Alpaca - Fibre of the Gods Alpacas are members of the Camelid family, originating from the Andes region in South America. Before the Spanish conquest, their fleece was known as the "Fibre of the Gods". Only Inca royalty were allowed to wear the finest fibre, upon pain of death. Alpaca fibre is a soft, lightweight, lustrous fibre, second only to silk for strength, comparable to cashmere for luxury and more durable than both. It is thermally very efficient and is much less liable to pill, compared to cashmere and wool. It is also much more acceptable on the skin for those with an allergic reaction to wool, due to its special characteristics.

Natural Fineness, Natural Colour Even rarer than cashmere, alpaca fibre is distinguished by its softness and unique natural lustre. It comes in a wider natural colour range than any other animal fibre, spanning over 22 rich colours, including a true deep black, through chocolate brown and russet, as well as various shades of grey, honey, fawn and cream, to a light champagne and finally pure white. Textile quality fibre will typically have a fineness in the range 18 to 27 microns, well below the 30 micron level at which a fibre will cause "prickle" discomfort on the skin.

Farming Alpacas We shear about 2-5 kilograms of fleece per year from our alpacas at Lowton Farm. They have a very efficient digestive system, requiring only marginal land for grazing. They are very easy to farm, as they are not susceptible to FMD, and aren’t slaughtered for food in the UK. Income is from sales of fleece and breeding animals. They also have little environmental impact on their pasture, since unlike goats, they are a grazer with a split upper lip, bottom teeth and dental gums on the top, which prevent them from damaging vegetation roots. And as the alpaca’s feet have pads, not hooves, they cause much less damage to the pasture surface, allowing grazing densities of 4-6 per acre.

	South West Alpacas For more information on alpacas, or to find out more about what we get up to at Lowton Farm, just click on the image to the left.