—— Alpaca Facts ——
seen not only in the financial gains they bring, but also in the exciting and rewarding lifestyle your whole family will enjoy. They are the friendly investment the whole family can enjoy.Alpacas have been domesticated for more than 5,000 years and are a part of the camelid family. Alpacas are ruminants, like their cousin the llama, and they survive quite well on different kinds of low protein hay or pasture grass. Alpacas are relatively easy to maintain and care for and are inexpensive to raise, costing about as much to feed per month as a dog.
There are two types of breeds of alpacas: the huacaya, whose fleece has a crimp or wavy quality to it; and, the suri, which has a lustrous fine fiber with no crimp. The fleece, which is comparable to cashmere, is known for its fineness, light weight and luster, and due to its lack of lanolin, or grease, alpaca fiber is easier and less expensive to process than sheep's wool.
Alpacas were first imported into the United States in 1984 and their value provides an excellent investment opportunity for people who own one or two acres, or a hundred acres. They require no special barn or fencing, actually just a three-sided shed, and five to eight alpacas can be quite comfortable on just an acre.
Alpacas do not bite or have hooves. Their feet are padded and their gentle nature makes them wonderful companion animals to both children and adults.
With the small number of alpacas currently available in the United States, roughly 40,000, there will be a steady demand for breeding stock to continue meeting the needs of our thriving industry for many years to come.
Alpacas are in strong demand, and are still selling for high prices. Due to the size of the existing herds in North America, the difficulty in importing alpacas, and their slow reproduction rate, alpacas offer high investment returns and attractive tax advantages such as expense deductions, depreciation, and the deferred recognition of accumulating wealth.