Dutch Hollow Acres

My fiber week was spent back to what I like doing the most. Making ropes for mecate reins, leashes or lead ropes and of course my fiber of choice is alpaca. But why?

When I got into raising alpacas everyone told me how much better alpaca fiber was for one reason or another and I wanted to do the research and find out if folks were just blowing smoke up my @$$ or not. It turns out there was hardly any research done and I only could find 1 article done by the Yocom-McColl Testing lab, Texas A... read full article

When starting your alpaca business you need to determine what form of business ownership you should choose. There are 3 major types of ownership; Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, and Corporation. I will describe each of these forms to help you better understand which one to choose for your alpaca business.

Sole Proprietorship
As the name implies a sole proprietorship is a one man operation. 72% of all businesses in the US fall under this category and the account for $18 out of every 100 mad... read full article

Herd Management Practices to Promote a US Alpaca Meat Industry
When alpacas were first brought to the US they were marketed as a huggable no kill investment. Unfortunately with the down economy prices are plummeting and costs are rising, the “unwanted alpaca” is becoming a big problem that no one wants to talk about.

As a responsible breeder my goal is to breed for our emerging fiber market (meaning my herd is 90% white/beige and 10% black in color). Like many breeders I strive for the cria... read full article

Where do they come up with those prices for alpacas and alpaca products? To be perfectly honest, I have NO clue. No one appears to be following the rules of business and the alpaca industry has been inflated for quite some time because of it. Thankfully with the recent economy troubles things are correcting themselves and alpaca sales are starting to fall in with the rest of the livestock industry. Let’s look into why we are pricing the way we do.

Making the Money

To make a long story ... read full article

This time I wasn’t sure what I was looking for but ended up getting all angry at today’s alpaca industry. Long story short? Why is it in the late 1800's there was a perfectly sustainable alpaca fiber industry in the US without a single alpaca on American soil, yet today there are all these co-ops, registries, organizations and still we’re not getting paid for our fiber raised right here in America? ARGH. Ok rant done.

If you’ve read my post about Abraham Lincoln you’ll know that alpaca wa... read full article

Whether you’re thinking starting an alpaca farm or are a seasoned rancher the question is always the same. What do you do with all that fleece?! I’m surprised to find that many folks shear it, bag it, and store it without doing anything at all. (FYI Fiber does have a shelf life).

Since many folks frown upon eating alpacas the only ways to cover your cost of ownership of these animals is to sell fiber, products or breeding stock. Yes, you CAN make your alpacas pay for themselves with fleec... read full article

Alpaca meat is a red meat that is very lean low in calories, fat and very high in protein and does not have a game taste. Our alpacas are organically raised (not certified) on grass, high quality hay, and spring water with no antibiotics.

We have alpacas available as whole or half. If purchasing less than the whole alpaca the animal will be taken to the processor when the entire animal sold. Alpacas typically weigh 150 -220lbs and result in 50-90lbs of meat. You can request a larger or ... read full article

What is Alpaca Fiber?

Well all know that fiber from a sheep is called wool and the stuff that we wash and comb on our own heads is called hair but what is alpaca? The argument can be made that alpaca fiber is really a hair but is often referred to as wool but for the majority of breeders we refer to it as, fiber.

The fiber that is sheared from the alpaca is produced by primary and secondary hair follicles and even a derived secondary which grows in both the primary and secondary follicles... read full article