Hubby wants to raise ALPACAS. Anyone have ideas?

[CheekyMamaof2]

Hey ladies!

My husband just absolutely flabberghasted me tonight, by letting me know he would like to move to some land in the country and raise alpacas. I had no idea he was even remotely interested in that...in fact...I didn't even know he knew what an alpaca WAS. This is really exciting for me, because i think it would be So fun to do...I have a background with livestock (though not alpacas) and am really eager to do something new. Does anyone here have Alpacas or know anyone with them? I would really like some info on breed types, and raising them properly...if anyone has any info to pass along...thanks!!!
michelle

[marnie]

I think Deanna has alpacas....

[littleturtlemama]

ohh, I am so green with envy! Dh and I talk abotu this occasionally, moving back to maine and riaising alpacas and cashmere goats. Oh, it's such a dream of mine!!

Alpacas are verye easy to care for, they are lovable, companionate creatures. THey don't need a lot, land-wise, if I recall it's about 1/4 acre per pair, but I may be wrong, I haven't had coffee yet, LOL!

http://www.alpacanation.com/ has great info :)

[Ruth]

We hope to get a smallholding one day too and have goats, chickens and sheep for me. It's great when you both want the same thing for once isn't it:)

[imonion]

oh wow! i have no info. but my dh is gonna be jealous of your dh. (i cannot live in the country--i am a city mouse.)

[CraftyMommaOf2]

kewl! no info either. :LOL i have somehow managed to convince dh that we should live in a cohousing living environment (modern commune with nicer houses :LOL ) .

[botannie]

Oh, that is so cool! We used to have an alpaca. It lived with our goat. They were so sweet = best friends! I don't know much about the details of caring for them because I was just a kid, but I beleive they are fairly easy to care for .

[FabriConnection]

I"ve been looking into it b/c I intend to raise a few alpacas, some sheep etc etc when we get the house finished. What I"ve found so far is that to get a decent quality alpaca(and I'm just talking about decent fleece, not even a show conformation body) you're looking at about 15,000.00 for a female(but they are usually already bred so you're actually paying for 2 ;) ). You can get a neutered male for around 5000.00-6000.00, but remember that you need to have two b/c they can literally die from lonliness.

[pb_and_j]

Have you gone to ilovealpacas.com? There is good info there and I think it lists alpaca farms by state. See if you can find an alpaca farm to visit... there are a suprising amt of them! We took a field trip w/ Parker's preschool class to one in town and it was SO COOL! The farm belonged to a retired couple and the wife spins the fiber and knits, the husband helps take care of them and restores old cars. ;) She said they are super easy to take care of... they cost only about $100 a yr for food, they don't need to be brushed or anything (you don't want to brush them anyway so when you shear them the coat comes off in a big piece), and you can hang out w/ them on days when you want and leave them be when you don't. They also poop in one spot so you don't have poop all over the place! They said ppl come and take the poop away for fertilizer! You need a couple (at least 2... or more since they're herd animals).

HTH~ :D

[CheekyMamaof2]

I would want a bunch of them I think...at least 5, but as far as the "herd" animal thought...Horses are also herd animals, and you dont have to have 2 of them...I wonder if its the same with alpacas.

[pb_and_j]

W/ alpacas you really need more than 1. They are not as domesticated as horses, kwim? If you only have 1 you need to have another animal out there for them to herd w/... you know how some farmers have flocks of sheep and a llama to protect them? Llamas need a herd too, but they will adopt sheep as their herd if they don't have other llamas.

[CheekyMamaof2]

ahhh that makes sense! so sheep and alpacas can mix together in the fields then? sounds perfect! Hubby is so eager to get started...its really funny, because as expensive as it sounds like alpacas are to purchase, we aint gonna be doin this for awhile yet. :P sheep however...thats another story :D

[FabriConnection]

You can sometimes find abused/rescue alpacas that have poor fleece b/c of poor nutrition for less than 4K....a fwe years of good feed/treatment and their fleece is usually decent quality again ;)

[pb_and_j]

Michelle, I have only heard of llamas being w/ sheep, but I don't see how alpacas would be any different. Llamas can be protective so that's why sheepherders like to put them out w/ the sheep.

Did you see if there is an alpaca farm close to you that you could visit? I was really suprised to find one right here in town. I also looked up my hometown and there were like 3 there too! :D

[pb_and_j]

Here's the link to find one near you ;)

http://ilovealpacas.com/visit.shtml