Alpaca's anyone?
 

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

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

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!

NO no no no no no.

No.

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.

Amway for farmers.

alpacas
 

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.

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

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....

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)

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

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.

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 .

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

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

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

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.

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.

:)

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.

From my study (such as it is, so far), I see there's no meat market here in the US. Don't get that as they are supposed to be very tasty.
The major market is the breeder and fiber market. I'm not interested in the breeder aspects of this or any other animal due to the time/ money required to do it right. I have friends who do the Boar goat thing as registered breeders....LOTS of MONEY and a good payoff....but LOTS of money and time.

The alpaca fiber is sold through a co-op and as I understand it, dosen't have to depend on the US market. Each mature alapca will bring about $500 per shearing...once a year. The major benefit seems to be in the business/tax breaks you'd get from having a few animals on your place. We'd like paddocks and fence with "something" on it....Having a few (4 or 5) alpacas would give us a ligit farm and all the benefits that come with it. They require very little attention... medical or other up keep. Very little hoof trimming, worming and vet trips. If you shear them yourself, you ship the clippings to the co-op and wait on the check. They produce one offspring a year and that one could be sold or kept to build a larger heard.

The animals are clean and seem to be healthy compaired to cows, goats or any other animal that I've looked into.

The cost CAN be high, but as with goats, horses or cows....you don't have to start out at the top. Animals for the fiber trade can be purchased for a few hundred a piece.

I hear the expense of it and wonder what animal can be raised properly with less expense and less time involved in managing them. The market is like that of sheep with the exception of the meat.....It's a small somewhat specialized market that does seem to be growing.

Thanks for all the replies....

I got two free alpacas two years ago. They were worth every penny. Yes, they are very cheap to feed: grass, a bit of hay, absolutely no grain. Upkeep: hooves need trimming every two to three months, they'll eventually stand still and take it if properly secured. Canine teeth need a yearly trim. Shearing: can you do it yourself? By yourself I mean three people, two to hold it down, one to run the clippers. Or you could spend the $1000 for a shearing table, then it only takes two people.
Wool: each animal produces about 15 lbs annually, 3 of which is the nice stuff and goes for about $50 lb if you can find a buyer. The rest of the 12 lbs goes for much less and is used for felting, rugs, etc. Unless you card and spin yourself, you will pay lots of bucks to a small mill to do it for you. There are no large mills in the US that process alpaca full time. The alpaca association says as soon as they have 100,000 animals in production they can get year-round milling. After 15 years of trying they are up to 33,000 animals. I don't think its going to happen anytime soon. We sent ours out to a small mill after spending $160 and lots of sweat shearing them. Washing, carding, etc was $12/lb. We had one spun up with silk, an extra $10/lb. One of the fleeces had a break, it was utterly worthless. So, we got some beautiful alpaca/tussa yarn about for about $96/lb.
Our two were geldings and brothers. They didn't like each other. Three to five times each day they would argue. They do this by spitting. Actually its not spitting, its projectile vomiting. Their aim isn't very good, so bystanders are more likely to get hit than the intended target. It is not pleasant to get spit on. REALLY not pleasant. Its still coating the upper half of the goat stall in the barn, to a height of about 10 feet.
Eating them: Why? They produce one young a year and take two years to get to mature size. Mature size is 120 - 150 lbs. Give me goats, rabbits, pigs, calves, ponies, any day over these guys.
Personalities: They are mostly gentle, friendly, curious, scare easily and carry a grudge. Yeah, they probably make good pets if that is what you want.
I gave my two away, couldn't sell them for love or money. I sent them to separate homes so that the rivalry was no longer a problem.
I see them advertised in the Little Nickel quite often now. Intact males $150 - 500, females $250-500.