Alpacas are not cows or horses Alpacas come from parts of the world where forage is sparse. As a consequence, alpacas have evolved efficient digestive processes. They are ruminants with 3 stomachs and a long digestive system. After taking up to 50 hours to fully utilize their food intake, the resulting dung is a pellet, typically dry, solid and has little odor. Because these pellets are approximately the size and shape of jelly beans, they are affectionately referred to as ‘beans’ by alpaca owners. Alpacas deposit dung (and liquid waste) in common ‘dung piles’ which makes collecting it quite easy. We use absorbent bedding in some of the dung piles to collect urine to add nitrogen and moisture to our working compost pile.