AUGUST 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
39
Alpacas find a haven in the North Okanagan Easy going, without the spit
by TOM WALKER VERNON – You have to
appreciate the serendipity that can come with farming.
Country Ways
“We went to see a man about a tractor,” says Julene Ashford-Koslowski, “and he had llamas. We didn’t come home with a tractor or a llama, but we fell in love with the animals and eventually got some.” “Some” is now 60 alpacas
and two llamas at Camelot Haven just west of Vernon. “Alpacas are members of the camelid family and we’re from England. Haven was chosen for a safe place for animals,” Julene explains, describing how they settled on the name.
The quiet, gentle animals seem to suit Julene’s personality to a “T.” “We don't just breed and raise alpacas, we also care for them and their long-term wellbeing,” she tells me. Native to the Andes mountains, alpacas are domestic animals that have been raised for thousands of years for their fleece and meat. They look like a smaller version of a llama, but they are not bred as pack animals, Julene explains. As I walk with Julene
through the pastures, a couple of alpacas slowly approach to check me out. They stand about six inches away, looking and sniffing, and I’m obviously unsure of what to do. “They’re very inquisitive,”
chuckles Julene. “I know them all by name and they all have their own personalities.” They aren’t as eager for a pat as the elderly Peruvian Paso horse that wanders over and pesters us for attention. Julene describes some of the characteristics that make alpacas an easier animal to raise. “They’re good with fences,”
she says. “They don’t try to escape like a goat would.” Their mountain pedigree
makes them hardy. “We have a plus 30 to minus 30 rule,” says Julene. “Too hot and we bring them into the shade; too cold and we put them in the barn.” Alpacas birth on their own and characteristically have their babies before noon. “It’s so that in the wild if
there are predators, the crias (babies) can be up and moving before dark,” explains Julene. “If it’s after 1 pm, I’ll
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check to see if there is something wrong.” Gestation is between 11 and 11 and a half months. “You have to know what to look for,” Julene says. “They don’t show an obvious pregnancy. “You can raise
two alpacas in a pasture area that
would support one sheep,” says Julene. “They eat only one to 2% of their body weight a day.” They like orchard grass and
are gentle grazers, clipping off the grass well above the ground so there is ample left to encourage regrowth. The ranch offers free choice hay for pregnant females and babies. They supplement with alpaca pellets in the winter and free choice minerals are provided year round. Alpacas are “modified ruminants” with three stomach chambers. They will chew their cud lying down with their feet pulled up under them in the “cush” position. If you see newly shorn alpacas, they might have a patch of fleece left around their ankles. They aren’t trying to look like poodles; the fleece keeps their belly warm when they cush on cold ground. They take care of their
business. Alpacas have a particular spot in the pasture where they all defecate and urinate, keeping the rest of
Julene Ashford-Koslowski with a three month old alpaca baby called a “cria.” TOM WALKER PHOTO
the grass pristine. And that manure is easy on your garden. You can apply it directly without fear of burning. The voluminous pots of perennials around the ranch house testify to that. Julene says that while
there is a small specialty market for the lean, low- cholesterol, high-protein alpaca meat, most ranchers raise them for fiber and as breeding stock. “We shear them once a
year in the spring,” Julene tells me. “Each animal yields five to ten pounds of fleece.”
Alpaca fleece comes in 22 natural colors, it is free of lanolin and considered non allergenic. “The fibre is six to eight times warmer than wool,” Julene explains. “We started off as a cottage
industry, processing our own fibre but now we send it to a mill,” Julene says. “We get yarn, roving and batting back from the mill which can be made into socks, blankets, hats and scarves. I spin, knit and crochet and I’m into felting now. I make dog coats and horse blankets.”
The ranch has a shop, which sells all manner of fleece products that Julene and other Canadian crafters make. She is particularly proud of the hand knit sweaters produced by a co- op in Peru. The shop is open by appointment and from November through to Christmas. The rolling hills above
Swan Lake are an ideal spot for the walking tours that Julene conducts. And no, alpacas don’t have the reputation for spitting that llamas do.
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