IT'S that time of year when most people look to their sheds to find something to cut the lawn – but not for Chrissy Kirk.
About five years ago, she was left some land after her parents passed away and decided to farm with something that didn't result in a trip to an abattoir.
After a discussion with a friend the idea of an alpaca farm near Louth was born and Chrissy has never looked back.
"I started off with buying my boys before we went into breeding to see what we were getting ourselves into," she said.
"It didn't take long before we bought some females and, in 2009, our first cria (the name for alpaca offspring), Apollo and Athena, were born."
From that moment, Chrissy's passion for the exotic animals grew and she rekindled her love of crafts to make unique items from their wool.
She said: "Our aim was to increase our own herd and increase the national herd at the same time and we breed healthy animals with strong confirmation and excellent fleece characteristics.
"We have now been breeding alpacas for more than three years and have several stud males available, Blizzard, Jeremy, Nipper, and this year we have introduced Spirit and Cloud to our list.
"I have always loved crafts so this provided a chance for me to get into felting and hand-spinning the wool."
Alpacas are not wild animals; they were domesticated thousands of years ago by native American people in the Andean Mountains of South America. There are two main types, the Suri and the Huacaya.
They eat mainly grass and hay, however, a protein supplement is fed regularly when needed.
Alpacas usually have one cria after an eleven-and-a-half-month gestation period.
They usually give birth in the daylight as this allows the cria to dry its fleece before the temperature drops at night.
Alpacas are sheared annually and produce an average of 3.5kg of fibre in a range of 22 colours with many shades in between.
They are a herd animal and cannot be kept singly, and will ward off foxes.
Male geldings are often run with sheep as guard animals.
Chrissy is often invited to Women's Institute groups and into schools to teach about the exotic species and to provide felting and spinning demonstrations.
Chrissy said: "I enjoy teaching people about alpacas as many people still aren't aware of them or think they are lamas."
Visitors are always made welcome to see her herd, at a farm called Homefield Alpacas, a few miles away from Louth, at Great Carlton, although it is preferred that an appointment is made first.
She also keeps a range of resident sheep and happy hens.
For more information about the farm visit www.homefieldalpacas.co.uk or call 01507 450804.
Have you seen our new website? More news on grimsbytelegraph.co.uk Bookmark grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news for the best breaking news and exclusive local content. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
