What are alpacas?

What do they eat?

Alpacas are members of the camelid family and are considered  to be small cousins of Llamas.  Alpacas are generally about half the size of a llama and weigh about 100 - 200 pounds.  There are two types of alpacas - huacaya (pronounced wah-ki-ya) and suri (pronounced sir-ee).  The main difference is the appearance of their fiber. Huacaya  alpacas have a fluffy teddy bear look due to their crimpy fiber and Suri alpacas have longer fiber that hangs in the form of silky dreadlocks.

Alpacas are ruminants, which means they chew cud like a cow. The bulk of their diet is made up of hay or pasture grass but supplementation of commercially available alpaca feeds is used to provide them with a balanced diet. They need  access to clean, fresh drinking water at all times,  especially in the w

What color is an alpaca?

There are  22 nationally recognized  colors of alpacas from bright white to a dark true black and everything in between.  There are various shades of beige, fawn, brown, and gray as well as multi colored alpacas.

What's so special about their fiber?

What do you do with your fiber?

The fleece or fiber shorn from alpacas is hair not wool. If you’ve never touched alpaca fiber before it is difficult to explain how soft it truly is. It contains no lanolin and is hypoallergenic. People who have wool allergies can often comfortably wear alpaca garments. Alpaca fiber is much stronger and fe

We utilize all of our fiber on our farm in several different ways. Some of it we send out to a mill to be spun into yarn. Our yarn is used by us to make scarves, hats, and other handmade gift items. We also wet felt and needle felt our fiber into various handmade items from needle felted alpacas to wet felted purses.

How often do you shear them?

Alpacas are usually shorn once a year for their own comfort. Can you imagine how hot it would be wearing a full length winter coat all summer long? We use this opportunity to collect their fleece for making our gift products. Depending on the density of the fleece, adult alpacas will usually produce about 3-10 pounds of fiber each year.

Do they make good pets?

Do they spit?

Many people do have alpacas as fiber animals or as companion animals. They can make very good pets if they are well treated and the owners are realistic in their expectations. Alpacas are more  cat-like than dog-like in their attitude  towards humans.  They are somewhat timid, but very curious and intelligent. With the right handling, time ,and patience they can be trained to lead by a halter. We do enter our alpacas into  performance type events such as  obstacle courses. We have a lot of fun with the animals doing this. Alpacas don’t really like being “petted” and can be  sensitive to being touched on their heads and legs. They would much rather have you rub their neck or back in a firm even stroke then to “tickle” their fiber with a soft touch.

Alpacas can spit but it is one of their few defenses. The “spit “is a fine spray of partially digested grass that has an unpleasant odor. Alpacas usually do not spit at humans. If a person does get hit, it is usually because they got caught in the crossfire between two arguing alpacas, most likely at dinner time.

How much land do I need?

Alpacas are a great livestock choices for people who don’t have a lot of acreage. You can comfortably graze between 5-10 alpacas on one acre. Although it’s not necessary, optimally you should have twice the required acreage in order to rotate your pastures.  Some alpaca owners don’t have any land at all. They board their alpacas at other people's farms indefinitely or until they have their farm ready. That’s actually the way we started out. The farm where we boarded our alpacas helped teach us how to care for them and gave us the opportunity to get some hands on experience before we brought our animals home.

Are they easy to  care for?

Compared to other kinds of livestock, alpacas are relatively easy to take care of. They are hardy animals and  resistant to most other livestock  diseases. However, a simple protocol for worming and annual vaccinations are necessary to maintain their health. They require periodic toenail trimming and occasionally some require teeth trimming. All of these things can be done by you or your vet.

How much do they cost?

Prices range from about $500 for a gelded male to many thousands of dollars for top quality breeding males and females. Females can be worth from around $9,000 to $30,000 or more depending on their quality, breeding history, and genetic lineage. The females are valuable because of their ability to reproduce. Top quality males with good offspring have a high value in the breeding market and can command high incomes for their owners in stud service fees.

How do I get started raising alpacas?

The first thing we recommend is researching online about alpacas and then visiting as many alpaca farms and breeders as possible.  Each farm has different ways of doing things as well as different  set ups for their farm. Ask lots of questions. Visiting different farms will help you learn the “do’s” and “don'ts” from people who have already been there. The next step is asking these farms if you can get some hands on experience . Ask to participate in “herd health” days,  which are usually done once a month for routine shots and health check ups. If you would like more information about how to get started please don’t hesitate to contact us. We love showing off our alpacas and helping new breeders get started!

Mada Vemi Alpacas Dawn Dolpp 125 Tommy Carter Rd. Axton, VA 24054 434-770-1972 Dawn@MadaVemiAlpacas.com