Alpacas - Blog Posts

How To Raise Alpacas Video

Great video on how to raise alpacas. If you are getting started with alpaca farming then it is very important that you get the right guidelines on: How To Raise Alpacas

How To Raise Alpacas

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Traditionally, livestock breeding and control characterized someone of riches and status in many cultures including our own early Western Expansion days. Today in the US, wealth as a result of livestock possession are less common, but opportunities do exist to create a profitable farm, breeding and raising alpacas. Looking after a graceful herd of alpacas can be an exciting way to earn a supply of income and live a satisfying lifestyle. Beginning in 1984, Peru Chili and Republic of Bolivia started out in allowing exportation of alpacas and at the same time countries such as the U. S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England and many European countries approved their importation. This was the starting point of each country's foundation herd... In the past recent years even Japan and the South African continent have begun to farm their own national foundation herds. What makes this livestock so desirable? The bottom line: this animal can be both profitable and pleasant. - They produce a quality fiber in 22 different colors, the demand for which is increasing. Annual fiber yields vary from about 5 pounds from a single female to a reported 13 pounds from a bigger male. Breeding and selling in this ever increasingly popular industry is another simple way to add to your investments! - Not to be forgotten as a very important aspect of keeping alpacas are the great tax benefits provided to both farms and any growing business. This animal can typically be depreciated over a 5 year span or 20% each year. - They are simple to raise - they eat very little and so require only a small amount of acreage per animal. - Besides their endearing qualities of warmth, friendliness, and trainability, they have the perfect quality of strength and toughness. That means you’ll have a friend for a long time to come. - Since your alpaca herd breeds grows, the return on your investment multiplies at a strong and steady rate. Along the way, you'll acquire numerous tax benefits and incentives that will make your investment even more rewarding! - Alpaca make great farm pets. Simple to nurture, they are safe for plus harmless to kids. They do not destroy fences and are not damaging to their pens. While raising a single alpaca is not recommended, because of their sociable needs, a pair or even more will create nice comradery on your property. Alpaca are naturally curious plus enjoy interacting with their caretakers. In them you will see gentle, communicative pets. - If you are involved in fiber arts and crafts, alpaca fiber provides an exceptional base for handspinning. Interweave provides a group of regional spinning groups offering crafters a sense of community. - Alpaca meat is one of the most healthy and most chosen meat's in the world. The alpaca from the Camelidea family is the only animal to produce an elliptical shape red blood cellular. This design by nature ensures highly oxygenated blood for extreme conditions and high altitudes. This animal also is equipped with specialised stomachs being a rare ruminant that can metabolize high nutrition from low protein high roughage feed. Alpaca meat is lean, tender and sweet like. There are numerous health benefits of alpaca meat in comparison to the traditional livestock meats.

Phew. This one took, uh… a bit longer than expected due to other projects both irl and art-wise, but it’s finally here. The long-awaited domestic animal infographic! Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough space to cover every single domestic animal (I’m so sorry, reindeer and koi, my beloveds) but I tried to include as many of the “major ones” as possible.

I made this chart in response to a lot of the misunderstandings I hear concerning domestic animals, so I hope it’s helpful!

Further information I didn’t have any room to add or expand on:

🐈 “Breed” and “species” are not synonyms! Breeds are specific to domesticated animals. A Bengal Tiger is a species of tiger. A Siamese is a breed of domestic cat.

🐀 Different colors are also not what makes a breed. A breed is determined by having genetics that are unique to that breed. So a “bluenose pitbull” is not a different breed from a “rednose pitbull”, but an American Pitbull Terrier is a different breed from an American Bully! Animals that have been domesticated for longer tend to have more seperate breeds as these differing genetics have had time to develop.

🐕 It takes hundreds of generations for an animal to become domesticated. While the “domesticated fox experiment” had interesting results, there were not enough generations involved for the foxes to become truly domesticated and their differences from wild foxes were more due to epigenetics (heritable traits that do not change the DNA sequence but rather activate or deactivate parts of it; owed to the specific circumstances of its parents’ behavior and environment.)

🐎 Wild animals that are raised in human care are not domesticated, but they can be considered “tamed.” This means that they still have all their wild instincts, but are less inclined to attack or be frightened of humans. A wild animal that lives in the wild but near human settlements and is less afraid of humans is considered “habituated.” Tamed and habituated animals are not any less dangerous than wild animals, and should still be treated with the same respect. Foxes, otters, raccoons, servals, caracals, bush babies, opossums, owls, monkeys, alligators, and other wild animals can be tamed or habituated, but they have not undergone hundreds of generations of domestication, so they are not domesticated animals.

🐄 Also, as seen above, these animals have all been domesticated for a reason, be it food, transport, pest control, or otherwise, at a time when less practical options existed. There is no benefit to domesticating other species in the modern day, so if you’ve got a hankering for keeping a wild animal as a pet, instead try to find the domestic equivalent of that wild animal! There are several dog breeds that look and behave like wolves or foxes, pigeons and chickens can make great pet birds and have hundreds of colorful fancy breeds, rats can be just as intelligent and social as a small monkey (and less expensive and dangerous to boot,) and ferrets are pretty darn close to minks and otters! There’s no need to keep a wolf in a house when our ancestors have already spent 20,000+ years to make them house-compatible.

🐖 This was stated in the infographic, but I feel like I must again reiterate that domestic animals do not belong in the wild, and often become invasive when feral. Their genetics have been specifically altered in such a way that they depend on humans for optimal health. We are their habitat. This is why you only really see feral pigeons in cities, and feral cats around settlements. They are specifically adapted to live with humans, so they stay even when unwanted. However, this does not mean they should live in a way that doesn’t put their health and comfort as a top priority! If we are their world, it is our duty to make it as good as possible. Please research any pet you get before bringing them home!

Finally finished coloring this wagon! Gosh that took a long time. I am pretty happy with the results so I'd say it was well worth it!

I think it is obvious that i have a small obsession with Alpacas and Llamas