Alpaca News
Alpaca Course - Introductory and Advanced
13th April 2011 - Introductory Alpaca Course
30th March 2011 - Advanced Alpaca Course
The introductory course is designed to provide an introduction to alpacas, their ownership and management. There will be practical hands-on training with the alpacas in the morning and after lunch we explore the practical requirements of alpacas, with time for questions. The attendee should be able to assess whether alpacas are for them, as well as giving a good grounding in alpaca knowledge and finally, be able to recognise good alpaca conformation and a superior and valuable fleece. Power point presentation, bound booklet and lunch provided. Warm training room with practical work under cover.
The advanced course explores:
- Alpaca birthing; pre and post-natal health of dam; post-natal health of cria; bottle feeding cria; growing on and weaning of cria; essential equipment for birthing and birthingchecklist; importance of record keeping.
- Alpaca evaluation - Prerequisites for improvement in alpacas and performance evaluation; the highs and lows of heritability; progeny testing and herd improvement; selection for genetic gain. Individual Alpaca Evaluation form to use at home.
- Fleece characteristics and fibre evaluation: understanding fleece qualities; interpreting histograms and how they relate to fleece characteristics.
- Marketing of alpacas and your alpaca farm, alpaca and knitwear sales opportunities. What works and what doesn't.
Please see 'Courses' section of website for more details and course content along with our list of course testimonials.