It’s all about alpacas as growing numbers buy the exotic animals

Have you done a double take recently after spotting exotic-looking, long-necked animals grazing? The chances are that you’ve seen one of the growing number of alpaca herds.

Alpacas come from the same family as camels and llamas and have proven increasingly popular in the past year. There are now an estimated 1,000 animals here and alpaca farmers believe that will quickly double, based on the number of queries they are receiving. Alpacas are prized by sheep farmers as they protect the flock from foxes but they are increasingly bought by non-farmers with a half acre or more to spare. They are kept as pets because they are so docile but they also produce a luxurious fleece.

The vast majority of alpacas are in South America where they are bred for the thermal properties and softness of alpaca fibre. They naturally produce a greater range of colours than any other natural fibres used for textiles.

Paul MacDonnell became an alpaca farmer by accident. He runs Hushabye Farm with his wife Elizabeth and four children in the foothills of the Slieve Bloom mountains in Co Laois. “We just wanted something to keep the grass down at the back of the house where we had an acre and half that we didn’t want to keep as a lawn,” he says. “We started off with a couple and we have 50-something now. We’re hoping to build the herd up to about 120.

“We’ve ended up buying fields around us to accommodate the alpacas and we’re expanding at a rate of knots.”

He breeds animals for sale and the farm has also started to develop a range of quilts, baby blankets and pillows. “It’s fantastic stuff to work with but there’s nowhere in Ireland to process it yet because it’s such fine material.” He believes a commercial mill could be established when numbers have grown sufficiently to keep it busy.

His farm now runs school tours and has been turning away schools because of the demand. “There’s a huge amount of interest in them. A lot of people are looking at buying two, three or four, to start out.”

Alpacas are herd animals and should never be kept alone. He says buying two can be problematic as one might dominate the other so three are ideal.

“They can survive on half an acre or a bit more. If someone is looking for a few pets, they’re going to spend €600-€800 but if they are looking for a couple of breeding females, it could be anything from €2,000 up to €8,000 to €10,000.”

Exotic animals like ostriches have come and gone before so will alpacas follow the same route? He says they are different because farmers are working together.

The Alpaca Association of Ireland was set up in 2003 and is encouraging the purchase of good stock to develop a high-quality national herd. Its secretary Fiona McManus keeps alpacas in Tinryland, Co Carlow. She says the association is getting increasing requests to take part in agricultural shows. “We are getting many more people asking about them and wondering if it would suit them. Farmers are interested if they have sheep or hens because they keep the foxes away, but some people want them because they have a big garden and they look nice.

“Then there are the people who want them for the fleece, but I’ve noticed that a lot of owners are women because they are so easy to handle.”

Mr MacDonnell says he believes the potential is massive. “There’s nothing surer but that the numbers will go one way and that’s up. In a very short period of time the numbers will be into the thousands, I think.”