Re: [AlpacaTalk] Girls or boys?
Not that you asked me...but any alpaca ranch should welcome visitors, and be
willing to share what they know. Of course you don't want to impose on
their generosity, and if you end up not purchasing from them, you might at
least want to offer them something of value in return. Trade off watching
their animals if they want to get away for a weekend maybe--that'
welcome, and it doesn't cost you anything. I'm all about bartering and
win-win transactions! I bet if you visit them and they have ANY fiber boys
(and who doesn't?) they will happily cut you a deal on a couple. And since
they're already set up, they'll probably even keep them for you until you
get yourself fully ready for them.
~Pam in CO
On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 2:00 PM, Caryn Law <law.caryn@gmail.
> Thanks again, Heather! I'm glad to hear you mention those prices -- I've
> been researching that and it's good to see that the prices I'm seeing are
> in
> fact realistic. I was so relieved to see those prices...when I first
> started
> researching all I saw were prices for breeding-quality animals and I just
> about had a heart attack thinking that I'd never be able to afford alpacas.
>
> While I have your ear, I wonder if you could weigh in on one more topic,
> since you're always so informative and quick to respond? :) I'm planning on
> contacting some alpaca farms near me (there's actually a small one within
> walking distance of my house) and asking if I can visit and talk to them
> about the animals, see personally what's involved, etc.
>
> Is there any particular first-visit etiquette I should know about before I
> go? I can only imagine that it must be a little bit of an imposition to
> show
> up at an alpaca farm and expect them to suddenly teach me everything I need
> to know about them, or ask to handle their animals at all, etc. I know a
> lot
> of farms are happy to talk to new people but I don't want to impose. At the
> same time, all sources are urging me to make personal visits (which of
> course sounds reasonable).
>
> Thanks again for your valuable experience! :)
>
> - Caryn
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 12:49 PM, Heather Zeleny <
> alpacatalk@westwind
>
> > I absolutely recommend getting a few fiber boys if you don't plan to
> > show and don't want to breed, at least for now. They don't have to be
> > gelded. I have heard of plenty of difficult to handle geldings so for
> > alpacas it doesn't really make them more manageable. Fiber males can
> > frequently be found for $250-1000. I personally would never pay more
> > than $500 for a fiber male. Sometimes, people even give them away! We
> > actually donated some fiber boys to some 4H people last year, and
> > some of them had really nice, very fine fleece but weren't breeder
> > quality.
> >
> > Girls will be more expensive. There are very few non-breeder girls
> > out there, and they're usually priced much higher than fiber boys.
> > And, they must be kept separate from males because even geldings will
> > "breed." Very few non-breeder females have been spayed, so if she's a
> > non-breeder due to issues that make pregnancy life-threatening or
> > that she always loses them pre-term, she absolutely should not be
> > kept with males, intact or not. And, as we've discussed before, a
> > gelding will over breed her and cause sever uterine damage and
> > infection is likely.
> >
> > I think starting with the fiber boys is a great way to get
> > comfortable with them. If you later choose to have breeding females,
> > you may be able to change fencelines to accommodate both, or you may
> > just find new homes for your fiber boys.
> >
> > Heather
> >
> >
> > On Jan 26, 2009, at 12:34 PM, Caryn Law wrote:
> >
> > > Hello everyone!
> > >
> > > When I (hopefully) buy my first alpacas this year (probably two to
> > > start
> > > with), I'm wondering...
> > >
> > > I don't plan to show alpacas. I'm interested in owning them purely
> > > for the
> > > fiber as I'm a handspinner who would like to use their fiber for
> > > handspun
> > > products. We aren't interested in getting into the breeding aspect of
> > > alpacas right away as we don't want to overextend ourselves and
> > > want to get
> > > experienced with just owning them before breeding. But I know that
> > > if I want
> > > to expand my herd, I'll either have to buy from someone else or have a
> > > breeding female. On the one hand, I like the idea of having a
> > > breedable
> > > female eventually (so I would want to start by owning females) for
> > > this
> > > purpose, but on the other hand breeding females are very, very
> > > pricey, and
> > > I'm wondering as a fiber-only owner if I'll want to just stick with
> > > buying
> > > my alpacas from someone else, in which case I suppose I could go
> > > with either
> > > boys or girls.
> > >
> > > Any advice? As far as owning both, I'm not sure I want to do that
> > > -- our
> > > pasture is one large plot with two small divisions in it that total
> > > three
> > > paddocks, but the paddocks aren't separated enough, I believe, to
> > > allow for
> > > proper seperation of the sexes.
> > >
> > > Looking forward to hearing from the experts!
> > >
> > > Also, is there a particular time of year that's best for buying your
> > > alpacas?
> > >
> > > - Caryn Law
> > > Issaquah, WA
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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