Alpacas - A great business and lifestyle!
Alpacas as an investment: The stock market is an investment.
Enron and WorldCom were investments.
Try insuring your stock portfolio. You can insure your alpacas for a
very modest cost.
Alpacas require minimal fencing, enough to keep your local predators out, some shady areas and will not tear up the land as a hoofed animal will. A diet of orchard grass and supplements for your environment is all they need. There's the routine worming and vaccinations that need to be taken care of also. If your ranch is not ready, you can usually find someone that will agist in your area for about $2.50 per day.
Should you decide to have them on your ranch, here's a typical day based on 11 animals:
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Morning Feeding - 1 hour. No, it doesn't take an hour to throw a few flakes of grass out, but hand feeding keeps them used to human contact and gives you an opportunity to look at each animal closely.
- Clean up poop piles - 30 minutes. Do this daily, a clean pasture has less chance of disease, less flies, etc.Looking at the poop lets you know of possible health problems. They use communal poop piles, there is very little odor, and the poop makes great fertilizer.
- Afternoon Feeding - 1 1/2 hour. No, it doesn't take an hour and a half to throw a few flakes of grass out, but once they have been fed, you'll want to take the time to sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy the antics of your animals. Just before sunset, the crias are running around and playing, the adults will do their funniest stuff too. This is one of the most rewarding times of the business...
All that said, let me tell you that alpaca ownership is one of the most rewarding and exciting things we've ever done. (We used to own a skydiving center and find this to be just as exciting). Seeing crias run and frolic, seeing your herd grow, and watching as the quality of your herd improves due to smart breeding is a very rewarding experience.
We welcome you to our ranch, you can look at our alpacas, talk to us,
we'll give you the straight scoop.
Update: We now are home to 50 alpacas. If you're serious about owning
alpacas, you should sign up for "Alpaca Rancher
For a Day"
Pati & Rick Horn
All American Alpacas
Desert Sky Ranch
35215 Avenida Mañana
Murrieta, Ca. 92563
(951) 217-0306
alpacas@aaalpacas.com
