Why did you buy alpacas? Or why might you want alpacas? When I first saw alpacas in June 1989 I firstly was fascinated by these beautiful peaceful enigmatic creatures, and then I marvelled at the softness and fineness of their fleece, realising that here was a wonderful fibre which could rival cashmere, and I was hooked! Three weeks later I purchased 5 alpacas (from the ones I had already seen) at auction in Penrith.
SHEARING ALPACAS
Then the learning process began, so right away I organised for them to be sheared. All alpacas benefit from an annual clip. With only 150 alpacas in the country there were no specialist alpacas shearers here in those days and so I found a sheep shearer who was willing to take on the task. He decided to shear them standing and took 45 minutes per alpaca. With a pair of sheep dagging shears you can still shear your own alpacas. But generally it’s now very different, with the alpacas sheared laying down and a specialist shearer can shear up to twelve per hour. There are alpaca shearers who travel around the country. They get booked up quite quickly so if you haven’t reserved your slot early you may have to wait a while. You will find a list of shearers on the BAS website, www.bas-uk.com, or you can ask other alpaca owners whom they recommend.
YARN PRODUCTION
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2023 من The Country Smallholder.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2023 من The Country Smallholder.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
How to Buy a Smallholding in France- Long-time smallholder Lorraine Turnbull looks at the practicalities of moving to rural France
Aspiring smallholders are continually thwarted by the prices of smallholdings and property with land located within the UK. Even the humblest croft in Scotland comes with a substantial price tag and conditions which would make even an adventurous wannabee consider carefully. But all is not lost. For those willing to take the adventure of a lifetime, there is always Europe, and one of the most popular places is France.
Meet the Bournemouth goats and their supporters
These capricious animals are hard workers preserving the natural habitat
Still warm enough to sit outside with a Pizza
Henrietta Balcon uses fresh figs to create an unusual dish at Harvest time
Goodbye to the birds of spring and summer
If you look and listen you might be able to see them preparing to leave says The RSPB
Get ready for the colder weather in the warmth of late summer
Claire Waring advises on doing the best to make sure your colonies survive until next spring
Preparing the Veg Patch for Winter
Lee Senior says, a well-run plot can excitingly continue to produce good quality, tasty, fresh food for much of winter
Time to prepare to plant your orchard
Wade Muggleton, smallholder and author of The Orchard Book, shares his practical experience so you can create your own fruit collection
Choosing feed for the autumn
As autumn approaches, Joanna Palmer, nutritionist at the Smallholder Range, offers advice on choosing the right feed to support your adult birds through their annual moult and ensure your young birds grow and finish well at this time of the year.
Vet advice from an experienced poultry vet
Reflecting on how much the humble hen has helped people world wide plus advice on stopping the scourge of red mite
Give your hens some support
Paul Donovan looks at the right and wrong ways of handling birds
