About the Alpaca Services network

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Updated August 2010

 We are a network of New Zealand alpaca farmers who are happy to help you in making the right alpaca decision for your circumstance, be it:

• wethers for pets
• farming for fibre production
• top genetics for breeding the best
• fibre animals for handcraft
• easy care and great company animals on your lifestyle or rural block

We offer a range of alpaca services, including stud services, and are geographically located throughout New Zealand, so talk to an alpaca breeder in a region near you .



Here's the Alpaca Services Network team who attended the Mystery Creek Fieldays 2008. We had a great time talking alpaca, introducing our alpacas to people, and exhibiting a huge range of alpaca fibre, yarns, knitwear, garments and products.


Always thought there is a fun side to owning alpacas?
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We fell in love with alpacas soon after we had arrived in New Zealand in 1998, and never thought we would be lucky enough to own any as they are a herd animal, and we didn’t have any land. In 2004, I realized that animals could be agisted so I purchased a 3 in 1 package to allow my herd to grow whilst learning about the alpaca and finding some land to live on.  We now have 7 pregnant females, a variety of youngsters, and our own stud male, and we have moved to a larger farm to accommodate them !

As a midwife, the ease of birthing of alpaca and the fact that they predominantly birth during the day made them an even more attractive proposition. I enjoy everything about them including the anatomy and physiology and general health issues.

I also love “playing” with the wonderful fibre that these animals produce. We have mainly huacaya and also some suri alpaca on the farm as I like to experiment with their fibre

Brod is my gofer, and helps around the farm, and with animal care.

Our aim is to use proven genetics to breed predominantly white, fine fibred, good quality huacaya alpacas. I will be introducing some colour into the herd in the future.

As a member of the Alpaca Services Network, we wish to share the delights of alpacas by hosting open days, host visiting stud males from around the Network to court your girls, sales of alpacas, fibre and alpaca products.  We are happy to provide any information that we can and support new alpaca owners.

Wayne and Saskia Price live on a small life style block just out of Tauranga.

We bought our first alpacas a few years ago after Wayne had been to the field days, where he had seen them, and fell in love with them. We bought a young female and a wether, then a few months later bought a pregnant female with a cria at foot.

 Our aim was to have a few as pets, but our herd has steadily grown!!  We became interested in showing them, so we bought a pregnant female with excellent genetics, and she is the foundation of our herd.

We now have a share in a stud boy, own our own stud, and we host visiting stud males from around the Network. We also have two up and coming studs and one of these won Champion Black Huacaya at the 2007 Expo which was a great thrill for us!! 

We also sell alpacas, and have a range from the Network to provide for sale.

Saskia enjoys spinning the alpaca fleece and has also learnt how to felt. Away from the alpacas we also breed Golden Retrievers and enjoy watersports.

Kevin and Robin Uncles have a farm on the outskirts of Rotorua.

We bought our first 2 wethers in 2002 and first female 2003. Currently we have pregnant females that we are looking forward to when they are due to unpack.

The photo shows some wethers.

Our aim is to breed top quality healthy alpacas, which is why we have joined the Alpaca Services Network, as we believe that this is the best way to increase the profile of alpaca farming with the provision of an excellent service.

We host studs from the Network and provide stud services. We also sell alpacas, and have a range from the Network to provide for sale.

Grant and Sue Kaan have a small farm in Kaiwaka, 30 kms north of Napier (towards Wairoa), where we live with our two children, Jason and Laura. The farm is 15 acres of predominantly steep hills with rough pasture and the alpacas seem to love this - maybe its the awesome views of Hawkes Bay that they get from their paddocks.

We have been breeding alpacas since 1996, making us the most experienced alpaca breeder in Hawkes Bay. We have dedicated our property to the breeding of alpacas and we currently have around 50 alpacas, including a few that are agisted or are for sale on behalf of their owners.
   
Most of our alpacas are coloured - light fawn to dark brown, rose greys and  blacks.  Our aim is to breed well conformed, fine and densely fleeced alpacas while retaining solid colour. We have taken AGE on board, and this will be a useful tool.

We have our own certified stud male Kowhai Park Sterling Silver and are co-owners of NZ Southern Senator and Cambridge Chancellor. We also host studs from throughout the Alpaca Services Network, bringing the best genetics to our own herd and to those of our clients through on-farm and mobile mating services.

We offer a wide range of alpaca services, both to the new owner and the more established, and these include:

• Advice on setting up a property to suit alpacas
• Alpacas for sale, both for breeding and for pets
• Stud Services  - wide range of studs available
• Agistment
• Ongoing support — as often, and for as long as required

Bob and Jenny Phillips have lived in the Feilding area for 5 years now, but have enjoyed living in New Zealand for 10 years. They fell in love with Alpacas in 2004 and have bred Huacaya alpacas ever since.

Minffordd have farm stays, and can accommodate not only you but also your alpacas and horses (sorry no dogs) so you don’t need to leave your animals at home!  Guests are welcome to feed the donkeys, chooks and cats.

We host visiting stud males from around the Network. We also sell alpacas, and have a range from the Network to provide for sale.

 
Beryl Thomas and Glenn Skedgwell of Egmont Alpacas, enjoy farming at Onaero on the North Taranaki Coast

Six pregnant females started our alpaca enterprise in 2002 and we have now built up to 70 alpacas.

Egmont Alpaca Stud has a comprehensive stable of studs. We have purchased in syndicate Silverstream Faberge, NZ Nationals Supreme Champion alpaca 2008, from the championship Hemingway Brutus line.

To complement these studs we have Silverstream Grosvenor ET, and Cambridge Chancellor and Egmont Govenor and Egmont Fortitude, in our white stud stable.   Egmont Julius, Supreme Champion Hawkes Bay 2004, NZ Southern Drambuie, with Brutus/Drambuie genetics, and Egmont Sampson are in our fawn/brown stable. And we have three new black studs this season, Egmont Dynamite, Egmont Pedro, and Egmont Tobias.

At Egmont Stud, we love helping new breeders get started, and established breeders see the benefit of our quality stud matings, and ever increasing knowledge on all things alpaca. We have a wide selection of animals for sale, be it breeding females, stud animals or friendly wethers for pets, we have something for everyone.

Watching our alpacas bring joy and happiness to others gives us great satisfaction.  To this end, we have a tourist facility on the premises, so visitors can get “hands on” with alpacas, if they wish.  They learn more about these fascinating camelids through informative talks and demonstrations, and often just sitting watching the interaction within the herd.

 Visitors can select that special gift from the comprehensive range of merchandise in our retail shop, which includes giftware, knitwear, footwear and accessories, for the entire family.

Paretai Alpacas is the lifestyle option of Richard & Miriam Williams.  We live on a 9 acre property nestled in the hills overlooking the Ruamahanga River, 8km from the farming service centre and wine village of Martinborough, in South Wairarapa.

We have owned alpacas since June 2000 and now have about 20 alpacas. We have females and wethers for sale. We also have three stud males. Russian Fudge and Nougat are pictured with us wearing ribbons won at the Royal Show 2001 in Christchurch. Bailey won Junior Champion at 2005 Hawkes Bay Show. You can see more details of them on our stud page.

Our aim is to breed top quality animals using the best genetics available and to increase the profile of the alpaca as a viable farming alternative.  Our focus is to market alpacas to lifestyle block-holders throughout the southern North Island.

Visit us.  Entering Martinborough from Featherston, take the first left into Princess Street (towards Ponatahi/Masterton). Once past Margrain Vineyard, cross the Huangarua River and 2km on the left is an unsealed road with an AA sign indicating ‘Riverside’. Our shared driveway, Kanuka Way, is on the right, 5 km down this road. We are number 48 Kanuka Way.
 

Charles and Gina Steiner of Willowbank Farm Trust farm cattle, sheep, and alpacas, as well as having numerous horses which they ride on their extensive property near Judgeford, Wellington.  
Alpacas roam the hills here but also do well on flat land and small lifestyle blocks. When the alpacas are due to birth they are brought in round the homestead block. Willowbank offers alpacas for sale.

Willowbank Alpacas are breeding alpacas in the fawn colour range.  The breeding programme is for densely fibred animals, of mainly solid colour.

Willowbank are in partnership with Southern Alpacas Stud  in ownership of  top stud Alpine Fiber’s Brutus from USA.

 

Welcome to Altnaharra Alpacas situated in the Nelson region of South Island, home of Fay Christie and her herd of quality alpacas.

Fay, and her late husband Nigel, in establishing their alpaca herd, determined the need for above average, quality animals, with proven genetics. Nigel travelled to Australia (with Nic from Southern Alpacas) and purchased animals from renown breeders with internationally recognised genetics, the progeny of which are proving to be a benefit to the New Zealand alpaca industry.

 

Fay offers stud services with her own stud males, including Coolaroo Forralon and Altnaharra Commissar. She also has alpacas for sale.

Come visit. All visitors are welcome whether they just come to view and talk alpacas, or serious buyers. Please contact us first at 03 540 2664 or 021 522 692.

Take Route 60 from Richmond and just before Mapua, turn left into Seaton Valley Road and drive to the top of the rise before turning right into Old Coach Road. Proceed along this road for 2 kilometres and look for our driveway descending the hill.

Nic Cooper and Linda Blake live on the outskirts of Christchurch with our large herd of quality alpacas. There are three of us involved on the farm. Nic is in his 20th year alpaca farming and we have over 50 years of alpaca husbandry experience between us.

We are primarily an alpaca stud farm. Our breeding programme is for quality herd improvement. This means well conformed alpacas, with fine fibre in the low to mid 20's micron, with dense fibre coverage giving greater shear weights. There are over 100 alpacas on our farm.

We are achieving this by using solid and proven genetic lines, and we have imported alpacas to New Zealand, both females and studs from top lines in Australia and USA. We also export alpacas to Europe. We are in the AGE programme, for Across-herd Genetic Evaluation.

Our genetic breeding programme sees us winning many championships. Three of our previous males, Royal Show Champions, are pictured with us, and they then went on to stud. We have over 20 top quality studs in our stud stables . We provide stud services extensively in the South Island, and many of our boys travel to provide services in the North Island.

We have alpacas for sale, and you'll find out more about us and our operation and alpacas in general, on our website www.alpacasnz.co.nz

Visit us. Groups can visit the farm for an "alpaca picnic". You get a talk and tea, meet the alpacas, and can purchase mementoes to take home. We have a wonderful range of alpaca goods: clothing, hats, scarves and shawls, bedding, baby wear, and alpaca feet warmers.

Breeding for improved fleece quality and quantity

Owned and operated by Gordon Baird, Waiwera Alpacas is situated in prime South Otago rolling farmland 20km south of Balclutha and just 1km of State Highway 1. 

Waiwera Alpacas commenced it’s breeding programme in 1996 with the purchase of their first three females. With further purchases and the retention of some of the female cria the herd has grown to over thirty animals which is about the limit for the 2 1/2  hectare property. 

The primary goal is to breed alpacas of sound conformation and strong frames which produce a heavy cutting, fine, soft handling fleece.  To help achieve this Waiwera Alpacas has two stud males who meet these criteria and go over most of the females in the herd. In addition some of the top females go to carefully selected  “outside” males who compliment them and provide a source of  additional genetics.    The males currently working at Waiwera Alpacas are  Purrumbete Snowlander, a son of Purrumbete Snowman from a Purrumbete Highlander female and Waiwera Kiwi Pluro, a son of ILR Peruvian Pluro from an ILR Peruvian Drambuie female. 

While both of these males are solid white they mostly leave cria the colour of the female. This year Snowlander and Kiwi Pluro are joined at stud by Curaca , Jerome  and True Blue. This adds another white  to the stud stable plus a dark fawn and a grey. Further details of these machos can be found on my stud page. 

To further aid in the achievement of it’s goals Waiwera Alpacas has committed to the AGE programme and all alpacas owned by Waiwera are entered in or being entered in the scheme.  The results received are most encouraging.

Being based on a small property means that there are usually alpacas for sale as we are at maximum stocking rate most of the year and always need to be prepared for the next birthing season.   All alpacas on farm are TB tested and currently the herd has a C10+ status.

 

Visit us. Visitors are always welcome, although prior warning is appreciated and advice is freely given on all things alpaca: from “what are they good for”  to health issues, setting-up an alpaca farm, fencing, shelter, yards, mating recommendations, potential purchases, etc.    You are warned however to allow plenty of time when planning to visit as many visitor’s scheduled half-hour visit has ended up lasting for two or more hours.  (I like talking about alpacas).

To get there travel on State Highway 1 twenty-one kilometres south of Balclutha, or if traveling from the south, ten kilometres north of Clinton, where there is a crossroad.  Turn down Waiwera Station Road and travel for one kilometre before turning right into Waiwera Gorge Road where Waiwera Alpacas is based just along the road 160 metres.