Adopt An Alpaca

Attention all would-be farmers, ranchers and shepherds at heart! If you’ve wanted to own fiber producing livestock, but your situation doesn’t allow for them, you can now adopt an alpaca for your very own for a cost of $200 per year. This $200 will be used here on the farm to pay for feed, water, shearing, and vet costs for 12 months.

Alpacas are walking miracles. They are gentle in temperament and highly intelligent, with huge dark eyes and expressive faces that will completely disarm you. They produce a luxury fiber that is prized for it’s warmth, amazing softness and drape in every fiber preparation from knitting to weaving to felt making. Our alpacas are a combination of Chilean and Peruvian bloodlines that produce soft fleeces in dark and rich colors; blacks, medium to dark browns, and grays, with a few whites thrown in for variety. We have male and female breeding stock, non-breeding males, young weanlings, and 10 babies arriving in the fall.

Here’s what you will receive:

1. A framed picture of your alpaca.

2. A copy of the ARI registration certificate for your alpaca, showing the date of birth and genetic history of the animal.

3. Monthly reports concerning activity, breeding, diet, veterinary information and picture updates.

4. After our yearly spring shearing, you will receive the raw fleece, both the prime blanket and the seconds, which will be bagged separately. If the fleece is not acceptable, you will be given a similar fleece as a replacement.

5. Input into naming the offspring produced by your animal and first hand information concerning any breeding decisions made.

6. An open invitation to visit the farm and interact with your alpaca in person, as well as an invitation to shearing days and any shows attended.

7. The ribbons and awards won by your alpaca at any alpaca show or fleece show.

8. Knowledge that you are helping to support the small family farm and provide the board and care for an exquisite animal.

9. If you adopt a bred female, you can add the baby for only $50 for the first year and receive the fleece from it’s first full body shearing. This is the very best of the best in alpaca fleece!

10. If you decide to purchase livestock from us in the future, you will receive a 20% discount on the listed price of any animal on our farm or 25% off the price of your adopted animal.

Support fees are not refundable. This money will be spent for the costs of daily care for your animal. With the price of fuel at an all time high, all farm costs, including feed and water, are also at an all time high, so please take your commitment seriously. Your payment of support does not constitute ownership of the animal but entitles you to regular communications, ownership of the fleece, farm privileges, all awards, and advance information on anything pertaining to your animal.

In the event that your animal is sold or, God forbid, passes into the ether, you will be given another animal to love and care for. You may make that choice yourself or we will choose a similar animal for you. At the end of 12 months you may opt out of the program or choose a different animal.

Thank you for your support. You involvement means so much to us. My family lives on the eastern Colorado farm where I was born and where my parents farmed for 45 years. Traditional farming has become an exercise in futility and we are constantly looking for ways to preserve and pass on our heritage while maintaining our contribution to our community, both locally and nationally. We look forward to partnering with you as you endeavor to do the same.

You can find out more about us and view all of our animals available for adoption at www.alpacanation.com.

For sheep lovers, please go to adoptalambny.blogspot.com to see some gorgeous lambs at Maggie’s Farm.