What is an Alpaca?

The Alpaca is one of two domesticated members of the South American camelid family. The Huacaya Alpaca (the breed owned by Lazy J Alpacas) resembles a sheep in appearance, but is larger in size and has a long erect neck with a handsome head. Alpacas come in 22 natural colors, grow to approximately 3 feet tall at the shoulder, weigh between 120 and 185 pounds and live 15 to 25 years.

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What is the difference between an Alpaca and a Llama?

Llamas are much larger (300 to 450 lbs., 3-4 ft. tall at the shoulder), have more elongated heads, and although a fiber-bearing camelid like its cousin the Alpaca, llamas have been primarily bred to be "pack" animals or beasts of burden by the indigenous peoples of South America.

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What do you do with an alpaca?

They provide an excellent investment opportunity, and are the source of luxurious fiber. The fleece, comparable to cashmere, is known for its fineness, light weight, and luster. Alpaca textile products are recognized worldwide. Everyone should own a soft, warm alpaca sweater.


What do alpacas eat?

They are ruminants, which means they chew cud like a cow or deer. They survive well on different kinds of low protein hay or pasture grass, providing it has a balanced mineral content. Because alpacas evolved in harsh conditions, they utilize their food more efficiently than other ruminants. They cost about as much per month to feed as a dog.


Are alpacas smart?

Yes, they are amazingly alert animals who quickly learn to halter and lead. They constantly communicate with each other through body posture, tail and ear movements, and a variety of sounds. The sound heard most often is a soft humming, a mild expression befitting a gentle animal.


Do alpacas spit?

They will spit on one another if sufficiently angered, but they rarely spit on people.


Are alpacas easy to care for?

They are small and easy to maintain, rarely overeat and require no extraordinary care. They should have basic shelter for protection against heat and foul weather. A three-sided lean-to is sufficient. They do not challenge fences. They simply need shearing, worming and vaccinations.


How much acreage does it take to raise alpacas?

They are an ideal small acreage livestock. You can comfortably stock between five and ten animals per acre. This makes the alpaca ideal for people who have only a few acres and who want the pleasure of a small herd and healthy investment return.


How do you transport alpacas?

They are stress resistant, load and travel calmly and can be transported in the family mini van, station wagon, utility vehicle or horse trailer. Some breeders have been known to transport their alpacas in small planes. Once enroute, the alpaca lies down and enjoys the ride.


What do you call an alpaca?

A baby is known as a cria. Weaned crias are known as weanlings or tuis. In Spanish, the adult males are known as Machos and the females are Hembras.


Are alpacas dangerous?

Absolutely not! They are safe and pleasant to be around. They do not bite or butt, and they do not have the teeth, horns, hooves or claws to do serious injury.


Genetically speaking, how far apart do a pair of Alpacas need to be before you may breed them together without any worry of genetic depression?

The easiest way of measuring the degree of inbreeding is to decide that an animal above a certain percentage of inbreeding, say 25 to 30 percent, falls into the inbred category; an animal under this percentage would be considered linebred. The 25 percent threshold is suggested because most strains exhibit little or no inbreeding depression at this level.

To work out the degree to which an animal is inbred, multiply together the values of the fraction (or decimal) of each parent’s relationship to the animal being considered. For example, full brother A and sister B are 50 percent related; in fractions, 1/2 related; or in decimals 0.5 related. The progeny of A x B, therefore, will be 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/4 , or 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25 or 25 percent inbred. Following this approach, the degree of various relationships works out as shown below:

Full-brother and full-sister - 1/4 or 25%
Sire and granddaughter - 1/8 or 12.5%
Half-brother and sister - 1/8 or 12.5%
Nephew and aunt - 1/8 or 12.5%
Niece and uncle - 1/8 or 12.5%
Full first cousins - 1/16 or 6.25%
Half-first cousins - 1/52 or 3.125%

The above calculations hold only if the parents themselves are not inbred. However, if both parents have a common ancestor, and that ancestor is itself from an inbred line of descent, this has to be taken into account. The inbreeding coefficient (a figure that describes the intensity of inbreeding) of an individual then becomes slightly larger. The formula used to determine this degree of inbreeding is:

1/2 E [(1/2)n x (I + inbreeding coefficient of the common ancestor)]
where E stands for the sum of all lines of descent
n stands for the number of intervening gene segregations in a line of descent on which its sire and dam are related

Should more than one common ancestor of the parents be inbred, each will be accounted for when the calculation is made for the appropriate line of descent. Corrections made in this way account for very little once the ancestors are several generations behind the animal whose inbreeding is being calculated.


(This answer comes from pages 180-182 of "Synthesis of a Miracle", copyright 2001 by Michael Safley of Northwest Alpacas. Please see www.alpacas.com for more information or to purchase this text for yourself.)







Owners: Jim & Jason Hughes

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