Re: [AlpacaTalk] Girls or boys?
Haha, sorry, Pam -- for some reason I thought my reply was going only to
Heather, I just forgot to check the send field. I'm glad it went to the
whole list as I'm sure lots of people can help sort me out on this issue.
Thanks!
- Caryn
On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 1:09 PM, Pamela Hunter <peakprez@gmail.
> 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.
> wrote:
>
> > 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
> 40westwindalpacas.
> >
> > > 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]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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posted by Chaddo at 1:16 PM
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