 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Alpacas are friendly, gentle animals. They are
“camelids”, but unlike their much larger llama cousins,
they do not usually spit except at each other. We love
spending time with our alpacas. Sometimes, they come
up and give us “nose kisses”. They seem to like us, too,
but, as herd animals, they really prefer to be with each
other.
Alpacas have a life-span of 15 years or so. Females
produce one baby or “cria” at a time. The gestation
period is about 11 months.
Alpacas are hardy animals. They are easy to care for
and do not require a lot of land. Their thick fleece
protects them throughout extreme winters. Like us, they
seem to enjoy being in the mountains in Telluride in their
layers of cozy alpaca.
We like alpaca because it combines the finest features
of the world’s natural fiber. It’s as soft as cashmere and
warmer than wool. It comes in many natural colors
ranging from white to jet black with shades of grey, fawn,
caramel and brown in between. It is hypoallergenic.
Alpaca is a good “green” choice for keeping warm. It’s
an environmentally friendly and naturally renewable
resource. It offers an excellent, cozy alternative to
synthetics, even cotton. It’s so warm that you can wear
it and then turn down the heating in your home.
We shear our alpacas once a year in late May. The
alpacas don’t exactly love the shearing process, but
they seem to like how light and cool they feel
afterwards. They look pretty funny to us without the 5
inches or so of thick fleece padding their long, skinny
necks.
Shearing takes about 15 minutes per animal under the
skilled hands of Sonny Gustamantes. Sonny has been
shearing animals in the Four Corners area for over 40
years. An adult alpaca yields about 4-5 lbs. of fleece a
year.
After shearing, we take the fleece and “skirt” it to
remove the larger bits of vegetation, etc. We send half
of the fleece to the AFCNA Co-op that in turn processes
it into various products such as blankets, socks, scarves
and sweaters. We send the other half to a mill in Maine
to be spun into our own yarn. We sell products from
both the Co-op and from our own yarn in the Telluride
Farmer’s Market during the summer. These products
are also available on our website.
We feel good about our alpacas and the wonderful
fleece they produce for many reasons and think you will,
too. Check out our products on this website and cozy
up to some alpaca from Telluride.
“camelids”, but unlike their much larger llama cousins,
they do not usually spit except at each other. We love
spending time with our alpacas. Sometimes, they come
up and give us “nose kisses”. They seem to like us, too,
but, as herd animals, they really prefer to be with each
other.
Alpacas have a life-span of 15 years or so. Females
produce one baby or “cria” at a time. The gestation
period is about 11 months.
Alpacas are hardy animals. They are easy to care for
and do not require a lot of land. Their thick fleece
protects them throughout extreme winters. Like us, they
seem to enjoy being in the mountains in Telluride in their
layers of cozy alpaca.
We like alpaca because it combines the finest features
of the world’s natural fiber. It’s as soft as cashmere and
warmer than wool. It comes in many natural colors
ranging from white to jet black with shades of grey, fawn,
caramel and brown in between. It is hypoallergenic.
Alpaca is a good “green” choice for keeping warm. It’s
an environmentally friendly and naturally renewable
resource. It offers an excellent, cozy alternative to
synthetics, even cotton. It’s so warm that you can wear
it and then turn down the heating in your home.
We shear our alpacas once a year in late May. The
alpacas don’t exactly love the shearing process, but
they seem to like how light and cool they feel
afterwards. They look pretty funny to us without the 5
inches or so of thick fleece padding their long, skinny
necks.
Shearing takes about 15 minutes per animal under the
skilled hands of Sonny Gustamantes. Sonny has been
shearing animals in the Four Corners area for over 40
years. An adult alpaca yields about 4-5 lbs. of fleece a
year.
After shearing, we take the fleece and “skirt” it to
remove the larger bits of vegetation, etc. We send half
of the fleece to the AFCNA Co-op that in turn processes
it into various products such as blankets, socks, scarves
and sweaters. We send the other half to a mill in Maine
to be spun into our own yarn. We sell products from
both the Co-op and from our own yarn in the Telluride
Farmer’s Market during the summer. These products
are also available on our website.
We feel good about our alpacas and the wonderful
fleece they produce for many reasons and think you will,
too. Check out our products on this website and cozy
up to some alpaca from Telluride.
| About Alpacas |
| San Juan Alpacas |
