Our Breeding Program!
Creating the finest suri alpaca by blending the genetics of our past with the refined elegance of today!
Shearing day at Alpaca Bella Suri Farm 2013 Dawn and Susan
Why Alpacas?
Great question, and we wish we had a brilliant answer.
Our Alpaca journey began when Dawn retired from a museum, and by coincidence, Susan watched an episode of DIRTY JOBS with Mike Rowe, working on an alpaca farm, around this same time in early 2012. An idea was born, and the research began.
Dawn had actually seen an alpaca, but not up close-Susan only on TV, so they had to decide which type of Alpaca they wanted to breed. It truly was not a hard decision. The Alpaca is a magnificent animal, and once you have witnessed a Suri in motion with their fleece flowing, well, for us anyway, little could compare.
Many farm visits, and phone calls later, we purchased our starter herd of five females in late 2012. Our herd has grown to around 40 now, through careful acquisitions (or so we hope) and our crias. We still have much to learn, but we are enjoying the adventure.
Nola Graham, of NGG Alpacas and Castle Hill Farm, was our first mentor. She was very patient with our series of questions and constant phone calls. Nola was especially brave inviting two “City Girls” (Susan had actually owned horses and worked on a horse farm) for Alpaca Bootcamp!
The real stewards of our alpacas are Joe Miller, Nebraska Alpaca Farm, and Ray and Candy McMahan, Raynay Alpaca Farm in North Carolina. We agist, so these folks are on the frontlines daily, taking care of our furry friends and giving the best care and advice we could ever hope for! Not only have these folks been the best mentors, they have become very close friends.
We cannot forget to mention Dawn’s husband, Christopher, who accompanies her to the shows (self proclaimed chauffeur and chief pooper scooper), since Susan is still working a day job and cannot attend as much as she would like.
There have been so many folks over these last five years that welcomed us into their Alpaca world with open arms, and hearts. Alpaca folks Rock!
The best advice we received when we started:
Visit the Alpaca Farms in your area.
Attend as many Alpaca Shows as possible to not only look, and touch the animals, but to pick the brains of all you have the pleasure to speak with.
What is a Suri Alpaca?!