s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

Saturday we attended our first alpaca auction. This was held at Willowbank, the large local alpaca farm (they have about 120 alpaca) where we bought our first 3 wethers (Oak, Chris and Pointer).

Willowbank is owned by Charles and Gina. Charles is a rich retired former American heart surgeon. They split their time 50-50 between NZ and the US, living the perpetual summer. The alpaca are Gina’s. They also breed Tenesse trotters, plus the sheep and beef that actually make money for the 1,700 acre farm. It seems Gina now wants to get into breeding miniature horses, Charles said “if you want mini’s, some alpaca will have to go”, and thus the auction.

Of the 39 adult females (many had cria at foot) being auctioned, about 10 did not meet reserve and were passed over. The ones that sold mainly went for ~3K each. We did bid on one girl, but we had a low limit, and stopped when a 3-way bidding war started. In retrospect we have some regret for not making more of an effort for her, as from the data available it seems she had many of the traits we are seeking to breed for. Ah, well, others will come along. And after fountaining money buying all those new girls in Picton, it is probably best that we didn’t get her!