THE PACHA STORY
Alpacas love apples
When I first took on the alpacas they came from a big herd, with little 1 on 1 attention, just the monthly checks and occasional necessaries. It has taken quite some time, an awful lot of apples and carrots, to get them to the point of hand feeding. Now we have the opposite problem of the little ones expecting a treat every time I step into the paddock, but they are so cute it is hard to say no.
I thought I would do a little bit about alpacas in general, they are actually a camelid but originating from the alto planos of South America, predominantly Chile & Peru. They are closely related to the vicuña, llama and guanaco (in fact probably a cross between the llama and vicuña) and were highly prized for their fleece. They have a much more docile nature than the llama, who tend to spit at you as soon as look at you, which made them perfect for domestication and now a great pet. That said they are more like a cat in that once they have had enough of you they will simply walk away – or in fact just totally ignore you if they are not in the mood!
Their fleece is known as fibre and is similar to wool, but that name belongs to sheep so can’t be used for alpaca. The main difference between wool & alpaca fibre is no lanolin which turns out to be a bit of a bonus. Lanolin in wool is generally the substance that can provoke a sensitivity or an allergy, so with no lanolin this makes alpaca fleece a happy alternative for those of us who love a woolly jumper but find them unbearably itchy. The other great thing about their fleece is that it is incredibly soft and it is believed that it used to be reserved for Incan royalty.
There are 2 different types of alpacas the Huacaya (which are my lot) and the Suri. It is the Suri that provide the best fibre and look a bit like one of mine crossed with an Afghan hound! Personally, I prefer the teddy bear look of mine.
So why the Pacha Posse? Each herd in the UK has in effect a surname, so when I bought my females they already had a herd name, and those will not change, however the 2 cria that were born after I bought the mums needed a different herd name. Pacha simply means “earth” in the Quechan language of Peru, with Pachamama meaning Mother Earth, it just seemed to fit.
Another odd thing I have discovered about alpacas is that they love Christmas trees, not only do they love a nibble of the needles, they then flop down onto the tree and have a good old roll about, the 2 cria find this a great game trying to see which one get right into the centre of the tree.
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