Good pasture management helps, too. Many ranchers take annual soil samples to find out how nutritious their pasture grasses are and will spread additives to increase any deficiencies.

Small pastures can be divided in half to allow grasses to grow taller, providing more food for the herd. Over-grazed pastures ultimately causes pasture grasses to die during the winter and not come back in the spring.

Like most ruminants, alpacas have only bottom teeth for eating. Instead of upper teeth they have a hard gum called a dental pad. They crush and grind food against the dental pad be moving their split upper lip back and forth.

Their short tongues are firmly attached to their jaws, so rarely are able to rip grasses out of the ground like goats. Most pasture land is manicured down to about a quarter of an inch rather than destroyed.

-- Alpaca Droppings -- Because they don't require much food, alpacas have very few droppings – usually less than half of a shovelful a day. Amazingly, an entire herd will pick three to four areas of a pasture for its communal dung piles and will even wait their turn to use them!

Because they are in designated spots, the pellet-like droppings are easy to clean up. There is little, if any, odor, and the droppings make great compost.

Daily clean-up can be easily handled by one person, even with a medium-sized herd, and since containment of droppings is so simple, it's easier to keep alpacas healthy :-)

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Depending on the number of alpacas you want to eventually own and your individual needs, your breeder can help you determine the layout of your farm.

You'll need fencing to separate breeding age females from males as well as the young alpacas. Mothers with their new crias are often kept separate from the herd for a day or two as well.

Some farms have layouts with alleyways or lanes that make it easy for one person to herd their alpacas from one pasture to the next or to a barn, shed or holding pen.

Shelter

A herd will require a three-sided shed or barn to protect them from wind and rain. The type of structure that is best depends upon your climate. Areas subject to blizzards will need a barn. Hot climates will need a structure with plenty of air circulation.

Because of their Andean heritage, Alpacas love cold weather and snow. Many breeders modify horse barns for their herd, taking the doors off the stalls so that they can come and go as they please.

Depending on the size of your farm, you could have a barn with a three-sided shed for alpacas to move into during a thunderstorm if they are out in a remote pasture.

A shed with a 10-foot by 20-foot floor is sufficient for up to eight alpacas. Many ranchers but their shed on skids to move it to another part of the pasture or turn it around to avoid a cold north wind in the winter or a humid south wind in the summer.

Three-sided sheds can be outfitted with clear tarps in the winter to keep the alpacas dry. You can add straw inside if it gets bitterly cold to help them stay warm.

Some ranchers feed their alpacas in the shed or barn so that they can be easily gathered up for shearing, toe-nail clipping or vaccinations.

Adding a gate to the front makes a handy pen.

Alpacas are more likely to be outside on a snowy, blustery day than on a hot, humid one. They can live comfortably in the warmer parts of the country, but they'll need to be sheared earlier in the spring before hot weather begins.

They'll also require plenty of shade and cool water. Some breeders in Texas, Florida and other parts of the South breed their females on a schedule so that they won't have crias during the hot summer months.

Warm-weather insects are bothersome to alpacas, too. In fact, some ranchers hose down their alpacas on extremely warm days and report that their animals will stand in line, often jockeying for position, to be next!

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