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– I bet everyone knows the alpaca farm in Jonava. Here are two moms with kids and they told us where to go. Is that where it all started? – I ask Žydrūnas.
– Fifteen years ago I was at an exhibition in Germany and I met a Lithuanian woman married to a Peruvian. They transported sweaters from Peru and sold them at the fair for 200-300 euros each, when the average salary in Lithuania at that time was still 400 litas. I thought: space is something! I became very interested and started looking for information. It is true that this woman told me not to release alpacas from Peru: to protect her gene pool. That is the end. Later I learned that there are already several alpaca farms in Europe.
– This time you lowered your wings, you left the alpacas alone until … did you buy a house with a large plot of land?
– Really so. In happy circumstances, we bought a farm in Jonava with a 100-year-old clay barn. At first we wanted to demolish it, make a sauna, but when we entered, as my wife says, it even smelled of animals. So we started looking for what we could grow in it. Also, and the grass cut in half a hectare has gotten tired. So we started thinking about live lawnmowers: sheep, goats. Unfortunately, as other farm owners have said, these are not clean animals: they pollute the entire pasture area a lot. And we also wanted to walk through our meadows … Then we remembered the alpaca again, which pumped sheep and goatsSerie). According to those who raised them, these animals are extremely neat. You always take care of your natural affairs in one place.
Since there aren’t enough live lawnmowers on our 56-per-pair plot, we plan to buy four more so we don’t really have to mow the meadow ourselves.
– How many alpacas have you started building a farm for these exotic animals?
– Three years ago, in the spring, I brought five alpaca cubs from Poland. And only later did I realize the treasure we had acquired. They cut the meadow perfectly. We noticed that alpacas like young grass, it just sprouted: they don’t like overgrown ones. Since there aren’t enough live lawn mowers on our 56-per-pair plot, we plan to buy four more so we don’t really have to mow the lawn ourselves.
– How did your first alpacas behave when you just brought them to a new home?
– First of all, we had to quarantine them in our clay barn for a few weeks. We observe blood tests and monitor your health. When we finally released it in the meadow, the alpacas first fed on grass and then we bought Belgian hay and forage, vitamins specifically for alpacas. Perfectly adapted.
– Do all your alpacas have different names and probably different characters?
– Barbie – the smallest and most beautiful (that gray with white fur). The caramel is clearly caramel-colored. We called the totally white skinned alpaca Onute because she looked very militant, like Ona, the wife of Grand Duke Vytautas. Our Onutė defends the entire herd. For the first time, we didn’t even realize it when we heard the cry of a hawk in the grass. It turns out that it was Ona who groomed the dog, defended another alpaca from her.
Now my wife and I have decided to follow the alphabetic tradition of naming. When a new alpaca is born, we give it a name in alphabetical order. So our three cubs born this year have names: A – Arile, B – Boss, C – Celeste.
– I have heard that alpacas, like camels (because they come from the camel family), explain the relationship between them through cuts and kicks. It is true?
– Our people are cultured, but sometimes they envy each other for food. So whoever cuts the other first, eats the first. In people, do not be afraid, our pets do not spit. But when it comes to mealtime, you can already see who is who. By the way, another rule of alpaca farming: males and females must live separately. Therefore, the male boss lives behind a 1.40 cm fence that is high enough not to jump. What if I jump? Na… the females will begin to climb, and they will defend themselves, they will start to kick, to spit. Therefore, to avoid conflicts, we divide the grass into two parts.
– How does the Lithuanian climate and our winters adapt to alpacas? After all, perhaps the weather conditions in the Chilean Andes are incomparably harsher?
– It is said that alpacas are not demanding and pampered animals, but I had to read that in the Andes Mountains up to 15 thousand have been frozen at a time. alpaca. We also allow ourselves to roll on snow. They like. Our pets probably don’t like high temperatures anymore, so they don’t stick their noses out of their barn at all. This year, due to the quarantine, we cut the alpaca very late, only at the end of the summer (otherwise we cut in the spring). They, the poor, had to suffer with their hot skins a little more than usual. By the way, if the weather is rainy, windy, we leave the alpaca in the barn, we do not go out.
– I noticed that your alpacas are very clean. Maybe you wash them every day?
– Oh no. But he’s certainly not the first to say that. The reason is very simple: we just take great care of our animals. As I’ve already mentioned, we don’t let it rain outside – they are spread out on wet ground after all, they are unlikely to look very attractive. Not only that, we often change the garbage in the barn. Our alpacas love to swim. Sometimes we inflate the pool, let the water in, but it is dangerous for these animals to enjoy it for a long time. Because they immediately attack the pool water for drinking. It is terrible that the land does not get trapped in all kinds of microorganisms and get sick.
– And what do you do when you go on vacation? Why are you leaving your beautiful farm?
– We have two wonderful daughters to whom we leave and entrust our farm. But, although openly, the animals are tied. They need to be monitored daily. It is definitely not the case that you leave the barn in the hay for a week and can sunbathe by the sea. After all, you need the help of a new hay in the morning, in the evening, to clean the barn and provide vitamins.
The best compliment to my wife is when a child says goodbye: “Mom, I would like to live here …”
– Did you mention that alpacas are very clean and orderly animals?
– Really so. They have chosen a place for their natural affairs, both in the barn and outdoors. Therefore, the children who come to make friends with our alpacas can walk around the meadow without fear, without being afraid of getting into something (laughs). By the way, I have heard a story like that of an alpaca that got sick and could no longer go to the bathroom alone, the owner had to take it off, build it and wait for it to be emptied, otherwise the poor man’s bladder would have exploded. They never do it for themselves.
– And what fun facts have happened to your alpacas?
– Oh, you know, they eat everything green. If you accidentally leave the doors open, you will find them in the garden or hanging green apples next to the apple tree. They are really nice and curious animals. They also get along well with other quadrupeds, relatives of llamas, or camels. Once the daughter let her Yorkshire go to the alpaca pasture, some of them were interested in housing it, others wandered away.
– If I understood correctly, do you take care of the welfare of the alpacas, do you take care of them, and does your wife Rasa lead the excursions?
– Really so. But at the same time, it only accepts one or two families with children. Still, small groups of kindergartens. For many people, the noise of the alpaca would scare them. And for us, it’s not just your mental health. We also have girls who are happy to pose with our animals, girls celebrating bachelorette parties. We don’t want it to be a typical zoo where you observe an animal from a distance, from a fence. In our head, it must be a closer acquaintance. We prepare food, twigs, delicacies for children so that they can feed, caress, touch, seduce and hug. And let it be until it wakes up. We can’t really get people on the conveyor every hour (fee). The best compliment to my wife is when a child says goodbye: “Mom, I would like to live here …”
– Now put your hand on your heart and say: and you – why would you want to live here?
– And for alpacas (Serie). They give an infinite amount of emotion … My wife keeps repeating that I come home better and more fun from the alpaca enclosure. It is my newfound hobby, a pleasure, definitely not a business.
Interesting things in the life of the alpaca.
* Alpaca: a mammal of the camelid family. These animals are somewhat similar to llamas, only smaller. All alpacas are domesticated, there are no wild ones.
* Alpacas are cultivated in the Andes of Ecuador, Peru, northern Bolivia and northern Chile, at altitudes of 3,500 m to 5,000 m above sea level.
* The oldest known record of these adorable animals dates back a millennium before the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Inca nobles demonstrated their wealth by the quantity of cultivated alpacas and the available suits of their wool.
* Alpacas are valued around the world for their high quality wool. They are available in 22 shades, from completely black, silver to yellowish or even whitest.
* These exotic animals are sheared once a year, usually in spring.
* According to the structure and properties of wool, alpacas are divided into two types: Huacaya and Suri. The Huacaya alpaca species is more common (about 95% of alpacas). Their wool is dense, fluffy, soft, their hair short, straight or curly. Suri wool is long-haired, falling in strands, as well as dense, soft, shiny and reminiscent of silk when touched. Even the famous designer Giorgio Armani has used Suri wool to create suits for men and women. However, this type of alpaca is less common because its wool in the mountains does not protect as well from the cold as Huacaya wool.
* The adult alpaca weighs around 55-65kg, it is lower than the related llama.
* Alpacas are characterized by having long necks and erect ears, which shows that this animal is very curious. These quadrupeds have well-developed vision and hearing, living in herds for an average of 20 years.
* These graceful herbivores are obedient, fairly easy to tame, and very human-friendly.
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