Matt and Julie Petty have owned alpacas for 11 years. “We visited another alpaca farm one summer, just for something to do, and fell in love,” said Julie Petty as she smiled. “It’s not something I’d ever imagine we’d be doing.”
The couple owns 27 alpacas and one lama on their farm, Alpaca Meadows, 1200 Rock Rd. Alpacas are part of the camelid family and are known to be gentle, intelligent creatures that are herd animals and relatively easy to care for, Petty said.
“They are just very neat animals,” she said. “They are very sweet. They’re not aggressive at all, very gentle and quiet animals. Just the whole idea of having animals and raising a farm appealed to us.”
According to www.alpacameadows.com, Alpacas are originally from the South American countries of Peru, Chile and Bolivia. They first came into the United States in 1984. There are two breeds of alpacas – the Huacaya (wha-KAI-ah) and the Suri. The difference between the two breeds has to do with their texture of their respective coats. The Huacaya breed’s fiber is more coarse than the Suri fiber, which is fine and more desirable.
Petty said the alpacas do relatively well in all climates, except for in extreme heat and humidity.
“They do well in the cold because their fiber keeps them so warm,” she said. “The alpaca fiber is much warmer than wool in the cold.”
The alpacas graze around the farm in the warmer parts of the year and in the winter they feed on hay, Petty said of how easy it is to care for the unique, furry animals.
“They don’t often get sick,” she said. “They birth babies easily.”
Petty said the alpacas’ fur or fiber is usually sheared in the springtime.
“When we shear, their fiber can be used for anything that sheep’s wool can,” she said. “We have it made into yarn.”
Petty then presented alpaca fiber made sweaters, hats, socks, blankets and even finger puppets.
“The alpaca fiber is extremely warm,” she said.
Petty has made several items out of the alpaca fiber for herself and for sale in their store which is located on their farm. She also said she buys some of the items offered in the store from Peru.
“Alpaca (fur) is not scratchy like wool,” she said, “so a lot of people who can’t wear wool can wear alpaca.”
When the couple started raising alpacas 11 years ago, Petty said people really didn’t know about the exotic animal or the benefits of its fiber.
“A lot more people know about it now and it’s becoming a lot better known,” she said. “Especially now, we sell all kinds of alpaca socks, just because they are so warm.”
Petty offers classes on knitting, crocheting, felting, and spinning yarn complete with a spinning wheel. Recent holiday classes included a Christmas felting class where participants made a Santa ornament out of alpaca fiber and a snowman felting class that made an eight inch snowman ornament.
Alpaca Meadows will host a Christmas open house from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 20-22.
After Christmas, the farm will be open most Saturdays, Petty said. For tours or other information visit their website at www.alpacameadows.com or call 419-589-8152.
