Fiber colors range from a true non fading black to brilliant white with roans, pintos, browns, reds, fawns, rose grays, charcoal grays, and others.
Handspinners, yarn shops, and hand weavers are the major market for clean alpaca fiber. They love all the various colors of alpaca. Who could resist the softness?
Alpacas are members of the camelid family, which includes alpacas, Dromedary and Bactrian camels, llamas, vicunas, and guanacos. They areindigenous to the Andes Mountains in South America, in Peru, Chile and Bolivia. Their thick fleece developed to help withstand the cold. Alpacas are smaller than llamas, and are therefore not used as pack animals like llamas.
Alpacas are bred primarily for their soft luxurious fleece, which is much like cashmere. From 1984 to 1988 alpacas were brought into the United States and Canada. Importation is now closed, as we have developed our own bloodlines based on the best of the best from South America.
There are two types of alpacas, the suri (su-ree) and the huacaya (wah-kai-yuh). The suri has fiber that grows quite long and forms dreadlocks. The huacaya, which is by far the greater number of alpacas, has a fluffy and dense fleece. This fleece has a crimp, or waviness, similar to sheep's wool, but there is no lanolin, as found in sheep's wool. We have Huacaya Alpacas at Pinafore.
There are twenty plus natural colors of alpaca fleece. These colors can be blended to form amazing heathers, etc. and alpaca fiber dyes easily. The fleece can also be blended with other fibers, such as wool or silk. Alpacas are shorn for their fleece each year, which will produce 5 to 10 pounds of soft, warm fiber per animal. Hand spinners and the commercial fiber industry eagerly seek the fleece.
Alpacas chew their cud, although they have three stomachs rather than four stomachs like a cow. Alpacas graze, eating grasses and hay. They are usually also fed a special mineral supplement in grain, especially for pregnant females and the crias, as the babies are called, over the winter period.
Alpacas do not have hooves, but soft padded feet with two toes and toenails, making them a very environmentally friendly animal.
The average height of an alpaca is 36" at the withers, and they weigh up to 125-180 lbs. Males of breeding age (about three years old) are kept in nearby, but separate pastures from the females. Alpacas are herd animals and do not like to be alone. They must be kept in herds of at least three or they can become stressed.
Alpacas have only one baby, called a cria, at a time - twins are extremely rare. Pregnancy lasts for about 11-1/2 months, and they breed at any time of the year. They do not have a heat cycle, but are self induced ovulators. When giving birth, alpacas do not usually require any assistance, and give birth standing. They usually give birth normally between 10am and 2pm, so they would up and on their feet for the night time moving about. A cria usually weighs from 15 to 20 pounds, and begins nursing within 30 minutes of birth. The sight of an hour old cria pronking across the field is a delightful one!
Alpacas are disease resistant and low maintenance. They are curious and friendly, but do not usually enjoy being petted. Yes, they DO spit, but usually it is at each other and not at YOU...unless they have been provoked. They can kick, but it does not really hurt, as they have the soft padded foot. Their life expectancy is about 20 years, but they have not been in the USA long enough for us to have good numbers on that aspect of their ownership.
