Saturday, April 2, 2022
Alpaca Vocabulary Terms
Here We Go Again!
Agist- When an alpaca owner lets his/her animal live at someone else’s farm, this is called “boarding” or “agisting.”
Alpaca Talk :
Bugling – The warning sound made by alpacas when they trouble or a threat.
Clucking – The sound alpaca moms make when they talk to their baby (cria).
Humming – The sound alpacas make when they are talking to one another.
Carding – The process of combing and cleaning alpaca fiber.
Cria – A baby alpaca (either boy or girl).
Dam – An alpaca mother.
Drop Spinning – A process used to spin alpaca fiber into yarn.
Fiber – Alpaca hair.
Fleece – All the alpaca fiber from one alpaca after it is sheared.
Grazing – Alpacas eating grass in the pasture.
Grooming – Cleaning the alpaca with a brush.
Halter – A special strap that alpaca owners put on the alpaca’s head in order to help guide the alpaca where to walk.
Herd- A group of alpacas.
Herd Sire – The male alpaca that is in charge of the herd.
Huacaya – A breed of alpaca with fuzzy fiber that grows straight out from the body.
Paddock – A small fenced in area where the alpacas live when they are not out in the pasture.
Pasture – Where alpacas live and graze.
Shearer – A person who cuts the hair (fleece) off the alpaca.
Shearing – Cutting the hair (fleece) off the alpaca.
Sire – A daddy alpaca.
Spinner – A person who makes alpaca fiber into yarn.
Spinning Wheel – A machine used by the spinner to make yarn.
Suri – A breed of alpaca with long fiber that hangs in ringlets.
Veterinarian – Animal doctor.