There are many factors that influence the cost of an alpaca.
A pregnant female costs more than one that is not pregnant as you are actually purchasing two animals with a live birth usually guaranteed. A proven mother often will cost more than a maiden who has yet to have a cria.
Alpacas with exceptional conformation and presence will command a higher dollar value as will alpacas with dense crimpy, fine fibre and great coverage from the top of their head to the bottom of the legs.
Colour also plays a role in pricing alpacas. Black and shades of grey are more unusual so therefore cost more. Suri alpacas are rarer than huayacas and coloured suris are even rarer still so are priced accordingly.
It is not always possible to examine pedigree lines for some of our Canadian stock as these animals have been recently imported into the country and their parentage is unknown. These recent imports had to pass rigorous screening to be accepted into the Canadian registry and to the best of our knowledge are free from any congenital defects, so you can feel quite confident that they have acceptable conformation and fibre. Because of the tough screening requirements, and the associated costs, these animals may be priced slightly higher.
When alpacas first began arriving in Canada there was no screening to ensure that only the very best animals were accepted. Since the initial importations the pioneers of our industry have been improving their stock with each generation and today can offer some excellent pedigreed alpacas at reasonable prices.
The quality of the herdsire used to service a female plays a role in pricing both the pregnant female and offspring from that male. If a farm possesses an exceptional herdsire you can expect to pay more for females who have been bred to that male. However, you can also expect to receive more when you sell the offspring especially if the herdsire has been promoted throughout the industry,
When you purchase top-quality alpacas, whether the offspring is male or female isn't so important. These superior bloodlines dictate that a male offspring would be a good prospect for a herdsire and could be sold for a high price.
At present the majority of our stock in Canada comes from Chile where most of the wonderful coloured alpacas originate. You can expect to pay a premium for Bolivian or Peruvian bloodlines at least until these animals become more plentiful.
There is always talk about the relative merits of Chilean, Peruvian and Bolivian alpacas. They are labelled such because those are the countries they were imported from.
Each country contributes something beneficial to the alpaca gene pool, whether it be size, fibre density, fineness of fleece, coverage, personality or colour.
When looking at alpacas, be careful to look at each animal as an individual, judge it on it's own merits and choose it because it fits in with your vision for your farm.
We are very fortunate in Canada to have access to a superb mixture of genes from all three countries. It won't be long before our alpacas are the very best in the world.