The Alpacas
The new boys have arrived at last!
We are now the proud owners of 3 male Alpacas!
Alpacas
belong to the Camelid (Camel) family and originate on the high
plains in Peru, Chile and Bolivia. Outside these areas of South
America, most people keep Alpacas for their fine, warm, light,
lustrous, luxury fibre, which is made up into yarn, jumpers, shawls,
throws, coats, duvets etc. They are sheared annually.
They are roughly the size of sheep, to the shoulder, but have a long neck. Like sheep, they graze on grass, though this is supplemented by a special Alpaca feed, daily in winter, and every other day in the summer. They are naturally herd animals, and will ‘look after’ other animals with them. We are keeping them mainly to guard our hens from foxes, but of course they’ll also be an attraction for guests to our holiday cottages.
The
alpaca is extremely hardy and adapts well to the British climate.
They can live outside all year, and although we have a shelter for
them, they will often just shelter beneath hedges, trees and walls.
They are very intelligent and can easily be trained to walk on a
halter. They are very gentle natured animals, making them safe to be
around young children. Alpacas are very relaxing to be with,
listening to the gentle communicating humming sound that they make
to one another. They warn each other off by spitting, but rarely
spit at humans unless they feel threatened or mishandled.
Our
Alpacas are an 11-year-old fawn boy who was already named Cappucino,
and a 4 ½ year old dark brown boy, who didn’t have a name when we
bought him. Vicki asked guests, volunteers and staff at *Treetops
Hospice for help, and after getting about 20 suggestions, the
name ‘Barnaby’ was pulled out of a hat. Both of these boys needed to
be re-homed, because their owner was ill. We also have a baby of
just 7 months, a beautiful black and white boy called Domino. He’s
only just left his mum, and will be gelded at around 18 months old.
He came from
Discovery Alpacas, near Sheffield.
Although Alpacas are not touchy/feely/cuddly animals, they are very inquisitive and we hope they will become friendly enough to eat from our hand.
* Treetops Hospice, near Derby – where Vicki has worked as a volunteer for over 16 years.
*UPDATE
- August 2008*
We’ve got to know the character of the alpacas much more. Cappucino is probably the most mischievous of the three – he’s often to be found in the hen coops, eating layers pellets! He hasn’t produced any eggs yet. He will readily eat out of the bucket (pictured).
Domino will now eat from our hands (pictured).
He’s the most inquisitive of the three, and will come forward to see what’s going on. He even rounded up a hen that we were trying to shut into their pens one evening.
Barnaby remains feisty and aloof, and won’t come near us at all.
Vicki has recently been on a Spinning and felting course, to learn about things that can be done with the fleece. She doesn’t think she’ll be spinning it, but enjoyed the felting, especially the dry felting method.
*UPDATE
- March 2008*
The boys have been sheared!
We've found some other local Alpaca owners:
- Ingrid and Terry Ruston of Amber Valley Alpacas in Heage, Derbyshire have huacaya and suri alpacas. Ingrid and Terry are interested in breeding elite alpacas for better fleeces, some of which have won prizes at shows. She is able to provide space for speakers to run courses on all things related to alpacas.
- Matt Cooke of Three Oaks Alpacas at Tutbury, Staffordshire has a large herd of alpacas. His aim is to breed animals of quality and good lineage. Matt offers Shearing and Alpaca care services service at very competitive prices. (We know, because he sheared our boys!) He also has stud animals and females for sale as well as a range of alpaca garments and wool, for further details visit his sales page.