It’s not all tears around here, although they do beckon every time I look at the pasture. I’m not giving up the fiber side of the alpaca business. Although it hasn’t happened yet, my plan is to devote some of my increased free time to working with fiber.

One of the real constraints involved in raising alpacas is that as the herd grows, the time spent caring for the herd increases, and the time available for fiber decreases. When we first got alpacas – three girls – I could complete chores in under 30 minutes per day and do a really good job in well under an hour. By the time the girls left, absolute minimum chore time was 45 minutes and that meant no pellets. Average chore time was over an hour per day and doing a good job meant closer to two hours. Routine care like training, trimming toenails, worming, and all the other little things that are easy and quick with three animals become time-consuming chores as the herd increases.

Now that my beautiful girls have a new home in Tennessee, I have more time in my life for fiber. I plan to take advantage of it.