Looking for an outdoor wonder pet? Consider the alpaca. They’re gentle, intelligent, lovable, highly disease-resistant, inexpensive to maintain, safe for little children, easy to handle, and income-producing. 

People come to alpaca ownership for many reasons. Some raise them as a primary source of income; some as a part-time business venture; some to escape the pressures of the corporate lifestyle; some because caring for them is a rewarding family experience. But all agree it’s the personality of the alpaca that endears them to the breed. 

Barbara and Ken Crews raise 12 alpacas on their farm, Angelic Alpacas, in Virginia. Barbara describes their personalities as catlike. They move slowly, smoothly, and quietly. They even sneak up on the Crews' family cats. Like felines, they are also extremely curious. Barbara says they tend to be shy, but curiosity always overcomes their instinctive reticence. They don’t bite or butt, which is a big plus for a pet that stands about 36" tall at the withers and weighs between 125 and 150 pounds.

Neither of the Crews had any experience in farm life until they founded Angelic Alpacas in 1998 to escape the dog-eat-dog business world. Although both still hold other jobs, they consider alpaca breeding a positive step toward simplifying and enriching their family's lifestyle. 

Unlike the Crews, Sue King always wanted to farm, but had to wait until she and her husband, Jim, could escape from suburban Boston and buy a farm in New Hampshire. She chose alpacas because she didn't want something that you had to milk or kill. She also had a life-long interest in fiber arts. Since buying the farm, Jim's life has gradually changed from full-time security analyst to part-time trust officer to full-time breeder and farmer.

Like the Crews, the Kings have grown to love the animals. Their farm, Skye View Alpacas, began with two females and one gelding in 1992. Today they have 75 alpacas, along with two Scotch Highland Cattle, three llamas, angora rabbits, six chickens, a dog and two barn cats. 

Introduced into the US in 1984, alpacas are now banned from being imported. They also don't reproduce quickly. Their gestation period is 11-1/2 months, and they only have one offspring a year. So, in order to increase their herd, the Kings buy new stock from one of the 30,000 breeders in the US, selling babies and putting the money into females. Owners and breeders are very particular about propagating only the best characteristics of the alpaca. Most do DNA testing and keep strict breeding records. "Although we may think we know who a sire is, alpacas can be sly," says Barbara Crews. 

Why all the emphasis on lineage? For breeders, it determines the value of an individual animal. The Kings were just at an alpaca show in Michigan where a male sold for $145,000. The jackpot winner is an alpaca named Legacy, who sold for $270,000 and is now in stud in Washington State. A female of average breeding quality (based on her fiber) goes for $1,500. Geldings that are not good for breeding range in price from $500 to $15,000. It costs $2,000 to breed a female, but that expense comes with a guarantee of pregnancy, birth, and survival of the offspring for 30 days after birth. 

Both the Crews and the Kings cite ease of care as a plus to owning alpacas -- as pets or as income-producing animals. They need water, a cup of mineral supplement, and hay or pasture grass every day. And they don't have expensive tastes. The Crews' 12 alpacas go through a bale of hay a week. They require minimal fencing; you can put five to 10 in an acre of pasture. With cloven hoofs, like sheep, alpacas must have a "pedicure" every 2-3 months and need worming medicine monthly. Clean-up is easy since they deposit their droppings in a few particular places. Barbara says she's seen them stand in line to wait their turn at their designated spot in the Crews’ pasture. 

Shearing is done every spring when the weather warms up. The Crews have a tilt-top table that they sandwich the alpaca up against when the top is horizontal to the ground. They then tilt the top until the animal is off the ground and lying down. Barbara holds the alpaca and Ken does the shearing.

Alpacas are outdoor animals so their coats have lots of debris in them. Washing or brushing ruins the architecture of the fiber, so the Crews use a vacuum to blow debris out of the coat before shearing. After shearing, Barbara “skirts” the fiber, picking out debris. 

The Kings and the Crews both sell their fleece to cooperatives and to local weavers and knitters. Barbara Crews says the money derived from the sale of their fiber product covers all their alpaca expenses. The blanket fleece, which comes from the back, is highest in quality. The leg and neck hair is second quality and gets a lower price. Sue sells her blanket fleece for $32 a pound raw and $64 a pound cleaned. She estimates she gets six to eight pounds per animal.

Sue estimates that it takes her two to two-and-a-half hours every morning and one hour every night to care for her herd. In addition to feeding and watering, she sweeps the barns every morning. The Kings feel that it's easy work because the breed is peaceful, easy to manage, and packed with personality. “If you're willing to spend time with them,” Sue says, "they are willing to relate to you." They are generally extremely healthy animals. Birthing, too, is usually easy. Sue and her husband hope to grow their herd to 100 and can handle the work between the two of them. They do have an assistant so there’s someone to take care of the farm when they are away at shows. 

Showing Alpacas?

Yes. If you're interested in alpacas there are shows all over the country where owners compete and show in both halter and agility contests. In a halter contest, alpacas are judged for their conformation and their fiber, which is considered one of the world's finest and most luxurious. The special architecture of the alpaca fiber allows it to trap air, resulting in a lightweight, but warm garment, as soft as cashmere, and four times warmer than wool without its weight or prickle. It comes in 22 basic colors, more than the coat from any other fiber-producing animal. 

If fiber, fabrics, and weaving are not your thing, agility competitions, designed to show how easy alpacas are to handle, provide a great deal of fun and entertainment. The competition ranges from beginning to advanced. The course is set with a variety of obstacles. Tarps are placed on the ground to simulate water. There are tents to walk through, poles to walk around, steps up and steps down, and blankets with bells on them. Barbara says the bells drive them bananas, or as much as these gentle creatures can go bananas. Ribbons go to the most unflappable alpaca. Because they are so peaceful, you'll see handlers aged three to 73 leading their alpacas through their paces.

Alpacas’ talents are far reaching. They are very good with children. They're extremely trustworthy and particularly intrigued by the young. Sue King says she thinks it could be children's small size that draws alpacas to them. Because of their gentleness, it's safe to have even the very young and the infirm around them. They don't bite, stomp on feet like horses, or butt like goats. The Crews’ daughter's baby-sitting clients always get the extra treat of spending time with an alpaca. One of the alpaca's most endearing characteristics is something called “pronking.” Barbara Crews calls it their “Pepe Le Pew run.” Just at dusk (when it's impossible to get a photograph), they run and jump into the air, hanging there for a few seconds with all feet off the ground, like the love-struck skunk of cartoon fame. 

Sue and Jim King use their alpacas' charming, gentle nature to give a little back in life, philanthropically. Sue particularly likes working with older people and has a local nursing home bring people out in vans every week. They even take the alpacas to nursing homes. Sue feels there is something about animals that is very calming. The seniors relax around the animals and soon begin telling their stories. To Sue, that’s what her farm is about.

The Kings also use their animals at fundraising events. They have two or three “PR guys,” young alpaca males who are able to put up with anything, that they've used for activities that range from Nativity scenes to carrying in cakes for a black tie dinner. This past December they began training a 4-H group to handle alpacas and take them to fairs. Because the animals relate so well to children, the 4-H-ers had them trained in 2 days. 

As word has gotten out about Skye View Farms, the Kings have had numerous unexpected visitors that just drive down the driveway. A local television news magazine show has just finished a piece on their farm, and the Kings foresee a flood of visitors this summer. They're confident the alpacas can take it!