpaca and llama poop.
Hakes sells the poop from her animals as fertilizer and manure. Though this sounds like a strange proposition, given that a major portion of the manure industry uses cow poop, Hakes explained that those little brown beads she picks up all year are really made of gold. “It’s good stuff,” said Hakes.
Char Hakes fills bags with compost for customers to pick up. Photo by John Dowd.
Llama/alpaca poop is actually known as great compost. It is not naturally acidic like other composts. Cattle dung can be very acidic if not processed properly. According to Hakes, “It can burn your plants.” The cow manure needs to have that high acid content removed (by composting or other means), but that’s not necessary for alpaca and llama poop.
Additionally, according to Hakes, there are many benefits from llama and alpaca poop that makes it great for garden composting. First, it is a rich soil conditioner, and it improves the soil nutrient quality, adding a lot of potassium and nitrogen, as well as a normal amount of phosphorus. It also has a great ability to retain water, and it spreads well in a garden. Another keynote is that llamas and alpacas process the food in their stomachs very effectively, carrying minimal weed seeds through into their poop. This means those don’t transfer to a garden. The cherry on top of this manure is that it does not have a bad odor, unlike cow manure.
Hakes’ manure and fertilizer works so well that she almost sold out last year. People come from as far as Washington and Idaho for her compost. When speaking on how she makes it, she explained that she collects it, getting a bunch in spring when all the snow melts around the yard. Then she piles it up and she adds some hay, but not too much. “I don’t want lots of straw, I want people to have a good mix for their garden,” said Hakes. She doesn’t want any chemicals in the hay for customers, either, so she buys organic hay, locally. She also takes care to have no rocks in it but adds a little soil to provide some medium. The manure composts for a few weeks, and she is constantly adding more, mixing it in.
This pre-composted manure is $15, by “donation,” for a large bag. She uses reused and donated feed bags, as well as recycled twine to tie up the bags. To use the compost, she recommends starting with an inch or two spread on top and seeing if that’s enough. Use more if it’s exceptionally dry soil, and mix it in
People can also buy just the straight “beans,” as she refers to them. These are the uncomposted little pellets of poop the animals leave behind. According to Hakes, these are great for all plants, in the house, in gardens, or the lawn. These are $10 for a small gallon sized bag. To use them, Hakes recommends putting about four large cups into a 5-gallon bucket, filling it with about four gallons of water and letting them soak for 24 hours the first time. Use that water strained out to water the plants. A person can do this eight to 10 times, and after the first soak the beans only need to soak overnight. As long as a person keeps the bag filled, they can continue to use the water for watering. Once finished, the left-over pellets can be spread around the garden or at the base of trees to help them as well.
According to Hakes, she really is the only game in town, if people are looking for local, no chemicals included, organic compost. There are no other options in the valley for locally-produced natural compost anymore. There used to be a place that processed cow manure for compost, but they closed down several years ago.
The sanctuary also allows scheduled ranch visits, where people can walk around the rescue and meet and learn about the animals. Several school groups come every year, as well as locals interested in the animals and wanting to learn about their care. Visits are $15 for adults. These visits are about an hour and a half long. “The kids love it,” and “we just make it fun.”
All the money from manure sales and visits goes into the sanctuary and allows her to keep caring for these animals. She has been doing this since 1990, though she started the rescue in 2004. According to her, llama and alpaca care can be expensive, especially for elderly animals. Medical bills can be a huge part of that high cost, but she also tries to give these animals a good life. “They get lots of stuff other people don’t ever do with their animals,” including different types of therapies. For most of these animals, they are in their twilight years, so Hakes wants to make the most of it.
Animal feed can also be expensive. She said it costs the rescue about $18-$30 per bag of feed. The elderly animals eat a more expensive specialty feed, and she goes through a 40-bag pallet every three weeks. With 35 animals, most of which are elderly and some are 27 years old, this is a constant job. However, Hakes loves what she does. She hopes more folks keep coming to visit and maybe even leave with a bag of poop.
Interested customers must call ahead before they buy any compost. To set an appointment to pick up compost or visit, call (406) 961-4027. The rescue is also on Facebook under the sanctuary’s full name.
A one gallon bag of llama and alpaca “beans.” Photo by John Dowd.