About Alpacas

The ancient Incans living in the high Andean mountains of South America once cherished and raised a unique animal called the alpaca, valued for its superb fiber. Today alpacas are raised world-wide, and their fleece is recognized as a premiere luxury fiber -- soft, silky, warm and naturally water-resistant.

Alpaca fiber is used for everything from high fashion to hard-working ranch clothing, as well as home decor. Up to 30 natural fleece colors are recognized world-wide, more than for any other fiber animal, and alpaca fiber can be dyed or blended to create new colors. This luxury fleece, once reserved for Incan royalty, is now enjoyed by fiber artists and commercial fiber processors around the world.

Cool Facts

• Alpacas were brought to the United States from South America in 1984, and are now being successfully raised in every state.
• There are two types of alpacas - the Huacaya and the Suri, distinguished by their fleece. Alpacas are sheared once a year, and on average produce between 3 and 8 pounds of fiber per animal.
• The lifespan of the alpaca is about 20 years and gestation is 11.5 months.
• Alpacas are browsers and eat grasses, herbs and shrubs, or hay. They chew a cud.
• Adult alpacas are about 36” tall at the withers and generally weigh between 100 and 200 pounds. They are gentle and easy to handle.
• Alpacas don’t have horns, hooves or claws - they have a padded foot with two toes tipped with toenails and teeth like a deer.
• Clean-up is easy since alpacas deposit droppings in only a few places in the paddock.
• Alpacas do not challenge fences, and can be pastured at 5 to 10 per acre if pasture or hay is available.