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KENNEDY – 3 Spring Alpacas Farm are commemorating National Alpaca Day this weekend with an experience they say you won’t forget.
Owner and operator Stephanie Clark tells us she is excited to celebrate National Alpaca Day, which takes place on September 25 and 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at her farm with all her furry friends.
Located at 548 Rt. 394 in Kennedy, Clark and her husband host the event every year, but she says this one will be the best so far.
“Our farm holds an open house every year. Each year we try to make it a little bit better,” said Clark. “This weekend we are giving a free farm tour first and foremost, you bring your friends and your family out and we will bring you around the farm and will tell you a little bit about the boy Alpacas and the girl Alpacas which their is a huge difference between the two other than the obvious.”
Clark says she also plans to have new crafts this year as well.
“We are also this year adding a couple of local crafters to our event. We are going to have Round Back She Shed and we’re going to have Colquhoun’s Crafted Ice Cream here,” furthered Clark.
Clark and her husband first fell in love with Alpacas after attending a fair in 2005, and the rest was history. Although Clark has other animals, she says the upkeep for her 17-Alpacas is pretty straightforward.
“Well we feed them twice a day. They eat grain and grass and hey and that’s pretty much what they eat, they have three stomachs so they crew their cut all day so it’s not expensive to feed them,” said Cark. “Taking care of them is fairly easy. You just clean the poop pile once a day and you’re pretty much done.”
The poop is of interest to some, since alpacas are generally clean animals and only drop feces in specific areas. Another part of the upkeep, Clark says, is having her Alpacas sheared once a year.
“We use the fiber off the animals once a year they get shorn so we hire someone to come here and have them shorn for us and then we use the fiber to make products out of it or to make yarn out of it so we can make product of out it and then we sell of that in our gift shop,” Clark explained.
Despite the maintenance being a no brainer for Clark, when it comes to breeding Alpacas; careful consideration is key.
“When your breeding for an Alpaca you want to find one that has something missing from the characteristics in the fiber and then find a male that has the characteristic in it so that you can put the two of them to together and hopefully breed it into that baby,” says Clark
Clarks farm animals are all for sale and trade, she says you can find more information on her Facebook, just search 3 Springs Alpacas.
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