Romeo loves Juliet.
His affection is clear in the way he follows her around the yard, frolics with her in the dirt, nibbles at her fur and sniffs her ... uh, well, you know.
Alas, Romeo will have to wait. Juliet, born in April, is too young for Romeo, himself born in November. As a female alpaca, Juliet needs to be 18 months old before she can mate and have a baby alpaca, called a cria. But Romeo and Juliet’s young love affair leaves owner Chris Miller hopeful of the area’s growing alpaca population.
Miller and his wife, Sue Ellen, started alpaca farming nearly a year ago after attending National Alpaca Farm Day. Their Wicksburg farm, called Humming Hills Alpacas (named for the alpaca’s penchant for humming), is now home to six alpacas.
“They’re a lot like cats,” Chris Miller said. “They’re very curious. They want to be around you, but they don’t want you to invade their space.”
For the second year, local alpaca farmers will participate in National Alpaca Farm Day. Last year’s event only had two farms — one in Ozark and one in Dothan. This year’s event, set for Sept. 27 and 28, will have five local alpaca farms (two at one location) open for the public to visit and get a closer look at these creatures.
Native to the Andes Mountain range of South America — particularly Peru, Bolivia and Chile — alpacas are camelids and cousins to the llama. They were first imported to the United States in 1984, according to the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association. Today there are more than 120,000 alpacas registered with the Alpaca Information Management System.
Since last year’s farm day, there have been at least three new alpaca farms started in the Wiregrass.
“We’ve seen a big interest since alpaca farm day last year,” said Jerry Sanders, who owns Alabama Peanuts and Pacas in Ozark. “Of course, we had nearly 300 people in attendance last year over the weekend. We sold animals after the event last year ... Last month, we sold nine alpacas to new farms. We just delivered four two weeks ago to a new farm in Andalusia.”
When the Millers visited Oak-Leigh Peacocks and Alpacas in Dothan last year, they didn’t intend to become alpaca farmers.
“We had five acres, and we weren’t doing anything with it,” Miller said.
They helped out on local alpaca farms to get a feel for the work involved. They outfitted some of their property with fencing. A group a Great Pyrenees dogs share the network of pens with the alpacas. The big territorial dogs leave the alpacas alone, but chase off potential predators.
An alpaca doesn’t come cheap. Average is around $10,000 and up to $30,000 per animal. Some can cost much more. Herds don’t grow quickly. A female alpaca will carry a cria for nearly a year before giving birth. And they only have one cria at a time. It can be several years before a farmer makes any money off fiber.
Sanders has about 28 to 30 alpacas in his herd.
“They’re gentle animals — fluffy and huggable,” Sanders said. “You just want to go up and grab them and hug them. They’re the type of animal people want to put their hands on.”
Alpacas are herd animals; it’s not recommended to have just one. Their fiber is soft, lightweight and warm but without the itchy feeling of wool. It’s a popular yarn for clothing in South America. It’s also naturally hypoallergenic and comes in 22 natural colors. Because of their furry coats, alpacas have to be watched carefully in the summer, especially here in the South. Miller puts out kiddie pools for his alpacas and will hose them down on a regular basis to keep them cool.
While skittish of unfamiliar adults, alpacas seem to have no problem with children. Why that is, breeders don’t know for sure. But it’s an aspect of their personalities that make the farm day event fun.
“They’re not at all threatened by kids,” Miller said. “It’s like they sense they’re a little one.”
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