When we were first exploring Alpacas, we had many questions about them. We are devoting this page to hopefully help answer some of these questions for you. Alpacas are small and easy to handle. Alpaca husbandry is no harder than keeping a dog.

Alpacas stand about 36 inches at the shoulders and weigh about 150 lbs. for a female and 200 lbs for a male. They prefer to remain out of human reach, but are easy to halter train. A baby is called a 'cria'. A cria stays with it's mother until it is about 6 months old. Alpacas are stimulated into ovulating by the act of breeding. You arrange for Alpacas to be sheared once per year. The cost of shearing varies, but is about $30.00 per animal.

The 'blanket' or body is the most desirable part of the fleece. See All About Fleece page for more on fleece. Alpacas are 100% insurable. We use Wilkins livestock ins. It generally cost 3% of the value of the animal per year. Alpacas live 15 to 20 years. Llamas and donkeys are good guard animals. You must keep Alpacas safe from predators. Alpacas eat very little. They love grass. We supplement daily with feed and hay. They eat 1.5%to 2% of their body weight per day. Toe nails and teeth need to be trimmed on regular intervals. Heat is much harder on them than cold. We supply lots of shade and also fans for our Alpacas. There are many ways to make a profit with Alpacas. You can breed them and sell the offspring. You can sell the raw or finished fleece. You can make or have someone else make finished goods to sell. You can agist (hold) other peoples Alpacas. You can get some very attractive tax advantages by raising alpacas on your own ranch. All expenses attributable to actively raising alpacas for profit, can be written off against your income. Alpacas are not raised for meat in North America, but are consumed as food in South America.

Bill or Julie Knight
936-349-2046
4334 Greenbriar Road
Madisonville, TX 77864
julie@fireflytrailalpacas.com