Alpacas

[Kelly]

I know this is a cattle board but I want to know if anyone knows much about raising alpacas? Is there any money to be made in the Alpaca industry? I know they are very expensive to buy & suppose to be easy to care for but that is about all I know. I would love to know of any experience anybody has had with them. Thanks.

 

[la4angus]

Is there any money to be made in the Alpaca industry? I know they are very expensive to buy & suppose to be easy to care for but that is about all I know..

Sure there is money to be made with Alpacas. Just as there was money to be made raising ostrich and emus.
If you are in early and can sell to the suckers at exorbiant high prices for a few years, you can get richer.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

My parents have llamas which is kind of similar. They make a pretty good lawn ornament but that's about it. My Aunt, however, shows llamas and works pretty hard at it. She makes money selling good breeding stock, fiber and meat but I still don't think if you figured it out on an hourly basis that she is making any kind of a fortune with them.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Emu, Ostrich, Alpaca, Llama... "get in quick while the promotion is on and sell to newbies before they crash and hit rock bottom and you lose your A$$. LOL.

How about raising Camels? Pretty self-sufficient critters, nice pasture ornaments, and you can even ride them... :cboy:

 

[docgraybull]

How about raising Camels? Pretty self-sufficient critters, nice pasture ornaments, and you can even ride them... :cboy:

Interesting that you would mention camels on a cattle board, on a thread about Alpacas. Two or three years ago I read an article about a cattle ranch in Northern or Northwestern Oklahoma (I think) that was using camels in a pasture rotation program. Apparently they are nondiscriminant grazers and, as you said, "Pretty self-sufficient critters". They rotated them in on pastures to clean up the weeds and undesireable grasses. They have a long lifespan and seems like the going rate was about $10,000.

 

[shorty]

You can make money with almost anything , yuo just have to knowq how to do it , that's the hard part

 

[Crowderfarms]

What would you use an Alpaca for. Let me guess. They were like the Ostrich, the stores would be flooded with low cholesterol, fat free meat, the meat would appear on restaurant menus nation wide, Get in on the ground floor and you'll get rich overnight, I still see a commercial on TV now and then for them.Stick to cattle.Or raise a few goats if your space is limited.I would think Kelp farming would be a more viable option than Alpacas.

 

[dun]

What would you use an Alpaca for. Let me guess. They were like the Ostrich, the stores would be flooded with low cholesterol, fat free meat, the meat would appear on restaurant menus nation wide, Get in on the ground floor and you'll get rich overnight, I still see a commercial on TV now and then for them.Stick to cattle.Or raise a few goats if your space is limited.I would think Kelp farming would be a more viable option than Alpacas.

Haven;t you heard about the world shortage of alpaca wool?

dun

 

[Crowderfarms]

Nope, but you can enlighten me... ;-)

 

[fellersbarnoneranch]

What would you use an Alpaca for. Let me guess. They were like the Ostrich, the stores would be flooded with low cholesterol, fat free meat, the meat would appear on restaurant menus nation wide, Get in on the ground floor and you'll get rich overnight, I still see a commercial on TV now and then for them.Stick to cattle.Or raise a few goats if your space is limited.I would think Kelp farming would be a more viable option than Alpacas.

Haven;t you heard about the world shortage of alpaca wool?

dun

And they are cuter than sheep.

 

[dun]

Nope, but you can enlighten me... ;-)

Since all they are is a wool bearing camel, why else would people be raising them? Must be a world shortage to keep the demand and price for the wool high.

dun

 

[Crowderfarms]

I'll pass, Wool makes me itch! Maybe we could sell the wool to China and buy the wool back at 300%. Anyone game?

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I've heard Musk Ox are goingto be the next big thing. I could probably find some Eskimos to round some up for me. Who wants to invest? ;-)

 

[sidney411]

Our neighbor raises Alpacas. They do good at it I'm sure since that are building a huge new house and have 2 brand spanking new diesel crew cab trucks. They are pretty interesting animals. I think he said they carry for 11 months and can breed back about 2 weeks after birth. The females have controlled ovulation therefore thay have not came up with a way to A.I. them. We just happend to be there when they were breeding a pair and it was very unique. The male has to 'romance' the female. If she likes him she will lay down and accept him and release an egg. If she doesn't like him she will kick and spit on him. The male would make all of these wierd "love songs" and nibble of her ears and neck. She acceped in about 5 minutes and they mate for 30 minutes or more. Then in 2 weeks they will put them back together and if she took the 1st time she will kick and spit on the male, that way they know she is bred. They have a champion stud male that they get high prices to have bred to peoples females, so I guess that is how they make their money. They have them sheered once a year I think. There is a guy that comes all the way from Montana to sheer them. They probably have between 30 to 40 breeding animals. That's about all I know - not much.

 

[cowgal]

How about raising Camels? Pretty self-sufficient critters, nice pasture ornaments, and you can even ride them... :cboy:

Interesting that you would mention camels on a cattle board, on a thread about Alpacas. Two or three years ago I read an article about a cattle ranch in Northern or Northwestern Oklahoma (I think) that was using camels in a pasture rotation program. Apparently they are nondiscriminant grazers and, as you said, "Pretty self-sufficient critters". They rotated them in on pastures to clean up the weeds and undesireable grasses. They have a long lifespan and seems like the going rate was about $10,000.

I played with the idea, admittedly after seeing a camel race in a movie, of getting a camel. $10,000 is about what I priced them at. I have always been told that I have champagne taste and a beer budget! Seems though that those for $10,ooo were the worn out type.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Cowgal,
Camels I would think would be a sound selection, as there is a shortage of taxi's in Iraq.And some breeding stock surely has been decimated by U.S. Forces.

 

[KANSAS]

I just recently purchased a herd of those little hedgehogs........ Big Bucks Baby..... big bucks.....

 

[cowgal]

I agree with what others have said about being in it early being your chance to profit. When the novelty wears off and these become commonplace, prices dive and you're lucky to get out at even. I just don't see a longterm market for them in this country. Maybe you could market them to hikers as pack animals for recreational use--saw that on animal planet a couple of years ago! (think I would rather use a horse that can pack me as well)

 

[Crowderfarms]

I think I saw or read that Michael Jackson, has some, or maybe they were LLamas, anyway we know what he did with em"----Used them as bait!

 

[dun]

I agree with what others have said about being in it early being your chance to profit. When the novelty wears off and these become commonplace, prices dive and you're lucky to get out at even. I just don't see a longterm market for them in this country. Maybe you could market them to hikers as pack animals for recreational use--saw that on animal planet a couple of years ago! (think I would rather use a horse that can pack me as well)

LLamas are the ones they use mostly for packing. Years ago a friend of mine hiked from the mex to canadian border and used a couple of llamas to pack. One carried his stuff and one carried the food for his dog. Originally he had started his hike using the dog for packing but it got to the point that all the dog could carry was his own feed.
He did the hike in stretches and took a couple of years to make the whole trip.

dun