Why we started researching Alpaca farms.

It all started out because we wanted to build a house on an acreage.   I was good with that, but if we were going to have an acreage, we would need room for an Alpaca.  Why an Alpaca?   I don't know!  I just had seen them somewhere in the last twenty years and thought they were the cutest animals!

So I Googled Alpacas and I found out that you can't have just one Alpaca.  You have to have more than one.  They are very social, herd animals and one Alpaca by itself would die.   So, I told Geoff and I sent off for a book about Alpacas.   A book about farming and Alpacas.  

The book arrived in the mail - "Alpaca Owner's Guide".   We read it and we were hooked.   This wasn't just a pet you had (although it can be) it was actually a little industry and was something we could do in our retirement.   Not only could we have that acreage we wanted, but we could raise these gentle animals and possibly make a profit doing it.  

But how do you start an Alpaca farm?   What are the animals really like?   Where could we see a farm and some animals? 

The book we received actually listed farms all over the United States, including Iowa and Nebraska.   We found two farms that were close to us:  Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska and Missouri Valley, Iowa.   So we emailed them both and told them we were interested in meeting them, seeing their farm and the Alpacas.