Meet the boys....Cowboy, Zephyr, and Trey arrived on the farm in June 2009. They are registered, male Huacaya Alpacas. Alpacas are camalids (or members of the camel family.) The have pads and toenails instead of hooves and they are ruminants which means they chew their cud. Why have Alpacas on the farm? Their fleece makes marvelous yarn and they are "easy-keepers." In the Spring, I will shear them and send their fleece off to be processed into natural fiber yarn for knitting. The last 6 months have been a unique learning experience around what they eat, how they play, how to handle them on a lead and halter, etc. They really are sweet boys and although they resemble Llamas, they are their own special creature. The most common question that we hear is, "Do they spit on you?" Yes, they will spit when they are threatened, but I have never seen these 3 guys do that. They have been a lot of fun and I will post more pictures in the Spring when it's time to shear.
