OK – so I have made a decision.  I WILL be an alpaca farmer.  AND my daughter Jayme has been sucked into this future and will be my farm manager. More on that later.  So, what’s next?  We did a lot of research and reading to help me make the decision, so now we need to get up close and personal with some of those cute little alpacas.  That means visiting a few alpaca farms. 

Bel Canto

First stop, Bel Canto, a small farm in Trumansburg, New York.  Barb Rossi runs a small operation with about 16 alpacas and she welcomed us enthusiastically.  The alpaca were less enthusiastic.  Turns out those lovable creatures don’t always want humans to touch them.  They are, however, inquisitive, and quite happy to go nose to nose with you if you keep your pesky hands to yourself!  Barb spent almost three hours running us through the care and feeding, the husbandry tasks like shots and clipping toenails. I immediately fell in love with Honey, a young maiden.  Maybe it was her hairdo, but she was sweet.  Barb has stayed in touch and continues to provide advice. Our alpaca network is beginning!

Magical Farms

Next stop – Magical Farms – a huge operation with over 1600 alpacas.  Located outside of Cleveland, Ohio they may actually be the largest farm in the US.  We had another farm on our list, but the proprietor was not home to welcome us. (Make a note – this does NOT create a positive impression).  We called Magical farms late in the day and they actually stayed to meet with us! The beginning of a good relationship.

Diane greeted us warmly and showed us to an office that overlooked a very large barn where females are brought to deliver their crias.  They are brought in about thirty days before their due date and stay there until they have bonded with their new baby.  They actually have about 600 cria a year!  Can you imagine?  As we talked to Diane one of the staff actually carried a cria up to the room for us to meet.  And later we walked down to the barn floor where we could get closer to moms with and without babies.  The first time moms surely are protective!  They yelled at us!  We left more excited than ever with a 2009 MF herdsire catalog and an invitation to the Breeder's Choice Auction in October.  Later that evening we had an email from Diane suggesting a grey package that we might have interest in.  Great follow-up!  We WILL be going to the Breeder's Choice Auction as a learning experience!

Kendall Creek Farms

On our way home from Cleveland, we stopped to seel Lori and Chris Works in Bradford, PA.. They were recommended to us by Diane from Magical Farms.  Lori and Chris run a moderate sized operation (more like what we have in mind) of sixty alpacas.  With lots of web cruising and a couple farm visits  we were now actually able to articulate that we would like to specialize in greys. Of course we would pick a tough color!  When we bred Great Danes, we chose Harlequin (black & white)!  Harlequin is the toughest color to breed Great Danes for.   Always up for a challenge!  My daughter's current Dane is a Blue (steel grey).  Maybe that should have been a clue to the color we preferred.

Lori and Chris were very supportive and we spent some time chatting about quality before actually visiting the barn and pasture.  It was raining, but hey, what’s a little water now and then.  A baby (cria) had been born that morning and was in a pen bonding with her mom.  Mom was terribly protective and tried to scare us away with funny warbling noises. Even wet, the alpacas were lovely, albeit not anxious to meet us.

Flying Pony Alpacas

Interesting name – huh? Creates interesting images.  When alpacas are pronking (now why did they have to create a new word?) perhaps they look like small flying ponies?  At any rate Ryan, the farm manager, was waiting for us when we arrived.  Flying Pony is a large farm with about 300 alpaca in residence.

Since we had been able to tell him what we were looking for, he had gathered a group of potential females from the pasture.  That made it possible for us to meet them face to face, hand to fiber eventually. We sort of hung around with them and with Ryan, asking questions and getting answers.  They got more and more interested in what the heck we were doing there.  We even took some great amateur pics for our photo album.

Three of the girls were Ore Hill greys – all pregnant for the first time.  You can meet Halo, Felice and Espoir on this site.  Then there was Aretha Franklin – a true black who is an experienced mom with a daughter Aretha’s Respect who has been winning some ribbons.  Finally up comes Samantha’s Sara, an older rose grey with her lovely fawn cria, Serenade, at her side. She is part Suri, but her cria is top notch. Ah, what the heck.  We check their teeth, we consider the squareness of their bodies, we look at their ARI pedigree sheets.  We try to use our heads, but there is some heart mixed in.

We ask to visit Shaquille and other herdsires on the farm and Ryan gives us a nice tour of the herdsire farm.  Some absolutely beautiful guys there including Shaq.  We think about the possibilities of Shaq babies and of future breedings with the other exquisite alpacas we see, and we are teetering.  We ask to see the girls again.  Now Ryan goes in for the kill (just kidding Ryan!). He asks us into the house and we sit down to talk about prices and terms. He shares FP's New Farms package - how they support new alpaca customers and we are sold.  Right then and there we make the deal.  The contract will come by email, but the deal is done.  It feels right and that’s good. 

TIPS

There are hundreds of alpaca farms around the US.  Most have a website and are eager to help newcomers – whether you become a customer (they hope) or not.  Lots of good reading and references.  There are good books.  But be careful – I bought A is for Alpacas on Amazon first  - thinking it was a book for beginners.  It was – a beginning reader!  It’s a kids book – oops!  There are associations and alpaca shows and, and , and….

Ultimately you need to get up close and personal, both to some of the mystical, ever so soft, alpacas and to their less fluffy owners.  The farms you visit will likely influence what you do and do not want to be. You’ll see good things and not so good things and you will make your own judgements about how YOU will do it when it is YOUR farm!

Eventually you will decide on the farm you will buy your first alpacas from.  This will be your foundation… you want it to help you become all you hope to be.  Cruise the internet for farms in your area (or not) and start visiting the ones that seem to closely resemble your objectives.  Also pick people you like to deal with.  The alpacas can’t make the deals or provide the advice so no matter how lovely they are – you will need the people who run the farm to be there for you!  Choose both your mentor farm and your alpaca carefully! And you’ll likely be back to the others who impressed you as your farm grows.