TEACHING YOUR ALPACATO LEADGot This?Want This?Read This!Attention! Your alpaca could beworth morethan youthink...compete to winCASHPRIZES!This year the<strong>Magical</strong> <strong>Farms</strong>/AmeripacaCustomer Appreciation Futurity willbe held in conjunction with the Breeder’s Choice Auction.Join us at <strong>Magical</strong> <strong>Farms</strong> in Litchfield, Ohio on October 19-21 and bring your futurity eligibleoffspring to compete for fun and for your share of these fantastic cash prizes!Libby’s Healthful HintsShearing time will soon be upon us. Here's a tip: we use an experienced shearer and experienced handlersso that the alpaca is restrained as little time as possible, especially important for early and late pregnancies.After shearing but while the alpaca is still restrained, we take this opportunity to trim toenails, checkteeth, testicles and other body parts, put ivomectin in the ears and do a general body scoring (over orunderweight?) and check the skin. It is oftentimes difficult to see skin problems until the alpaca is shornas the long wool can hide some problems. Use the shearing opportunity to really look at every inch ofyour alpaca. This will also help new breeders learn what is "normal" and what is not. It's good foreveryone's healthand peace of mind.-LibbyShearing Time Again!2000 Winnerswon a total of over$60,000!You've decided that you want to show your alpacaand now it's necessary to teach him or her to lead?<strong>The</strong>re are professional trainers who hold clinicsand I'd recommend most of them and do employsome of their techniques. Here are some tips thatwork well for us: If you have more than one toteach, teach them at the same time. Misery lovescompany and pacas are herd animals. It helpsthem to have their buddies with them.1 - Buy one or more long bicycle inner tubes andplace clips at each end. Use new inner tube as oldones can snap and come back and hit you (or youralpaca) in the face and possibly cause injury. Usethe long tubes as you want distance between thefence and your alpaca for him or her to jump aroundand pull and not hit the fence.2 - Find a solid fence (not a gate) that you will beable to tie your alpaca to.3 - Get a good fitting halter, fitted up close to theireyes (but not in their eyes)that does not blocktheir breathing by squashing their nose. <strong>The</strong>inability to catch their breath will frighten youralpaca and make the entire situation intolerable forthem. <strong>The</strong> halter should be snug and should notslide up and down on their face.4 - Eventually you’ll need a lead rope. You'll usethe bungie, (bicycle tire) as a lead for the first couplelessons to allow more give in the line to avoidinjuries.<strong>Alpaca</strong>s, just like people, have very differentpersonalities. Here are some of the behaviors youmay encounter when you teach your alpaca to lead.Remember when you start this process that youare more of a mystery to your alpaca than they areto you and the reason for your suddenly strangebehavior and the leads, halters, etc. can mystifyand/or frighten them.Type 1: “I'm going to kick and scream and buckand run and you can't stop me!” <strong>The</strong>se alpacas arepretty easy to teach to lead because they arealready moving. Your job is to talk with them andteach them why you have put a halter and lead onthem and show them what you want them to do.Type 2: "I'm absolutely not going to move. I willstand here, squarely plant all of my feet in the dirt,head down and refuse to move!" <strong>The</strong>se are a littletougher but easier for me than Type 3.Type 3: “I'm going to fall to the ground, screamand refuse to stand, let alone walk!” <strong>The</strong>se are themost challenging because they risk injury andusually take longer to learn because, as a generalrule, they are genuinely frightened.Type 4. “Okay, let's see. You're pulling gently onmy face and that means you want me to walk?Okay....let's try it...I'm game for anything!” <strong>The</strong>sealpacas are a dream and I have had many simplyfollow and walk immediately. It happens.How do we avoid most of the above in a humanefashion but still teach them to lead? It's prettysimple.l. First, we get the alpaca used to being handled, i.e.caught and touched.2. Second, we put a halter on, release and let thealpaca get used to it. When they seem to be ignoring
NEWSFLASH!invites you to its new series of<strong>Alpaca</strong> Seminars!Throughout the year we will be hosting a seriesof seminars dealing with important alpaca topicsand we’re beginning with...MARKETINGIf you are looking for some new ideas orsearching for some tried and true methods ofinexpensively producing results, then you won’twant to miss this opportunity. Start now tomake 2001 your best year yet!Contact us at the farm for the next scheduled seminar date(330)667-3233 - info@alpacafarm.com - www.alpacafarm.comMarketing TipsBy Jerry ForstnerI have been marketing one thing or another for mywhole life and for the past eight years, alpacas. I givemany lectures around the country on marketing foralpacas but I am afraid that many farms just let the advicego in one ear and out the other. I suppose that the caveat is that we are just notready to market, or that it is too difficult or too expensive. We all love ouralpacas but without marketing, none of us will be successful. I will give aseries of marketing tips in the upcoming newsletters that have been verysuccessful for us at <strong>Magical</strong> <strong>Farms</strong> and can be done at very little expense.One thing that I have learned over the years is that newspapers are verylazy. <strong>The</strong>y need to come up with print copy every day to fill their paper andit is a very difficult task for them to do so each and every day with out somehelp from the likes of us. AOBA sells for very little money a press folder thatis wonderful to put your story in and send to the papers. Any time there is anevent on your farm, not matter how trivial to you, send in a story to thepapers in your area, with pictures. Do this until they print something. Ipromise you that eventually they will print your story, and most likely theywill send someone to your farm and make it into a big story.<strong>The</strong> story can be about the birth of a new cria, a picture of your dog and/orcat with an alpaca, a picture with your child/and or grandchild with an alpaca,a story about shearing time, a story about small farms and wonderful livestock,etc. I think that you get the picture. This will cost you the time that it takesto write the story, the postage, and a few bucks for the cover from AOBA. Itwill bring results and you will have a lot of calls. When people call, be sure thatyou have animals for sale.it, move to the next step.3. We take a bicylcle tire with the clips and tie oneclip to the alpaca and the other end to a fence or asolid object that they cannot move. A nonmoveablefence works great. Talk softly andreassuringly but let go and back off fast so thatthey are not fighting you but pulling against thefence. This teaches them several things. If theystop fighting, the pressure lessens and by steppingfoward, the pressure on their face goes away. <strong>The</strong>ylearn that when you pull, they move forward. <strong>The</strong>yalso learn that they cannot get away. If you haveseveral alpacas to teach, do them at the same time,lining them up with their buddies on the “bungies”(aka bicycle tire gadget). Let them stand the firsttime about 15 minutes (more or less...until theyget bored with the process and stand head up andare no longer pulling. Do not leave them alone.Stay with them to make certain that the bungiedoes not wrap around their neck. <strong>The</strong>n, approachcalmly and disconnect the bungie. Pull gently andencourage them to take a step by tug and release.Don't pull straight forward and drag them if youdon't get a response, rather pull from side to side.By pulling to the side, they get unbalanced andnaturally take a step and they will slowly learnwhat you want. As soon as step is taken, tell themyou are pleased release the pressure and start again.We have some who immediately take steps forward(ok...sometimes, baby steps... but stepsnevertheless) and a few who simply don't figure itout or want to fight more. Don't hesitate to retiefor a few lessons rather than fight or risk injury butusually we only have to tie once...sometimes twice.Special circumstances:Type 1: Runs, kicks. I'd retie until they stop thebehavior but if they continue, run along brieflybeside and then stop and become the fence, i.e. letthem pull on you and not the other way. By runningalong with them for a few steps, it confuses themand usually they stop. If they pull you along bywalking or hopping, go along with it. <strong>The</strong>se learneasily that you are a team and will soon figure outthat you belong together.Type 2: Brief lessons each day. Be happy withjust a little progress each day. Tie each day for afew minutes if necessary. <strong>The</strong>se respond to tyingand gentle pulling side to side with baby steps.Type 3: <strong>The</strong>se are tough. <strong>The</strong> least little movementcan send them crashing to the ground, curling uptheir feet. If they do it once, I come up to them andtickle their belly or tail and they almost always getup. <strong>The</strong>se really try your patience but I thinkthey are the most frightened so be patient. Talkwith them. Pick them up and stand them on theirfeet. If they won't straighten their legs to stand, tiethem on their bungie line and leave them there whileyou work with the others (but keep on eye onthem). Try to anticipate at what point they crashto the ground and each time stop short of thatpoint. Talk soothingly. Be happy with baby stepsand try to end each lesson on a positive note.Type 4: Tell them you love them and count yourblessings!Here's another trick that often works and we usedto do it with horses. Find a round pen or a squarepen approximatley 9' by 9'. Halter and bungie youralpaca and stand to their side. <strong>The</strong>n begin talkingand move towards their tail and they willinstinctively move foward. After awhile, startmoving up, not real close, but by their side andwalk with them for a few steps. If they stop,move back toward their tail, moving them fowardand repeat. We used to train horses like this andsince alpacas are herd animals, it has worked forus. Try different techniques with different alpacasif you need to but don't forget the tying techniquewhich works with all of the types I mentionedbefore.Overall, spend time talking. First lesson (with thetying process) is only about 20 minutes in total.<strong>The</strong>ir attention span is short (and so is mine!) Ifeach day they make progress, stop on a positivenote. We keep records...the first day we usuallyrate most as poor or fair...fair if they take a fewsteps. That's all you can ask for the first lessonand that's alot to ask. If each lesson they get a littlebetter, ask for little more but be satisfied with someprogress. Ususally it takes between 6 and 8 lessonsto reach the very good level and longer for theexcellent level. When we can walk the alpaca downour driveway, through the barn, into the HOUSEor OFFICE (no kidding), then we feel that they areready to go to their first show. Don't expect theshow to be uneventful for the first timer. Be patient.You might not win because both you and youralpaca are nervous but it's a great learningexperience! Have fun and call if you have problems.-Libby
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