Huacaya alpacas?

[micah wotring]

I would be more interested in one if they are decent for a herd guardian. I have been reading conflicting information on if they would be suitable or not. We would be several years away from one at all but I am starting the researching now to decide LOL.

Alpacas are NOT guard animals! They WILL run if something is attacking or chasing them.

 

[luvmypets]

About breeding @TAH

Ok so if you feel comfortable with jumping right into your herd you should do that. However, as alpacas are a new species you will need to do a lot of research. Alpacas are not for beginner farmers. Yes they are easy to raise but they are one of those animals that is prone to many things, again, I learned the hard way. The biggest killer of alpacas IMO is stress. Believe it or not alpacas can get ulcers from stress. One of our first alpacas, Coca was about 15 yrs, so he was older. He had recently lost his lifetime companion and then he was moved to our farm. Needless to say after a few months he started symptom of inflamation and after a few days he passed away. Upon further inspection we found his stomach and other digestive organs were full of ulcers. Another thing to consider is that alpacas can die of loneliness, they always need a companion. If you choose to separate the male he is going to need a companion. Here is a good place to start breeding wise. This is the basic stuff. After two years of raising our alpacas we have nixed the idea of breeding. Our herd is all intact males so introducing even one female would be a nightmare.
http://www.alpacas.com/QnA/Breeding.aspx


Meningeal worm is another thing to take consideration,it is a brain worm that is deadly and hides until it is too late. Beginning symptoms are weight loss, if your alpaca is loosing significant amounts of weight even though it has pasture, hay, etc I would do a dose of safeguard(or another preventative). The symptoms you see when it is often too late are an "off gait" it is normally the back legs that go first. When jeff first showed signs, he looked like a drunken sailor when he walked. Then you will see them craning their head back(abnormally not like spitting). Seizures often followed by death occur next. I unfortunately have delt with M-worm three times, and unfortunately no matter how much treatment we gave, none of those animals made it.
http://www.bagendsuris.com/?page_id=269

 

[luvmypets]

Alpacas are NOT guard animals! They WILL run if something is attacking or chasing them.

I can vouch for that, even though our herd king bear sounds the alarm, he as well as the others will run away if I am in their flight zone. My dog especially doesn't have to get too close before they bolt.

 

[TAH]

Ok so if you feel comfortable with jumping right into your herd you should do that. However, as alpacas are a new species you will need to do a lot of research. Alpacas are not for beginner farmers. Yes they are easy to raise but they are one of those animals that is prone to many things, again, I learned the hard way. The biggest killer of alpacas IMO is stress. Believe it or not alpacas can get ulcers from stress. One of our first alpacas, Coca was about 15 yrs, so he was older. He had recently lost his lifetime companion and then he was moved to our farm. Needless to say after a few months he started symptom of inflamation and after a few days he passed away. Upon further inspection we found his stomach and other digestive organs were full of ulcers. Another thing to consider is that alpacas can die of loneliness, they always need a companion. If you choose to separate the male he is going to need a companion. Here is a good place to start breeding wise. This is the basic stuff. After two years of raising our alpacas we have nixed the idea of breeding. Our herd is all intact males so introducing even one female would be a nightmare.

Thank you for the websites
You see my mom is easy to convince into animals dad is still not sure about alpacas, so it will take a lot to convince my dad. I am the type of person that does research and jumps right in, I am still learning to actually learn my stuff before coming up with ideas. I hadn't heard stress could be that hard on them. Do you mean by they need a companion, by they need a other alpaca or they can have a other animals as a companion?

I will defiantly do more research on Meningeal worm.

 

[Bruce]

It is best to have another alpaca.

I think I would concentrate on getting a house built before I had to deal with sheltering animals.

 

[NH homesteader]

I have read that Alpacas prefer each other's company to that of other animals.

 

[norseofcourse]

I haven't spun alpaca fiber yet, but according to the others in my spinning/weaving group, huacaya fiber is easier to spin. Suri is more 'slippery'. When one person took some suri alpaca to a fiber mill to be turned into roving, they were advised to have it mixed with something such as wool so it would be easier to spin.

I've seen alpacas on my local craigslist for fifty dollars, hundreds of dollars, sometimes thousands of dollars. I also see them free (even good quality ones), often enough that I could have had a nice herd of them by now. Like many animals, they get re-homed for various reasons, but there's also what @Bruce mentioned, about alpacas being the 'latest hot investment animal', which has really cooled off in a lot of areas.

 

[luvmypets]

Yea in the early 2000's they were a fad, anyone could get rich! Now there are so many in rescues looking for homes. The most desirable color was the white with blue eyes. They were bred so much, that many of them have hearing problems.

 

[luvmypets]

Thank you for the websites
You see my mom is easy to convince into animals dad is still not sure about alpacas, so it will take a lot to convince my dad. I am the type of person that does research and jumps right in, I am still learning to actually learn my stuff before coming up with ideas. I hadn't heard stress could be that hard on them. Do you mean by they need a companion, by they need a other alpaca or they can have a other animals as a companion?

I will defiantly do more research on Meningeal worm.

Do your research, lol

I want goats so so bad, but I have over 7-8 months before that becomes a possibility. Right now I do my research and learn all different aspects of raising caprines.