Alpacas, profitiable or hobby?

I'm thinking of getting some as pets when I return US- llama are nicer? And what are going prices? $8000 for alpaca might as well get a horse! Or three of them. Are llama cheaper? Will have to see where prices re when I return.

Speaking of pyramids, where does the BOER goat fit in?

There is an ethnic market for goat meat. I think the trajectory of Boer pricing is returning to earth a lot faster than that of Alpaca. You don't see full page ads for Boer goats though, which should tell you something

At least mini horses are being trained as guide 'dogs' now. Even if you were raising them and training them as service animals, you'd probably only make enough to cover costs.

I once had an idea that I could make money breeding horses. Luckily, I came to my senses and decided that cattle were a much better investment because no matter what...they are always hamburger. There is a readily available market and they always get sold. Yeah, there's ups and downs, but it sure beats having to "use imagination" to make a buck.

Jena

I know the fellow who owns pride of the andes ....
He sets up a display in the cattle barn at Berea Fair every year ... nice fella as far as con . .. er sales men go ...
defiantly a pyramid scheme ...I have herd his spiel many a year ...here is how HE works it
I will sell to you this lovely breeding female .. and since you do not live on a farm , I will board her for such and such amount dollars a day , and arange for her vet checks , breeding , and care of young for you and charge you a fee to do that , I will arange for the shearing and selling of the fiber .. and take a cut on the profits of that , I will sell her offspring for you and take a portion of profits ... and you can come visit her anytime you like .....
He gets the marks too .. I stand in awe of this man every year ... just on the farct that he can even find that many folks who are willing to invest ...
but than this is the same fair where one year I had some little old lady walk by with a friend stop and watch a calf nursing on one of my highlands , nudge her friend and exclaim ( I kid you not .. this really happened )
"Look Ethel That Bull has FOUR penises !!!!! ""
Berea Fair is Cleveland Ohio's county Fair .. It is a really urban fair ...

been there. Done that. DON'T DO IT!!! SCAM!!!! Yes, there are people that have made a lot of money in the alpaca business by breeding them and selling them at a very, very high price. They did this because they were very good scam artists. Some of them really believed the hype and did not realize at first that they were lying, but when they figured it out, they had so much invested that they had to keep up the lie to try to save them selves.
There is absolutely no prophet in the fleece even at the high prices today.
Say it brings $40.00 a pound. You only get three to 5 lbs of fleece from each animal. Figure out the cost of feed and vet bills and supplies. Not to mention the investment in barn and pasture and you will see that there is no way to come close to even breaking even.
I still have one alpaca. He is pretty, soft and dangerious. We made a pet of him and his brother. This causes them to start treating you like an alpaca.
They can send you flying through the air with a chest butt. I know.
One died of a worm that they forgot to tell us about. We wormed them just like everything else on the farm. Not nearly enough.
I can find absolutely no market for the fleece here. I have several in storage.
I spin and love the blanket fleece but I can't spin fast enough to keep up with even one alpaca.
I know a girl that just bought two alpacas at the sale barn. She paid $200. for each. one was a female. Either she is sterile or the male is because otherwise the pair would not have made it to the sale barn.
Thats not a bad price for pets though.

__________________
Corky

LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION. I CAN FIND IT BY MYSELF.

I live in "sheep country" to be sure. The biggest shipping point for wool in the US is Roswell, NM - about a hundred miles away. As soft as the wool market has been the past few years, I'd have to look real hard at any animal fiber venture.

The cool thing about America is ...Everybody is allowed their opinion. :haha:
bow to overwelming opinions. :worship: