# I am so excited!!!!!!



## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

ok, have had a few milk goats for sale all summer...no takers. :/
BUT last week I got an email from a lady in Nacogdoches with Alpaca.
She offers a trade. She has 6, one male the rest females. White, tan, and I think she said a reddish color. 
I said, well, I am not sure what I can do, what do you have in mind?
She said - get this - will you trade two females and a male for all 6?
:nanner::happy2::sing::teehee:

ok, so awhile back I said this pray "Oh Lord, I would love to have an alpaca. I could spin fine yarn and sell some fiber and yarn"


SO - I get 6???????????
Oh my word!
I havent even answered the email yet. I just sorta have my head swimming.... I am off to google how to care for them so I have all the right answers when I tell DH...
oh, yeah, she offered to drive the 3 hours to deliver them too!!!!!

WOW.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Wow. 

The only thing is...kinda risky making trades for animals sight-unseen.

Good luck with it though, I know you have been needing some new critters. :teehee:


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

We will be trading pictures this afternoon. I will post them when I get them.
I have been very lucky so far, have traded/sold/bought lots of goats through HT and craigslist. Don't think I have really been burned once. 
But, crossing my fingers....just in case.


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

WOW ! How exciting for sure !!! Looking forward to pictures !!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Congrats! Thats fantastic! Looking forward to pics too.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

How exciting! How about having her send you a sample of their fleeces so you'll know what you're getting fleece-wise? Fleece buyers won't care if one leg is longer than the other or one ear is up and another down. Be sure their fleeces are the type that you want to use and sell.


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## crazyknitter44 (Aug 13, 2012)

*drool* *wipe* ............. *drool* *wipe* 

I hope this works out for you. I LUV spinning and working with alpaca.

I bought a large quantity from someone in my area a couple of years ago. It didn't take long to spin it up, and it is WONDERFUL! One of my favorite fibers to work with!


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## crazyknitter44 (Aug 13, 2012)

Callieslamb said:


> How exciting! How about having her send you a sample of their fleeces so you'll know what you're getting fleece-wise? Fleece buyers won't care if one leg is longer than the other or one ear is up and another down. Be sure their fleeces are the type that you want to use and sell.


Good point on this.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I was more thinking of their health and temperaments, along with the fiber quality.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I'd want to know why she is so eager to get rid of them. Not that there is anything wrong with goats, I LOVE goats. Health issues, feed reguirements, vaccines, worming, .... I really hope this is what you are hoping it is. Just trying to be realistic. I'm with GAM, buying/trading without laying hands on them, ehhhhh.

Please let us know who it all works out. I'll keep positive thoughts for you that it all works out for the best.


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

Another idea- it is a great deal, and a direct answer to prayer? 
Unto Him who is able to do abundantly above All that we ask or think.....
That gives me hope to keep relisting my beautiful milk goat doeling and wether...
Hope they are the greatest! Looking forward to pics...


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

What everyone else said. Make sure you bone up on anything alpaca that you can find. Make sure their fiber is what you like spinning as well. Will these be registered animals or not? How old are they? Have the girls had babies/cria recently? Alpacas can sometimes be hard to re-breed if they've been left open for a while. 

Let's see if I can answer some of WIHH's questions:

I would be curious as to what the day-to-day upkeep for alpacas might be?
Alpacas are easy on fences. A lot easier than our goats are! If you already have goats, then you know about fences. If a fence can keep an alpaca in, they can keep alpacas in. Same goes for predators. Day to day: Fresh water. Hay unless they have broad-leaf grass pastures. They do best on brome/bermuda grasses and will get coarser fiber if you put them on alfalfa. It's called 'blowing a coat' and will never get softer. You can suppliment with alpaca/llama pelleted feed, but we find ours do great on pastures.

what are the annual costs associated with raising alpacas? how much do shots, worming, hoof trimming, teeth floating, and shearing run?These are the basic annual costs, other than feed. An alpaca will eat about as much as a goat does, or even a bit less. We do our own meds, worming, trimming and shearing, and even teeth. It isn't hard, especially if you have a shearing table to put the alpacas on. Ask the owners how they shear and how much the alpacas get handled. If they're easily haltered and don't mind their feet raised, your job will be a cinch. If they're wild, you'll have some training to do with them, which is not that tough. If you have to pay for everything, check around and see if there is someone in your area that will shear/hoof trim for you. These can vary on prices up to $45/alpaca. Call your vet and ask them if they're familiar with alpacas and their vet needs. Worming you can probably do yourself with oral apple-flavored wormer.

do they have special dietary requirements? how much does that cost a year?You can get pelleted llama/alpaca feed. Others feed a free-choice mineral suppliment. It's your choice but we find ours stay healthy on their pastures. The pellets can also be used to help with training or getting them used to having you around. 

 is it easy to get your hands on the proper alpaca diet locally ? is it afforadble enough to be offset by what you hope to earn with them? Can't answer this for you. You may want to check around to see what your local fiber guilds are doing or if there are other avenues to sell your fiber. 

do they have special housing needs? loafing sheds? bedding? do you need to jacket them? feed them on the ground to keep them cleaner?Ours have a shade in the summer to get out of the heat. If it gets really hot out, we will spray their legs only (do NOT get their fleece wet as it acts as a blanket) or will put a fan out there. In the winter, they have a 3-sided shelter to go into to get out of the wind and weather. The first winter I had mine was really bad. Found the alpacas outside with show on their blankets. Brushed off the snow and they were dry. Great insulators. Remind yourself that these animals live in the mountains of South America with just a canyon to block the wind. They don't have heated barns.  The best 'feeder' I've seen was a tub that had a weighted grate on it. The alpacas could bring out LITTLE mouth fulls instead of grabbing and wasting a lot of hay. I've also seen one farm that put cattle pannels on both sides of 2 barn poles. He could easily slide flakes of hay between these cattle pannels and they could pull the hay out. Looked pretty cool and their alpacas were clean.

any special "confinement" issues? are they apt to escape like goats are or do they honor fences? do you need a special stocks to confine them for doctoring andshearing?
They can easily be kept in with field fencing. The worst my alpacas ever did was lean on the fence and walk as an easy way to itch themselves. Made a bow in the fencing that I had to straighten occasionally. You can get a llama/alpaca shearing shute but we find we can just put on their halter and snub them to a post or even hold them while the vet/helper does the doctoring. Depends on the alpaca and what they're used to or trained to. We use a shearing table, but know of others that just shear their backs for a 'barrel cut' and leave the fiber on their heads/necks/legs. Before we got the table, we would get the alpaca to cush on the ground and then tie their legs out in front and in back so they wouldn't kick or get up. One handler would then hold the head down.

are they difficult to load and trailer? are the easy to handle?are they halter broken? have they been handled lately?Good questions to ask the breeder!! Every alpaca is going to be different. Some of ours are used to being handled as they went to shows with us. Others only get a halter once a year when we lead them to the shearing table. Needless to say, they're a handful and bucking broncos. 

 do they get along wiht other livestock?
We've had our alpacas in with sheep and goats with no problems. We had some problems with the ram/billy, so just watch them for a while. The biggest difference with them is the alpacas will poop in a communal pile whereas other species will poop anywhere. Make sure everyone is wormed and disease free so they don't pass anything on to the other. Make sure you keep your 'paca piles cleaned up. I know there are folks out there that run horses in with their alpacas and we've put our mare in with them, but watch to make sure they get along. A horse could really hurt an alpaca with a swift kick.

are they susceptible to disease, parasite infestation?
No more or less than other animals. They can pick up problems with menegeal worm which is carried by deer. This can paralize them, so keeping their pastures clean is key.

do they fight? do they bite? do they kick?
There is a pecking order among the alpacas, but if they've been running with each other they've already worked this out. If you have a male, you may want to keep him separate until you want him to breed, but this goes for any breed of animals. An alpaca's gestation is 11.5 months, and they will have one baby/cria. Twins are very rare. Plan your breedings to when you want the birth. We like spring as the dam can have lots of green grasses, it's not too hot/cold out for the cria and the cria will be well on its own by winter. We normally wean at 7-9 months to give the dam a rest before her next cria is born. An alpaca will spit if provoked, it's their way of saying they're not pleased. I've owned alpacas for 15 years and have only been spit on twice. Once when the male was saying "ooh baby!" while the female already knew she was pregnant and wanted nothing to do with him. She was just a bad aim. Lesson learned: Put the halter on the male for breeding purposes so you can get him under control if the female isn't interested. If the female is interested, she'll assume the cush position. They can kick and bite, but it's not that dangerous, nor do they do it often at all. They only have teeth on the bottom whereas they have a gum plate on the top, so the worst they can do is pinch, unless you get your hand/arm/whatever deep in their mouth where their gums are. Males will have fighting teeth that you can either have removed or filed down. We don't mess with them as we never felt the need. Their feet consist of a big pad with two toes that have toenails. They can bruise you if you get a full kick or scratch if the nails are too long, but that's about it. Been there, done that, when I surprised a male that didn't know I was behind him.

are they noisy? smelly? will the neighbors shoot them or me for having them?
Alpacas have three major sounds: a humming that says everything is content and they're just talking; a bugle much like an elk which tells the others in the herd that they've spotted something suspicious... like a new cat; and an 'orgelling' sound that is the male's come hither sound while he's mating. They are not smelly. Billy goats can be pretty perfumed up during mating season, but alpacas don't do this. As for our neighbors... we have folks drop by to see them and learn more about them. Cars will slow down on the road and some will even back up. It's a novelty for them and a curiosity. Once that stops, you'll be fine. One of our neighbors thought they were screaming... but it turns out what they were hearing was the peacocks!! )


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

OMG AverageJO! Awesome information. And, pretty much along what I have been reading this weekend. I am so glad you spoke up, I have picts of them, and I want ya'll to look and see what you think.
I am TERRIFIED she is going to say my goats aren't good enough. But, like InHisName said, if it's a prayer answered (above and beyond!) then I shouldn't worry.
oh, and, the feed store I go to the most doesn't have any feed, but there are several more local. And, he would order for me if I asked. AverageJo - I feed a 14% all stock, small pellet, to my goats and sheep. Would that work?

As far as pasture, they will probably be on hay for awhile. We are clearing and seeding, the drought last year and the goats pretty well did ours in. We have fenced a new section for the goats, and will be closing off the one acre and seeding it for a fall/summer crop.

OH MY! I am so excited. And trying to be careful and cautious and talk DH into it all at the same time!!! And even looking at the pictures I just want to hug them and squeeze them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, for the unveiling,,,,the pretties! The one in front is the male, the black one they no longer have.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Oh for goodness sake!
What a crew. You clearly have no chance of saying no here.
Obviously they have you completely outnumbered. 

Good luck!


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

OMY GOODNESS !!! How can ya NOT want them !!! I hope you have so much fun, and teach us along the way on your journey !!!


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

I keep thinking of everyone I can send fiber and yarn too! LOL!
I MUST talk DH into it.


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Did you get a chance to get your hands on them? Can't tell how soft or crimpy their fiber is by looking at pictures. You also can't tell their condition, either. The best way to tell if they are over/under fed or out of condition is to feel their back, right behind their shoulders. Perfect condition will have your thumb and fingers in an inverted "V" or "L" shape, basically at right angles. If the animal is skinny/underfed/out of condition, it will be convex. If they're fat/overfed/also out of condition, their back will be an arch. By the look of the pasture, they don't have a lot of grasses to graze. But with this drought, our pastures aren't the best either. The trees in the background look like they've been chewed a bit, which would indicate a lack of minerals in their diet, otherwise they'll leave trees alone. The only trees we protect are new transplants as they will eat the leaves. Once the tree is large enough that they can't strip the tree of its leaves, we remove the fence from around it.

These alpaca look like they're Chilean in origin versus Peruvian or Bolivian. Nothing bad about that at all, just a FYI. Peruvian/Bolivian have more fiber on their heads and legs, like the beige one that you can see the head of on the right of one of the pictures. The one I like the best is the white/tan one as she looks more puffy, which sometimes indicates more crimp in the fiber. The others look older and may have more guard hair. I didn't see the picture of the male. If you breed these girls to a good quality male, their crias will be wonderful. But, like I said before, looks can be deceiving and the only way to make sure is to get your hands on them.

OH! If you get your hands on them, check out their teeth while you have them. To do this, reach around their head with your arm behind and press their head to your side. Then, with your hand at their mouth, put two fingers on their upper lip(s - their split into two lips) and the other two fingers on their lower lip. Then do the Spock move of splitting your fingers moving the lips apart. If you can't see into their mouth, use the fingers from your other hand to feel. The teeth are only on the bottom and should match up with the edge of their upper pallet. If the teeth are slightly back or slightly forward, that's OK as they will move their jaws forward and back much like we can do. However, if the teeth are in front of this pallet, they will need yearly teeth trimming. We do this with a couple of our alpacas at shearing time. You can use a file, but we find a dremmel tool or the alpaca tooth drimming devices a better option. I can go into more detail privately if you want, too hard to describe here without getting lengthy. 

If you got this good of pictures, they're friendly enough and are not afraid of people.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

AverageJo - I started another thread with questions...I may need to PM you!


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

PM me whenever you want to.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

AverageJo said:


> PM me whenever you want to.


giggle! your in for it now!!!


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