Alpaca Farms Maine

Below are some tid-bits of wisdom we think you will enjoy. The tid-bits are listed in random order. Some are comical while others are serious-some were serious at the time but now upon reflection are comical! We invite you to check back regularly because this section is constantly evolving.

• Start shoveling dung from the outer parts of the pasture inward.
• Our guard llamas are a little more adventurous than our alpacas when they get out!
• The pleasant loveable maiden I sent out for breeding can come back a testy old hag (pregnant females sometimes change personalities when they become bred)
• Alpacas and llamas can open gates.
• Although llamas require the same type of care and maintenance that alpacas do, handling llamas is a little different than alpacas primarily due to their size.
• Most alpacas "tolerate" shearing but some will voluntarily lie down on the matt asking to be shorn next!

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• Rolling an alpaca down on a shearing matt does not require strength; it requires smooth methodical control and a hint of surprise.
• When placing your shelter on your property take time to learn where the prevailing winds originate-shelters have been known to flip.
• Sometimes your husband is right. Sometimes your wife is right.
• Carry last year's alpaca/llama association directory in your truck. It will be worth its weight in gold in times of emergency.
• Practice backing up the livestock trailer at home to learn how to maneuver it. When you are the new girl at the fair parking your trailer amongst the cattle trailers in front of an audience, you will be glad you did!
• At every pit-stop, check your trailer doors and hitch to ensure both are secure.
• "Alpacas don't read the books!" A direct quote from LaRue Johnson, DVM during his neonatal seminar. The point being that alpacas do not always demonstrate all of the classic symptoms as described in the text books.
• Follow your instincts, if after monitoring your alpaca, you honestly think it is sick, call the vet-more often than not you will be right. If your alpaca is found to be healthy all you have lost is a little bit of time and the cost of the examination.

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• Be flexible; if something is not working try something else.
• Mother Nature knows best.
• If you love what you do, it is worth the time, effort, and sometimes frustration.
• A wise person is forever learning from others, a fool believes he/she knows it all.
• Alpacas are stoic by nature. Invest the time to know your alpacas well-their mannerisms and personalities. Doing so will enable you to detect subtle changes that may prove to be the first sign of illness, cria delivery etc.
• "Due dates" should be re-termed "due periods".
• Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty-there is no shortage of soap!
• When designing your business plan, calculate 100% of the offspring born first two years to be males (probably pet quality males). This will provide a bit of "insurance" for what can realistically happen and will encourage a new breeder not to stretch their budget too thin.
• Alpacas/Llamas survive on dry lots however they thrive on fields. (Picked this phrasing up from Jane Dunstan of Ridge Mist Llamas)

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• A micron analysis is useful information to be used collectively with many other factors when evaluating a fleece/animal. Many factors can positively or negatively influence the results of a micron analysis; location of sample site on alpaca's body, size of sample, diet/body condition, and environment just to name a few.
• Evaluate a herdsire by its offspring not its ribbons.
• Showing is a means of marketing a farm or breeding program.
• Perfect alpacas do not exist-each animal has flaws some more apparent than others.
• If something seems too good to be true-it is.
• Invest wisely; alpacas make money; fancy barns do not. Alpacas appreciate & require adequate shelter from the elements. Humans appreciate fancy barns. Build what you need and expand as necessary over time.
• Statistically speaking, most males born are pet quality….regardless of the stud fee paid. Stud fees vary from $1500-$7500. A breeder opting to pay $7500 for a stud fee needs to be willing to accept that this pairing may produce a pet quality male valued significantly below $7500. If a breeder is willing to risk this money then all is fine. But if the breeder is unable to justify letting the male offspring go for the price of a pet then he should reconsider spending $7500 for a stud fee at this particular time.
• Wear light colored clothing during bug season. Bugs seemed to be less attracted to light colors than dark colors.
• Sweet feed grains often condense/freeze making them hard to scoop. Use a gardener's "hand hoe" to break it up before scooping.

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• Patience is the most important tool in your cria care kit. Give the dam time to deliver her cria. Watch from a far to ensure all is going well. More often than not she will have the situation fully under control.
• Give a dam and her newborn cria time and space to bond without interference.
• Call your alpacas at meal time. They will eventually connect "the call" with coming up to the barn/shelter and receiving grain. This will prove useful if you have to corral them during the day for other reasons such as visitors or vet appointments. (I do give them a tiny amount of grain in their bowls if I call them in the middle of the day. I feel this is only fair. If the alpacas are already in the barn then I simply close the gate and no grain is necessary.)
• Grain your alpacas daily in catch pens or similar small containment areas that also double as treatment areas for vet exams, shots, toe nail trimming etc. Doing so will provide positive reinforcement for entering into the small area without apprehension.
• Generally speaking heated buckets are great during the winter. However during severe cold snaps banking a heated bucket with snow will insulate it significantly preventing it from skimming over or freezing solid.
• Be thoughtful with breeding decisions. Always breed your female to a superior male to produce a cria who is notably better than the dam.
• If there is only one burdock bush in a 10 acre field, rest assured your alpacas will find it!