Friday, March 2, 2012

Saying Goodbye


It's a part of raising livestock but it's a part I'll never get used to...saying goodbye to "our" alpacas as they head off to become someone else's.

When we got into alpacas, one of the things that led us in this direction was being able to have a livestock business where we didn't have to kill the animals. And it's true...this is a great business without the need to "harvest" anything except fleece. It wasn't until we'd been in the business a few years and our herd had grown large enough that we could start selling that the reality became clear. It's not so easy to say goodbye to a friend you've raised from babyhood, trained, fed, worried over, spent time with, grown to know.

One of the endearing things about alpacas is that they have personalities. Some are sweet and gentle, others bold and brassy. They have buddies and enemies within the herd, and each responds to our care differently. But no matter their "type," we care for them all. Which is why it's so hard to let them leave, even when we know they are going off to great new homes where they will be loved as well as here on our farm.

It seems the market for alpacas is recovering and we've had a regular flow of visitors to the farm recently, and a regular flow of alpacas going off to new residences with new owners. This, I must admit, is good for the bank account. But, boy, is it hard on the alpaca caretakers. The worst moment is when we wave goodbye to our former charges as they peer anxiously out the windows of the trailer that is taking them away.

Do "real" ranchers feel this way? Laugh if you will, but we miss every one of the alpacas we have raised and sold over the years, and, secretly, we hope we will all be reunited one day.