Alpacas ?

BOOMERANG · Jul 18, 2002

Anyone raise them? Is it worth it? Are they as easy to care for as they say?

HoyeTractor · Jul 18, 2002

I saw the commercials the other day. It looks like, at least to me, that it is going to be one of those things where, if you get in before everyone else you could possibly make money selling them until the market gets saturated. We had the big ostrich craze around here. Those who got in early made money until everyone else got into it. Then for a while they couldn't give them away. The market can only support so many ostriches. I do have to admit that alpacas are at least a little better looking animals than the ostrich.

Just my opinion

gws · Jul 18, 2002

Alpacas are easy to care for. 3 sided barn, water and food and your pretty much done. The problem is cost of the stock. The issue is who are you going to sell to? Llama's and Alpacas have two markets. Fiber market and animal resale market. Alpaca's are to expensive to make back any money using only the fiber. Resale to other breeders requires a lot of showing and smoozing, That takes time and some money.

Figure a quality female alpaca is going to cost $10000 to $2000 (yes 10 to 20 thousand), you have to sell lots of fiber at $2/ounce to make back your money. There are ads on TV and print that you can make a fortune in alpaca's. For those who got in early they might make some money, but as the seller base grows the market shrinks and value drops.

If you want wool, then llamas are reasonable cost effetive for quality fiber producing aniamls. $1000-$3000 for big name, under $1000 for put quality animals.

EdKing · Jul 18, 2002

Llamas are also good for protecting other stock from predators. My neighbor raises sheep and was having problems with coyotes. Since getting a llama and putting it in with the sheep, thier losses have dropped dramaticlly.

rf33 · Jul 19, 2002

It sounds alot like the hype associated with ostriches. A really good rule of thumb for livestock is to only be willing to pay what the animal is worth dead. This guideline certainly has its exceptions, especially with breeding stock, but I think that you would have to be pretty darn fortunate to make enough money to cover your startup costs if a breeding pair goes for around $30,000.

gws · Jul 19, 2002

MY llama's are protective of there area. They will runand play on the fence line all day long with my dogs but the dog dont dare come in the pasture they will get chased off.

cowboydoc · Jul 19, 2002

You've gotten good advice. Stay away, FAR away. Only the ones that get in early are going to make money.

kcbarnes · Jul 19, 2002

Like you I also have an intrest in getting some Alpacas. So I sure do hope they go like gangbusters and saturate the market so the price drops out just like other animals have. I will just sit back and hope they come down.

dmccarty · Jul 19, 2002

Boomerang,

I'm not sure if you are talking about raising the animals for
profit or not. But if you are beware. There was an large
report in the Wall Street Journal this week talking about how
much money was being lost by the ranchers raising Bison.

The rancher thought they would make lots of money on
Bison meat. They aint and they are selling off their herds.

If there is not money in Bison meat production I'm not sure
how one could make money selling fiber unless one is in on the
start of the market.

FYI,
Dan McCarty