Alpaca maybe?

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Alpaca maybe?
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wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 9:28 am Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Bodger wrote:

don't for a minute consider letting any hormonally charged horsey or pony ladies on to your land with their Knaggs.

I know that. I've lost count of the number of people that have wanted to keep a horse or two there.

Lady J keeps saying now we have room for horses. I keep saying we don't. I've just bought her some Guinea pigs to cuddle. If alpacas keep the horse-hankering at bay, that would save me some money. I'm also really hoping they will save me having to replace my hens every five minutes. It's costing a fortune!

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 10:02 am Post subject:

wellington womble wrote:

tahir wrote:

Bodger wrote:

don't for a minute consider letting any hormonally charged horsey or pony ladies on to your land with their Knaggs.

I know that. I've lost count of the number of people that have wanted to keep a horse or two there.

You could learn to say No.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 10:04 am Post subject:

We bought our daughter a horse when she was ten or twelve. We really, really didn't know what we were letting ourselves in for. While her friends grew out of them, she didn't. She's thirty now and has only been horseless for coming up for two years.
She's currently in her second year touring the world and is doing now what her siblings did at a much younger age. She'll be back home in December when she'll no doubt apply pressure on us for another horse. Not a chance !

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 11:42 am Post subject:

I think you have to tip them over and sit on them to shear them and it can be quite exciting. I don't think you make any money out of them - I think that's why everyone is so against them, because at one point there was an Alpaca selling Pyramid Scheme. But they are very personable - a friend has four, bought by accident as a Christmas present by her husband, instead of the jumper she wanted.

Ali keeps them partly to keep the foxes off the hens, I think - you still lose the first bird, but your Watch Alpaca chases them off once it notices. However, my understanding of that aspect of it is that because they are herd animals, to get them to behave like that, you have to make them think they are part of the chicken flock, so they are a bit twisted mentally, compared to how they are in a herd.

They're not a self-caring option - but they do have nice noses

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 11:44 am Post subject:
Do they try to perch when you've warped their psyches? I'd pay good money to see that. Or one trying to get into a nesting box.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 11:45 am Post subject:

sean wrote:

Do they try to perch when you've warped their psyches? I'd pay good money to see that. Or one trying to get into a nesting box.

As the Mastermind behind Tahir's Tapirs, or Tapir World, or whatever you're calling it, you'd get 10% off the entrance price, too. Bargain.

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 11:46 am Post subject:
That's why Ali has got that enormous barn. It's for the perching alpacas.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 11:56 am Post subject:

Chez wrote:

They're not a self-caring option - but they do have nice noses

That's not selling them to me

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 12:43 pm Post subject:

Nick wrote:

You could learn to say No.

I have, but she has this incredibly adult tendency to go on and on until given a logical reason she can understand, once she gets it it's no longer an issue. Not to mention creative problem solving. You should hear her fox-culling plans!

I think she might take after me a bit...

Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2573
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 12:59 pm Post subject:
Shearing Alpacas

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 1:20 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Chez wrote:

They're not a self-caring option - but they do have nice noses

That's not selling them to me

I really don't see why not. It's the entire content of my own Alpaca Business Plan.

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 4:44 pm Post subject:
am I right in assuming you can eat them? nice noses not withstanding. I thought I read somewhere they are used to guard sheep from bad dogs? do they taste a bit like chicken or lamb? or does it depend on who they live with? WW a couple of guinea pigs are far more cuddly... good luck persuading ladyJ.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 16 7:31 pm Post subject:
You might have to reconsider your security and add some higher fences. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-37305330

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