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Alpacas
are without a doubt one of the most beautiful animals that roam our planet earth. Just the
fact that alpacas come in 22 different colors makes them unique, but add to that their
gentle nature, tranquil temperament, luxurious fiber, and gentle, calming humming sounds [listen!] and you have an animal that no human can resist hugging.
The natural habitat of the alpaca is the high Andes of South America, but since 1984 they have also flourished on farms throughout the United States because they are so adaptable.
There are two different kinds of alpacas in the United States--the suri alpaca which has fiber that appears to be in the form of dreadlocks and is very silky, and the huacaya (pronounced wa-ki-a) alpaca which has very colorful fiber that is extremely fine and gives the alpaca a woolly and round appearance.
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Alpacas prefer outdoors to being cooped up in a barn so a three-sided shed is perfect. We provide an enclosed barn for birthing. They eat very little food each day, usually as much as a large dog. We feed them grass, good quality grass hays (some alfalfa is fine), and a special alpaca crumble. They need hay and/or grass for the fiber it contains.
We give our alpacas annual inoculations and worm them as you would your dog or cat.
Alpaca Glossarybred female - A pregnant alpaca. cria - A baby alpaca, usually younger than 5 months. dam - An alpaca's mother. fiber - The fleece of an alpaca. huacaya - A type of alpaca with fine fiber and a wooly appearance. fiber quality male - A male alpaca whose genetic characteristics are not worthy of breeding. sire or herdsire - An alpaca's father, or a male alpaca with the genetic characteristics desirable for breeding. suri - A type of alpaca with tightly-wound fiber that looks like dreadlocks. weanling - A weaned alpaca, younger than 1 year. yearling - An alpaca between 1 and 2 years old. |
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Litchfield, Ohio, USA |
info@alpacafarm.com | (330)
667-3233
© 2000, Magical Farms, Inc. All rights reserved.