What’s involved in keeping alpacas

Alpaca Husbandry and care

The last twenty six years has shown us how easy it is for anyone to keep alpacas. These wonderful animals have adapted very well to life in Britain and are now in the fields of many properties throughout the country. Alpacas are hardy animals whose forebears have spent thousands of years grazing on seasonally diverse pastures in very harsh weather conditions. Here at Accoyo Europe we have developed a husbandry regime that keeps our alpacas healthy, happy and in optimum condition. We can divide basic alpaca care and husbandry into eleven areas. These are:

Fencing and Farm Layout
Vaccinations, Vitamin Supplements and Worming
Mating
Birthing
Weaning
Ear Tag and Microchip Insertion
Halter Training
Shearing
Supplementary Feeding
Condition Scoring
Toenail Trimming and Castrations

Fencing and Farm Layout

Standard sheep fencing is all that is required for alpacas. Whether it is stock fencing with plain wire, four wooden rail fence or the most common fencing that is used for alpaca, seven-strand plain wire. The recommended height for alpaca fencing is 4 ft. Alpacas do not challenge fences or try to escape. This means that fences do not have to be heavy and ultra strong; however, they must be kept in good condition.

Alpacas are very intelligent and will adapt quickly to any movement regime. This helps in moving your alpacas around the farm efficiently and with minimal stress to both the alpaca and the owner. Alpacas winter out in most parts of England but field shelters can be useful for some groups of alpacas like females with cria at foot for example. Here at Inca Alpaca we can advise, plan and help in the design of any farm layout including:

– Water placement
– Paddock configuration
– Shelters
– Fencing
– Laneways
– Penning

Click here and get in touch if you would like us to help plan your alpaca holding.

Vaccinations, Vitamin Supplements and Worming

Alpacas require a very similar vaccination and worming regime as sheep. The owner can easily carry out these practices and vets are seldom required. Full training for these practices is offered by Inca Alpaca at the point of purchase if the new owner is unsure.

Alpacas need a Clostridial vaccination and worming twice a year in the Spring and the Autumn. A Vitamin D injection is required every one to two months over the winter months. Vitamin D supplementation is required for proper growth in young stock and pregnant females. In their native land in the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia and Chile alpacas are exposed to very high levels of sunlight and therefore are able to produce enough Vitamin D of their own. Here in the UK sunlight is limited during the winter so supplements are essential. Most of these activities outlined above coincide during the year so gathering the herd in to carry out these tasks is minimal.

Click here to download our latest husbandry regime

Download notes on Injections – Vitamins 

Reproduction

The breeding season in the UK generally runs from April through to October. All the breeding at Inca Alpaca is supervised and recorded. Alpacas are induced ovulators, meaning that female alpacas do not have a breeding season and therefore can be bred at anytime of the year. This makes it great for the owner as they can plan when to have cria arriving on their farm.

Male alpacas generally become sexually mature at eighteen months to two years of age and females at one year. At one year females on our farm are mating and females who have given birth are mated 12 days later.

In the UK stud sires are very valuable and highly priced. Many owners who have females will generally purchase stud services from larger farms that have the quality males to breed from, rather than go to the expense of purchasing a male of their own. These stud services are either carried out on the property, so the owner of the female would take the female to the male for mating or the male would travel to the female. For more information on stud services click here

Download notes on Mating – Reproduction

Birthing

The gestation period for alpacas is eleven to eleven and a half months. Birthing usually occurs between the hours of 7am to 2pm. This is due to their native land where if the cria is born too early in the day the temperature is very low and the cria will not dry off before it freezes. Likewise if it were born too late in the afternoon the same would occur, as when the sun falls the temperature drops. The cria needs to be up, dry and feeding before nightfall.

Download notes on Birthing

Births are generally simple and straightforward with complications being very rare. The new cria needs a little intervention by the owner to disinfect the umbilical cord and maybe put a coat on if the weather is cold. Below is Inca Design having a normal birth occurring in four stages:

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Weaning

Weaning normally occurs at six months of age with some larger crias being taken away at five months. This involves taking the cria from the mother and putting it with others of a similar age or early pregnant females and wethers in a paddock hopefully where the mother and cria cannot see each other. At this point the mother has already begun weaning the cria herself. Weaning is carried out at this time due to the development of the foetus inside the mother. For the first six months the foetus stays very small indeed. It is only the last five to five and a half months where it grows to its birth weight. So it is important that at six months the cria is taken away and weaned to allow the mother to stay in good condition and put her energy into the foetus instead of milk production.

Ear Tag and Microchip Insertion

At Inca Alpaca we herd tag all of our stock for easy identification. It is not a requirement that all British Alpaca Society registered stock have ear tags inserted. However, it is a requirement that all UK registered alpacas have a microchip inserted. These are usually inserted under the left ear. We also tag our crias at birth using a small tag and then insert the larger tag and microchip when they are weaned. These are activities that do not require a vets assistance.

Halter Training

Halter training is great for many reasons. The main purpose of halter training is to allow for easy movement of your alpacas whether it is from a pen to the trailer or in the show ring or just for fun. We begin halter training at weaning. It is a simple exercise that can take anywhere from two to five or six short five minute lessons. It is a great way to interact with your alpacas and to get them used to you.

Shearing

All alpacas need to be shorn once a year in the UK. In Peru alpacas are generally shorn every two years. The time for shearing in Britain is between May and August. Owners can learn to shear themselves as there are courses available or many owners prefer to hire the services of a shearer to come to their property. Shearing is a good time to carry out other husbandry practices such as injections and to assess the quality of the fleece coming off your alpacas. Shearing is carried out with the alpaca restrained on the ground and usually takes 6 to 10 minutes.

Please click here and get in touch if you would like us to put you in touch with a commercial alpaca shearer.

Supplementary Feeding

Alpacas require access to roughage all year round. It is advisable to give ad lib hay all throughout the year. This may not be necessary in late summer and autumn as the pasture tends to dry out a little providing the roughage alpacas need. Pregnant females in their last trimester and lactating females may require supplementary feeding with lucerne or alfalfa to maintain their condition when grass is in short supply. At Inca Alpaca we carry out a soil and pasture analysis and then add to the soil any trace element or mineral that is lacking. Blood is then taken in Spring to determine correct blood chemistry. We prefer to feed a forage-based feed rather than grain and simple sugar based ones as their digestive system is designed to break down and digest more complex compounds. In addition we also feed alpaca pellets made by Duffields.

Download notes on Nutrition

Condition Scoring

Alpacas are wonderful animals for hiding their body condition underneath all of their fibre. Alpacas can put on weight very quickly, but the down side to this trait is that they can lose weight even quicker when they are sick. It is very important to condition score all of your alpacas every week to fortnight and check to see if they are still in ideal condition. Some farms may like to take this further and use scales in addition to condition scoring. Correct and consistent condition scoring will alert the owner when there is a problem before it gets too serious. It is also a great way of getting your alpacas used to you touching them and making them quieter to handle. Here at Inca Alpaca we also weigh all of our crias every week up to the age of weaning at six months.

Download notes on Condition Scoring

Toenail Trimming and Castrations

Along with routine injections, worming and vitamin supplements, the final husbandry task that is needed is toenail trimming. Unlike sheep, alpaca toenail clipping takes a third of the time and is very easy and straightforward. Clippers can be purchased from any agricultural supplier for under £10 and with a helper to hold the alpaca around the neck trimming is simple. Again toenail clipping and all other aspects of alpaca husbandry can and will be taught to a potential purchaser or interested person.

Castrations or wethering is a procedure that happens between 12 and 24 months of age and must be carried out by a veterinarian. Again this is a simple and well-practiced procedure that is required to remove males from the industry that do not meet the stringent standards we set. Castration also helps males settle as they get older and two wethers are less likely to fight than two entire males.

Download notes on Toenail Trimming

Peru, Chile and Bolivia. Alpaca were first imported into Britain in the mid 1800’s but none of these alpacas survived. Alpacas were then imported again in large and more commercial numbers in the early 1990’s.

Population:

There are thought to be just on three million alpacas worldwide with 94 percent living in South America. This worldwide population is made up of 93 % huacaya and 7 % suri alpacas. There are about 45,000 registered alpacas in the UK and 350,000 in the USA and 350,000 in Australia.

Types:

There are two different breeds of alpacas, the Huacaya, pronounced wa-ky-ya and the suri. The two types or breeds are conformationally identical with the huacaya growing fibre at right angles from the skin and they develop a crimp to the staples where the suri fibre hangs in locks and has more lustre than the huacaya.

Lifespan:

18 to 24 years. Some wethers have been known to live up to 26. Female alpacas will spend most of their life pregnant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Names:

In Spanish the male alpacas are called Machos, females are called Hembras, yearlings are called Tuis and babies are called Crias. In the UK we generally only use the term Cria to describe the babies.

Reproductive lifespan of a female:

Approximately 1.5 to 19 years.

Reproductive lifespan of a herdsire:

Approximately 2.0 to 18 years.

 

Weaning:

Crias (babies) are weaned between 5 and 6 months of age.

Size:

A mature alpaca weighs 60 to 90 kg (132 to 198 lbs) and is 85 to 95cm tall at withers (top of the front shoulder). Crias normally weigh 6 to 8kg (13 – 18 lbs) at birth.

 

 

 

 

 

Gestation period:

11 to 11.5 months. Alpacas generally have single births with twins occurring very rarely. Females in good health should produce one cria a year as the female is mated 12 to 14 days after giving birth. Cria are generally born in daylight hours and usually between the hours of 7am to 2pm.

 

 

 

 

 

Colours:

There are 16 internationally recognised natural shades of alpaca fleece ranging from white to black. Here in the UK our breed registry recognises 16 colours.

Weight of fleece:

A yearling alpaca usually cuts about 2kg, adult females about 3.5kg and some adult males have been reported cutting 8.5kg per year.

Annual growth rate of fleece:

80 to 150 mm

Feeding:

Normal grass with average stocking rates of five to seven per acre. Hay or haylage is given all year round and forage based supplements can be given in the latter stages of pregnancy and during lactation, weaning and winter months. Generally you can keep one more alpaca to the acre than you can sheep.

Why do we farm alpacas in the UK?

Alpacas are farmed in the UK for their fleece and for pedigree bloodstock. Research recently revealed that only 21% of the world alpaca fibre market is being met. This demand is driven by the Italian, Chinese and Japanese processors and fashion houses and is currently being partially met entirely by Peru and Australia.
Like Australia, America and New Zealand, the UK and European alpaca industries are stud stock based. This means that these countries are building up the numbers of pedigree alpacas while improving productivity through selective breeding. Australia now has 350,000 alpacas and their fibre company Australian Alpaca Fleece Limited (AAFL) are now making real headway. AAFL have been the catalyst for Australia verging on becoming a fully commercial fibre industry.
Until the UK reaches approximately the same number of alpacas (critical mass) the alpaca will be rare and all breeders will make money from breeding and selling pedigree stud stock both in the domestic market and also throughout Europe and the Middle East.

The goal of the UK alpaca industry is to increase numbers of highly productive and healthy alpacas and to one day satisfy the global demand for fleece.

Can you graze alpacas with other animals?

Alpacas are often kept with other animals and they happily graze alongside most common livestock. It is quite common to see alpacas living amongst a flock of sheep, or horses or with cows. Once the alpacas have settled into their new home they will become tolerant and get used to their owners’ dog.

Can alpacas be used as sheep and chicken guards?

Australian sheep farmers are the pioneers in using alpaca wethers (geldings) as sheep protectors. Alpacas are very good at guarding the flock, especially in lambing season and will see off single dogs and foxes that are approaching the flock. Chicken farmers are finding alpaca wethers to be a great success at keeping foxes away. Not only are chicken deaths greatly reduced but egg production remains high as well. This behaviour by the alpacas remains when the alpacas are kept in herds.

Download notes on using alpacas as Flock Protectors

 

Do they travel well?

Alpacas are remarkably good travellers. The normal way of moving alpacas around is in a horsebox or stock trailer. Once moving, the alpacas will sit down and enjoy the journey.

What is their breeding rate?

Alpacas usually have one baby called a cria every year. Twins are very rare, with one set being born in every 10,000. They have a gestation period of 11 to 11.5 months and are remated 12 to 14 days after a normal birth. Alpacas are induced ovulators, so they can be mated at any time of the year. There is currently no artificial insemination available in the United Kingdom so all females and herd sires need to come together for a supervised mating. Embryo transfer has been carried out here in the UK but is still in very early stages of development.

Do alpacas spit?

Alpacas are very gentle and inquisitive creatures that pay attention to the entire goings on around them. Spitting is a natural defence mechanism that is only used when the animal is under extreme pressure. It is very unlikely for a human to become the target.

How much land do I need?

Anyone with an acre of pasture has enough land to keep alpacas. They have a stocking rate 1 greater to that of sheep so around 6 alpacas per acre throughout the year. Higher stocking rates are possible when land rotation is available and on improved pasture. The minimum herd size for alpacas is three so they would require a minimum of half an acre of well kept grazing. 

Do alpacas make any sounds?

They communicate constantly with each other by body language and a soft humming noise, which they usually make when they are penned in a group.

How do alpacas differ from Llamas?

Alpacas, llamas, guanaco and vicuna are all members of the South American camelid (or camel) family. Alpacas are smaller than llamas and have a more advanced type of fleece. Alpacas have always been bred for their fleece while llamas are bred for their packing and trekking capabilities. Alpacas typically weigh 60 to 80kg whereas llamas weigh 150 to 210kg.

 

What are the downsides to keeping alpacas?

Alpacas provide a wonderful lifestyle and financially rewarding enterprise. The only downside is the capital cost involved in purchasing good quality breeding stock. Coupled with this is the need to buy 2 or more alpacas because, being essentially social, they need to be in herds to live.

Can I obtain planning permission for a house by farming alpacas?

Yes. Alpacas qualify as an agricultural business and therefore planning permission for a farm workers dwelling is obtainable. We purchased 40 acres of land, in an area of outstanding natural beauty, that had nothing on it. We managed to achieve planning permission for a four bedroom house, two barns and a holiday let. We are very happy to help anyone interested in obtaining planning permission based on their alpaca business. A top agricultural consultant is also a must and we used and fully recommend Marc Willis from Willis and Co Planning Consultants –  www.willisand.co.uk 

How much do they cost?

Alpacas come in a huge range of quality and prices. The industry standard for wethers (pets) is around £400 – £600 each.

When it comes to breeding stock most UK breeders use many criteria to value and price up females and males for sale. They look at the quality of the fleece, the conformation, the pedigree, the quality of the cria produced in previous seasons, the performance of its parents and the age. They price their alpacas so the buyer has a true value according to what that individual alpaca can produce in the way of quality in its offspring. Because of the large range in quality available in the UK pregnant females generally have a price tag of £3000 to £15000 each.

What are the running costs?

Running costs for the alpacas are minimal but the annual stud fee will be about £750 and pregnant and lactating females should have some supplementary feeding at about £50 per year. Vet visits and registration fees are minimal. Some owners prefer to insure their alpacas and the usual rate of premium is about 4.0% per annum. If a new owner wishes to form a business and market their herd and attend shows and add farm infrastructure then the running/developmental costs are higher.

How can I get help with a business plan?

Accoyo Europe have been involved in starting up and supporting many breeders both in Australia, throughout Europe and here in England. Because everyone’s situation and goals are different there is not one standard plan available. Tim can advise and help each potential purchaser find their niche and set up a realistic plan for their business. We have detailed five year herd growth and budgets that reflect realistic targets that we are happy to share with customers.

How many alpacas do I need to make a living?

This is a very common question that is asked by people thinking of farming alpacas. There is no one answer to this question due to every potential owner having a completely different set of circumstances and different goals. Many people buy wethers as pets that have a little land and just want a nice friendly animal to mow the grass. The average herd size in the UK is 7 to 8 females with the largest farm having over 1200. The majority of alpaca owners farm part time and carry on with full or part time employment. There are growing numbers of farmers taking on alpacas as a viable means of diversification and a number of people now farming alpacas on a full time basis.

Click here to see our current sales list

Now that you have reached the bottom of this page, you know a little more about what’s involved in keeping alpacas. If you are interested in potentially owning alpacas for an investment/business enterprise or for a hobby, then the next step is for you to visit our farm. Please feel free to get in touch and we can book you in so that we can chat about the alpaca industry in more depth, show you the farm and the infrastructure and finally you can handle some alpacas and get a feel of what it’s like to be up close to them. 

Please contact Tim to book a farm visit: Tel +44 (0)7875532827 or Email timhey@accoyo-europe.com