Alpaca herd crucial for local business
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Thanks to a herd of alpacas, a business just outside Brandon is able to sell socks, yarn and insoles made from the animal’s hair.
Circle O Alpacas in Alexander takes the fibre sheared from its alpacas and uses it to produce clothing like thermal socks, mitts and touques — all of which are available for sale online.
According to the farm’s website, the journey started in 2001 when the owners visited the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon.
Circle O Alpacas co-owner Laurie Owens feeds her female alpacas on a cool Wednesday morning. The alpacas are shorn every spring for their wool and then grow new coats to keep them warm throughout the winter. (Tim Smith/the Brandon Sun)
“We fell in love with alpacas,” the owners wrote, “and one herd sire and six breeding females later, we started a life with these wonderful gentle animals.”
Now, the farm is focused on breeding to improve the density, crimp and fineness of alpaca fibre. They are also working on colourings of the fibre, for material from white to black.
Circle O Alpacas shears its own animals, starting the production line. The fibre is then sent to mills across the prairie provinces and returns as rovings, yarn and other different materials for production.
Alpaca fibre is a strong material that’s warmer, stronger, lighter and more resilient than wool, according to alpacameadows.com, a farmer in Ohio. It also makes for quality clothing material because it is unlikely to cause allergic reaction.
» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com
Alpacas eat feed from a trough at Circle O Alpacas on a cool Wednesday morning. The alpacas are shorn every spring for their wool and then grow new coats to keep them warm throughout the winter. (Tim Smith/the Brandon Sun)
Buttercup, an alpaca from Circle O Alpacas, waits to be fed by co-owner Laurie Owens on a cool Wednesday morning. (Micah Ross for the Brandon Sun)
An alpaca looks up while eating feed at Circle O Alpacas near Alexander, Manitoba on a cool Wednesday morning. (Micah Ross for the Brandon Sun)
Female alpacas watch co-owner Laurie Owens get feed ready at Circle O Alpacas near Alexander, Manitoba on a cool Wednesday morning. (Micah Ross for the Brandon Sun)