Please give me your opinions . . .

[fargosmom]

My BF sprang on me the desire to know more about 4-legged critters, and we're interested in finding out much much more. So here's the first question - how difficult are alpacas to keep for a new-comer to livestock? We're debating either goats or alpacas in the future. Ultimately we'd like perhaps for them to contribute enough income through something harvestable (fleece, meat, dairy) that they might be able to be self-supporting, or even make a small contribution to our income. We are however realistic enough to know that we're not going to get rich through this project. I'm also going to ask the same question over in the goaty-land section of the forum. Thanks for any advice!

 

[ksalvagno]

Alpacas are very easy to care for. Annual shearing. Trim toenails every 2-3 months. Annual vaccinations. Worm as needed. They prefer to graze but you do need to provide hay and grain. They are curious but standoffish so they won't be friendly like a goat. If you do something with the fiber, you should be able to make some money. Like any other business or like trying to make money from livestock, you really have to work at it.

 

[livn4myanimals]

Alpacas are easy to look after as long as you are prepared to do the nail clipping, shearing and tooth care as needed.

My advice is not to go too fast or get too many animals at first, (maybe just a few geldings or non breeding males) process their fleece yourself and slowly find out what kind of products will sell best in your area.
Too many people in my opinion, get males and females and start breeding right away, before knowing which direction they want to go with their production. Then, they end up with a bunch of animals they don't want and can't get rid of.

I did however, find an interesting link to a farm here in Canada that might give you a little different take on what the majority of breeders do. Although I'm not sure I could eat any of my alpacas, what I did find very interesting, was their approach to raising them. You might like to check it out:

http://atozalpacas.com/atoz.shtml