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Author Topic: Why Do You Have Alpacas  (Read 9856 times)

uksfdawn

  • Joined Sep 2015
  • Carmarthenshire
Why Do You Have Alpacas
« on: November 05, 2015, 08:59:15 pm »
I know there are some forum members who dislike Alpacas, I have a small herd of 8, two males 6 females, I dont intend to breed, I do think there is enough of that going on sometimes for the wrong reasons, my two males were castrated a month ago, 6 of them were registred with BAS I havent joined myself, as I have no intention of showing, I keep my little herd for there fleece that I process myself, I find they are very enjoyable animals to have around, I have had them 18 months now, they are  a registered herd with DEFRA which they are suppose to be in Wales, the boys are halter and lead trained the girls I am in the process of training, I want them trained so they re easy to handle with nail trimming and shearing also if they need medical attention, they are also very good at letting me know when there is a fox about.

Creagan

  • Joined Jun 2013
Re: Why Do You Have Alpacas
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2015, 04:47:05 pm »
I don't have Alpacas, but was curious about the thread title. What do people do with them? What do they taste like :D

Chrissie

  • Joined Feb 2013
Re: Why Do You Have Alpacas
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2016, 07:59:02 pm »
Great thanks  :thumbsup: - I think I am narrowing it down to Alpacas then as our main reason for getting 'another' animal is to keep the fox away from the chickens and lambs....I think in due course I can see myself with donkeys but maybe when we move to a bigger place - don't want to cram in too many animals....

Also I have never heard anyone eating them - it's the fleece isn't it?
Did they used to be Shepard animals carrying stuff or is that more what Llamas are / were used?

anyhoo...

Next question then  :eyelashes:  :

How many? Ideally we hoped for one who would be joining the gang of sheep who are very friendly and love company - someone said at least 2 but better 3 as they then don't constantly bicker about who is the boss (again, three I would find too many for the size of the field - especially if there will be 3-4 lambs in there soon as well....)

Males or females? I have heard from a friend 'who knows someone' who has 2 months old castrated males but I am not sure if that would be too early and their personalities haven't fully come out? I know for our dog he was at least 1 1/2 before we thought about getting him snipped...

What do you guys think?  ???


Chrissie

  • Joined Feb 2013
Re: Why Do You Have Alpacas
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2016, 08:09:06 pm »
ops - sorry guys  ::) just noticed I replied to the wrong thread  :P Weighting up between Alpacas and donkeys as fox deterrents.... should have been in the next topic down....

greenbeast

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: Why Do You Have Alpacas
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2016, 03:49:01 pm »
ops - sorry guys  ::) just noticed I replied to the wrong thread  :P Weighting up between Alpacas and donkeys as fox deterrents.... should have been in the next topic down....


Alpacas are eaten in this country, i know someone breeding them for meat

MAK

  • Joined Nov 2011
  • Middle ish of France
    • Cadeaux de La forge
Re: Why Do You Have Alpacas
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2016, 05:07:25 pm »
A couple of lads heading to watch Wales play football in Toulouse stopped at a service station. They joined a group of on watchers and police men watching an elderly couple trying to close their car boot that had two Alpacas in. The Alpacas did not want to put their heads down to continue their journey and so the scene gathered quite an audience.
Maybe because you don't eat their meat Alpacas are not considered as livestock and so can be moved about in a car boot.
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chrismahon

  • Joined Dec 2011
  • Gascony, France
Re: Why Do You Have Alpacas
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2016, 07:40:41 pm »
Sheep, or at least Big sheep like Texels, can deter foxes. They can be eaten of course and they don't have long necks to get stuck in car boots. Our fox attacks started immediately we sent our pet Texel Lauren to her new home prior to moving here- big mistake, as we lost 10 chickens in 3 attacks!

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Why Do You Have Alpacas
« Reply #7 on: September 10, 2016, 02:23:01 pm »
As I understand it (from a friend who has 30-odd alpacas) they're extremely susceptible to bTB but, as they're not considered farm livestock, have no controls over movement, let alone pre-movement testing.  She stopped taking hers to shows some years ago and is very concerned about he biosecurity side of things with "drive-by matings" facilitating  un-bTB tested stud males to go all over the country. 


big soft moose

  • Joined Oct 2016
Re: Why Do You Have Alpacas
« Reply #8 on: December 03, 2016, 09:58:26 pm »
There's an article in one of the small holding magazines this month about someone raising alpacas for meat - i'll see if i can find it in a minute.

That aside it was the susceptibility to BTB that puts me off the idea (although to be clear I don't yet have any animals - i'm still planning).  Ive also heard that in scotland they are subject to TB testing in the same way that cows etc are, if thats true i could see it being rolled out accross the uk in due course

big soft moose

  • Joined Oct 2016
Re: Why Do You Have Alpacas
« Reply #9 on: December 03, 2016, 09:59:24 pm »
oops didn't notice the age of this thread - ignore me

 

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