Alpaca's anyone?

[papaw]

So we're still looking for animals to raise on the retirement place and the alpaca is looking good....Anyone know much about them?

[mtman]

the only thing i know about them is you wont make any money from them

[tnokie]

I think they are still a breeders market so are out of most peoples price range. Give them a few years and they will do like the llamas. I remember when they cost hundreds now they sell for 1 hundred or less!

[Alice In TX/MO]

NO no no no no no.

No.

[Spinner]

I think they'll go the way of the ostrich and emu. The only people who make money are the ones who got in at the beginning. I had a guy offer me 3 of them free if I would pay to have them trucked 1/2 way across the country. Some day we'll see them running wild in the hills cause people will turn them out so they don't have to feed them.

[tinknal]

Amway for farmers.

[chuck2858]

we have llamas at our place. my wife spins fiber. from what she tells me alpaca fiber sells for apprximately $30-$40 per pound washed and carded. but the big draw back is the price very expensive i've seen them for as much as $16,000 for a single animal. not a poor mans livestock project. good luck.
chuck

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by chuck2858

we have llamas at our place. my wife spins fiber. from what she tells me alpaca fiber sells for apprximately $30-$40 per pound washed and carded. but the big draw back is the price very expensive i've seen them for as much as $16,000 for a single animal. not a poor mans livestock project. good luck.
chuck

Within 5 years there will be ads for free alpacas in your local paper.

[MWG]

Don't know much about them but I just bought one today. Paid $250 for him... will tell you more later?

[PETSNEGGS]

Spinner, please let me know when you see them for free... I'll feed them and love them... just have this thing for them and think they are so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT looking to make money just a sweet pet. Have heard that it was a thing like "Pet rocks" made quick money and that was it! But would lvoe to hug on one... yeah I am one that has PBP as pets....

[Quint]

tinknal nailed it - Amway for farmers. I've talked to people with them who have them and can't really do anything with them. They can't sell them because nobody wants them and they've got too much money in them to eat them so they're stuck with them. From what they told me the market for the wool is greatly exaggerated. They chalked it with their emu, ostrich and llama experiments. (though they actually made some money with the emu they said just not enough to make it worthwhile)

[Pony]

Yeah, there are a few threads on here about alpacas as an investment, and they all concur: nice animals, interesting fur, and a great way to lose your money. Had some neighbors in WI who got in too late and kept throwing good money after bad, just couldn't see that it's a pyramid scheme.

It really is a sort of Amway for farmers.

If you want to raise them for fun and money is no object, go ahead. If you actually want a return on your money, you'd be better off investing in a mutual fund.

JMO, of course.

Pony!

[Woodroe]

Once you start seeing ads on TV for them you know it's over.

[Corky]

There have been adds on TV for them for years.
Thats where I saw my first ones.
I now have 5 but not to raise.
I am smarter than that. I have them because I want the fleece and They are easy keepers and I love to see them in the pasture.

[Jolly]

Let me get this straight....the American farmer is going to take an animal out of its natural habitat in South America, where it can be raised for a fraction of what it will cost to raise to raise in the U.S., create a market out of almost nothing and then everybody gets rich?

Reminds me of an old tune from my youth...One Toke Over the Line .

[james dilley]

Camlids Are Good FOOD, They are pretty tasty from what I have read. So Alpaca . For A Barbque anyone??

[Corky]

Very expensive barbecue. Have you seen an alpaca after shearing?

They are a walking skeleton. That could cost about $100.00 a lb.

[james dilley]

If you live UP North. I would think of putting in A Few Gingsing plots and Golden seal too. There is Money there. You won't Make A Million bucks .But you can get A few thousand A year if you wait 5-7 years to harvest.

[xoxoGOATSxoxo]

I know some people who raise them in Belding, Michigan. The Gosnell family. Website is http://www.irishvalleyfarm.com/. I think they raise for fiber and for show.

Alpacas dont need as much space as llamas.

[Shinsan]

Originally Posted by Jolly

Let me get this straight....the American farmer is going to take an animal out of its natural habitat in South America, where it can be raised for a fraction of what it will cost to raise to raise in the U.S., create a market out of almost nothing and then everybody gets rich?

No, It's the Australians that are doing that, although not all will ,(or even try to), get rich: Many people have alpacas simply as pets.

Having said that, it should be acknowledged that Australia does already have the world's largest register of pedigreed alpacas, have two professional associations dedicated to expanding the industry, have a mill dedicated to the processing of fibre, and expect that by 2015 the number of animals will exceed that of Peru. ('Though some sceptics claim it will take until 2020. LOL) The demand from Japan, China and Korea for alpaca fibre currently exceeds the available supply, and Europe is also a potential market, so down here at least, raising alpacas is considered a viable industry.

Personally, I would not think of entering the industry, either here or in the US, unless I had done the appropriate research and had a business plan in place. I would, if I had the space, have a few for a home industry or as pets though, simply because I think alpacas are great.