Uh Oh the wife wants to raise Alpacas.

[dumpster56]

Man she needs to stop watching the View.

First we had too much property now after 6 months in the new place and 1 month for me into ER she wants to find property and raise these babies.

Interesting thought though.

 

[Khan]

Sounds like a sit-com.

 

[Jane_Doe]

Morning, New Guy!

Glad to hear your retirement is going so well! FWIW, my DH heard about alpacas several years ago and looked into it. IIRC, the wool - which is your "cash crop" is not as easily sold as they make it sound. Many alpaca owners seem to be into the breeding and selling of livestock, so they don't tell you that you won't get rich because they want you to buy their animals. Also, we went on a girl scout outing to a local farm raising them, and they are not so cute and cuddly as they seem. The local owner was a retired veterinarian and his wife. Said it was hard for her to handle them herself, physically. Again, all this is if I remember/recollect correctly, but I am pretty sure this is an accurate account. In other words (as usual) if it sounds too good/easy to be true, there's probably a hitch.

Sorry to burst your wife's bubble!

Jane

 

[Martha]

I heard that they spit when they are mad.

 

[Gone4Good]

I wouldn't breed any animals for profit - and I also wouldn't buy any from those who did. I feel bad for the little critters who are usually over bred, maltreated, and euthanized once they become inconvenient.

 

[2B]

newguy888,

You used to be able to get rich raising minks.

Having livestock of any kind will make it impossible to just go and do. You'll be tied to the land. It also sounds too much like a real job. In my experience all livestock wants something just before sunrise and frequently requires your attention after 9 pm.

Is it possible DW just wants to find something for you to do?

2B

 

[dumpster56]

Oh she is off the topic as fast as she started this morning.

I showed her the numbers and the tied down factor, you want to fly to scotland and drink some single malt? Uh not this week, month or year you gotta take care of THEM ALPACAS!!!!

She is thinking straight now.

Geesh!

and I thought I was the crazy one in this pair!

 

[bssc]

This sounds like ostriche breeding that was popular 10 years ago. A BIL got a whole herd of them on his farm because he was going to be rich. Unfortunately, in many ways it was like a pyramid scheme since the only money was made by those getting in early and selling to new people.

So why does your wife want to breed Alpacas anyhow? For the money from their wool or because they are cute and cuddley. I second Jane_Doe's comments.

 

[dumpster56]

This sounds like ostriche breeding that was popular 10 years ago. A BIL got a whole herd of them on his farm because he was going to be rich. Unfortunately, in many ways it was like a pyramid scheme since the only money was made by those getting in early and selling to new people.

So why does your wife want to breed Alpacas anyhow? For the money from their wool or because they are cute and cuddley. I second Jane_Doe's comments.

See above.. Post I talked some sense into her already and its only noon on sunday!

She was just thinking that they were easy to breed and since she is a knitter from way back she loves the fiber.

 

[bssc]

Good work. My fear is that my wife will become a crazy cat lady. I have set the limit at five but we have several hundred cat figurines.

 

[dumpster56]

Good work. My fear is that my wife will become a crazy cat lady. I have set the limit at five but we have several hundred cat figurines.

We had two gone to heaven.

Hey get this she just said she would take my camry a 2005 model real nice car and let me trade in her subaru forrester a 2004 model for a nice new tacoma prerunner pick up truck!!

Wow what have I done ??

 

[haha]

I wouldn't breed any animals for profit - and I also wouldn't buy any from those who did.

Do you by any chance eat meat? It's true those ranchers don't see much profit, but they are at least pointed in that direction.

Ha

 

[Leonidas]

Do you by any chance eat meat? It's true thiose ranchers don't see much profit, but they are at least pointed in that direction.

You beat me to it!

 

[Goonie]

This sounds like ostriche breeding that was popular 10 years ago. A BIL got a whole herd of them on his farm because he was going to be rich. Unfortunately, in many ways it was like a pyramid scheme since the only money was made by those getting in early and selling to new people.

I have a close friend who has been farming and raising livestock all his life. He checked out the ostrich thing back when it was 'hip'. He thoroughly researched it all, and found that nearly every part of the ostrich could be sold, but there was such a glut in the market that you couldn't make any profit. In fact he would have had to sell at a loss, just to get rid of the darn critters.

Fads...ya gotta love 'em!

 

[poboy]

For fun and a few bucks what about pig racing, you could build a track, charge admission and take a few side bets, plus have some bacon or ham later.

 

[farmerEd]

Alpacas are a ponzi scheme...nothing more, nothing less/ You buy expensive animals and *THE ONLY WAY YOU MAKE MONEY* is to breed them and sell the expensive offspring to someone else who then must, in order to make money, find someone even dumber than himself to sell to...and the cycle continues.

Think about it like any other investment, what is the true value of the animal based on selling in anything other than a ponzi setup...you can sell some wool, you can butcher them and sell some meat and maybe even a few pelts...IF YOU ARE LUCKY you will cover the cost of their feed...their is no justification any other way.

The only way the whole system works is you must find someone even dumber than yourself to sell to....if you get in early enough, maybe you can make some money. I don't think its early enough anymore.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Tons of people got into it around here, and they were almost all existing farmers with substantial livestock. To the best of my knowledge none of them are making anything off of the alpacas even though they already had most of the equipment/knowledge/etc to handle them, ie...little overhead.

My dogs really like to bark at them when we drive by in the car though.

 

[Caroline]

See above.. Post I talked some sense into her already and its only noon on sunday!

So... what made you think she was serious in the first place?

Speaking for myself, I like to talk out loud about all of the wonderful things we MIGHT do. Sell the house and RV full time. Buy a houseboat and float around the delta. Follow the Kaderlie's example and get one of those inexpensive trailer-things in Arizona -- maybe backpack around the world.

We'll do a small fraction of them, but it's great to fantasize and once in a while one of those fantasies comes true (Kilimanjaro / Safari, for example.)

What would it be like to give your wife a couple of days to entertain her dreams before you throw the wet blanket on them?

 

[LeatherneckPA]

I wouldn't breed any animals for profit - and I also wouldn't buy any from those who did. I feel bad for the little critters who are usually over bred, maltreated, and euthanized once they become inconvenient.

And thus you are a total VEGAN, own NO LEATHER SHOES, wear only man-made fibers, and run a non-profit no-kill animal shelter for homeless pets!? Have you ever actually lived/worked on a farm? I grew up on a goat dairy farm. We cried every time one died. They were as much our pets as the dogs and cats were. I get such a kick of PETA-like hypocritical generalizations like yours.

I'm not saying there aren't unethical people out there, but my wife and I just visited a farm last week to purchase wool for her weaving experiment. Very nice, very clean, animals obviously enjoyed the company of the owner, and that of the two beautiful Alsatian guard dogs kept in the pen/barn with them. She needs those because of the coyotes, bobcats, and black bear in the area that like the taste of goat and sheep kids.

 

[farmerEd]

And thus you are a total VEGAN, own NO LEATHER SHOES, wear only man-made fibers, and run a non-profit no-kill animal shelter for homeless pets!? Have you ever actually lived/worked on a farm? I grew up on a goat dairy farm. We cried every time one died. They were as much our pets as the dogs and cats were. I get such a kick of PETA-like hypocritical generalizations like yours.

I suspect you have totally misinterpreted the post...not hard to do when you read everything with a closed mind.

And, BTW, if you really grew up on a farm you'd know that sheep don't have "kids", goats do. Sheep have lambs.

 

[dumpster56]

So... what made you think she was serious in the first place?

Speaking for myself, I like to talk out loud about all of the wonderful things we MIGHT do. Sell the house and RV full time. Buy a houseboat and float around the delta. Follow the Kaderlie's example and get one of those inexpensive trailer-things in Arizona -- maybe backpack around the world.

We'll do a small fraction of them, but it's great to fantasize and once in a while one of those fantasies comes true (Kilimanjaro / Safari, for example.)

What would it be like to give your wife a couple of days to entertain her dreams before you throw the wet blanket on them?

Oh it was all in good fun, she is soooo like me, we talk about anything that pops up in our little heads and bingo off to the races we go.

It is quite amusing, and my sister thinks we both are off our rockers!

 

[LeatherneckPA]

,,,,we talk about anything that pops up in our little heads and bingo off to the races we go. It is quite amusing,,,,,

It's also resulted in some of the most fun DW and I have had. Sometimes really screwy ideas just pan out.

 

[LeatherneckPA]

,,,,,sheep don't have "kids", goats do. Sheep have lambs......

LOL, "sheepish" apology for not taking the time to write down both babies.

 

[Gone4Good]

And thus you are a total VEGAN, own NO LEATHER SHOES, wear only man-made fibers, and run a non-profit no-kill animal shelter for homeless pets!? . . . I get such a kick of PETA-like hypocritical generalizations like yours.

:

I suspect you have totally misinterpreted the post...not hard to do when you read everything with a closed mind.

You suspect correctly.

 

[audreyh1]

Is your wife looking for something to do? Is life looking like a giant blank slate right now and she has no idea how to fill the time ahead?

Time to start brainstorming buddy!

Audrey