AYE - ALPACA YOUTH EDUCATION
Youth Members Workshop On the 23rd January 2021, the NSW Alpaca Youth ran a very successful handling and young judges workshop. This was the first event we've been able to run since the end of 2019, as the 2020 camp was cancelled due to bushfires and then COVID-19 put a halt on all other events. Due to this, we had a very keen group of youth members a�end our workshop to learn more about alpacas, farming and see the friends they haven't been able to socialise with for over a year. Many of the youth par�cipants had been eagerly awai�ng this workshop as their first learning experience with alpacas, and we were delighted to share our knowledge and skills with them.
As this workshop was a one day Covid Safe workshop where par�cipants had the opportunity to get hands-on with the alpacas and progress their skills, the more experienced youth members were paired with less experienced to take on the role of mentor for the day. The beginner level youth members had the opportunity to learn about basic husbandry for alpacas and how to conduct a hands-on health assessment, being mentored by the NSW Alpaca Youth Commi�ee and more importantly their fellow youth members. During the middle of the day, the experienced youth members were able to test and improve their skills and knowledge through a young judge’s workshop, working through both fleece and animal sec�ons. The beginner group got the opportunity to learn the importance of confirma�on in alpacas and the basics of fleece in another interac�ve session.
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