b.Passion Business V - Land Preparation

The last part is here:   Passion Business V - Alpaca

A friend has sounded her support for the business-type. She felt that alpaca is a rare find and should be encouraged. She also mentioned that over time, the fleece market would be established. One thing she didn't suggest is the alpaca leather market. She is not a killer so maybe she missed this point. This is going to be very exciting for me too.

Next year, I would alienate land to accommodate this business-type. As my partner-in-crime had said this year is coming to an end and we probably have to look at next year to plan more things.

Below are some good stuff:

Thinking of raising alpacas? Not sure what it is going to cost, and the amount of work involved? Have you considered a commercial farm? 

We have one of the largest commercial alpaca farms in town. (possibly the only?) With our extremely high breeding standards, we have grown an incredible source for everything alpaca. 

What is a commercial alpaca farm? Basically all this means is we don't bother registering. Just like the yorkie puppy I bought a while back... I didn't care if he had a paper I'd probably misplace it anyway's. I just wanted a puppy for my daughter. By saving thousands on not registering we are able to produce fiber and sell for less. Our prices for our products as well as for our alpacas are much lower due to our business and lack of expenses we incur. Commercial alpaca farming is different from the alpaca farms who breed registered stock for the purpose of selling their registered alpacas at a premium price. 

The main difference is that we don't register the alpacas. It was costing us 3-4 thousand per year just to keep up with the registration of the offspring each year... with no return! The papers sat in a filing cabinet and collected dust. Years ago we got into a really bad deal with a farm in out-country. They were going to sell our animals for us and as they sold they would send the money and we would transfer the papers to the new owners. At that time there was no one interested in un-papered animals so holding the papers until payment was made was something lots of farms felt comfortable with. Unfortunately this particular farm was selling them and promising that the papers "were in the mail" meanwhile we were never notified that the sale had happened so both of us were left in the dark. The registry didn't do anything to help us with the enormous ordeal we were in and that really turned us off to the registry. There was NO point what so ever to having papers! So we haven't registered for years and I couldn't be happier.. I HATED doing the paperwork.. and Dad hated paying the bills :-) Of course we aren't able to sell breeding registered stock for premium dollars any longer.. which didn't make a difference cause we hadn't sold an alpaca for premium dollars in over 2 years anyway's. In fact we made more money selling cheap without papers to those who were interested in the animal for the fiber. 

Feeding We started off over a decade ago feeding what we were told to feed.. corn, oats, pellets and hay. After a few years of that we switched over to just pellets and then eventually stopped that as well. Grass and Hay is ALL they need to eat.. we haven't supplemented with anything else for over 5 years and we have a very happy healthy heard. It is a waste of money and unnatural to feed anything but hay or grass. We have saved thousands and reduced chore time.. and again our alpacas are very healthy! 

Injections There are some farms that give MONTHLY injections! We have proven that this is absolutely unnecessary, and probably not even good for them! We give 8-way, vitamins and ivomec (for worms and mites) in the Fall after a few hard frosts. Some of the cria need extra shots of ivomec throughout the Winter because they seem to be easily targeted by mites. In some areas selenium may be needed. 

Meat Alpaca meat is one of the healthiest meats available. It is very low in cholesterol and calories and high in protein. It is comparable to a very lean beef. As alpacas grow older their fiber becomes course and short. The animals that are no longer viable for the production of high quality fleece are used to provide a very healthy, grass fed, organic meat. (But only if they are fed grass and not given monthly injections!) This is a very sad part of any viable farm whether it be chickens, pigs, cows ... or alpacas. Many alpaca breeders frown upon eating alpaca which is something that we don't understand at all. 

Breeding When choosing our herdsires the main thing we consider is the fiber quality. Not who his great-gand-sire is.. or if he has one paper or dual registration.. NONE of that matters to us as a commercial farm. Obviously there are other important factors as well.. If they have undesirable hereditary traits like buck teeth, fast growing toe nails or a crooked tail or even a bad personality. Some males can be aggressive and that is something we won't breed into our herd no matter how fabulous his fiber is. When we started out we hand bred like most alpaca breeders still do now... we have found a MUCH better way.. the natural way! First I'll explain to you what "hand-breeding" means.. You gather up the herd and separate the 1 female and the 1 male and put them in a small pen. Then you let them do their thing.. which usually takes about 15 minutes. Then you separate them and after 10 days or so you do it again to check if she caught. If the dam is open still she will lay down and allow the male to breed her. If she is bred she will spit, kick and raise a huge fuss... sometimes they will raise a fuss just because they want to.. and this is why its so tricky. You should test them a couple times to be sure, otherwise you will go an entire season before trying again. This is a lot of work when you have as many animals as we do and would keep us really busy the entire breeding season. 

Our way.. pasture breeding. We decide on a herdsire and put him in with the herd of females.. and let them be! They know better than we do when they are ready and will do their thing when they want. Many times the breeding's happen in the middle of the night. As far as line breeding goes, we have had this happen many times.. some on purpose to try (my dad grew up raising cattle and they line breed a lot) and some on accident (we had one year where our fences were in need of some major maintenance!) .. and the result.. was... wait for it!.. an ALPACA!! Lol No 6 legged, two headed creatures, just normal alpacas. The one thing we noticed though is if there is for instance our old herdsire Cuzco would sometimes throw pintos (when the blanket fiber is one color- usually dark brown and the rest of the animal is white) and when we line bred his line we would end up with more of those.. or Valentino was a smaller built animal and all his line-bred offspring were smaller than average. We are at the point now that we have so many different bloodlines and a crew of amazing herdsires that we don't have to worry about line breeding. However if you don't have the luxury of choosing a new male every year then the best thing is to have two separate pastures (or more) and split up the girls according to who you want bred to who and then have two males.. one in each pasture. Alpacas are pregnant for almost an entire year. 11 - 11.5 months. We find when pasture breeding they basically have a baby almost exactly a year apart. So they usually have their baby, and within 10 days to 2 weeks they are ready to be bred again, so the following year they would have their baby around the same time the last baby was born. I actually find it more accurate now to predict when they are going to deliver than when we used to hand breed and had an actual bred date and due date. Our birth rate is really high.. usually between 87-98 % having babies each year. We used to have babies from Mid May all the way to September, but we shortened up the breeding period and now we put the herdsires in May 15 and they are taken out July 15th. Oh and one more thing to mention.. our herdsire this year bred 65 females in 2.5 months! We find that 10 days before the end of the breeding period if we switch him out and put a new male in we will find a few go down for him. I guess they are just like people some men just won't go for some girls no matter what! 

Vet Bills The last time we spoke with a vet about anything is when our beloved Zen got ill and passed away :-( Other than that we haven't had a vet bill in years! We have administered penicillin on our own when needed. If someone is showing any signs of infection we give them a shot and watch for a few days.. if they need another shot we give it to them and most of the time that's all it takes. Alpacas are very hardy animals and very rarely get sick. If they are fed properly and have access to fresh water at all times, get sufficient exercise and aren't under any undue stress there isn't a whole lot to worry about. 

Day to Day Chores Alpacas are the EASIEST livestock in the world to care for... well I guess I shouldn't speak for every alpaca breeder, because if you hand breed, register, give monthly shots and weigh each animal each day it would be incredibly time consuming. But the way we do it.. it is pretty easy. In the summer months, they graze, drink water, play around and sleep. Well.. I guess that's not all they do.. they come into the yard to mow our grass each night and will leave a bucket of "fertilizer" for my dad to pick up! LOL Their manure makes AWESOME fertilizer, my Opa swore that was why his garden was always so good! So other than checking them a couple times a day we don't have "chores" in the summer time, if we wanted to take off for a week we totally could. In the Fall and Winter we set up a big square bale of hay in the feeder and that lasts about a week. 

The Spring is the funnest, most exciting time, with all the new babies arriving and shearing. Honestly.. Kayla's chickens, bunnies, cat and dog are more work than the 300 alpacas! Marketing on the other hand takes lots of time. making products, photographing, listing on facebook, and website... but its all work I really enjoy. This is my dream job and wouldn't give it up for anything!

There are approximately 3.5 million Alpacas in the world today. The largest population of these animals - 3 million - lives in Peru at 10,000 feet above sea level. With regards to the other Andean countries, reports indicate that Bolivia has approximately 500,000 Alpacas while Chile and Argentina have a bit over 50,000 Alpacas between them.

The Alpacas tolerate harsh climatic conditions that include temperature variations of more than forty degrees in a single day. Alpacas have a high resistance and can go without food or water for days.

So almost all alpacas are stucked in Peru and south America. It would be great opportunity for other countries to have a go at these nice and exotic animals. If all farm things are prepared, I hope to buy these animals at $50 a pop. Transportation may cost more. LOL. I might consider leather too. Forget about pure breeding. A pure waste of time.

b.Passion Business V - Alpaca

The last part is here:   Passion business IV - Black Périgord Truffles (as a)

I have decided to play in this business-type.

Main driver:   Farm lands are not easy to own and hold. The government-of-the-day happy happy will cut a road, happy happy will run power lines, happy happy will buy back, happy happy change the land of neigbouring to rubbish, thus forcing you to quit prematurely. They want to see you working on your land. Sit idle, they will rob you blind. Government-of-the-day hates land squatters or land banking.

Why Alpaca?    For every cow, you can keep 10 alpacas. For every sheep, you can keep 2 alpacas. Alpacas are hardy and don't die easily. Alpacas are low on food quality. For every acre, you can keep up to 10. Alpacas can live up to 20 years and achieve maturity at age 2 years onwards.

Negatives:    The fleece produced by alpacas are superior products but poorly priced. The farmers are currently not into fleece production but nonsensical pure bred competitions. Although this is a negative, one can turn it around by going into pure fleece. But, the current fleece price is very poor, after sale (about 6-8 lbs), the money can only feed the animal for the year. There is no profit. The only profit is in their off-springs.

Positives:   The farm needs not be too well-kept. Fence needs not be too high, except against predators. The status of the farm is very well-protected. The farm will look extremely vibrant.

Investment Returns:   Assuming both the male and female are sold at the same price, the reason being that some bucks are good priced, which sometimes the female also fetch good price. On the whole, female being seen as reproductive usually fetch better prices. But, for analysis, let's leave it as equal. Simple and easy to understand. It is not impossible.

Let's start with 3x3-years-old females and 2x3-years-old males (all productive); all males not buck quality would be sold as soon as possible; all females should be sold by the 8th year, else the price and fleece are crapped; the ratio of males and females are 1:1 equal chance for each sex; always choose one or two young strong bucks to sex all females:

Year 0:   F3, F3, F3, M3, M3 (e.g., F2 - first letter is sex, second letter is age, i.e., female, 2-years-old)
Year 1:   F4, m1, F4, f1, F4, m1, M4, M4
Year 2:   F5, f1, M2, F5, m1, F2, F5, f1, M2, M5, M5
Year 3:   F6, m1, F2, M3, F6, f1, M2, F3, F6, m1, F2, M3, M6, M6
Year 4:   F7, f1, M2, F3, M4, F7, m1, M3, F4, f1, F7, m1, M2, F3, M4, M7, M7
Year 5:   F8, f1, F2, M3, F4, m1, M5, F8, f1, M2, M4, F5, m1, F2, F8, f1, M2, M3, F4, m1, M5, M8, M8
Year 6:   F9, f1, F2, F3, M4, F5, m1, M2, M6, F9, f1, F2, M3, M5, F6, m1, M2, F3, F9, f1, F2, M3, M4, F5, m1, M2, M6, M9, M9

From 5 animals to 29 in 6 years, i.e., IRR of 34%. Not too bad for a return. If in time, the fleece is saleable, then the return is even more fun.

Year 7:   F10, f1, F2, F3, F4, m1, M5, F6, f1, M2, M3, M7, F10, m1, F2, F3, M4, M6, F7, f1, M2, M3, F4, m1, F10, f1, F2, F3, M4, M5, F6, m1, M2, M3, M7, M10, M10
Year 8:   F11, f1, F2, F3, F4, m1, F5, f1, M2, M6, F7, m1, F2, M3, M4, M8, F11, f1, M2, F3, F4, m1, M5, M7, F8, f1, F2, M3, M4, F5, m1, M2, F11, f1, F2, F3, M5, M6, F7, m1, M3, M4, M8, M11, M11
Year 9:   F12, f1, F2, F3, F4, m1, F5, f1, M2, F6, m1, F2, M3, M7, F8, f1, M2, F3, M4, M5, M8, F12, m1, F2, M3, F4, f1, F5, m1, M2, M6, M8, F9, f1, F2, F3, M4, M5, F6, m1, M2, M3, F12, f1, F2, F3, F4, m1, M6, M7, F8, f1, M2, M4, M5, M9, M12, M12
Year 10:   F13, m1, F2, F3, F4, f1, F5, m1, M2, F6, f1, F2, M3, F7, m1, M2, F3, M4, M8, F9, f1, F2, M3, F4, m1, M5, M6, M9, F13, f1, M2, F3, M4, F5, m1, F2, F6, f1, M2, M3, M7, M9, F10, m1, F2, F3, F4, f1, M5, M6, F7, m1, M2, M3, M4, F13, f1, F2, F3, F4, m1, M2, M7, M8, F9, f1, F2, M3, M5, M6, M10, M13, M13

From 5 animals to 73 in 10 years, i.e., IRR of 31%. Quite consistent or at least 30%.

As for the feed, it is almost free as the land area is plenty.

After a while, the herd is almost free. Every year, the off-springs would be enough to feed you. There is no IRR to talk about. It is just free money like an orchard.

p.Living in Fairer Shore

The last part is here:   Leaving the good shore in search of a better life 

Finally I have a pet. This little brown bat will keep me through the dark wintry days.

I was playing with it for the whole night. I believe it is a he. He would fly around me at very low flight path and I would use a magazine and wave it in the air. He will just fly over the magazine and come back again for more.

When he was tired, he would just rest on a tall speaker. I would just throw a sock at it to start it flying again.

When he was finally tired, he would climb through the chimney making clumsy sounds and disappeared into the night. The next following night, he would return and do the same playing with me.

I used to have a squirrel as a pet, I would feed the squirrel with fruits and biscuits. Although these animals are wild, they are absolutely fun to keep.

After my current fiascoes with the grand chieftains, I would be making a pigeon house to keep loads of pigeons. Don't know if they let me play with a pair of alpacas. I want to do some training before I go at it full time.

Alpaca

An amazing find! Recently I just spoken to an alpaca farmer, he said that to buy male wethers is very cheap. They can go for $50 a pop. If buy in bulk, it might even be cheaper. 

"It is generally accepted by most alpaca breeders that males who are not required for breeding are wethered. This results in a quieter, more handle-able animal who is not under the influence of sexual hormones. Wethers make great pets when sold to buyers who only want a small herd, and they are easier to manage on the stud farm, too. They don’t tend to fight, and can be kept with your breeding females without risk of an unwanted pregnancies, and some quiet machos also appreciate the company of a wether (don’t make assumptions on this – some working studs can’t stand wethers, and will attack your uncomprehending wether mercilessly. Be very sure that your macho is not aggressively inclined before leaving wethers and machos unsupervised). Wethers also make great companion animals for weanlings, sick animals, or any alpaca you need to separate from the main herd for any reason. Wethering make good practical sense both economically and for ease of management."

It is quite a joke the the current farmers are more inclined towards breeding champion alpacas and win prizes and in exchange be sold for a high breeding price. They are not interested in the true fleece production, which is the key farming activity. The farmers are not into hard work. They just keep alpacas and try to produce champions for sale. It is no different from trying to keep and breed fighting cocks for sale. A non-farm activity. Possibly below are the reason:

"Our farm of 75 plus alpacas and over 40 acres puts us in the large end of the range of all alpacas breeders though there are a few with over 500 alpacas and the largest, Magical Farms in Ohio, with more than 1,500 alpacas. There are many alpaca farms with only two or three alpacas though the national average falls into the ten to 20 alpaca range. Most herds start out small and grow to the size that fits the breeder's farm and financial goals. Since the alpacas are self-producing after a while, the farm will grow."

"The U.S. market is focused on breeding alpacas, not on fiber production. The actual value of the animal ultimately is based on what people will pay for it - or its services. The alpaca's only real economic service is to provide fleece (or more alpacas). With global alpaca production of fleece far outstripping demand there is no need for more fiber production locally. Spurious people promote alpaca breeding as a quick way to make money, but eventually people will realize that nobody will want to buy more alpacas and the price per animal will plummet.

The plummeting price might bring quality alpaca goods to your neck of the woods, but it is also a disaster for the poor U.S. alpacas and their farmers. The economics of raising an alpaca in the U.S. for profit on fiber alone is depressing. It is extremely difficult to make money, especially as Peru and other international fiber producing countries could readily supply any demand for the product. On this note, it might be wise for existing or future alpaca ranchers to think about adopting organic and sustainable practices now. Creating a niche market for local grown sustainable products might be the best way to weather the coming storm."  

"There is a considerable range in the purchasing prices for alpacas. The average selling price for purebred, breeding, registered stock is around $5000.00-$10000.00 Unregistered or non-breeding alpacas will generally sell for $200.00 to $500.00. There are cases where some people who no longer want their animals will take them to a general livestock or odd and unusual auction where they can fetch as low as $25.00. At such sales the buyer has no idea as to health or registration status of the animals so it is "buyer beware". At the other end of the scale, purebred, registered alpacas have sold for $30,000.00 and up. Not all alpacas are of equal value, please refer to the following sections for more detail."

For a package of 5 females and 2 males, it will give about 39.5 animals in 5 years' time. Sell off all animals that are 10 years or older. If the initial cost is 34 units, then in 5 years' time, it will worth 155 units, i.e., IRR of 35.44%. An excellent return.

Alpacas can be pastured at 5-10 per acre. The largest farm size is 3000 alpacas. I am fairly sure I will be the largest given a little more time. Together with my black truffles farming need, I am sure I am finally home.

b.Exploration - Alpaca

The last part is here:   Exploration - The White Co-operative

Every proposition by the white must always be treated with respect. As mentioned before, a very old gentleman once told me, during the great chieftains' meeting, that keeping alpacas are the way to go in starting a farm proper.

An alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance.

Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were not bred to be beasts of burden, but were bred specifically for their fiber. Alpaca fiber is used for making knitted and woven items, similar to wool. These items include blankets, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, a wide variety of textiles and ponchos in South America, and sweaters, socks, coats and bedding in other parts of the world. The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru, 12 as classified in Australia and 16 as classified in the United States. 

Females are "induced ovulators"; the act of mating and the presence of semen causes them to ovulate. Females usually conceive after just one breeding, but occasionally do have troubles conceiving. Artificial insemination is technically difficult, but it can be accomplished. A male is usually ready to mate for the first time between one and three years of age. A female alpaca may fully mature (physically and mentally) between 12 and 24 months. It is not advisable to allow a young female to be bred until she is mature, as over-breeding a young female, before conception is possible, is a common cause of uterine infections. As the age of maturation varies greatly between individuals, it is usually recommended that novice breeders wait until females are 18 months of age or older before initiating breeding. The gestation period is 345 ± 15 days, and usually results in a single offspring, or cria. Twins are rare, occurring about once per 1000 deliveries. After a female gives birth, she is generally receptive to breeding again after about two weeks. Crias may be weaned through human intervention at about six months old and 60 pounds, but many breeders prefer to allow the female to decide when to wean her offspring; they can be weaned earlier or later depending on their size and emotional maturity.

Alpacas can live for up to 20 years. 

The price for American alpacas can range from US$50 for a castrated male (gelding) to US$500,000 for the highest of champions in the world, depending on breeding history, sex, and color. According to an academic study, though, the higher prices sought for alpaca breeding stock are largely speculative and not supported by market fundamentals, given the low inherent returns per head from the main end product, alpaca fiber, and prices into the $100s per head rather than $10,000s would be required for a commercially viable fiber production herd. Breeding stock prices in Australia have fallen from A$10,000–30,000 head in 1997 to an average of A$3,000–4,000 today.

It is possible to raise up to 25 alpacas per hectare (10 alpacas per acre), as they have a designated area for waste products and keep their eating area away from their waste area, but this ratio differs from country to country and is highly dependent on the quality of pasture available (in many desert locations it is generally only possible to run one to three animals per acre due to lack of suitable vagetation). Fiber quality is the primary variant in the price achieved for alpaca wool; in Australia, it is common to classify the fiber by the thickness of the individual hairs and by the amount of vegetable matter contained in the supplied shearings.

Alpacas need to eat 1-2% of body weight per day, so about two 60 lb (27 kg) bales of grass hay per month per animal. When formulating a proper diet for alpacas, water and hay analysis should be performed to determine the proper vitamin and mineral supplementation program. Two options are to provide free choice salt/mineral powder, or feed a specially formulated ration. Indigenous to the highest regions of the Andes, this harsh environment has created an extremely hardy animal, so only minimal housing and predator fencing are needed. The alpaca’s three-chambered stomachs allow for extremely efficient digestion. There are no viable seeds in the manure, because alpacas prefer to only eat tender plant leaves, and will not consume thick plant stems; therefore, alpaca manure does not need composting to enrich pastures or ornamental landscaping. Nail and teeth trimming is needed every six to 12 months, along with annual shearing. Similar to ruminants, such as cattle and sheep, alpacas have only lower teeth at the front of their mouths; therefore, they do not pull grass up by the roots. Rotating pastures is still important, though, as alpacas have a tendency to regraze an area repeatedly. Alpacas are fiber-producing animals; they do not need to be slaughtered to reap their product, and their fiber is a renewable resource that grows yearly.

The start-up cost for keeping alpacas is low compared to cattle. Also alpacas are very friendly. They make great companions as compared to man. Loyal and dependable.

This exploration is worth the time and considerations. Let's see how far this idea will stick in my mind ...