So as Adeline’s birthday treat we visited Surico – an alpaca farm nestled in the gently bubbling hills just shy of Lake Rotorua. As one of the nearest alpaca farms to us, we couldn’t resist a visit. And we’re rather glad we did.

Within minutes of arriving our host Hermione took us through to a pen and we watched the very miracle of creation unfold a few feet in front of us. Yep, it was breeding time alpaca style – and this meant one very happy male whose orgling sounds were bouncing around the hills.

Update – and here’s one I found on YouTube:

In the pen next door were the new born crias and their mums, all humming reassuringly to each other. Beautiful little things. One female who had given birth a week ago was already lying down next to the fence – this being typical female behaviour indicating that one whole week was long enough to be footloose and fancy free. She wanted in on the action.

Hermione took us around her farm and introduced us to some of her 150 alpacas living on just about 32 acres. The majority are white suris (see this post about suri alpacas) and that’s the real focus of their breeding programme.  It’s all about genetics, and Surico have some great credentials – have a look at their show results. Just standing in the paddocks chatting to Hermione whilst the alpacas approached inquisitively made it well worth the trip. There’s such curiosity in those big doe eyes and they radiate an appreciably calm energy.

As we left, I made a suggestion to Adeline: we don’t HAVE to get married next year. We could buy a starter herd instead.

“Er, no.”

Ah well, everything in good time…

WeLoveAlpacas on hold

Unfortunately the worst GBP/NZD exchange rate since the 80s has forced us to postpone plans for a lifestyle block and setting up our WeLoveAlpacas operation. Still, it’s not all bad – our revamped web design site was featured on moluv.com, business is busy and we’re excited to be creating an online shop for an international fleece company at the moment. Cue lots of amusement at the fantastic supplier photography and subject matter we’ve got to work with. We’ll keep you updated on the launch. It’s going to be a beautiful site…

Hmmm, I wonder what sort of search traffic that will refer?

Anyway, despite the early flippancy this is a really serious subject. As wannabe alpaca breeders, we’re facing the questions every newbie alpaca owner has to answer. Top of the list is how to select a quality foundation herd. Everything flows from this point, so it must be the correct blend for your circumstances. For us we’re starting off with the bare minimum herd size due to finances – a couple of pregnant females with cria, which we’ll then breed from. Which brings us to the lads.

Stud males cost a fortune, which reflects their immense value to breeders: a stud male will ’share’ its genetic material to the sum of 50% to all cria born. So stud males have a significant influence on your herd’s genetics. It’s important to get the selection right.

So as a new alpaca owner how do you identify a quality male? One that has won shows is an obvious quality. But does ‘best in show’ really translate to best for your starter herd? The male that won that coveted first prize was only judged against its competitors on the day. And who knows? Maybe that winning stud looks great but doesn’t get down to business that well.

Maybe it’s producing a lot of fibre. Maybe its fibre characteristics are impressive (this is a whole other post waiting to happen, I’m learning all about this at the moment). But you must also look at the temperament – how does it act around other males and females? When it’s introduced to an open (erm, ‘receptive’) female, how does it act? Really you need a calm, self assured, confident lothario that knows what to do. What if the show winner uber fibre producing male is actually aggressive to females? Alpacas don’t do kinky, so a male should not start biting and scratching its new acquaintance.

It turns out there’s an established set of criteria for objectively assessing a stud male’s suitability. Every industry has its bible, and in the alpaca world it’s Eric Hoffman’s (hallowed be thy name) The Complete Alpaca Book. This is to the alpaca industry what John Seymore’s Guide to Self Sufficiency is to The Good Life generation. It includes the charts detailing physical characteristics, criteria for judging phenotype, genotype,  behaviour and sexual potency. So here we get to the title: if you had two male alpacas with similar genetics, behavioural and fibre characteristics to the point you couldn’t choose between them, go for sheer testicle size. Seriously: the bigger, the better.

Delve further into the murky world of male stud selection here. And a big thanks to Katy from Fairhope Alpacas for the picture of stud muffin Brutus’ Firecracker. Even the name is potent.

With 3 months until we move to NZ, I’m becoming concerned about moving to the country after spending so many years in cities. I’ve never lived in rural isolation before and have been fretting about safety. How would we protect our land and our house? I don’t think the cocker spaniel we plan to get would offer much protection. I’m not really a fan of aggressive guard dogs which have a strong prey drive either.

The solution? Livestock protection dogs.

Then I had a conversation with Katy on Twitter who mentioned she’d just got their livestock protection dogs.  Her great pyrenees dogs will protect their land and alpacas. Apparently the biggest danger to alpacas are packs of dogs. All it takes is for a few local dogs to get together and sure enough the pack mentality will surface. That includes hunting pray. Alpacas are an easy target – they lack the size and strength to adequately defend themselves against such a threat.

So the solution is to keep livestock protection dogs (also called livestock or flock guardians).  I’ve looked into this and I think we’re going to choose either great Pyrenees or maremmas. Both were originally bred in Europe to protect livestock from wolves and bears, so they’re BIG, strong dogs with similar traits – independent, strong willed and gentle with their flock whilst being fiercely protective of them.

Differences between livestock protection dogs and other working dogs

The primary difference between livestock protection dogs and other working dogs is that they don’t have such a strong predator drive. Put a maremma puppy with a flock of  chickens and it will bond with them and protect them, whereas a golden retriever is more likely to start catching them and bringing them to you.

Other working dogs are also likely to be tolerant of others as they work in groups, whereas livestock protection dogs are solitary, wary of strangers and extremely territorial. Those are excellent traits in an animal used to protect a vulnerable prey animal like the alpaca.

Here’s an example of a great pyrenees with goats:

And here’s a great pyr being used as a springboard by some more pygmy goats:

Finally, this is a great post specifically relating to livestock guardian dogs and alpacas: http://www.owning-alpaca.com/livestock-guardian-dog.html

As my flirtation grew into something more serious I stumbled upon an old hero of mine – Jeff Minter. Jeff (owner of Llamasoft Ltd -ah! first clue) used to make utterly baffling games which seemed totally different to everything else out there. His games might not have played to convention but there was a definite formula to them:

1/ Camelids. By the truck load.
2/ Actually it’s just #1. But it’s an important point.

I like how my recent foray into the wonderful world of retro gaming dovetailed with my interest in alpacas by finding a perfect point of similarity. I also like how Jeff now owns a farm in Wales (ah, the motherland) which is home to llamas and alpacas, and has a blog on livejournal with the subdomain stinkygoat.

Cheers Jeff – great times and a great inspiration.

One of the great things about alpacas is that everything they produce can be used in some way or another. Their fleece is very desirable and is the main reason for keeping them, but even their waste can be put to some good (and creative) uses.

Unlike sheep or cows, alpacas will always poo in the same place, creating a shared dung pile (and saving leg work for those who have to collect it). For those of you who haven’t seen it before, alpaca poo looks a lot like rabbit poo, it is in small pellets which dry out fast and don’t really smell.

Collection

Collecting alpaca poo is easy providing you follow a few rules:

• Pick it up daily, or it will dry out and become light enough to roll down a hill or fly away in a strong wind!
• Keep your dog away from the pile at all costs, dogs are attracted to the scent of alpaca poo and would chew their own paws off to roll around in the stuff (and eat it) yuk!
• Always wear gloves. Well, that’s just common sense.

If you feel that shovelling poo is somewhat below your station then no need to worry, our friend technology has come to the rescue with the amazing poo hoover (no seriously). Just install one of these babies and you’ll never need to set eyes on that stinky wheelbarrow again.

Creative uses for poo

The most common use for alpaca poo is as fertilizer. Alpaca poo can be used straight away because unlike other kinds of manure, it doesn’t burn the garden. Apparently it grows great veg, especially tomatoes.

In peru, alpaca farmers collect the poo and compact it into bricks. Once it has dried out it can be used as a biofuel source which burns like charcoal and doesn’t smell.

Finally, for the crafty amongst you, you could always try making alpaca poo paper!

alpaca photo and alpaca poo photo from flickr.

Although we’re aiming to establish a breeding alpaca herd, we’re not going wholesale into it immediately as there’s a huge risk that we won’t get it right initially; this risk is only exasperated by our status as urbanites inexperienced in rural life in general and livestock management in particular. I have an inkling there must be more to it than we saw in The Good Life.

Alpaca agistment – no land required!

Luckily with alpacas there’s an easy in-route: agistment. This is where you own alpaca(s) but it’s kept on an alpaca breeder’s farm. You pay for the ‘running’ costs such as vets bills, food etc.   But with this approach you can grow your herd without needing land, and then if you do get some land then you already have your starter herd. Here’s an example agistment service.

Research and build a network

We’re doing what we can to learn upfront by connecting with alpaca breeders on Twitter (try searching for ‘alpaca’ on Twitter), reading our way around alpaca websites and visiting local breeders. But still, nothing can prepare us for actually living that life.

Diversify

The key for us is multiple income streams. We spread risk this way. Adeline and I sat down and listed the available avenues for income generation based on our skills.  This is our list:

• the alpaca business – primarily selling alpacas and fibre, but also capitalising on our current careers working with the web by providing brand consultancy and usable websites for new and existing alpaca breeders.
• remote freelancing – during our time working in advertising agencies we have a lot of contacts for freelance web work. The key will be identifying what work we can do remotely as most of our contacts are UK-based.
• remote work through our web company www.webdesignpeople.net
• remote reiki attunements which is something I’ve done since 2002. I’m looking forward to having the time and energy to do more of this.
• photography and on-demand canvas printing themed for the alpaca and reiki websites.
• print and web work in the local area of NZ we end up in.

Between that lot we should generate enough income to avoid debt and hopefully gradually invest in alpacas. And it should also bring some well-needed balance to our currently one-sided lives.

So that’s the way it is for us. Hopefully it will be a solid enough foundation to gradually move over to full-time alpaca breeding.

Experienced alpaca breeders – how did you get started? It’s really useful to see how you got to where you are now and it’s great motivation for us newbies too! Plus it’ll be much-needed ammunition against my dad who thinks I’ve gone mad

We have been thinking about raising alpacas for a few years now, but it has only become a serious option in the last few months. This is mainly because we are leaving our lives in London and moving to New Zealand. At first we had planned to carry on geeking it up in NZ, basically doing the same as we are now just in a nicer place. But over the last couple of months we have both become dissatisfied with our lifestyle – so much so that we decided to change it all and pursue our dream.

You dream of alpacas?

No, not exactly, our dream is more about living sustainably and doing something we love instead of working away for ‘the man’. It just happens that we both also love alpacas, and they fit into the kind of lifestyle we want perfectly!

The perfect investment

We all know the financial world is a mess at the moment. Who wants to invest in the banks after the mess that they caused? Certainly not us. But alpacas can turn out to be a fantastic investment in the current climate, as AlpacaFarmGirl points out.

Photo from flickr

We’re making a big lifestyle change in moving from apartment in London + commuting to office +  geek jobs to living on a (hopefully) sustainable lifestyle block in NZ. And we’d be doing that even if alpacas didn’t feature in that vision.

But for us alpacas seem to just fit perfectly into our plans. They have a lot of characteristics that make them suitable for what we’re trying to achieve.

1. They’re managable - they are much smaller than their big brother the llama. Even basic sheep fencing (no barbed wire though) will keep them in their paddocks.
2. They have a friendly disposition (this also helps with #1). Personally, I don’t want to keep animals that hate me.
3. They’re intelligent, curious and often playful, and they have calm energy (or at least I’ve always felt calm in their presence). After spending 10 years working in offices, it’s a pleasant change being around creatures that radiate positive energy.
4. They pronk.
5. Unlike me, they are hardy with decent immune systems. This means they are easy to look after and don’t get many diseases – perfect for the first-time livestock handler.
6. They give birth in daylight (and – oh yes – I really like my sleep).
7. You don’t need many of them to make a return. This means you can make a living without having much land (about 5 to an acre is suggested). Australian-style mega ranches with thousands of identikit lowest-common-denominator animals does not work for me.
8. The business model is ethically sound – returns come from selling animals to other owners and from fibre production. As I’m a vegetarian, I couldn’t in all honesty raise livestock for slaughter.
9. Alpacas are gentle on the land. As I mentioned before, they have soft padded feet instead of hooves.
10. Oh yes – Adeline chirps in at this point with ‘They’re cute’. Sometimes the female perspective is disarmingly accurate. The fact is, I just love them

The first thing to know about huacaya alpacas is how to pronounce their name. It’s [wa - kaya]. Um, I think.

Anyway, huacayas account for 90 – 98% of the total worldwide population of alpacas (the rest being suris). Their fibre crimps. It’s dense, springy, strong stuff making them look a bit like fluffy teddy bears, and all the more endearing for it. They look a bit pathetic when they’ve just been shorn, and frankly comedic with a full years’ growth.

In the UK, a pregnant female huacaya from a decent bloodline will cost about £5-7000 (have a look at these alpacas for sale). They seem to be a little cheaper in NZ, averaging about $10000 (NZD), though alpacas with the most desirable characteristics can be sold for up to $30,000. We’re not too worried about not being able to afford the top end of the market – like most alpaca lifestyle farmers, we’ll be looking for a female huacaya with a solid breeding record, healthy crea and good temperament; we can then breed in better fibre characteristics through choice of stud males.

Original photo on Flickr.

There are two types of alpacas: suri and huacaya. They have different characteristics, and here’s an intro to the suri.

The primary identifier is the fibre. Suri alpacas have fine, sikly and lustrous fibre which hangs down like dreadlocks (or old-school mops, if I wanted to be uncharitable). These characteristics mean that suris are at the premium end of the alpaca fibre market. Often their wool is blended as it lacks the inherant strength of other wools.

Whilst getting reliable figures is difficult, it’s fair to say suri alpacas are much rarer than huacayas; I’ve seen suris accounting for around 3-10% of the total worldwide alpaca population. I’ve also heard breeders say that they are more temperamental than huacayas, though I would be interested in finding out more (here’s an article which mentions suris are more ‘flighty and nervous’ (PDF)). Certainly, they’re less hardy creatures as their fibre doesn’t provide the same levels of insulation as the altogether puffier huacayas.

You’ve got to admit though – they look oh-so funky and are amongst the only camelids you could call ‘distinguished’.

Original photo on Flickr.

We all like to express happiness. Animals do too: dogs wag their tails, cats purr, dolphins go in for exuberant acrobatics and alpacas… well, alpacas pronk.

View the video above to see this in action. Alpacas have a tendancy to pronk at dusk (don’t we all), and it’s their way of showing excitement and happiness. It’s a joy to behold. Personally I can’t watch them doing this and not mentally go  ‘BOINGY BOINGY BOING BOING’ in my head, but maybe that’s just me.

Be sure to visit AlpacaFarmGirl’s post which has some great pronking pics.

BOING!

“Here we are Nuzzle and Scratch
Best by far Nuzzle and Scratch
We’re alpacas from the Andes
With hooves instead of handies
No two others can match Nuzzle and Scratch
Nuzzle and Scratch!”
View CBeebies Nuzzle and Scratch intro video

A colleague alerted me to this yesterday. Apparently his kids are big fans, and I can see why. But the theme song is incorrect. Why? Here’s why: alpacas don’t actually have hooves. They have soft padded feet with two toes. This means they don’t destroy the surface of the land but do need their nails trimmed occasionally.

And this is one someone else made earlier. Meet Mario. A more inquisitive alpaca you not will meet (or something like that). I met him at Ashdown Forest Llama Park. This was my first encounter with an alpaca and I realised on that day that they would be part of my future.  Kudos to Mario!

Alpacas 1 – 0 sheep

Did you know that alpacas give birth during daylight hours? This is because up in the high lands in Peru, a baby (crea is, I believe, the technical term) born at night would either:

1. fall off a cliff or
2. freeze to death

Alpacas don’t lick their newborn babies and so the crea needs the sunlight to dry them off.

So, for the lifestyle farmer who would rather get a decent nights’ sleep: alpacas 1 – 0 sheep.