Alpacas of Kilblaan Farm

Liz and John MacEachran

402 Spring Hill Rd

Sharon, NH

603-924-6113

About Alpacas

What is an Alpaca?

Alpacas are one of four members of the camel family (camelids) found in South America today. Vicuñas and guanacos are wild camelids. Alpacas and llamas are domesticated camelids. All four are probably descendants of a common ancestor which became extinct some 12,000 years ago. They are a good deal smaller than the more familiar llama, weighing only 100 to 200 pounds at maturity. The alpaca is used primarily as a fleece animal, producing a luxurious fine fleece used to make incredibly soft garments. There are two types of alpaca, Huacaya and suri. The Huacayan alpacas are by far the most common. Huacayan fleece has crimp or waviness whereas the suri fleece is very fine but has no crimp and lies on the animal with a distinctive lock structure. Both produce highly sought after wool .

Alpacas in South America

Alpacas were probably first domesticated about 4000 B.C. and were an important source of fiber and religious ritual in the Incan society. The Incans had a very elaborate textile industry based on alpaca fiber. Alpacas were also used for ritual sacrifice and were consumed as meat.

Today, there are a little over 3 million alpacas in South America, primarily in the high altitude regions (altiplano) of Peru, and Bolivia and to a lesser extent Chile and Argentina. The climate in the altiplano is severe with hot days and cold nights and 30 frost free days a year. Very few animals can survive at these extreme altitudes and with this harsh climate but the alpaca is very adaptable.

Alpacas in North America

Alpacas were first imported to the United States in 1984. The importation of alpacas has been closely screened to allow only quality animals to come into the United States. As a result the herd in the U.s. has grown to about 20,000 animals today. Breeders in the U.S. have made great strides in bringing modern husbandry and breeding practices to the industry resulting in a growing domestic herd with constant attention to improvement of the breed. To ensure continued quality in the American herd almost all animals are registered with the Alpaca Registry. Parentage of all domestically produced animals is confirmed by blood typing before registration can take place.

Why own an alpaca?

Alpacas are intelligent, beautiful, easy to handle and care for, inexpensive to feed, produce an annual crop of fleece and are a good investment as breeding stock.

Demand for alpacas is very high. Most small breeders have found there is an active market for both alpacas and their fiber. Because the American alpaca industry is young and the number of animals is small, the focus is primarily on breeding stock. This is likely to remain so for some time since the registry is now closed to imports, the gestation period is long, only single births, and there is currently no practical method for artificial insemination or embryo transfer.

Two years ago a fiber cooperative was formed to pool alpaca fiber from North America for processing , development of end product, and marketing. These efforts will ensure a steady demand for fiber products in the future.

To learn more about alpacas please feel free to contact us.

Kilblaan Farm

Liz and John MacEachran

402 Spring Hill Rd

Sharon, NH 03458

603-924-6113

email: kilblaan@aol.com

Last updated: 07/28/2007