Great Alpaca Tips!
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• Buy only ARI registered alpacas.

• Put hay outdoors on nice winter days, they eat more.

• Put gates in the fence on the shortest line between the house and barn, you’ll thank yourself later.

• Get yourself a good barn cat.  They not only keep the barn free of mice, they also discourage raccoon and other small animals from coming into the area, as they don’t want to mess with a cat.

• Before getting a guard animal, do your research - investigate all the different dog breeds, check out llamas, and base your decision on what is best for your farm. 

• Think about it before bending to pick something up behind an alpaca, or leaning over an alpaca with their head down.

• When weaning, wean by weight and conditions, not age; relocate mom, not baby; find a nanny alpaca to babysit; keep cria's routine the same; and most importantly, remember that three stresses together can be too much for a little one - including weaning, parasites, vaccinations, heat, relocating by sales, or showing.

• Put your animals where you can see them from the house, they are fun to watch and by watching often, you can spot problems early.

• Alpacas love to prance as the sun goes down, don’t forget to stop and watch.

• AD&E shots into the muscle make alpacas limp for days, give it Sub-Q.  As long as it’s IA (in the alpaca) they benefit.

• Three alpacas really do fit in the back of a mini van.

• Point the opening of your shelter away from prevailing winds, and toward the house if you can.

• Put your pasture and shelter on high ground, or dig drainage areas.  A skating rink or a swamp is not good for alpacas.

• If your shelter area is iced over, throw straw down for traction.

• Several water buckets that plug in inside the shelter ice over less than one big water trough outside, even one with 2 heaters.

• Kiddie pools are great for alpacas to cool off in summer, but if you are planning to show them in the fall, watch for fiber loss on their legs from standing in the water.

• You cannot have too much portable fencing, and yes the extra cost for a gate panel is worth it.

• A big open barn is best, with moveable panels for dividing it.  That way it is changeable for any situation that arises – birthing, males, grouping according to feed needs.

• Alpacas like small children, and let them get away with things they won’t tolerate in adults.

• Alpacas like to play musical bowls/troughs, having very long troughs or more bowls than alpacas helps reduce squabbling.

• Alpacas love to roll in dust or straw, especially when wet, and when customers are coming to look at them.

• Brand new cria legs can be anything but straight, but it usually doesn’t last.

• All grass and hay is not created equal – alpacas will only eat what they like.  Meaning the pasture still needs to be mowed in spots, and hay dumped out of buckets not being eaten.

• Grass is tastier through the fence, even if they were just on the other side.

• Be careful with what is in your pasture – any tree, shrub and plant is fair game.  Read the poisons list well, and use orange plastic construction fence around trees if needed to protect the bark.

• Make sure gates are securely locked.  They have very talented lips.

• Be careful of anything they might be able to get their heads through, fencing, netting, even looped hay bale cord.

• Be nice to your vet – a good alpaca vet is hard to come by.

• Crias love to have buddies to play with – being an only child is lonely.

• To an alpaca, the stored, stacked hay is always better than the hay in the feeders.

• Go to shows, even if you don’t take an animal.  They are a great way to check your breeding program.

• Alpaca people are really wonderful.  Even if you didn’t buy an alpaca from them, they are willing to give advice and help to a new breeder.

• Showing your animals is not as hard as you think.

• Bring fans to a show, even in cool weather.  If your show animal is fine, and gets nervous, they will sweat, and all the character disappears.  Fans help.

• Keep boys and girls apart after they are a year old.  Some males have bred before that, but that is not a usual thing.

• Two dirty knees are normal, one dirty knee should be checked out – it could be a leg wound.

• Take time out every day to watch your alpacas – other than being relaxing, it helps you to get to know their behaviors better, and spot problems quicker.

• Alpacas can go through a very small space, so be careful with your fencing panels, you don’t want someone to get stuck, struggle, or get out.

• Big trash cans and tubs work great for keeping grain and corn in and mice out.  Tight fitting lids can also keep curious cats and alpacas out also.

• Even if your alpaca is not perfectly halter trained, take him to the show anyway.  Sometimes it will all come together for an animal at the show, once he sees all the other alpacas on leads.

• When in doubt call the vet, or an experienced alpaca breeder, (who, if in doubt, will tell you to call your vet!)

• Alpacas are like cats, if you stand still, they will come to you out of curiosity, if you reach for them, they will run.

• Do not try to kiss a clicking alpaca with tail up who is reaching her nose up to you, a kiss is not what they want.

• Try to teach your herd the word “barn” by using it when it is feeding time.  It’s much easier to say “barn” and have them know what you want them to do, than to herd them in out of the pasture for their shots (this doesn’t work if they’ve just been fed – they are smarter than that!).

• Even healthy newly shorn alpacas look like they haven’t eaten for months – that’s why body scoring is so important in the winter – fleece can hide a thinning alpaca.

• Attend all the alpaca seminars you can – each time you are taking in information from a different perspective in your alpaca experience – beginning breeder to experienced breeder, you will hear new and different things each time you go.

• Alpacas are herd animals, and love it when there is actually a “herd” (more than 2).

• Alpacas aren’t nice to newcomers to the herd, but luckily newcomers become old timers within a couple of months (kind of like kids).

• Alpacas don’t like deep snow.  Plow or snow blow a path around the pasture – it makes them a great racetrack.  If there is ice on top of the snow, skip it – they will do a  “bambi” on ice, and possibly get hurt.

• It’s always good to move slowly around alpacas, they don’t like quick movements, and get startled easily (even sometimes by the slow movements!)

• Alpacas will spit at each other, especially at feeding time – try not to get caught in the crossfire (a loud “no spit” helps sometimes, but not always).