Owning alpacas
Are you thinking of keeping alpacas?
Alpacas come from the Altiplano in west central South America.
They are of the camelid species and are closely related to the llama.
Out of the four species, including vicuna and guanaco, only llamas and alpacas have been domesticated.
Historically it is believed that the camelids first appeared in the Americas 40-45 million years ago, and that the llama and alpaca were domesticated at least 6,000 years ago.
Alpacas were exported from South America to the USA and Australia around 1990, and exports began to the UK around 1996. To date, there are approximately 35,000 alpacas in the UK.
Alpacas can provide owners with small acreage the opportunity to earn income from their land. In the UK, alpaca breeders are making decisions in their breeding programmes to ensure the highest quality of fleece and continuous improvement year on year. Although a niche market, there is an emerging and sophisticated industry for this luxurious fleece. A good quality alpaca can fetch a good price.
Selling good alpacas with elite genetics to others wanting to develop their herd, or to prospective new owners, is a way of having the enjoyment and the wonder of alpacas on your land and in your life.
It is very important that any alpaca that is purchased is registered with the British Alpaca Society and that there is a comprehensive history attached to each animal.
We take utmost care to ensure that any alpaca sold by us goes to a good home and to be supportive and responsive to new owners. We offer assistance and onsite demonstration of routine husbandry care. We are happy to discuss designs for small to medium ground plans. We designed our paddocks around six acres of land to give us the best possible way of managing the herd easily. It has proved to be incredibly successful and stress-free when moving our alpacas to rest paddocks or tending to them for routine tasks.
