7 Things I WISH I KNEW Before Getting ALPACAS

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John and Catherine are a husband and wife team from Southern Connecticut. We grow food and flowers on the new 40 acre farm we just bought and are building from the ground up using reclaimed materials whenever possible.

[@mirandafabre8964]

“So strap on..oh no no no…😂

[@donnalewis4895]

Alpacas are cute

[@archiediggins641]

Grass seems to be your main problem as it would save you a fortune on hay. I hope you can achieve a decent amount for all your needs, we have a small wooded area that always flooded but after sorting the drainage we are getting a nice amount of natural grass growing now. great vlog oh and I hope you are all safe over the pond.

[@OldReddingFarm]

Yah if they alpacas could eat grass instead of hay 24/7 I think our numbers would look completely different . First priority for this spring.

[@BookieLukie21]

​@@OldReddingFarmyeah, and with that size herd keeping them off pasture areas to allow the grass to take hold.

[@AlpacaMade]

If you are contracting your socks out to a sock maker, disregard the next sentences. Alpaca socks are a little tricky in that Alpaca fiber is less stretchy than other fibers. My bff is a sock maker, she has a dedicated machine and has decided not to do alpaca socks because they require an additional type of fiber entirely to make them stretchy. Email me if you want more info. On a brighter note; Happy Holidays to you and the family compound! P.S. John, the chainsaw trees in the last vid looked fantastic!🎄

[@cherylenstad8284]

Would kitting alpaca yarn with a stretchier yarn make the final product more stretchy? Or, processing the alpaca fiber with a stretchier fiber change the result?? Fascinating, I'm rooting for you!!!

[@AlpacaMade]

@@cherylenstad8284 According to my sock-maker friend, there is a spider-webby lycra fiber that is incorporated into alpaca socks. I have not researched it as I was a weaver and hand knitter. The last thing you want in woven fabric is stretch and sagging. Especially in rugs! 😂👍

[@cherylenstad8284]

@@AlpacaMade I know Catherine will figure it out!! I bet they figure out how to make a mixed fiber that will allow for socks. My son is a sock maker, and it is fascinating to see him knit them with four needles!

[@joannecarlton7340]

The alpaca are worth every penny of the expense! They are wonderful John

[@AlpacaMade]

@@joannecarlton7340 Oh to be sure to the consumer they are lovely socks to wear. For a small business the socks have some extra considerations when making production decisions. My bff has a high end machine and can make them, she just chooses not to.

[@bethnichols2875]

Nice breakdown of the honest facts about alpaca raising and the costs associated with them. I know Chad said he and Rae liked some alpaca socks they had bought. That they were really warm and soft. That was why Chad called out his son Case for taking Chad's alpaca socks on vacation to someplace that wasn't even cold while Chad is at home in the cold taking care of the animals, so Chad could have used them more.

[@OldReddingFarm]

Yah we are looking at wholesale alpaca socks from the new England alpaca fiber pool but hopefully will have socks from our own fiber some day! It's amazing how long everything takes to get processed and turned around

[@franny607]

Merry Christmas to you both and family 🎅🤶🎄💕

[@edwinmoore4560]

I may even have a few new ideas if you want

[@barbjarvi6543]

🎅🎄❤️

[@NovasYouTubeName]

Helpful thank you

[@sketchart2616]

Great breakdown. I guess it’s safe to say you do it for your love of Alpacas first. Diversifying sounds like a solid plan. Hopefully it helps with taking care of the cost. Have a great Christmas guys.

[@OldReddingFarm]

Yah it will be hard to see a profit from the alpacas ever. But hopefully someday maybe next year everything will round out to profit.

[@anndorman4030]

What does a load of compost cost? The alpaca are really expensive!

[@homesteadingwithsadie]

awesome information , my aunt has Llamas , not sure how different they are

[@OldReddingFarm]

Llamas are a lot bigger and can tend to be a little meaner

[@BookieLukie21]

If you're going to get a carder, then make batts for spinners. Or you can dizz it into roving for us spinners! ;-)

[@EvaVilla-pm5mv]

Merry Christmas

[@OldReddingFarm]

Merry Christmas and happy new year !

[@francescaedward2811]

Thank u. I live in Italy and i have 5 female alpacas and they are all PREGNANT. Grass here Is not a problem but i cannot find One Person to sell my wool to because alpacas are rare here and people think they are a weird kind of sheep😂.

[@joycemaurer3588]

Does the alpaca poo make for good fertilizer? Sure wish I had a hat this weekend LOL!

[@cherylenstad8284]

Wow, selling Alpaca compost could be an idea??

[@UrbanWhiteBuffaloFarm]

Hey y'all, Today I came across these wool dryer balls. They were all made in China probably from radioactive wool, so I thought maybe let's don't get any of that from Walmart or Amazon. Then I thought maybe y'all make some and I could buy some from you. I did not see them on your store items. Then at the end of this video I heard you mention that you do make and sell some. I guess maybe just for the shows? I am wondering what is your price point that you do sell them at and how long might it be before you would have one order to sell For Me and maybe more for family gifts for next Christmas? If you don't think you can then let me know I am sure y'all know what is and isn't on your priority list. Thank you for the video today. Merry Christmas happy holidays stay warm and safe

[@OldReddingFarm]

Hey there ! If you send us an email [e-mail] we could def. Help you out with some non-radio-active dryer balls 🤣 we might get them onto the website someday but don't have a ton left after all the shows !

[@mykaylapacheco2426]

How many acres do you guys have

[@sharonhavron3000]

I have watched other channels who have alpacas, and I have heard them say the alpacas generally use the same pooping area - I guess that could be good or bad. By the way do you guys make alpaca socks?

[@joycemaurer3588]

I think toward the end of the video he mentioned they would be expanding into socks and gloves. Would LOVE to get some!

[@johnkearns5525]

We don't knit gloves or socks ourselves, but we are hoping to use a co-knitter next year who can turn our fiber into gloves and socks! Too complicated to make ourselves.

[@edwinmoore4560]

The issue probably is you need to loosing the soil before planting the grass seed

[@OldReddingFarm]

That definitely would have helped, but I think we also really can't have the alpacas on it until the grass is established

[@starlenekalinski5633]

How much do you sell your hatching eggs for?

[@OldReddingFarm]

Usually about $45/dozen on our website and when we have extras which is almost always we sell on eBay and they sometimes go for more and sometimes for less !

[@edwinmoore4560]

To be honest I may be interested in buying alpaca made blankets for my country store to resale if your interested.

[@OldReddingFarm]

We don't make blankets but if you wanted to resale some alpaca hats we would definitely be interested in helping you with that send us an email [e-mail]

[@edwinmoore4560]

@@OldReddingFarm I will email you after the first

[@kathyreinhofer9275]

Do you give the Alpacas grains?

[@OldReddingFarm]

Yup for breakfast every morning.

[@moniquebaby36]

Question why you need that many alpacas? Why is 3 not enough? It just cost too much money time and space to have that many. Can I make a profit with 3 alpacas?

[@OldReddingFarm]

We definitely don't NEED this many alpacas, and whether or not you could ever profit from alpacas or that few alpacas would depend a lot on how much you could do yourself. If you could learn some of the skills we don't have like shearing and fiber processing you'd have a better chance than we do

[@rhondaprill1784]

Tax breaks?