Alpacas are intelligent, clean, quiet, and easily managed on small acreage. They are the result of 6000 years of breeding by the Incas of South America to provide a fiber that is lustrous, strong and wonderfully soft to the hand.
Alpacas come in a wide range of colors from purest white to jet black with a full spectrum of browns in between. They also produce a wide range of grays from light to dark silver and rose grays. In addition to a wide variety of colors, alpacas also have many patterns that include white and dark colors. There are two kinds of fiber types among alpacas: the fluffy huacaya, and the elegant suri with long, lustrous fiber.
Alpacas are very hardy, having been raised in the high Andes Mountains for centuries. They are pasture efficient and do not challenge fences. Gestation is 11 months with a single cria (baby alpaca) being born. They are sheared once a year in the spring. Alpacas are quiet and gentle and are one of the few animals which can be profitably raised on small acreage. This makes the little alpaca a fine opportunity for established farms to diversify or for small farms to specialize.
Visiting Deer Hollow Alpaca Farm is a fun, educational and hands on experience. Our goal is to share our knowledge of alpacas and all the aspects of raising and breeding them to anyone that is interested in learning more about them. Part of the experience of understanding alpacas is to see the fiber both on and off the animal. We will explain what we look for in a quality animal and share with you the fun things you can do with fiber to create beautiful end products.