Spring 08: We purchased gorgeous Afternoon Delight after falling in love with her at the North American Alpaca Show. Delight’s former owners, Faith & Herb of Quarry Ridge Alpacas, have become our close friends. Alpacas were domesticated about 5,000 years ago and the Incans reserved their fleece for royalty and called it "the fiber of the Gods." When you touch Delight, you will understand why.

July 2008: As soon as our first two alpacas arrived, they went over to meet our Icelandic Horses. Alpacas are shy, but very curious. Originally from the Andean Mountains of Peru, Chile and Bolivia, alpacas are raised for their exceptionally warm, soft fleece. To prepare our farm, we changed the fencing on some of our horse pastures to make them safe for alpacas. Coyotes and dogs were our biggest concerns, so we added electric wires to the outside of our fences

Treat time at Faraway Farm Alpacas

September 2008: Zofia, Gypsy Rose, Aphrodite and Maja enjoy a beautiful autumn day. Newborn Felix is barely visible by his mom, Maja. Alpaca fleece is luxuriously soft and comes in more natural colors than any other finer-producing animal. In fact, 22 natural colors are found in the alpaca world! Alpaca fleece is incredibly warm, yet lightweight.

October 20 08: Two-week old Diego reaching an itch. I am thrilled with Diego’s fleece and conformation and will use him as a herdsire when he is older. Males usually start breeding between the ages of two and three. About a week after a female alpaca has been bred, breeders do a "spit test." (Yes, that’s what it’s called). A male alpaca is introduced to the female to check for pregnancy. If she spits at him, it is likely that she is pregnant. If she lays down when the male approaches, she is not pregnant and is ready to be bred again.

November 2008: Don Brio, Felix and I enjoy a few quiet moments together. Alpacas are very sweet and sensitive. Although, they usually don’t enjoy being petted, they do like company and stay close when I am in their field. My daily farm chores include giving the alpacas (and horses) grain twice a day, making sure all hay feeders and water buckets are full and cleaning the manure from the fields. Alpacas are extremely neat and use a communal dung pile. Their manure (which looks like coffee beans) is excellent garden fertilizer.

December 2008: The alpacas had great fun playing in the snow after the season’s first storm. They are certainly dressed for the weather! Alpaca fleece is known to be warmer than wool and as soft as cashmere. Alpaca fleece is made into all kinds of garments – hats, scarves, coats, sweaters, vests, capes and one of my favorites – the warmest, coziest socks ever.

January 2009: Our stunning alpaca Aphrodite knows she’s a goddess. She has a very elegant air and wherever Aphrodite goes, the rest of the herd follows. Company is very important to alpacas. They like to live in herds and should never be kept alone. They are very alert and hum to each other as a form of communication.

April 2009: Marimba has become a star at the alpaca shows. She won first place at the Big E Alpaca Show, the North American Alpaca Show and the Northeast Alpaca Expo. At shows, alpacas are judged on their fleece and conformation. Winning fleeces need to be fine, uniform, dense and crimpy. In addition to all these qualities, Marimba’s fleece is exceptionally soft and a rich maroon color. Now that she’s finished with her show season, Marimba is at Quarry Ridge Alpacas being bred to Zambezi, a champion herdsire. After she is confirmed pregnant, she will come home to join the rest of our herd. We can’t wait to have her home!