DICHOSA and Bethany study me calmly and dispassionately; they are slightly exotic and rather dignified, and totally unfazed by the strangers invading their territory and pointing cameras at them.

They are alpacas and they are two of the fifteen that Carole Christian and John Smith of Cairndinnis Alpacas keep on John's 200 hectare farm in East Lothian. Carole and John began keeping alpacas about three years ago. The farm is predominantly down to arable and cattle, but after a family horse died they had a spare paddock of permanent grass lying idle, so they looked round for a new use. Their interest was aroused by a demonstration pen of alpacas at the Royal Highland Show and later, after a hands-on demonstration of handling and working with alpacas at the Border Union Show in Kelso, they got "carried away" and began to research and make enquiries of breeders. As well as breeding and showing, they now pass on their enthusiasm to others and I'm here to find out about the economics and feasibility of small-scale alpaca keeping.

Within minutes of meeting them, I already fear that the economics of the thing will be an irrelevance, having been totally charmed by these gentle and placid creatures, but here goes, let's be sensible.

Alpacas are members of the South American (New World) camelid family. Old World camelids are Bactrian camels (two humps) and dromedaries (one hump). Alpacas are closely related to llamas, a coarse fleeced pack animal, vicunas and guanacos. They have been domesticated and bred for thousands of years by the Incas and their predecessors and are indigenous to Peru, Bolivia and Chile. There are two types of alpaca - suris and huacayas: 95% of UK alapcas are huacayas. Huacayas have a dense "teddy bear" fleece whereas the suri has a silky fleece which hangs in dreadlocks called "pencils".

I learn that females are hembra and males are macho, though observing Carole and John's, they don't live up to the image that that word conjures up. Castrated males are wethers and young are cria. They stand on average about 1.5m to the tops of their heads and weigh about 70 -75kg when fully adult, and the fleece can weigh a further 5kg. Their life expectancy is about 20-25 years, but Carole thinks that they might exceed this when UK born alpacas become established.

Interestingly the sound they make is a low intermittent hum - quite soothing.

What are alpacas for? They are fleece animals and were selectively bred by the Incas to produce finer and finer fleece. Inca fleece was finer than even the finest available today but the Spanish Conquistador's decimation of the Incas led to cross breeding of alpacas with llamas and deterioration of the fleece quality, which has not yet been fully regained.

Nowadays many people are attracted to them because they are easy to care for, have good temperaments, produce desirable and valuable fleece and slaughter is not an issue as there is no meat production involved.

So, what are the practicalities? I asked Carole what attributes are required for keeping alpacas and she said that the main thing you need is a good pair of wellies. No change from most animal husbandry there, then. The skills are what you would expect - patience, calmness and firmness. They can't be herded by sheep dogs but they are generally co-operative. They get used to handling and if handled in a small space are fairly submissive. They are happy to be trained to be halter led, but don't tie them up, as their necks are vulnerable.

They rarely spit at people unless feeling very threatened, though they spit at one another to establish the hierarchy of the herd, and adults may spit at young as a warning to mind their manners.

Carole and John advise that you need a minimum of three as they are herd animals - three castrated males are probably the easiest to begin with. Three can be kept on a minimum of 0.25hectare if the grass is of reasonable quality. Carole and John are running fifteen on 1.5 hectares, but could accommodate more. They do not roam and are easy to fence or wall in. Barbed wire is not appropriate as they can catch their coats and, because of the density and strength of the fleece, their skin would rip. For the same reason, avoid thorn hedges. They don't challenge fences, so electric tape is OK - though they might go under it, so more than one strand is needed.

They are light grazers and do not eat down to the base of the herbage so soil is unlikely to be exposed and they have quite delicate feet, so poaching and erosion is less than with hoofed animals. Also, they tend to use the same spots to defecate, so worms are not a big problem, though they should be tested for worms if you are planning to keep them with other species.

Alpacas are very hardy as evidenced by the fact that more and more people in Scotland are beginning to keep them. The Cairndinnis alpacas have field shelters but rarely use them. They need checking at least daily but are otherwise easy. As well as grazing and ad lib hay, they require a daily mineral supplement. In their natural habitat, the mountainous grazing would have a high mineral content; the supplement also compensates for vitamin D deficiency and the daily pelletted feed ensures that they come to hand when required, and remain friendly.

Apparently they lie down for about an hour after their feed, then get up and graze - as ruminants they cud. They are also seen to "sunbathe" on warm sunny days. Temperature is regulated through the thin fleece on their undersides and between their legs.

Diseases and hazards
Getting an alpaca-experienced vet can be a challenge but the British Camelid Veterinary Association can help (see below). Carole and John are fortunate in that the Veterinary College in Edinburgh relishes the opportunities that relatively accessible alpacas offer to the students - though, having said that, alpacas are not prone to disease.

Poisonous weeds such as ragwort must be eradicated as they will eat them, and rhododendrons, camellias and yew are all poisonous to them, as are too many acorns. Beware what is outside your fence - remember the long necks!

They are not cloven hoofed. Although some herds were threatened in the heat of the moment, alpacas were not culled during the foot and mouth epidemic and they don't pass foot and mouth on. They can get mouth ulceration, but experiments involving putting them with sheep did not result in the sheep contracting the virus.

Foot care is important. In their natural habitat their toe-nails would wear down naturally, but in the UK they require trimming. This is a two person job and here Carole holds an alpaca while John deftly demonstrates the correct way to clip the toe-nail. Darker nailed feet are less soft and grow more slowly than lighter coloured ones which require more frequent trimming.

Breeding
Carole tells me that alpacas are "enthusiastic breeders" and, as breeding is by induced ovulation and not seasonal, the alpaca owner can plan birth dates for his/her convenience. To do this it is necessary to keep males and females separately. Most owners plan for births to occur between March and September, weather and grass being best in late spring. Artificial insemination is not used.

Alpacas mate sitting down (I feel a car sticker coming on here) after a chase. Mating can last from five to thirty minutes and during coupling the male makes noises called "orgling" which sounded to me like a very loud swarm of bees. Receptive females assume the breeding position and will also sit down to indicate they are not pregnant when in a male's presence.

Various methods of bringing the males and females together are employed and I learn about "on farm" mating (take female to male and leave for six weeks to ensure pregnancy is confirmed), "mobile mating" (take male to female, usually if she has a young cria at foot; several visits may be required to confirm the pregnancy) and "drive-by mating" (the female is taken to the male - again several visits may be required to confirm pregnancy).

Pregnancy can be confirmed by the romantic sounding "spitting off" whereby pregnant females will spit and hiss at amorous males to deter them from further mating attempts - hence the number of visits in mobile and drive-by mating. Of course, pregnancy can be confirmed more prosaically by normal human/veterinary means.

Alpacas generally birth easily, though John has had to lend a hand with a twisted leg, and it is not easy to tell when it is about to happen, but it tends to be in the early morning. The cria, which is between 15% and 20% of the mother's weight, is born with a caul which the sun dries off as the mother does not lick it. It suckles within an hour. Gestation is 11.5 months. If the weather is cold or wet, the breeder might put a coat on the cria. Weaning occurs at about 6 months, by which time the hembra should be pregnant again; she can be mated two to three weeks after giving birth. Females can breed until their late teens with one cria per year, though as she gets older alternate years are advisable as she has to produce a lot of milk.

Costs of buying and keeping
A castrated male will cost between £450 and £1,000. Breeding females can be got for £2,500 but really high quality ones could cost as much as £15,000. Typically expect to pay between £4,000 and £6,000. A potential breeding male could be £2,000 - £3,000 but a best quality proven male could set you back £50,000. However, most are in the £5,000 - £7,000 bracket. South American imports are generally most expensive.

Stud fees vary from £300 to £1,200 (very special) with discounts for serving more than one female. Obviously it is much better to produce female cria and Carole tells me of one famed male which is much in demand as his offspring have been 95% female. She estimates that one in twenty males are good enough to breed from.

So is there profit in alpacas? Carole and John tell me that an alpaca can cover its expenses in terms of fleece, and females add value with their progeny if they are of sufficient quality. They are currently building up and improving their stock, so do not sell. Most people who do sell, sell on their surplus males as fleece animals or pets. Alpacas are compatible with other animals but should have their extra feed separately. They are also a valuable fox deterrent - John has seen a fox very disconcerted by his first meeting with an alpaca. One gelded male kept with sheep - with whom they do not compete - will bond with them and keep foxes away (Thinks: will this work with my hens?) Fleece and fibre Alpaca is said to be even softer than cashmere and can be more hard wearing. The aim of breeders is to produce finer and denser fleeces by selective breeding. White fleeces are the most sought after and tend to be finer because breeding has been concentrated there, but there are twenty two natural alpaca colours, ranging from black, through grey and browns to white, with darker shades tending to be less fine. Solid colours are preferred to mottled or spotted as a more consistent yarn is achieved. Dense coated huacayas are sheared once a year with the suri typically being done every two years. The saddle is the most commercially desirable part of the fleece.

You can sell your alpaca fleece to a mini-mill (there are several in the UK) or you can get the mini-mill to process it for you to sell direct. You can also sell the fleece - twigs, burrs and all - for hand spinners to work themselves. Fibre co-operatives are also a possibility, so larger quantities of yarn can be sold to commercial producers or the alpaca owner gets a share back themselves. Different weights can be spun and "rovings" can be produced for hand spinners to complete the process into fine yarn. The coarser end of the fleece can be made into felt sheets often turned into hand crafted bags Marketing tends to be directly to craft groups (raw fleeces) or at farmers' markets, craft fairs, specialist wool shops or local gift shops, on your own website or through eBay. Undyed yarn is a popular low allergy product for people who can't tolerate sheep's wool. Carole and John sell 100gr balls of wool from named alpacas - whose delightful portraits appear on their well designed packaging - people like to know whose yarn they are knitting with.

Showing As well as being a fun thing to do, showing will help you promote your alpaca products and spread the alpaca gospel to potential new owners. For people thinking of purchasing alpacas, a show is a good place to start researching as the judges give oral reasons for their choice of winners, so beginners can get a good idea of what they should be looking for in terms of quality. Most shows are in the south of England as most alpacas live south of the border, but there are two or three in the north of England and Scotland.

There are two types of classes: one is judged with the fleece on, with 60% of the points for the fleece and 40% for conformation (including 5% for presence); the other is with the fleece off, the animal and the fleece being judged separately and the marks added together for placings. Alpacas are judged ungroomed. Whichever way the class is judged, the fleece is the most important component.

They take over!

My alpaca experience was drawing to a close and I wanted to know what the pitfalls were to keeping alpacas. Carole and John could not think of any, other than that alpacas are addictive - you could lose friends unless they were interested in alpacas as they take over your life.

I asked them if they would do things differently if starting out again and they said no, its best to start with gelded males unless you have a lot of alpaca support close at hand when you could begin with females.

A sort of half way house is agistment, which is like livery. If you feel you don't have enough land or are unsure about your skills or commitment, agistment might be for you. This gives you the benefits of alpaca ownership without day to day responsibility. You could keep a pregnant female on agistment and be part of her care and that of her cria, then re-breed till you have your own mini-herd and the confidence to take it on full time.

Regretfully I conclude we simply don't have enough land to keep these life enhancing and productive creatures but what I might do is "buy" an Oxfam alpaca for a South American farmer. Yes, an alpaca can just be for Christmas....

Want to know more?

Most alpaca owners and breeders like Carole and John are only too willing to share their knowledge with others who are interested. So, if you want to join the increasing band of enthusiasts it's a good idea to visit as many alpaca farms as you can to familiarise yourself with all aspects of husbandry and welfare.

n Although Carole and John don't run formal husbandry courses, they do offer introductory alpaca experiences and will talk alpacas until the cows - or alpacas - come home. You can go alpaca trekking in the lee of the mysterious Traprain Law in East Lothian and they also offer agistment. See www.cairndinnis.net for more information.

n Some other alpaca farms offering workshops and courses in handling, training and husbandry for people with varying degrees of experience are: Carthvean Alpacas: www.carthveanalpacas.com The Alpaca Training Centre, www.langatonalpacas.co.uk Bozedown Alpacas at www.bozedown-alpacas.co.uk and Toft Alpacas at www.toft-alpacas.co.uk Check out the adverts in this magazine for more.

n Farrlacey Alpaca Mill will process single fleeces www.farrlacey.co.uk n The British Alpaca Society (BAS) provides information, support and events for alpaca owners, breeders and others interested in alpacas. The BAS also maintains the pedigree register for UK alpacas: www.bas-uk.com n www.camelidvets.org will help you find a vet locally. n Carole recommends the following books for beginners: Caring for Llamas and Alpacas: A Health and Management Guide: Claire Hoffman and Ingrid Asmus The Camelid Companion: Handling and Training your Alpacas and Llamas: Marty McGee Bennett n For people thinking about starting to breed their alpacas she suggests: Alpaca Breeder's Reproduction Handbook and Alpaca Breeder's Birthing Handbook both by Ewen McMillan, Allan Jinks and Carolyn Jinks n The Complete Alpaca Book by Eric Hoffman is, as the title suggests very thorough and finally Medicine and Surgery of the South American Camelids by Murray Fowler is particularly advisable if your vet is not an alpaca expert.