Over several years Megan Robbins of Rapson Estate Alpacas has developed a business out of her passion for Alpacas, and it is quite infectious.

The quality of alpacas being bred is improving significantly.

“It is a topic that I can talk about forever,” Megan told Rural Living with regard to her Alpacas. “We started with two females and we now try to keep the herd to between 40-50 animals, predominantly females.

“All our boys that we don’t keep for stud are sold as pets which are castrated after they reach 18 months.  If you castrate them too young it can interfere with their growth.”

 Currently the value of alpacas is tied up in the breeding potential of the animals, by breeders looking to improve the genetic quality of their stock. Ideally the offspring will be of equal or better quality than the sire and dam and therefore equally valuable.

“Over time the quality of alpacas being bred is improving significantly. We want to make continuous improvements to the quality of our herd, and produce the top coloured alpacas in NZ simply to keep up with the industry.

“The price of alpacas does vary depending on quality and gender.  It was exciting to see a record $40,000 being obtained for a female at this year’s national auction.”   

 The soft, silky fibre is worth $10-$100 per kilo depending on the quality and market. “You can get up to six kilos of fibre off a really good animal, but the norm in New Zealand today would be about two kilos, of which about half is blanket fleece.

“Currently limited supply means a large commercial fibre industry is still a way off in NZ as they require around 150 kilos a batch. However major developments have been made recently, and some top quality local product is available.”

“If you are really keen on starting with alpacas then it is vital you learn all you can. You should look at the conformation and fleeces of as many alpacas as you can to get a feel for them, and ask owners lots of questions.

“Go to shows to see the top alpacas and hear the judges comments. After the judging ask owners all about them – particularly if they win ribbons. Decide on the type and colour of alpacas you prefer before buying. It is vital that you choose animals you really like.”

 Megan then produced a selection of fleeces to look at and handle. The first fleece felt wonderful, but in comparison with the other examples thereafter it felt quite coarse, almost as if it was mixed with nylon!

It still had good length – ten centimetres the minimum for some processors – and a lovely wave or crimp running through the fibres. The final fleece was beautifully soft and silky, and had come off the animal in one piece. Despite handling at shows it was still almost intact.

Certainly a quality fleece that would produce nice garments, and probably a good ‘blanket’s worth’.

“It is a priority to keep your paddocks clean if you have alpacas as people don’t like vegetable matter in their yarn and processing can only remove a certain amount.

“That means removing dock and thistles, and keeping them away from trees with needles, all of which will contaminate their fleeces.”

 If you simply need something to eat your grass, alpacas are a very easy-care animal.

“They are ideal, especially as pets, or if you only have a couple of acres. Furthermore they are extremely intelligent and easy to handle. All they require each year is to have their toenails trimmed three or four times, wormed a couple of times, vaccinated and shorn once.

“They eat grass, and need access to clean drinking water, and they need hay in winter and some zinc nuts in summer. That’s all!”