Our herd

We are developing a high quality herd of alpacas and our goal is to expand and contribute to the development of a national herd so that the alpaca will continue to thrive. It's also our retirement plan. Alpacas are valuable and we're delighted that we've found something we love doing which will be financially rewarding and contribute to the greater good of these amazing and beautiful animals.

The progenitors of our herd are from Atlantic Alpacas, which has the best Accoyo herd available in the UK. Atlantic Alpacas has recently merged with EP Cambridge, an Australian Alpaca group. EP Cambridge is involved in bringing high quality animals to the UK along with their experience gained in Australia which has a much larger herd than the UK. This brings benefits to the most important part of alpaca management, the animal itself. County Alpacas will continue to grow alongside Atlantic and EP Cambridge. We are particularly indebted to Philip O’Conor & Verity Clarke (Managers at EP Cambridge) who provided us with invaluable assistance during the early stages of setting up our business and we continue to work with them closely. At present, our animals remain on agistment with Atlantic Alpacas/EP Cambridge and we are in the process of sourcing land in Yorkshire to bring them home.

There is a lot of discussion over what constitutes alpaca pedigree. Some top breeders prefer a solid white full Accoyo alpaca, imported directed from the Peruvian Accoyo herd of the late Don Julio Barreda. Julio Barreda was considered to be the best alpaca breeder in the world and any animal that can link back to his herd is considered better than any other. You can read more at www.accoyo.org

Our view, shared by many others, is less elite. Simply, we believe that a good alpaca is a good alpaca and there is no significant difference in alpacas from Peru, Chile or Bolivia. This is born out in show results where the Chilean alpacas are gaining ground. Even experienced show judges can no longer tell an Accoyo from a Chilean. Julio Barreda selected the best genetics he could find and developed a careful breeding program. The Accoyo herd is now even more valuable due to the herd of Barreda being divided up on his death and scattered across Peru and the world.

Our animals are a mixture of Accoyo and Chilean. Our herd will be developed over the next few years, sired mainly by Accoyo males. We will balance our herd by introducing a range of other alpacas such as multi coloured and rose greys. In all of our work with alpacas, we uphold the code of conduct laid out by the British Alpaca Association.