For new alpaca owners, there are pros and cons to buying your own alpaca herd. An “outside” herder is a male alpaca that is not owned by him and resides on another farm. He is “out” of his farm.
Many new alpaca breeders opt for NO buy a sire because the females in your initial herd come with a free “breed”. That is, the seller allows the new owners to bring the females for one or more free inseminations. Otherwise, the new owner would have to buy stud fees or own his own herd. Free breeding saves the new owner money that he can spend on ranch facilities and other aspects of his alpaca business.
Crossing to an outside shepherd
Even if your starter herd purchase agreement includes free restocking, at some point you will need to purchase the stud services of an outside stud. You may want to purchase stud services for the following reasons:
- Your breeding females are too closely related to the herders on the farm for sale.
- Your breeding females are too closely related to the herders on your farm.
- He wants to “breed” and acquire the genetic characteristics of an exceptionally excellent stallion
- You want to counteract a conformation problem in the dam
- You’ve exhausted your free brood and still don’t have a shepherd of your own.
Expenses of buying a Stud service
If you use an outside stud service, you must pay for the stud service, the costs of transporting a female to and from your farm, and all necessary veterinary exams and certifications for transportation. Also, if you are sending a female to breed and she has a calf (baby) by her side, you will need to pay for the calf’s transportation and veterinary costs to and from her farm.
Risks of breeding outdoors
When you send a female alpaca to breed, you also incur certain risks. A transportation accident could happen to the cattle transporter, for example. You will expose your animals to another herd and to all microorganisms and intestinal parasites in that facility. More importantly, your stud service contract typically gives management control to the stud owner. Finally, if you send a mother and her offspring to breed, you will miss the first few months of the offspring’s life.
Buying your own herd
Yes, it costs money to buy a good shepherd, and this is a disadvantage. The money you spend on a bull is money that is not available for other ranch requirements and/or additional breeding females. However, if you have a pastor:
- You can do “saliva tests” at any time to see if your females are pregnant
- You do not have to take the risks associated with transporting females to another farm.
- Herd management of your females and their offspring remains under your control
- Your babies can stay at home with their mothers, allowing you the pleasure of their presence.
So I encourage prospective clients to consider purchasing a starter herd that includes at least one bull that is not related to the females in the pack. At a minimum, that male will earn his keep by performing a saliva test on the females.
