Alpaca Facts

These gentle animals are members of the camelid family, indigenous to South America.

 All alpacas are raised for its soft fleece. The animals a sheared once a year, yielding from 5 to 10 pounds.

There are two different breed-types of alpacas: the huacaya (wah-KI’-ya), with fluffy, crimped fleece, and the suri (surrey), with the dread-lock fiber, which hangs down in gentle, silky cascades.

 Alpacas are much small than camels and llamas, their camelid cousins. They stand about three feet tall at their shoulders, and can weigh between 100 and 200 pounds.

 Alpacas require only modest amounts of food, and need access to fresh water, and free-choice minerals. Most graze on grasses, eat about 1 to 2% of their body weight in hay per day.  Some owners also supplement their animals diets with additional grains.