A Cottage Industry using Modern Technology

Alpaca Facts:-

Alpacas are from the Camel family, of the species “South American Camelids”, being smaller cousins of the Llama, Guanaco and Vicuna. Whereas Llamas are bred as load carriers, and have a different conformation of the hind legs for this purpose, Alpacas are bred for their luxurious fleece. Being hollow, it has insulation properties which make it warm to wear in winter, and surprisingly cool in the summer. It is also soft and silky to the touch. Baby alpaca does not prickle if worn next to the skin, and it is hypo-allergenic.

Alpacas come in a variety of natural colours (22 recognised shades), from white, through fawns and browns to black (the only true black in natural fibre) and greys. Usually each animal is a solid colour, possibly with a white face or “socks”, but there are Show Classes for multicoloured or “Fancies”.

Alpacas are extremely easy to keep, not being subject to many of the problems facing the sheep farmer, for instance. They started to become farmed in the UK around 20 years ago, and we are just starting to learn that their life span is around 25 years. I have heard of a male which died at 26 years of age, and a female still happy and healthy at 25 years, having last given birth aged 22 years.

Gestation is around eleven and a half months, and multiple births are extremely rare – the frame of an alpaca doesn’t have room for two cria to grow to a viable size. Birth usually takes place between 9 am and Noon, but within a range from 8 am to 2 pm, only rarely outside of these times. In their native high Altiplano, this ensures they are born after the cold night ends, giving them the heat of the day to be born, dry out, get the all-important first feed from the mothers, and run around in the sun before the next night descends.

Feed on the Altiplano is scarce and coarse. Because of this, they have extremely efficient digestive systems (and their dung was highly recommended on Gardeners Question Time!), which means they do not require large amounts of supplementary feed – a pound (a half kilo) a day each, or double in winter, of a coarse mix. They are grazers and (to a limited extent) browsers but need to have access to hay or alfalfa at all times, to provide roughage as a substitute for the coarse Altiplano grazing for which their stomachs have evolved. Our grassland is very rich by comparison, but lacks the variety of minerals they ingest naturally by roaming large areas of Altiplano in search of food, so a mineral supplement is added to their feed.