Meet The Newest Members Of The Henderson Family – Our Pet Alpacas :)

Well, WE DID IT. A few weeks ago we adopted these few alpacas and we have a lot to talk about. They are hilarious, so cute, funny, have long weird necks, hilarious hair, and act like they are being surprised every single second. It’s been a month since we got them (I wanted to make sure they were the right fit before I announced it) so there is a lot to break down. The biggest question that we have, is WAIT, WHY DO YOU HAVE ALPACAS??? Like why these animals??? And I totally get that. They aren’t the normal city-clicker/hipsters-moves-to-the-country farm animal choice, so it seems odd to a lot of people. But y’all LOOK AT THEM.

Why Did You Adopt Three Alpacas?

So many reasons. Here you go:

1. Alpacas are just so funny and awkward so they bring us a ton of daily joy and laughter. They are characters just by existing. It’s like having Kramer as your neighbor. I’m sure other people feel this way about other animals but we just feel so connected to these silly fellows.
2. They are extremely low maintenance (comparatively) and obviously require daily feeding, watering and we like to pet them, but the timing is flexible and they don’t do anything that is annoying (yet). Sure, we have to do the necessary vaccinations, annual shearing, and make sure their toenails aren’t too long, but we are up for it and the kids are heavily involved. But they simply don’t need that much from humans. In fact, a lot of alpacas would prefer humans not be around them and can be really skittish, which is why we were so connected to these three (well, mostly just two of them).
3. You have to adopt three (at least 2) because they are herd animals. So just one wasn’t an option.

Where Did You Get These Alpacas?

We went to probably eight farms in the last two years to research, felt them out and confirmed this was the right decision. We originally wanted girls because their temperament can be more mellow. But we never fell in love with any that we were allowed to adopt (many simply weren’t for sale or they were like $15k because they were 4-H prized). We ended up adopting these boys from Alpacas of Oregon which is a farm that does alpacas tours, so these guys were very much used to being pet by humans. Some of the farms we went to they would just run to a corner when humans came in (understandably) which isn’t what we wanted in pets. The little black guy, Milo, was really the reason we went for them. He is a year and a half and EXTREMELY affectionate with the kids (and with all humans). We stayed at the farm for over an hour petting him, and afterwards the kids wouldn’t stop talking about him. It was the extra motivation that we were looking for. He is such a sweet boy. He does this nose bop things with the kids that they interpret as kissing, and they nose bop him every day. Bert is funny but not as affectionate, and Otis is getting there but definitely the least affectionate out of the three (which is more typical).

Why Three Boys And Not Girls?

Well you can’t mix genders – the boys just can’t control themselves and it gets gnarly. We were definitely leaning towards girls, but we fell in love with Milo and then it was all over. I’m sure had we kept looking we could have found three ladies, and in a perfect situation we’d have a pregnant mom and her best friend, but we wouldn’t know if its a girl or boy and if it was a boy we’d have to give away when they are a year (or around breeding age because they can’t be with girls). Anyway, that’s all to say that we fell in love with Milo, he needed a best friend (Otis) and then Bert was just so hilarious looking so we added him in.

How’s It Going With The Kids?

Now? Pretty darn great. I was nervous about this whole thing and Brian was really the lead on all of this. We had a deal with the farm that we’d foster for two weeks to make sure it was the right fit for us and them (and our dogs – which can be a real thing). The day that we got them I was so excited and then I got a pit in my stomach that night. What if we made a mistake and I just have more responsibility? What if it becomes another thing for us to battle over with the kids? What if they never warm up to us and we don’t ever connect? They were admittedly pretty freaked out the first few days (like a puppy would be) and I felt really bad. Was this the right decision? But every day they got more comfortable. The kids spent hours out there at first with them, talking to them so sweetly, taking care of their water and poop. They LOVE them, and the boys love our kids way more than us (it’s a size thing we think) so it makes them feel ownership over them (which was one of our goals, obviously).

Nothing will be perfect, but as of now the kids know that they have to put on their poop pounders every morning and night to go out and feed/water, shovel poop and pet the boys. They have so far done it without complaining (we have to ask a few times because we are their parents and they can’t seem to hear us the first time no matter what). It makes me SO HAPPY to look out the window and see them in their wellies shoveling the poop into a wheel barrow without us (which is less gross than other poop TBH and they only poop in one pile).

How’s It Going With The Dogs?

Ok, so this was the big question mark and we were very nervous. Alpacas #1 threat isn’t coyotes (which we also have), it’s domesticated dogs. Not totally sure why but we were told to keep them apart because the dogs can hurt/kill the alpaca and vice versa (some farms have them mixed in so it’s very confusing). Brian installed a no climb fence in the split rail to keep them all out. When the pups first saw them they barked like crazy out the window. Hours later we invited the out and they were obviously very excited and curious, and barky in a friendl- ish way. The alpacas were a tiny bit scared, but seemed ok. We are EXTREMELY cautious about the gates/fences and tell every kid that comes over the rules immediately – that the dogs could kill the alpacas so you HAVE to shut the gate right behind you. I def feel a tiny bit nervous still which I think is probably good. The dogs most of the day now barely notice them, but probably once every other day they bark at them and we have to put them inside.

Are You going To Show Them, Breed Them, Or Sell Their Poop Or Fur?

We don’t know! The poop is worth a lot to cannabis farmers, the fiber could definitely be used to make sweaters (Birdie really wants to learn), we have zero desire to breed them, and we aren’t sure what the commitment level would be to do 4-H and show them (so I think not).

If Not, Then Why Did You Get Them?

Well, chickens give eggs, goats give goat milk – I get it. But we love animals. Our new pets don’t necessarily do anything and we definitely talked about this a lot. Is this us wanting something unique to post on social media? Nope. I’m far too old for that these days. Where we landed is that they enrich our lives with joy and help teach our kids more responsibility. Listen, we don’t make our kids take piano lessons because I think they are going to be concert pianists, nor do we have our dogs to make money off of them (although we could, those dogs are GREAT on camera) – these new pets, like most things we do as parents – are here to add value to our kids’ lives and hopefully guide them to be good citizens through daily practice, right? These funny animals make life more fun, add a lot to our home and family experience. And that’s enough 🙂

It’s also just fun and exciting to have a new challenge, for us and the kids. We had a pasture and a barn, we bought a farmette for a reason. We weren’t going to NOT have animals (and this isn’t where we are stopping). These are a good first step and then who knows, maybe we’ll do the whole shebang.

As you know, we intentionally slowed down our lives a couple years ago (involving moving home to Portland) and while animals add responsibility (and we haven’t even had them during the winter months) somehow this kind of responsibility doesn’t feel stressful – shoveling their poop, like changing a diaper or walking the pups, is just what you do. It’s the good kind of stress, not the bad kind. It’s the good stuff that takes up time and it gets us outside and moving our bodies. I mean, I hope…

So folks, meet the boys. And while I’ll organically post about them when I feel like it, Brian is far more excited to keep the world updated on all things alpaca on his instagram (OH LORDY LORDY, LOOK WHOSE ACTUALLY JOINING SOCIAL MEDIA???). So head over there to see more alpaca videos.

*Photos by Kaitlin Green