Alpaca Information

Alpacas originate from Peru, Chile and Bolivia and are part of the Camelid family which consists of the camel, llama, alpaca, guanaco and vicuña.

Alpacas are bred for their fibre, which is very fine and rivals cashmere and mohair.

There are two types of Alpaca—the Huacaya and the Suri. The Huacaya has dense, crimped fibre, more like that of a sheep, and the Suri has a silky fibre which hangs from the body like dreadlocks.

Alpaca fibre doesn't contain lanolin, so it can be worn next to the skin without any irritation.

Alpacas are herd animals and as such must never be kept as a single animal without another alpaca for company.

Alpacas are very curious and sometimes when startled by something strange they will sound a warning “honk” to alert the rest of the herd.

Alpacas are extremely protective towards their young.

The average gestation for an alpaca is 11½ months and only one cria (baby alpaca) is born at a time. Twins are very rare, and generally don’t survive.

Alpacas communicate with each other with a variety of “humming” sounds and is most often heard between a mother and cria.

Alpacas do spit, for instance when protecting their young, or at each other at feed times. Sometimes they spit at humans if provoked!

Alpacas can be halter-trained and some will become quite tame with people they know and will take feed from your hand or a bucket.

Alpaca poo is a great fertiliser and can be used directly on your flower-beds, without the need to rot down first.

Alpacas are shorn once a year usually at the end of Spring, before the hot weather.

Alpacas have two toes on each foot, which are soft-padded with a hard nail covering, and as such, unlike horses, do not cause paddocks to become so muddy in Winter.