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liaise with the breeders, arrange transport and deal<br />
with DEFRA and the export/import and quarantine<br />
formalities.<br />
Removing the old fencing, clearing the fi elds and<br />
re-fencing, proved a major task taking six weeks<br />
for the fi rst phase. Eventually we used over 1400<br />
posts and over two and a half kilometres of one<br />
metre twenty sheep netting. This fenced half our<br />
holding, the remaining land being left for hay. We<br />
completed this work just in time for the arrival of<br />
our fi rst huacayas. They descended from the lorry<br />
after their twenty-four hour journey, ambled into<br />
the paddocks and immediately settled down to<br />
graze. It was as though they had always lived here.<br />
We quickly settled into an easy routine with<br />
our small herd. At this stage our herd consisted<br />
of six females, four cria at foot, two stud males<br />
and two potential geldings. Fortunately Sam,<br />
a young Frenchman in his early thirties, who<br />
had undertaken much of the heavy building and<br />
fencing work on the farm, was also instantly<br />
captivated by the charm and gentleness of the<br />
alpaca. His general knowledge of livestock and,<br />
very importantly, dangerous plants has proved<br />
invaluable. The alpacas readily adapted to their<br />
new environment and found the rough permanent<br />
pasture much to their liking. They have lived up to<br />
their reputation as hardy and healthy animals that<br />
are easy to manage.<br />
Finding a shearer prepared to take on alpaca<br />
was to prove diffi cult, fortunately by midsummer<br />
a neighbour found one prepared to have a go.<br />
Unfortunately, he arrived with his team after<br />
too good a lunch. Whilst the end result was less<br />
than aesthetic the animals were shorn without<br />
stress and much relieved to be out of their heavy<br />
fl eece. With temperatures frequently above thirty<br />
in summer the provision of adequate shade and<br />
shelter is essential if heat stress and its associated<br />
problems are to be avoided.<br />
With such small numbers here in France<br />
commercial spinning has not been practical in<br />
the past. We have been lucky in fi nding someone<br />
local to spin our small initial quantity by hand.<br />
Last month I attended the foundation of our new<br />
cooperative. The founder, an Australian resident<br />
in France has located a small commercial mill<br />
prepared and equipped to accept lots of 10 kilos by<br />
colour, and a small group spent a tiring and dusty<br />
day grading and sorting fl eece in readiness for our<br />
fi rst run.<br />
I contacted our local vet at an early stage<br />
to advise him of our plans. Because alpacas<br />
are a rarity here his initial question was hardly<br />
surprising. ‘What is an alpaca?’ He has been a<br />
great help and our only real problem so far has<br />
been one retention of afterbirth. The vet came<br />
immediately and after the appropriate injection the<br />
animal rapidly recovered. The local French reaction<br />
has been very positive to these newcomers to<br />
their forest even if their fi rst question is always,<br />
‘Do you eat them?’ Most weekend afternoons see<br />
half a dozen cars parked along the road at the end<br />
of our lane with families happily alpaca watching.<br />
My dream of an isolated cottage was somewhat<br />
shattered when the local tourist offi ce rang to<br />
enquire about the possibility of their weekly<br />
sightseeing tour passing by on the public road past<br />
the farm.<br />
Has our small project been worth it? Well,<br />
we have made many new friends through these<br />
animals both locally, and throughout France<br />
amongst other alpaca breeders. Our herd now<br />
numbers fi fty making it the largest commercial<br />
huacaya herd in France and we plan further<br />
expansion. Oh, and we have a couple more small<br />
projects in hand. Last year I attended, without<br />
animals, the seventh French International Camelid<br />
Show. A small affair compared to English shows<br />
with just eighty-four alpacas and llamas, but<br />
enjoyable and enthusiastically supported. I was<br />
disappointed to discover last month that no show<br />
was planned for 2005 as nobody had come forward<br />
to organise and host it. Inevitably we have agreed<br />
to host next year’s French alpaca show in May.<br />
Our second small project, Leah has just bought<br />
a 40 acre farm nearby with house and land to<br />
renovate with our help and become a partner in the<br />
expansion of our alpaca herd.<br />
Beauvautrait <strong>Alpacas</strong>, Chez Marot, 24410<br />
Echourgnac. Tel; 0553 80 09 53<br />
<strong>Alpacas</strong>offrance@aol.com<br />
Alpaca World Magazine Autumn 2004/05 27