Alpacas - talk me out of it

I have heard locally word of mouth that there are couple of alpaca wethers up for rehoming. At the moment we are desperate for anything to eat our grass as it is out of control and the geriatric tractor (ie slasher puller)is in for repair for a few weeks

Apparently they are free as their current owners think they are nasty spitting creatures and just want rid.

talk me out of it please. I have a weakness of wanting to adopt any unwanted animal.

I heard they only spit at each other if they get annoyed.. maybe their current owners are sending "we don't like you" vibes so they are copping a gob full?

It might pay you to go visit them and see how friendly they are and whether they can be handled safely? Are they halter trained ok with hooves being handled and all that sort of stuff.

Yakut

Hmmmm talk you out of it :rolleyes:Well I Love alpacas and have always wanted some so if you don't want them ... I DO!!!!![}][}][}] Go get them ..... hehehehehehehe
Cheers[]

Alpaca fleece is very valuable and they are worth keeping just for their fleece. I, too, have fallen in love with them - they make great pets and don't usually have a nasty character. So this is obviously not the right place to get talked out of them .

I, too, would go and visit them.

Also - if you want to set up a campground or similar a collection of different animals for a 'petting zoo' would make this very attractive, especially with the rail trail going past your place.

Are you sure that they are Alpacas? llamas are the ones that will spit at you they are bigger than alpacas and are not quite so docile.

A friend has pacas. I am indifferent to them, but I love their fibre! It is only valuable if you can find someone to process it / buy it from you, or you have the where-with-all to do something with it yourself (which I am sure you will, Moggy!). And some of them are definitely less friendly than others, and they do sometimes spit. If they're not halter trained and are older (generally they don't wether them until they're, um, older?!) then they may be a bit of a handful. They also need a bit of care (ie shearing, feet, jabs perhaps even) so handling would be a bonus.

Go visit them ... you'll know if they're for you or not. If they spit at you, I'd suggest that they're not (!), but you might also be able to tame them more than what they are. Oftentimes it's just a matter of positive persistence (isn't it with any animal?).

Let us know

Fortunately for my bank balance, I'm fairly ambivalent about alpacas.

I will say though that I've been to a couple of farms with alpaca and always found them to be a bit spitty. On both occasions, the farmers explained a new person in their surroundings does make them anxious and more prone to this behaviour. These were big herds that came surging forward to see their farmers, then got a bit antsy seeing a stranger, leading them to get tetchy with one another.

If that's true, then a one-off visit to check them out might not be the best assessment spitting-wise if they are nervous around new people. A friend who has owned them for years says if alpaca are spitting, they are stressed, and the most common cause is usually by incorrect/over-handling/over-petting by people.

I love them to lol and would find it hard to say no if offerd them. I thought that it was more llamas to that spat, but PG that kind of makes sense what you said. I love the black ones haI to would go and see them, you will know when you are there if they like you and you like them. If it feels right then take them. Maybe their owners are not giving them a loving home and they will be glad to leave.

You lot are meant to be tlaking me out of it, not into it!

[}]But they are free Moggy and very cute[^][^][^] and they really really *NEED* a loving home[:X][:X][:X] and they won't spit at you either:rolleyes:[}][] so when are you picking them up?[}]:eek: we want some piccies when you do:cool:
Cheers

Just remember Alpacas graze like goats not sheep, so they wont munch into it till its short as

The up side to them grazing... if you have heaps of grass, they won't need to graze it down too much and hopefully won't get into the worm area lower down in the pasture.....
I'm pointing out the plus sides, even if they are small plusess []

Yakut

"Just remember Alpacas graze like goats not sheep, so they wont munch into it till its short as "

Smilie, goats do not eat the grass right down........ out of preference[]. They need it long. Sheep would starve in a long grassed paddock.

Take off those rose tinted glasses you lot...some alpacas can be difficult to handle (especially if older and poorly handled and therefore set in their ways).
Alpacas do spit - and they spit at people, they also kick and can kick very hard.

I quite like dealing with them - have done quite a few and have dealt with some of the big breeders (someone else in my practice does them now). If handled correctly and confidently they are usually pretty easy to deal with...others can be right mongrels.

If you are considering getting them I hope like hades you have low or nil endophyte ryegrass.

Smilie, goats do not eat the grass right down........ out of preference[]. They need it long. Sheep would starve in a long grassed paddock.

Yes thats what I meant to say lol just didn't get it out right.
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