Why Farm Alpacas?

Their charm
Alpacas are the most appealing and enjoyable animals to farm. So much so they are more likely to become pets rather than 'livestock'. However, apart from their enormous charm they do have many unique qualities that make them a viable investment.

Rare breed
Numbers of alpaca in New Zealand are still quite low (approximately 3000) so they remain a rare breed and are increasingly in demand as more people learn about them. They are especially suited to small lifestyle blocks and as the larger farms are increasingly subdivided into smaller blocks, and people exit the cities for country lifestyles, alpacas are a perfect solution for stocking the land.

Care
As previously mentioned alpacas are easy to care for and do not require any intensive input. We do our daily check to make sure they are all in good health, feed out hay and nuts as required, check water troughs and clean up their communal dung heaps on occasion. That's it apart from the quarterly toenail clipping and yearly shearing. Since we only run alpacas we do not drench but do vaccinate with 5-in-1 twice a year. Over the winter we also give all the animals shots of vitamins A, D and E.

Prices
Prices have held their own over the past few years and females are a worthwhile investment. By purchasing breeding females you can quickly recoup the initial outlay by selling off as numbers increase.

Fibre
It is the unique alpaca fibre that makes them an attractive investment. (See the fibre page for more information)