14 replies to this topic

[sodbuster]

5 PREGNANT ALPACAS For sale

 

Our herd is now sufficiently established for us to be able to offer a discount price to field to farmers for 5 pregnant alpacas (sired by North Devon show winners). All registered with the British Alpaca Society..

 

We are in North Devon & have just gained our 3 year temporary planning permission based on alpacas and following the F2F book. The book only gives the basics and we have learned so much more For example -a quality herd is important for planning purposes; if you buy a poor quality starter herd and then make a planning application this will lay you open to the planners saying that poor quality alpacas and their fleeces will not sell and they will fail your application. Our females are all registered with the British Alpaca Society and have been mated with North Devon show winners (profiles will be provided). This was an important point in our planning application.

 

In any planning application you will also need to provide successful planning case law (for alpaca enterprises)to back up your claim that you need on site presence to run the enterprise We can provide these. You will need to prove that you need to be on site during birthing season and there are ways of proving this.  

 

An initial husbandry course will be given (a starter pack will be provided) and ongoing assistance can also be given. Guidance and information can be given regarding the best way to tackle the functional need aspect of an alpaca based planning application.

 

We started in a bare field with a small gate. Now we have a cabin, barn, poly-tunnel an off grid system, solar panels, bore hole and ongoing tourism.  I would like to thank all the forum members who have helped us along the way. They know who they are.

 

Please PM me with any questions or for more info

[pigsmitefly]

hi sodbuster, dose the profit from alpacas come mainly from breading them and selling them, as im sure you couldnt make a liveing from just the fleece, sorry about my ignorance ,

[sodbuster]

Hi. you can sell alpacas for breeding. They also make good animals to see off foxes and are good pets as they can live with other animals..They are a fantastic tourist draw as kids love them (as well as adults) So if you have any campers on site Alpacas are a plus. 

Some alpaca breeders make a living by turning their fleeces into products- scarves-toys-gloves-jumpers and money can be made doing this. We process our own fleeces and make some products but you don't have to do this. You can send them off to be cleaned etc or you can sell them as they are.

Walking with alpacas is a fun way to make money and if visitors are on site you are more able to sell fleece products to them and your other products (salads.fleece products.cups of tea) anything you have that is produced on the farm. You can also have school education or theraputic visits.

We have shown the planners that we are making a living from the alpaca enterprise and with some imagination there are many ways to do this.They are nice animals to be around and hanging out with them can be theraputic.

.Feel free to ask any questions.

[tonydockers]

Phil

We have just purchased a heard of 40 Alpacas from an established British Alpaca Association member and looking forward to starting our journey.

 

Any advice you are willing to provide or offer would be greatly received.

 

tony

[sodbuster]

Hi Chick.Good luck on your new venture.I think the stud alpaca is very important as most of the quality in the progeny is passed thru him and as I have said in my first post the planners will be looking for quality as well as quantity.On that subject I would advise great caution as to putting 40 alpacas on land without living on it first.The planners will say well you had a large number of alpacas on here before you lived here and they were doing OK, so why do you need to live here now?
I think around 6 alpacas would be a good number to start with.

Sodbuster

[shepie]

How many man hours / year do you get for an alpaca ?

[sodbuster]

There are no Nix handbook figures (the book the council may use to work out how many animals you need)and so it is up to the herdsman to proove how many man hours are needed.

SB

[shepie]

Hmm pm

[Groundhog]

Hi Chick.Good luck on your new venture.I think the stud alpaca is very important as most of the quality in the progeny is passed thru him and as I have said in my first post the planners will be looking for quality as well as quantity.On that subject I would advise great caution as to putting 40 alpacas on land without living on it first.The planners will say well you had a large number of alpacas on here before you lived here and they were doing OK, so why do you need to live here now?
I think around 6 alpacas would be a good number to start with.

Sodbuster

Would more than strongly heed Sodbusters advice huge initial outlay of 40 alpaccas might not have the effect of showing commitment you are looking for instead act as a negative. 6 Pregnant quality high value females is a good justification for  being on site according to some successful applications.Have you put in your 28day yet ?

[shepie]

For sale 34 alpacas !! Sorry had to be said

[sodbuster]

What is important is that you are living on site befor you move the animals on(with this quantity). I dont think you can have to many animals its jusy that you need to be on there with them. ie you need to live on site.The amount of animals you have normally works out at around 4 to 5 per acre.
SB

[Groundhog]

This is sort of trying to use 2 PD's which can muddy it a little

40 animals  GREAT for functional so if there is already a barn on site you are there for the animals.

But the F2F PD is the caravan act.

You can get in a bit of a pickle if not careful when you are explaining why you are there,and actually giving away you Pd if not careful.

So as Sodbuster says need to be STAYING there before you put the animals there and the only way you can do that is PD for the barn.

Sorry SB have hijacked your FOR SALE POST.

Land with a barn on already put animals there farm it move on and wait for the visit,then ask for pre application meeting(to show willing) bit more stalling you should get a year before they push you to submit,I think thats what i would do,Who wants to build a barn anyway !!!

Alpaccas have aproven track record for planning purposes and buying from someone who has done it and has show winning stock has got to be a good idea to start off on the right foot 

[tonydockers]

Sorry for not replying been away....
Very interesting advice and greatly received thank you.

the herd is BAS registered and well known and sold at a knock down price, it would be my intention to sell a number of the herd strengthening the core.
Pd for barn is going in shortly and animals wont be on site until agreed (now since getting this great advice)
Independent valuations put the higher value stud males at 3 to 4k each and females at 2 to 3k each, would these be of high enough quality in monetary terms applyiny the value to quality test?

[Groundhog]

The value of an animal unfortunately is only what someone will pay for it,why is it a knock down price ?

[tonydockers]

The owner has passed away