[ Home Page ]
by Mark Puhr
January 2002
Homestead Alpacas
This article is all about researching, purchasing, and managing alpacas. The only way to get information about these animals is to gather all the marketing information, visit several alpaca farms, and then finally sit down and sort through all of the material to make a decision. And even then, a lot of information is absorbed through hands-on management. Depending on your objectives, you may come to conclusions relatively quick or it may take months to feel comfortable with the prospect of owning and managing these animals as an investment. The difference is in pets versus investment. Regardless of objectives, you MUST purchase from someone that will help you after the sale. These animals are new to other parts of the world besides South America and you will need assistance with the various aspects of the management. You will have questions about their care, need help with making decision on shearing, veterinary care, breeding, birthing, food, and general maintenance. Purchase from someone you can trust to assist you after the sale. Regardless of the objectives, you will be happy with the animals, they are so pleasing to be around and beautiful to look at. It's a very enjoyable lifestyle that many people will envy.
A lot of what I have written about here can be contested, this is my opinion of the animals and the business. This is what I feel is most actuate based on literature and experience. These are new animals to this country, many owners are not farmers, ranchers or livestock people, they have recently entered the business because of the investment and the lifestyle of living on a small acreage raising an animal they can manage. I was raised on a farm in Wisconsin, moved to hi-tech industry and now have gone back to farming. I have experience with animals, businesses and I believe a lot of conservative practical sense. This is my opinion and experience speaking.
If you are purchasing alpacas for pets, for their fiber, or just starter animals to determine if you want to invest in more expensive animals, then there are just a few things to look for. You will want to purchase two halter trained animals, ones that you can lead around and are easy to handle, that is, pick up their feet, check their teeth, etc... You want a pet that you can enjoy and show off to your friends and family. Fiber animals will not have the greatest fiber, otherwise they would be studs or Herdsires, but they do have fiber and it will be excellent for spinners and the weaver guild members. My first animals were two geld males that were used for pet therapy, these were excellent trainers and very little investment.
Pet quality animals will cost around $1,000. You will be able to find animals that are less and more depending on age and the farm situation. These animals will typically be males and are of a lower grade. If the males are older than three years, they should have been gelded. If they are females, there will be defects in the animals. Pet quality males my have defects as well, such as small ears. Females may have blue eyes and are deaf. Typically, females are breed up, meaning, you take a lower quality female and breed it to a higher quality male. The industry frowns on breeding to lower quality animals or even owning lower quality animals as investments; in my opinion it is not a good business decision. If you purchase lower quality females with the intent to breed up to quality animals, you risk the reputation of having low quality, lower priced animals and it will take time to improve your herd. Personally, I believe in quality animals for breeding and investment.
If you are purchasing animals for investment, then thorough research is required because of their cost. Breeding quality animals will cost $15,000 dollars and up. There are many different business plans and financial aspects that must be considered. Once you have obtained alpaca marketing information, visited a few farms or events and started your business plan, then animal selection, within the budget can consume months.
Visit the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association web site for information, visit a farm, attend an event, gather brochures from alpaca owners or the AOBA organization, then you will be on your way to a wonderful experience of obtaining animals. It takes time, but it can really be enjoyable, most alpaca owners love their animals and you will see it in their farm tours.
I have a sample 10-step business plan that I used to initially set up my Homestead Alpacas business, use this as a reference point, then update your business plan every year. This doesn't have to be a lengthy process, it only takes a few days, some of the information (financial analysis) can be obtained from alpaca owners that you have visited. It won't be perfect or actuate, but it will be a good start to a successful business. That's why it's very important to update the business plan after the first year of operation. You will have a better understanding of the animals and realistic financial information as well as future goals.
I can not stress the importance of visiting as many farms as you can, you want to be happy with the purchase and selection as well as the people you are purchasing from. Visit the AOBA web site to get a list of farms in you area, make arrangement for a farm tour, get your hands on the animals to feel the fiber, gage their temperament and see different ranch management techniques. You will use this information later on when you have animals.
What determines quality or the price? In the last three months, two yearling Suri males have sold for $250,000 and $267,000 dollars. I've attended auctions where the average price for an animal was $33,000 dollars on sales of 61 animals. What do people look for and why do they pay this amount? I can only answer that from my experience, having been in the business three years I have seen it grow and I suspect it will continue for many years.
There are no official standards on these animals other than what makes a winner at a judged show. Alpacas are a fiber production animal so you would think that fiber is important. It is, about 50% of the time, other important features are conformation and temperament. It's really hard to determine quality animals starting out, you have to trust your judgment, analysis and the sales person. And then there are the two different breeds, Huacaya and Suri, there are different qualities associated with each breed. I will try to answer the quality question here, first with Huacaya, then Suri.
Dense crimpy fiber is the most important feature. You can only determine this by feel, and then comparison of several different animals. You may visit a farm and feel several different animals, this is a good start but still hard to gage. Experience and time is the only way to really gage the density, crimp will be easier. Many of the farms will have dense crimpy fiber animals, what you want to look for is the extremes, feel a less dense animal, then a very dense animal. Visit another farm, look for the same. It's like judging fineness or the feel which is measured in microns (<20 microns is good), you start with course and very fine to tell the deference, as you come together it gets tougher to tell the difference between fiber. Same with feeling the animals, you need to get your hands on as many as you can to really gain experience. Once you think you know the difference between a dense fibered animals and you believe it is a good quality animal, visit an alpaca auction where they are selling high quality animals, you will be amazed at the difference between theirs and what you have experienced. This involves traveling around the country to get this kind of experienced. Be prepared for an eye-opener, there are some really good animals in this country if you take the time to travel around.
Crimp is easier to determine, it's a visual measure versus a feel. Look for lots of crimp, part the fiber on many different animals, much like the feel for density. You will see the difference. Part the fiber on the prime blanket area, shoulders and rump. Look for consistency and lots of crimpy fiber.
You also want to look for brilliance, much like luster in Suri. This will be the hardest feature to see, I've just recently really been able to see luster in Suri. You will see this immediately, don't let people tell you the animal has luster without seeing it, don't be ashamed if you can't see it, it's hard on some animals and very evident on others. Typically, younger animals have more luster on their fleeces.
Conformation is another important feature of quality animals. Conformation is made up of the whole animal, sometimes referred to as presence. From head to toe you want to look at the bone structure and the way the animals carries itself. Look at the shape of the head, muzzle and ears. Typey heads which I equate to the Peruvian line are preferred. The body or vertebra must be handled to check if it's too thin or obese. Look at the legs for good conformation, that is, knock kneed sickle hocked, etc... The animal should have good balance and proportion, no sway or hump backed.
The Suri fleece is totally different that Huacaya alpacas. They are two different breeds, two different fiber characteristics. Although both fleeces are measured the same as far as micron count. You want fine fiber. Many Suri owners don't even do micron counts on their Suri alpaca fleeces because it's a given that Suri fiber is always very fine. It looks that way to the naked eye, maybe because of the way it hangs and floats in the air when they walk.
What you look for in Suri fiber is lock structure, luster and fineness as well as good fiber coverage. It's much easier to gage fiber quality on an Huacaya alpaca than a Suri. But the feel, sometimes referred to hand or fiber softness is important. Once again, feeling many different animals is the only way to gage different quality animals. You also want to look for a consistent lock formation.
All of the other characteristics apply for both Huacaya and Suri except crimp. You do not want crimp in Suri alpacas. Look for density, fineness, abundance of fiber overall. Also look for guard hair, you do not want that in the blanket area of the animal.
Alpacas come in 22 different colors. There are solids and pattern animals. Lighter colored animals tend to have finer fiber, but darker colored animals currently bring higher prices. If you have to choose between quality and color, in my opinion, choose quality. Color is easier to breed into the herd than quality.
I've often wondered, what's the different between a farm and a ranch? I believe there is none, just that in the eastern part of the US, we call them farms and out west they are called ranches. In the alpaca industry we tend to call them farms, so I'll use that term.
The good thing about raising alpacas is that they don't require much in terms of fences and barns. These animals don't challenge fences, unless you have a stud on one side and an open female on the other. The stud will climb the fence but really doesn't challenge it. I separate females from studs using a separate pasture or put gelded pet males between them. I fence primarily to keep stray animals out.
These animals like to live outdoors and only require a three sided shelter. I have 12'x24' three sided shelters for all the animals except the females with babies (crias). All of the pastures have a lean-to for shelter, something to provide shelter from the sun and rain. They prefer to stay under these types of shelters. The females with crias I lock in the barn on winter nights, this is only between November and March. The rest of the time they spend out doors.
Alpacas are browsers and eat primarily grass hay, low protein feed. Remember, they are native to the Andes mountains, above 11 thousand feet, not much in the form of high protein food. They don't require much hay, one alpaca will eat one bale of hay per month, at $4.00 per bale, that's not much. We do supplement the nursing female mothers with about a cup of grain each day and adjust according to weight gain or lack of weight. We use a 12% calf mixture as the supplement.
The seller should help you find veterinary care for your animals. A vet with camelid experience is a must, one that has experience treating llamas will work just fine. Veterinary costs are minimal depending on the size of the farm. Most alpaca owners manage the complete care of their animals. With investment animals you will require vet services to do ultrasounds and draw blood for DNA analysis and registration. The animals should have a CD/T shot once a year and de-worming / parasite shots twice a year. Treat the animals much like sheep.
Now that you have a start on the business plan, visited farms and have various marketing information, you are ready to move forward selecting the animals that you will feed and take care of. You will enjoy managing the animals and being around them, they do reduce stress and create a good lifestyle. Remember, purchase from someone you can trust and know will be there to help answer questions and help with the management of the animals.
This article is my opinion in alpacas. There are many other references and experience available to gather information. Check out some of my other links on www.homestead-alpacas.com for more information.
Last update: January 28, 2002
[ Home Page ]
Homestead Alpacas, 7880 W 20th St,
Greeley, CO 80634, (970) 506-0799,