Well, I call myself an alpaca shepherd but not everybody has heard of one, or has much idea what that means. I appeared briefly on the Wynne Evans show on BBC Radio Wales on his GuessWork spot (2hr:10s mark)- where he asks questions to try to guess what the person's job is. All he knew was, I was Steve from Swansea. Listen to the episode to see how he got on.

Morning or evening?

I also spoke with Rita Soares of Campo Verde Alpacas near Melbourne, Australia so we had to cope with time-zones being upside down - she has just moved house and farm, with the alpacas. I caught up with her to see how she got started with alpacas and how the move went.

Campo Verde Alpacas | Harcourt | Castlemaine | Bendigo

Campo Verde is a boutique alpaca farm located in Harcourt, Victoria, Australia. We are close to Castlemaine, Maldon and Bendigo and only 1hr 20 minutes from Melbourne. We raise happy and healthy alpacas in a variety of colours. We are members of the Australian Alpaca Association.

https://www.campoverdealpacas.com

Good learning on preparation and starting early and paying attention to detail. Friendly, helpful alpaca owners make a massive difference too.

Christmas Treat?

We have some tee-shirts, hoodies and tote bags available at our online clothing store. Head on over and check them out.  

steve@alpacatribe.com

https://www.speakpipe.com/AlpacaTribe

She and her partner recently moved house and farms - there is enough to be done just thinking of moving house but with a collection of animals added into the mix it can get a bit challenging. Here, Rita continues her story and identifies some of the key things to bear in mind. The generosity of people in the alpaca world should certainly not be underestimated.

1. Be prepared and plan
2. It will take longer than you think to pack and to move.
3. Locate local breeders to ask for help because they will know your local situation.

Which is your favourite? - apart from all of them!

Naming conventions - what do you do?

Timings in Australia with alternate seasons. - birthing in Autumn - which would be spring in UK/US.

If you are new to alpacas - don't be scared and don't rush into buying/changing paddocks. Plan and learn more, talk to others, visit other farms etc. Slow down and spend time with the alpacas

The most important thing is the connection that you have with your own animals.

Send me a voice message

https://speakpipe.com/alpacatribe

Send me a message and tell me

• who you are,
• Where you are and
• how you and the alpacas mark Christmas.

Do you give them treats? Is it just another day? Any memorable Christmas stories involving your alpacas?

Let me know – I really want to hear from you and to share your story with the world - thanks Steve

As well as a lot of fencing, there have been some cria births recently. This inlcuded a difficult birth with a jameed-up leg.

With the advice from her alpaca connections, her partner Anthony and careful persistence, it all worked out well and with the safe arrival of a male cria.

Preaparation, learning and being flexible in the moment - all part of life with alpacas.

https://www.campoverdealpacas.com/

https://www.instagram.com/campoverdealpacas/

https://www.facebook.com/CampoVerdeAlpacas

In this episode, I have a catch-up conversation with Rita in Australia with her 37 alpacas.

We have had similar questions and musings about what we could do compared to what we wanted to do. When you start keeping alpacas, it is helpful to have an idea of the scale you want to grow to and the kind of activities - such as farm visits - that you want to do while keeping the balance of family life and happy alpacas.

More to come next time

Thanks to Rita Soares for the conversation

Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoyed it.

You can contact me by email - steve@alpacatribe.com - or leave me a voicemail from your browser.

Alpaca Tribe is hosted and produced by Steve Heatherington of Waterside Voices.

In this episode, I resume my conversation with Rita Soares of Campo Verde Alpacas in Australia. It is incredible how much is the same even at the other end of the world.

We talk about climate change and being responsible and knowing when to intervene and when to try to restore balance a little. And spider webs in the home!

Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoyed it.

You can contact me by email - steve@alpacatribe.com - or leave me a voicemail from your browser.

Alpaca Tribe is hosted and produced by Steve Heatherington of Waterside Voices.