Land requirements for alpacas

Good evening everyone,

For today's blog I thought I would run through the basics requirements in terms of land.

So first off, stocking rates. That is the number of alpacas per acre. A standard figure is normally about 4 to 6 alpacas per acre. It's important to add that ideally for every acre of land you have, you want an additional acre that can be used for rotational purposes.

You also want to keep the sexes separate, so remember to factor this in.

Next, fencing. Whilst alpacas will not normally challenge fencing, we recommend 4 foot high fencing that can consist of posts and stock wire. You should avoid barbed wire and electric fencing. Due to their thick fleeces there is a risk of them getting caught, which could be deadly.

The third factor to include is shelter. Ideally you want a 3 sided field shelter and also lots of natural shelter such as trees. Alpacas will use the shelter to escape all extremes of weather, from the harshest winter through to the hot sun.

The final key part of your set-up is a pen. This is where you can gather the alpacas for inspections, giving medication, halter training, etc. For this we use a range of metal gates/fences that are either 4 foot, 6 foot or 8 foot long, allowing us to vary the size of the pen.

All in all, alpacas have fairly simple requirements. It's essential though that you get the basics right to ensure your alpacas remain healthy and happy.

Alpacas - The huggable investment

I mentioned in our last blog entry that one of the reasons people keep alpacas is for investment reasons, that is to produce an income from breeding alpacas.

So how do you generate an income from breeding alpacas?

Well primarily there are 2 routes - selling animals you have bred and secondly, offering stud services.

How much money can you make from breeding and selling alpacas?

For simplicity sake, we will ignore the costs involved in setting up your herd & will just focus on annual income/expenditure here. We will also focus only on females.

Income - £5000 (estimated average price for a female)

Expenditure
Insurance - £380
Feed - £100 (includes supplements & winter hay)
Medical treatment - £100 (vaccinations, etc)
Mating - £750 (assuming you dont have your own studs)
Shearing - £50

Profit
Income - expenditure = £3620

I should point out that these figures are based on breeding/selling a 2 year old female, so the insurance, etc are for 2 years cover. These figures also dont include costs for agistment, marketing, show entries or any other incidental costs. If you are paying agistment, the cost will likely be about £8 a week, which totals a further £832 over 2 years.

It's also important to note that whether you are selling a male or female alpaca, the costs are largely the same. The difference being that a male (unless of stud quality) will likely only sell for about £500, which may mean you make a financial loss.

The reality is, subject to your alpacas being of a good enough standard, you herd producing a sufficient number of females and you being able to find a buyer, it is possible to make money from breeding and selling alpacas.

How much money can you make from stud services?

An average price for a mating is probably in the region of about £750.

So there you have it, alpacas are the huggable investment!

5 Reasons for keeping alpacas

Outside of the alpaca world keeping alpacas can often seem like a bit of an odd thing. They look cute, but what do they do?

In fact the number one question I get asked is 'Why do people keep alpacas?' Well, there are a number of different reasons, which I will cover below.

1. The huggable investment
The idea here is that you breed alpacas with the aim of selling a number each year, thus acting like an investment that has the potential for both growth and to generate an income. Unlike other investments, alpacas are extremely cute and huggable!

2. Fleece
The primary purpose of the alpaca is it's fleece. Whilst a small number of breeders do produce alpaca meat, this is certainly the minority. The alpaca fleece has many wonderful properties and is very much seen as a superior product to most sheep wool.

3. Chicken/flock guards
Alpacas will form a protective guard over chickens and sheep and will see off predators such as foxes.

4. Lawn mowers
Of course alpacas love grass, so for some they are kept simply to maintain their lawns.

5. Planning permission
There have been several successful examples of breeders who have purchased agricultural land, set up an alpaca breeding enterprise and then applied for planning permission to live on the land.

So there you have it, that is why people keep alpacas! If you would like more information on any of these aspects, please feel free to get in touch at ivywell@outlook.com.