Alpacas - What are They Good for?


By Debby McCandless


Alpacas. By now most people have heard of this exotic livestock, but why would anyone want to own them? Here are four answers to "What are they good for?".

• They're good for a tax break. You can get quite a bit of money back from uncle sam when you claim an alpaca business on your taxes. Alpacas can be depreciated over five years. Fences and other alpaca related needs for your farm can also be written off. Just be sure you are a business and not a hobby farmer or you could get yourself into trouble. Your tax guy can tell you if alpaca farming has any advantages for you.

• They're good for fertilizer. Not the alpaca! The manure an alpaca produces. Corn never grew where we live until we tried alpaca manure on our garden. After spreading alpaca manure on the garden, not only did our corn grow but it was the sweetest corn ever! The manure was the only thing we did different and we are quite sure it made the difference. It's possible to make a little side business out of alpaca manure.

• They're good for their luxurious fleece. You can spin, weave, and felt alpaca fiber for fantastic products. Make hats, scarfs, sweaters, socks, and much more. It's possible to have another side business using alpaca fleece. The money you earn from fiber related products can maintain your herd so the cost of keeping them is little to nothing.

• They're good for lowering your blood pressure. What? ...Well, it's really the lifestyle that can have an affect on your blood pressure.

• You get plenty of possible blood pressure lowering exercise working around your alpaca farm. Scooping poop and transferring it to your garden, herding the animals to worm and trim toenails, building fences and shelters, and other miscellaneous farm activities.

• You relax and get a laugh or two watching alpaca antics. The silly grin an alpaca perpetually wears can make you smile, too. Spinning the fiber is, also, a very relaxing activity. A happy, balanced life with a positive attitude will lower your blood pressure.

• Sip on your caffeine-free coffee, munch on some celery, and enjoy your stress reducing alpacas for a lower blood pressure.

There you go. Four answers to what alpacas are good for. You get tax breaks, fertilizer, fleece products, and perhaps lower blood pressure...And there are more than four answers to this question.

Debby McCandless owns alpacas and uses the fleece as a home business. Visit http://www.owning-alpaca.com/index.html to discover more answers to what alpacas are good for.


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