FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (AP) - Sheri Jacoby remembers the first time she saw an alpaca.
She was driving with her husband, Mike. “I was like, ’What’s that?’” she said. “And he was like, ’Well, I don’t know, do you want to stop?’”
They did. Their neighbor formally introduced them to the animals, and Sheri Jacoby was able to touch an alpaca.
“(I) totally fell in love with them,” she said. “They’re just so sweet.”
And now, the Jacobys have 29 of the gangly, smiling animals parading around the pastures and fenced-in areas of their 13-acre farm, the Omaha World-Herald (https://bit.ly/1MpZNxH ) reported. Jacoby and her husband started Alpacas of the Heartland LLC in 2008.
So more people could touch, feed and learn about the animals, the Jacobys held a free open house last weekend as part of National Alpaca Farm Days. Attendees also were able to see babies, called crias, and browse the farm’s boutique of products made from alpaca fleece.
The couple’s farm is about a half-hour drive from Omaha. Neither she nor Mike has a background in farming: She works 32 hours a week as a pharmacist, and he works full time as a construction project manager.
Sheri takes care of the alpacas every morning and evening: cleaning up their waste, feeding them, putting out hay and fresh water and taking them out to pasture. She lets the animals out in groups, opening fences and letting them run down a large grassy hill to the pasture where they graze. Occasionally, she’ll cut toe nails and give them shots.
Indigenous to South America, the alpacas are adaptable and spend Nebraska winters outside or in the barn. Sheri has tarps she will roll down to protect them in the open-sided barn. If the snow is hard packed, the animals will lie right on top of it, she said.
She can identify some of them just by their sound. Alpacas make a gentle noise, called humming.
She can tell all of the alpacas apart, and they all have names, such as Blazen Hot Cocoa, a dark brown one, and Spice Girl, a blonde. They have quirks that help her figure out what’s going on. One alpaca that she used to have, Black Opal, would come up and hug Sheri each and every time the alpaca lost a pregnancy.
Alpacas are gentle by nature. They don’t love to be handled a lot, Sheri said, though some will tolerate it. But they’ll get up close and visit with you, their big globe-like eyes staring back into yours.
They’re cute and excited, and they can’t really bite; they don’t have any top front teeth. The animals are a member of the camelid family, so they have similar features to camels and llamas.
There are 1,381 registered alpacas in Nebraska, according to Alpaca Owners Association Inc. Iowa has 2,466, and there are 186,308 nationally.
There are two different types of the animals: Huacaya and Suri. Huacaya are the most common type. About 90 percent of all alpacas are Huacaya, which have fluffy fur with a crimp to it. Suri alpaca make up the remaining 10 percent. Their hair forms a dreadlock shape.
All of the Jacobys’ alpacas are Huacaya. Their friend Ken Lemke has the same type.
Lemke, the owner of Big Dog Alpacas, got the idea when the movie “The Emperor’s New Groove” came out. His daughter was fascinated by the llamas, and he would tease her, saying that when he retired, he would buy a farm and raise llamas.
Eventually, he met the Jacoby’s alpacas. And now, he’s left the llama idea aside and has six alpacas of his own. The license plate on his pick-up truck reads “HUACAYA.”
Each spring, the alpacas are sheared for their fleece. Every animal will produce six to eight pounds of fleece, Jacoby said, which will be transformed into socks, sweaters, rugs, gloves and stuffed animals.
What’s most important for alpaca fleece is its fineness, Lemke said. Fiber is at its finest when the animals are young.
Alpaca fiber is hypoallergenic and warmer than sheep’s wool because of its structure. The hollow interior of the hair holds air inside, making it a better insulator. Lemke said alpaca fiber socks are a must-buy.
“They are just the warmest,” he said.
He added that Alpaca fleece is just plain softer, too.
Sheri Jacoby sells alpaca goods in a boutique above her garage by appointment and during the holidays. It will be open during the open house. The boutique features products made with alpaca fleece harvested on the farm as well as products made by dealers in Peru and the U.S.
Sheri also shows the alpacas, taking them to events much like those held at state fairs for cows and other livestock.
For a lot of people, this is why they have alpacas: fleece and showcasing.
But you also do it because you love them, Sheri said.
“Some people just buy them just for pets,” she said.
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, https://www.omaha.com
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