Big Rock Alpaca Farm

? We finally got our second cutting of orchard grass hay made for the alpacas.? Rick from Rick’s Custom Baling went all out again to get it down for us, and he did an excellent job.? There are some weeds in the hay bales?but the alpacas will just eat around them for the nice soft orchard grass hay.? The downside is that I’ll need to be cleaning the hay feeder of the stuff they wont eat.

? We did get about 100 bales more than we need of second cutting orchard grass hay so if you are interested in some nice alpaca hay let us know, it would also be good for other livestock.? Through November 2008 the price per bale will be $5, as the winter progresses the price will most likely increase.? Unfortunately we can’t deliver it so you will need to pick it up at the farm.? We can help load?a truck if necessary.

We will be having it available at our upcoming open house, so if you’re interested you may want to get your hay before then.

Tags: Hay by Allen
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? We’ve just completed our second Saturday at Ashcombe’s this weekend.? It’s been wonderful.? We’ve gotten to meet lots of nice people.? And the kids really love seeing the alpacas.

Stand at Ashcombes

We will be there for one more weekend, weather permitting.? After that we’ll have a weekend off before our open house at the farm.?? If you miss us at Ashcombe’s be sure to come visit us during our open house.

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? With all the turmoil in the stock markets people are looking for alternative locations for their money, and alpacas are making the cut.? The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article relating the investment potential of alpacas to investing in gold.? There are some similarities in respect to investment potential, but there is one significant thing that alpacas can do that gold can’t do.? That is ‘multiply’!

Suppose you have $20,000 to invest.? That will get you apx? 20 gold eagles or two female alpacas (assuming $1,000/oz of gold and $10,000/female).? Suppose you want to hold the investment for 5 years:

So at the end of five years you’ll have 5 females, several crias and some extra males, assuming you’ve held everything.? Ignoring the extra males and even the crias the 5 females could easily be worth $50,000.? This is probably going to be much more valuable than the 20 gold eagles which didn’t do anything during the 5 years but look pretty.? There are also numerous tax advantages to alpaca investment that may not exist for an investment in gold.? John Petersam from Criative Acres has a nice write up on some of these aspects.

Want to diversify your portfolio?? Get a huacaya and a suri!? Actually I’m just kidding, that wouldn’t be the best way to start off.

You should consult your various advisers, tax and investment, research all aspects of any investment, including alpacas and gold.

Tags: Investment by Allen
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