I will be uploading a revised copy of my Alpacas 101 notes from my November 17, 2007 lecture at Thistledown Alpacas in Manakin Sabot, Virginia very soon. I will also be lecturing there about alpaca fleece properties and selling alpaca fleece & products.

Learn all the main aspects of alpaca care including shearing, teeth trimming, birth & neonatal care, worming, toenail trimming etc. from our new Alpaca Care DVD! This DVD gives you the opportunity to watch a birth from a few days before labor, through labor, delivery of the cria & placenta and on to nursing and neonatal care. You will also be able to watch shearing and see shearing equipment being assembled and adjusted close up with detailed narration provided. This is a great product for anyone thinking of going into alpacas as well as the perfect gift for your new buyers.


Alpacas come from South America, mainly Peru, Bolivia and Chile but there are a large number of alpacas here in Maryland and many in Virginia and Pennsylvania as well. Here in Maryland, we are lucky enough to have the famous Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival (largest in the U.S.) at the Howard County Fairgrounds. The site is visible from I-70, the road which goes from Baltimore Maryland to Frederick Maryland with the fairgrounds being about halfway between those two cities. This is a wonderful place to learn more about all kinds of animal fibers, spinning, weaving, knitting, etc.

There are many differences between alpacas and llamas.  Both alpacas and llamas were domesticated by the Andean peoples over 5000 years ago.  The Incas raised the selective breeding of alpacas and llamas to an art.  They bred alpacas as a producer of luxury fiber.  They worked to create the greatest density of soft, warm fiber per alpaca possible.  They also bred out the coarse guard hair in the "blanket" area of the alpacas.  The llama was bred as a pack animal.  For this reason, llamas are much larger animals than alpacas, with far less density of fiber per animal and with the coarse guard hairs left in place to protect the llama's back against the rubbing of the pack.

Llamas are, on average, roughly twice as large as alpacas. While adult, male alpacas can produce up to 13 lbs. of fiber each, adult male llamas can produce up to 4 lbs.  The llama also has a different look to the face, ears and body.  Llamas and alpacas can interbreed and produce fertile offspring but the resulting "intermediate" animal does not have the quality of fiber of an alpaca nor the strength of a llama.  In recent years, some llama breeders have begun the slow process of trying to breed their animals for better fiber quality and less guard hair.  I have seen some gorgeous llama fiber but it is usually more slick like suri fiber, not crimpy like huacaya fiber.  Check out this photo of a llama and alpacas together if you want to see the difference.

Ingrid Wood's rebuttal to dumb Wall Street Journal Alpaca Article

My Alpaca Fleece Article from Camelid Quarterly