Whether you are either prospective, new or experienced owners of alpacas, we realise that you all require slightly different courses and we have tailored these from our own experience.
We are therefore delighted to present a range of courses designed to help you:
- Decide whether alpacas are for you?
- Choose the right alpaca
- Learn how to look after alpacas
- Fleece and Fibre
- Genetics and the importance of choosing the right Sire
- Shearing
We deliberately keep our numbers small so that everyone has the attention and hands on experience that they would like, have plenty of opportunity to ask questions and for the days to be relaxed, informal and yet informative.
We provide information sheets throughout the day for you to take home and plenty of refreshments are provided.
If you would like your own “tailor-made” course on any alpaca subject then please phone us and we will see if we can help. Or, if any of our dates are unsuitable and you would really like to learn about any of the subjects then again, please phone us and we will see if we can accommodate you!
We hold most of our workshops on a regular basis and the dates are shown below. We are able to run our events even if it is wet as we have purpose built, under cover facilities.
All our courses and workshops include refreshments. Special diets can be catered for. Local, Farmhouse accommodation is available if required.
Farm Visits
Farm visits are great fun, we take a slow walk around the farm (all flat level land) meeting and greeting our different groups of alpacas who will come to see you. We provide a small amount of feed for people who would like to hand feed our alpacas and take the time to introduce you to them all, their little characters, good and bad!
Warning! We educate you at the same time, discussing alpacas needs and why we keep them as well as a bit of their history and seeing if you can guess the best one in each group.
From there, a quick visit to “The Ark” to look at some raw fleece and get your hands on to really feel how soft it is and then a cup of tea or coffee, with cake or biscuits.
You should allow 2-3 hours for each visit as you will be amazed at how quickly the time goes and the amount you will be distracted by our other residents.
We arrange Farm Visits on a completely “ad-hoc” basis- Just ring to make sure were in!
Alpaca Introduction Days
Have you seen or heard about alpacas and curious to know more? Then this introductory course is for you! A simple, half-day course introducing you to the world of alpacas. You will learn why alpacas are a growing business, how alpacas are kept, what husbandry tasks are required and what to look for in selecting your first alpacas. All with plenty of hands on experience!
The following dates are available:
Please click on the appropriate link above to enquire further about this course.
Course/Workshop Cost:
Half-day Taster days - £25 per person, £40 per couple.
Full Day courses or workshops - £40 per person, £70 per couple
Alpaca Care Day
There is more to alpacas than meets the eye so we designed this full day course for people who want to know that bit more. The day covers topics from choosing your alpacas, the pitfalls and spotting signs of ill-health to the usual routine care required, what medications are commonly used, their nutritional needs as well as a myriad of useful facts.
Our objective is to show you how easy alpacas are to look after and we will give you the opportunity to see how we trim toenails and how injections are carried out, simply and quickly.
The following dates are available:
Please click on the appropriate link above to enquire further about this course.
Alpaca Behaviour
With years of looking after alpacas, we’ve learnt a thing or two about the way they behave. This full day workshop will help you unlock the mystery surrounding their behaviour and show you how to use their natural instincts to improve your relationship with your alpacas. Management improves, moving them becomes easier, regular chores become easier and haltering becomes so easy.
The following dates are available:
And, a special:
Cria Charming – come and spend half a day with us learning how and when you can teach your cria to lead and pick up their feet for toenail trimming.
Fleece and Fibre – Skirting and Sorting
A full day’s workshop on how to assess a fleece both on and off of the alpaca.
We will show you selection, skirting for shows or processing, how a little thought at shearing can save hours later and, to end, a range of ideas as to what you might like to do with your fleece.
The following dates are available:
Please click on the appropriate link above to enquire further about this course.
Shearing
Would you like to be able to shear your own alpacas? This course offers a half day of classroom learning followed by hands on shearing supervised by Jay Holland and Garry Naish. The ability to shear your own alpacas brings great benefits to both you and your alpacas. We can help you brush up your technique or have you shearing your first alpacas by the end of the workshop.
Because of the nature of the workshop numbers are limited so please book early.
The following dates are available:
Cost £75.00 per person.