Alpaca advice
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an alpaca cost?
Prices vary depending on sex, pregnancy status, age etc. Prices for gelded males
(which make excellent pets and are good for easy-care fibre production) start at
around £500. A young pregnant female will fetch around £4000.
How difficult are they to keep?
The important factors are:
Do you have enough land? You can comfortably keep 5-6 alpacas to an acre of
average grazing. They have soft padded feet, and therefore have little impact on
the land when compared even to sheep.
Can you provide some shelter from driving rain and strong sun? They do not
normally need to be housed even in the winter but will need at least a simple
field shelter.
Can you ensure they have access to fresh water?
Can you check them at least daily? They are resilient and relatively disease
resistant, but this is normal good husbandry.
Can I keep one on its own?
Definitely not. Alpacas are sociable herd animals. It would be cruel to keep one
in isolation and no reputable breeder will knowingly sell an alpaca to be kept
on its own. You must have at least two. If you wish to keep females then ideally
you should aim to have 2 females since they normally live in a matriarchal
society. There is no need to maintain a stud male unless you wish. There are
many breeders around the country who can supply breeding services.
How often do they breed?
The female does not have a season like cattle and sheep. She will ovulate
shortly after mating, which means they can be served at any time of the year.
Gestation is around 11.5 months, which means you only get one cria per year and
the female is commonly re-served around 2 weeks after giving birth. An adult
female will therefore, for half the year at least, be feeding 2 crias; one
foetus and one suckling.
Most alpacas give birth during the morning an adaptation to life in the harsh
environment of the peruvian altiplano where a cria not dry and suckling before
the evening would be dead of hypothermia by the following morning. In fact
alpacas are so consistent in this respect that a birth which continues into the
afternoon is probably running into some difficulties. Crias are also very
swiftly active after birth, and will be running faster that you within a couple
of hours.
Are they dangerous / easy to handle?
Alpacas have been domesticated for longer than either cattle or sheep. They are
very endearing animals, calm, intelligent and inquisitive. They can readily be
trained to walk on a headcollar. They communicate by soft hums, but also have an
alarm call which you may hear if they unexpectedly spot a fox or a dog. They can
be accustomed to other livestock, although it took a few weeks for our alpacas
to get over the shock of a sheep in their field. Now, however, the sheep
provides a very useful function, since she bleats loudly whenever a cria is
being born!
Like all animals, they will sometimes have squabbles amongst themselves, which
they will express either by spitting or occasionally kicking. The sheep has been
on the receiving end of quite a few spits, which bothers her not one whit. They
are not aggressive to humans, and since their feet are padded the damage from
even an accidental kick is minimised.
Do they require a lot of veterinary attention
No. They are hardy animals. They will require a certain amount of routine care
including:
Regular foot trimming
Vaccination twice yearly against clostridial diseases
Treatment against worm infestations
Shearing once per year
If you do not wish to carry out these tasks yourself, then there are a number of
contractors who can do it for you. Contact names and addresses are available on
request.