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Frequently Asked Questions What do alpacas cost? A proven, high-quality female in the prime of her cria-bearing years will fetch between $17,500 and $27,500; much older or younger females, or lesser-quality ones, can be obtained for as little as $10,000. And some excellent females have sold for quite a bit more. Breeding-quality males sell for $2,500 on up, with good-quality ones fetching between $10,000 and $20,000; and really superior ones price out at $50,000 or more. Fiber-quality animals sell for between $500 and $1,500, making them roughly equivalent in price to fine cashmere or angora goats or Karakul or Icelandic sheep. Why do alpacas cost so much? Alpacas are expensive for several reasons. First of all, there aren't that many of them. As more and more people worldwide learn the advantages of alpaca ranching, demand continues to exceed supply. Second, the U.S. alpaca population grows slowly. Females only have one baby a year, and we have stopped importations of alpacas from South America to maintain the high quality of our current herd. Third, many breeders are building the size of their own herds; thus, they tend to retain more offspring each year than they sell. Finally, artificial insemination has been found to be very difficult in alpacas for physiologic reasons. For the foreseeable future, it is not yet a viable option for speeding up the process of reproduction in alpacas. It is true that alpacas are expensive livestock to purchase; however, that works to your advantage when you have animals to sell. Their prices have held very well. Thus, a breeder can generally expect to recoup the initial cost of a female alpaca, for example, within 3 years or so of her purchase by sale of her offspring. There are very few investments which have the potential of yielding 100% within 3 years! What do alpacas eat? Alpacas are grazing animals who are accustomed to quite poor forage in the high Andes Mountains from where they come. Scientists have found them to be as efficient at converting poor-quality forage into usable nutrients as scrub goats. Alpacas can eat any traditional North American grasses with perhaps some alfalfa thrown in for heavily- pregnant or lactating animals. Too much alfalfa will just make them fat. If you come from a traditional livestock background, you will want to know that 10 alpacas eat about as much as one cow (one animal unit). Alpacas eat about 2 lbs. of hay a day, making them a very inexpensive animal to feed. Alpacas should also be given free-choice loose mineral salts, which should be selected to complement your animal's regular diet, as well as grain mixes for those animals who need a few more calories. Typical grain mixes that would be appropriate for alpacas would be lama pellets or COB (corn, oats and barley) available from your local feed store. How much does it cost to feed an alpaca? It will vary depending on whether or not your alpacas can graze, what quality of forage they have available and for how much of the year. But even if you feedlot your alpacas (if you have nothing upon which they can graze at least part of the time), it will cost less to feed an alpaca per month than the average dog -- about $8 per month. This includes the minerals and grain mixes mentioned above. Thus, an alpaca is a very economical animal to feed! Where do I keep an alpaca? If you live in a city or a neighborhood governed by land-use restrictions, you will need to check with your zoning department. Generally, alpaca owners have found that land that permits horses will permit alpacas. They are not generally considered a 'barnyard' animal such as pigs or goats. As to how much space they need, consider that we kept two alpacas very happily in half our backyard (their space measured about 40' by 100') for 18 months. Generally speaking and depending on your pasture, 10 alpacas per acre is a comfortable concentration. If your property doesn't permit alpacas, or you are not ready to care for them yourselves yet, you can still purchase alpacas now. You would simply board, or agist, them with another owner/breeder. Costs for this range from $2-3/day for each animal and generally include routine shots, wormings and toenail trimming. What kind of fencing do alpacas need? Alpacas, like sheep, do not tend to challenge fencing, especially if you do not house males right next to "open" (not pregnant) females. Thus, a very simple and inexpensive fence, such as non-climb V-mesh strung on T-posts, will do to keep them in. However, in most parts of the country, breeders find they need a higher-quality perimeter fence to keep predators out. You would think that the most dangerous predators to alpacas would be bears, wolves, mountain lions or coyotes; but actually, it is the pack of neighborhood dogs that is the most dangerous to alpacas. Thus, any fence that will keep out dogs will work to protect alpacas in most circumstances. Some breeders have very successfully used guardian llamas and livestock guardian dogs to protect their valuable alpacas. What kind of shelter do they need? Except where the weather is extremely cold or extremely hot, alpacas actually prefer minimal shelter. They prefer being outdoors to being shut inside a barn, and as long as they have shade and a wind-break, if necessary, they do quite well. In extremes of cold, you would want them to be able to choose to come in from the cold; and in extremes of heat you would want to make sure they did not get heat-stressed. What kind of vet costs will I incur? Alpacas are very hardy animals and are not subject to the kinds of endemic infectious diseases that afflict some traditional and alternative livestock. Most breeders give shots of one kind or another once or twice a year, and most treat for parasites several times a year; but these are not major costs and do not typically require a veterinarian. Studies show that less than 5% of alpaca births require a veterinarian's assistance; so unless an animal gets injured, your vet may not be visiting you as much as if you raised other kinds of animals. What happens with the fleece? Most breeders have found it is best to shear alpacas annually rather than every two years. The fleece stays cleaner, so more of it can be turned into end-product. Also, studies have been done which show that two annual shearings of alpacas yield more fleece than one shearing every two years. Sheep shearers can shear an alpaca, so there is professional help available if you want it. However, most breeders do their own shearing and find they do very well after just a few practice sessions. Our national breeder's association has established an Alpaca Fiber Co-op which pools sheared North American alpaca fiber for commercial processing. The Co-op collected 27,300 lbs. of alpaca fiber in 1998 to send to South American to be turned into end product. Alpaca fiber can also be sold to handspinners and weavers locally. Prices vary with the color and quality, but generally raw fleece sells for $20-25/lb., with washed and carded fleece selling for $2-2.50/oz. Since most alpacas will yield approximately 5 lbs. of fleece per shearing, a breeder can expect to get $100-150/year from each alpaca's fleece sale, without even value-adding such as turning the fleece into yarn or garments. Alpaca fiber is highly prized by spinners, knitters and weavers as a soft, lustrous material that works up into a wonderful garment that will wear beautifully for many years. |
