New addition to farm.

So...this weekend we ended up with an addition to our farm...Alpacas!   Here's a picture taken today.

Oh my goodness! Cuteness factor overload!

Ah, I love those critters, and these just look cool! Have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

I have alpacas and I love them. They each have their own personality! Lou

Hi Lou, any tips on taming them? I want to be able to put a halter on them and lead them around and be able to trim feet and such. They have never been handled in such a way.

Hi the first thing you need to do is to be able to get close to them. I used oats. It worked really well. At first put it on the ground so they get a taste. I did that for about a week. Then I slowly offered it from my hand and not the ground. If they won't take it from your hand use a pail instead. Never rush them. Then graduate from the pail to your hand. Then slowly start to touch them on their neck. This is all going go take awhile so you must be patient. Once you can touch them you can put a halter on them and start training them to lead. I hope this helps. And remember just like people some catch on a little faster than others. If I can help more please let me know.

Forgot to add, they look like nice animals. Congrats!

Thanks Lou! We are at the point now where they will eat out of a bucket we are holding...sometimes. They are still settling in, so we will be sure not to rush them. I'm sure the whole catching and loading them up into our truck must have been very stressful for them. The owner had to get someone to come with a lasso to rope them, which was not an experience they appeared to enjoy.

I used carrot sticks worked great.

That's pretty funny...we have lots of home grown carrots so we thought that would work....much to our amazement our Alpacas hate carrots...won't go near them. I suspect that they have just never had such a thing, so don't know what they are. My wife made them some kind of baked Alpaca treat and they like that ok.