HHAR Education

Two most common questions asked from every visitor to our ranch:
1. Do they spit like llamas?
Yes! It is their way of getting another alpaca to move away,
to let a male know his attentions are not wanted, if they feel
threatened, or establish pecking order. Unlike Llamas that
are known for spitting at people, Alpacas do not have that
temperment.

2. Why do you raise them?
We raise them for several reasons. First as an investment opportunity as well as a new lifestyle for our whole family to enjoy. An added bonus: we are our own bosses and in charge of our own alpaca business! We truly believe in the old saying "Don't get so busy making a
living, that you forget to make a life!" We have chosen a new lifestyle and that is one of including
these curious, adorable, and easy to care for alpacas into our family's life!
We also appreciate and are very excited about the luxerious fiber that they produce and are in the process of optimizing and utilizing all our fiber that is sheared off our alpacas every year. Check back soon as we are in the process of constructing a new page on our website devoted entirely on the fleece. It will include what we do with our yearly clip along with educational information so you can learn and appreciate how truly wonderful and exceptional this fiber really is!

New for 2008! Fleece Seminar Speaker

Are you having an open house on your farm and
want to have some educational seminars about the
endproduct of alpacas? If you're the host, it is
hard to break away from potential customers to
conduct a seminar. Let Holli come and present
a "hands-on" seminar dealing with the different
aspects of alpaca fleece. She can tailor her
seminars to meet your specific needs.

Topics include:
1.Skirting alpaca fleece for processing, showing, and spin-offs.
2. Marketing your fleece creatively.
3. Coming Soon: Evaluating your alpaca
fleece and what it all means for you and your farm.

Holli, a former Pre-K teacher, incorporates visuals
and actual examples to demonstrate in an
understanding way fleece terminology.
Every participant receives a handouts,
note paper and reference sheets.

Please call for more information, availability, and pricing

References are available upon request.

Basic Care For Alpacas
Daily
1. Feeding of the alpacas: we grain feed our alpacas morning and evening. This way we interact with them at least twice daily and can observe any physical or behavioral changes.
2.We also fill hay feeders and water buckets daily.
3. We sweep the barn, stalls, and scoop the poop from the pastures close to the barn
4. Maintain the business needs of ranch (website, correspondence, marketing, documentation.)
Monthly
1. Worming of herd via injections, or oral doses
2. Herd health check - wieght or body score, toe nails, teeth, and eyes all check for normalcy.
Yearly
1. CD&T vaccination via injection.
2. Shearing
3. Breeding(if Female)
As Need Basis
1. Vacuum dung from outer pastures
2. Bale hay and stack in barn
3. Train young babies with halter and lead rope.
4. Birthing of cria(new baby)

Summer Care for Alpacas
With Summer time just around the corner, we need to be aware of heat stress and
how best to avoid it. Prevention and proper management is essential and here are a few easy steps we take at our ranch every summer to ensure the safety and well being of our alpacas!

Prevention
We shear all alpacas early in the spring and belly shear the juveniles that are not getting a full shear. We make sure they have plenty of access to water either through a small child's pool, sprinkler, and easy accessable drinking buckets. On hot humid days, we will use the hose and spray their underbellys, and legs throughout the day. This is a form of conductive cooling and very effective. You also can add electrolytes to the drinking water to help balance out their mineral and salt intake. Shade is a major preventative step and a must during the summer. We have overhangs that extend beyond the barn that the alpacas lay under during the summer. The use of fans is another must that we use. This help circulates air in the barn and overhang and the alpacas will usually lay in front of the fans to let the cool air blow on them.

Signs of Heat Stress

Legargic, high resperation rate of 40 breaths or more a minute or nasal nares are flaring. If your alpaca exhibits these signs, then immediately cool down with cold water to belly then message belly and legs to get that cooler blood flowing. If in full fleece, take scissors and get the excess fleece off of them quickly. After that, take temperature of alpaca and call your vet for further instructions but take action first!

Basic Facts about Alpacas
1. Alpacas are native to the Andes Mountains of South America and were originally imported from Peru, Chile, and Bolivia in the 80s and 90s.
2. They are members of the Camelid Family and cousin to the Llama and Camel.
3. There are two types of alpacas: Huacayas(more common) and Suris(Rare).
4. Life Span is 15-20 years.
5. Alpacas are induced ovulators so they can be bred anytime.
5. Gestation is on average 11 months.
6. Weight averages between 120 - 175 pounds.
7. Alpacas are sheared once a year in the spring before the hot summer months.
8. Alpacas are herd animals, so plan to own at least two.
9. You can house 5 alpacas one 1 acrea of land, if more, then plan to supplement
with hay year round.
10. Alpacas are earth friendly, hearty, and easy to care for.