Posted on 03/08/2017 5:51:19 PM PST by GRRRRR
My Lady Jean and have a nice little ranch near Denver. On our tender little 35 acres, we have ten alpacas.
They belong to the Camelid family, llamas, vicuña and the true humpty humpers. They're cute too, so Lady Jean is happy.
We're expecting a baby "cria" in May. Our first breeding try.
We have all females except one old gelded male, Andy. You don't keep the boys and girls together as the boys will go through a fence if he gets the right wink!
We have two years of fleece, they get shorn once a year and yield around 3 to 5 lbs of quality fleece and can get $5/ounce of top quality! We're not there yet.
This year, we took in three geriatric 'pacas, all over 20 years old. The owner was moving and couldn't take them, so instead of putt them down we too 'em. They are so happy here and are eating like pigs! They can live well into their 20's.
Anyone out there have these fascinating, docile and animals too?
G
Add to the list:
Can you make dung bricks for burning in the fireplace or outside if that sounds squeamish?
And how many per acre can you reasonably have?
Llamas are huge ! Not like!
I don’t have alpacas. But I am thinking about getting some goats! Goat owners, anybody??
That’s odd, my llama was my goats protector for 15 years until the last goat died of old age.
Is that an Italian sports car? I think I had one of those once.
Alpaca poo is fine fertilizer. They all tend to poop together. Some one gets the urge and goes to the the pile. Next thing you know they are all lined up to do their business all in the same spot. Makes it easy for us to clean.
They have tiny little “poo beans”, about the size of Lima beans than bear no resemblance to a cow patty or horse apple.
Alpacas rarely spit at humans. They DO spit at each other during arguments. Eh, a little spritz once in a while from collateral damage, hey...we’re in the country.
Sounds like deer scat.
They hum. They purr.
There are some folks a few miles down a back country road near here who have a few. Every time I go that way, I always pull over, especially with the grand kids.
The alpacas—4 or 5 of them—always run over to the fence to get their noses scratched. They seem very intelligent. They furrow their brows and stare at us curiously with beautiful eyes.
Baby alpaca wool is delightful to knit with. I’ve made some scarves with it. So soft and so warm for its weight. Blends really well with a little silk for a luxurious looking creation.
My alpaca had a speech impediment. I got laryngitis trying to teach it not to slur its words.
I was the hoarse man of the alpaca lisp.
It was merely a joke reference to Disney’s Aladdin. I actually support a market. They are wonderful creatures.
Yes, exactly...thanks!
Used to post lots of pics on FR. Gonna need to get some pics up on a host and linky.
Well played, sir. Lol
We have alpine goats. ...get meat milk and skins make cheese and yogurt.
The girls, yes Andy too, are very curious. New people, cars in the driveway, the dogs, we have horses and cattle on three sides...all the animals interact during the day as they graze.
We take the grand girl to their yard and they will all come up and sniff. If I get out some alfalfa, they all love me. And bring out a camera and they pose for you!
One lady, Gianna’s, has a carrot top hair cut like Lucille Ball. Ziggy is all black except for a bolt of white across her face a la Bowie, hence “Ziggy”.
Yeah, this has thrown the neighborbood for a loop, can’t figure it out. Maybe grazed a toxic plant and lost it? This Llama *ran down* and killed them all in minutes.
Haven’t a one, but love most animals.
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