Although many of our foundation herd of alpacas came to us from respected bloodlines and have show winner pedigree and we’ve had some gorgeous cria, we simply can’t compete with the elite breeders of today but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a valuable place in the marketplace.

Alpacas are what’s known as semi-ruminants. They have 3 stomach compartments referred to very excitingly as C-1, C-2 and C-3. These chambers are what allow them to make the most of very little, fermenting and absorbing plant fibres and absorbing nutrients super efficiently.

Why are they jumping on each other’s backs? This is one of the main questions I get asked at the moment by kids who come into our females paddock. The answer is dominance (and sometimes readiness to breed!). Our female herd used to be two mini herds. We had our mums and babies in one paddock so that we could make sure they got enough feed to keep them going through pregnancy, birth (referred to as ‘unpacking’ in alpacas - I know… weird) and lactation.

If I went and rubbed my head on Vince he’d be having none of it, if I approached him in the field without warning he’d be off, if I sat up close to Jack he’d be up and away before I could even get closer, if I tried to cuddle India I’d regret it.

Meet Deva and Duncan our two littlest boys who will soon be joining the walking team! I’ve been very gradually and slowly introducing them to the idea of walking since they were a year old. It started with simply getting closer to them and very slowly worked up to haltering and leading. This week they went out on their second practice walk and made it all the way round the track! It won’t be long until they’re ready for the public walks and you can come and hang out with the

Here at Hideaway Wood Farm we decided to long term wean our cria this year and have been sharing our journey over on our socials. I thought it would be a good idea to collate our experiences so far here on our farm blog as we often get asked about what we do about weaning and how the mums and babies are getting on.

Here at Hideaway Wood Farm we decided to long term wean our cria this year and have been sharing our journey over on our socials. I thought it would be a good idea to collate our experiences so far here on our farm blog as we often get asked about what we do about weaning and how the mums and babies are getting on.

Shearing 2024 was the first day of my alpaca apprenticeship, a baptism of fire, so I knew what to expect but having since trained in CameliDynamics I couldn’t help but wonder how we could incorporate a more gentle and respectful approach to the massive task of restraining and shearing thirty four animals in one day.

We often get asked the same questions about our alpaca walks by our farm visitors so we thought we'd answer them here for anyone who's interested in joining us on a walk.

Earlier this month we trialled a new offering at the farm (the alpaca farm). I had beginners nerves for the first time in ages and it felt

Farm life continues through the festivities but we have managed to carve out some time for connection, celebration and rest amidst all of ou

As a farm we're always trying to improve the way we're doing things. This year we've been introducing natural methods of taking care of our