COMMON SENSE

‘Seven days a week, 52 weeks a year with the odd day off for good behaviour’. Carol Kirkwood shares her thoughts and feelings on keeping and breeding alpacas with Liz Wright.

Chatting to Carol Kirkwood is humbling as she constantly plays down her obvious achievements and experience but peppers her chat with brilliant insight into alpaca behaviour which can only be gleaned by a real passion combined with keen observation of how they interact. In addition her obvious joy in the beauty of these animals, their calm natures and a desire to the best possible in terms of breeding, make her an inspirational interviewee.

But why alpacas? Carol returned to the family farm and wanted something she could look after herself and she says that by and large she can, with some help from Gina, her daughter. Carol also wants to give a big ‘shout-out’ to Mark, her husband for all his support.

Carol said: “They lend themselves to quiet care as they are calming by nature (to be around them we need to be calm and not erratic in voice or movement). An alpaca is a flight animal so if you throw your arms around they will end up in the furthest part of the field and not come anywhere near you’. Quietly confident – that's what you need to be! They each have their own quirks and you get to know how each one will react.”

She cites the example of a male that she had purchased for walking. “When he came he was fine but as time went on he got more difficult, almost angry with me to the point that I stopped walking him, then one day while feeding them I noticed that even though he was big and bossy he was getting forced away from his food by the other boys, so I started feeding him myself holding a bucket, so the others didn't push him out. Now I can do everything I need to do, just because he trusts me! Even when it's time for injections or toe nail trimming he will just stand because he trusts me”.

What is Derbyshire like for keeping alpacas?

Carol said that the stunning views around the Derbyshire countryside near to the peak district were not only beautiful but useful as she can more or less see most of the farm and the alpacas. The weather can be quite breathtaking as well as the scenery so they have just finished renovating a barn. They now have lots of indoor space which is more pleasant for both animals and humans in harsh weather.

They also keep a small herd of Golden Guernsey goats which are a smaller goat but with quality milk. They are also extremely attractive and are as the name suggest, golden in colour. The main reason for keeping the goats was so that when the birthing season starts they have plenty of fresh goats’ milk for the cria.

Carol said: ”The cria don’t often need help but it is definitely a bonus to have milk on tap so to speak. I tend to milk the goats then freeze some of the milk into ice cube bags each cube is about 10ml. This way it thaws quickly when I need it. The goats and alpacas get along with each other just fine but they do live in separate areas.”

Carol has dipped her toe into several activities with alpacas and used to offer experience days which were well received. They’ve also tried alpaca poo briquettes which she says works well but you need to get the fire hot before you put them on. Gina made soap felt (a bar of soap wrapped in alpaca felt so you can wash your face or your dishes with it). She also had some chunky wool made which is great for crafting (cotton core knitting yarn).

All interesting things to do but she feels now she wants to concentrate on breeding the best quality alpacas and is putting all her efforts into achieving this.

“I have some good stud males that have been working very hard, so in the future I will have some well made animals that I can sell and hopefully set other people on to the path of keeping alpacas, be it for fun, breeding or guarding their sheep or chickens. Fibre has to be the first objective but there are so many ways for people to enjoy keeping alpacas (whilst getting a good fibre crop)."

One of the joys of keeping alpacas she believes, is that you can enjoy spending time with like minded people and there is always different ways of looking at things such as management and breeding choices. “There is always so much you can learn” she adds enthusiastically.

This year Commonside attended the BAS National Show for the first time with some of their alpacas. She admits they were nervous!

“I must say Gina and I were scared but the animals had no idea what was going on. Before the show we halter trained and then taught them to walk and be handled. We also got them used to walking on unfamiliar surfaces and to go into the trailer but you can't explain to an alpaca that everything is ok when they are in a strange place. Again, it’s down to trust. We were so happy to be awarded rosettes; we were over the moon. It was a bit of a confidence boost for me, and just made me think that we are going in the right direction and gives us something to work towards. There were some fantastic animals there and breeders who were very supportive. I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to you all for being so welcoming. I can’t wait until next year.”

Would Carol recommend anyone to invest in alpacas?

“Absolutely yes”, she replied without hesitation. “But only if you understand their origins as wild animals and not just fluffy pets to be cuddled”.

And finally what are Carol's thoughts for the future?

Carol’s aim is to breed the best animals she can, to learn as much as she can and to enjoy every single moment spent with them.

“Alpacas have changed my life forever and I could not imagine life without them now” she says sincerely, “I want other people to be able to feel that way too.”