About
Alpacas
- An alpaca is a member of the camelid
family, much like a llama in appearance, but much
smaller in size.
- An adult alpaca weighs about 150 pounds
and stands approximately 3 feet tall at the shoulders.
- Alpacas are easy to maintain, have
luxurious fiber, are gentle natured, and are
intelligent.
- Alpacas are native to the high plateau
of the Andes Mountains in South America (Peru, Chile,
Bolivia).
- They have been domesticated for
thousands of years in South American and are now gaining
popularity in many parts of the world.
- The life span of an alpaca is 20 years.
With a gestation of 11 months, an adult female can
produce about one cria (baby) every year.
- Alpacas are very efficient eaters with
a typical diet of grass, hay, alpaca grain, minerals,
and water.
- Alpacas are easy on pastures. Their
padded feet and instinctive use of common dung piles
allow for as many as 7 alpacas per acre of pasture.
Cleaning the pasture is an easy task, and the dung is a
great fertilizer.
-
With alpacas being intelligent, easy to care for, and
gentle nature, you don’t need to be a career farmer to
raise them. They are favorites as a second income and
for families wishing to instill in their children
wholesome farm values. They are also favorites for
working couples and retirees, who have had careers other
than farming, wanting a change in lifestyle.
- There are two types of alpacas,
differentiated by fleece type. In the US there are
approximately 25,000 Huacaya alpacas, which have a full
fluffy, crimpy fleece. The Suri alpaca, of which there
are approximately 5,000 in the US, have a longer,
lustrous fleece that hangs from their body in the form
of locks.
- Alpacas
exhibit a wide range of colors, from white to black,
through fawn, brown, maroon and gray. Most are solid in
color, but pinto (two color) and fancy (multicolored)
alpacas do exist. A majority of the alpacas in the US
are white, beige or fawn.
Back
to: Allegheny Alpacas
Home Page
To
learn more, contact Jack & Jill
Reinhart at:
Allegheny
Alpacas
(724)
940-4045
info@allalpacas.com