Well, the great news is that there are wonderful breeders across North America who sell high quality alpaca at fair prices. We have purchased from over 100 different farms, large and small, and with only four exceptions have been satisfied with our purchases. I think this speaks well of our Industry. There are a number of things that I’d like you to consider; unfortunately, I cannot fit my entire article all in this one issue so please look to the next couple issues for more information.
Warranties and Guarantees
There are many levels of guarantees and warranties, as well as different kinds, so it is important to talk with Breeders to find the best fit between you and the Seller. I will review some guarantees/warranties here but please understand that there are most likely others out in the Industry that I haven’t heard of yet or have forgotten to mention. Different farms do things differently. There is not one universal “right way” but there are definitely differences that you should be aware of alpacas for sale. Guarantees for animals sold off farms are sometimes different than guarantees for animals sold at auctions. Read the fine print! The time to negotiate on YOUR behalf is BEFORE you sign the purchase agreement. Reproductive guarantees/warranties: This is the first kind of guarantee
or warranty that I’d like to discuss.
Females: There are often major differences between farms. Here are some of the different levels:
Maiden Female:
First Level: Seller warrants that the female has all her reproductive parts. Note that there is no guarantee that the parts will work and the female can become pregnant or carry to term. I have a pet female that I paid over $25,000 for a female at an auction that is testimony to the limits of this guarantee! In the next level of warranties, the Seller warrants that the female has all her reproductive parts AND that the parts work but doesn’t guarantee that the female can carry to term. I have seen many times where a female has her repro parts, gets pregnant but loses the pregancy each and every time. I have several of these on my farm and if you want to buy them…..I have some great swampland in Arizona for you to breed them on and raise their mystical crias! Stay away from these females but do not confuse this with a female who is being bred TOO young. Our vet doesn’t begin to worry about a female reproductively until she is well over two to two-and-one-half years old. Some breeders don’t begin breeding until their females are two years old. If in doubt, ask an experienced breeder.
Next level: the breeder guarantees that the female has all her parts, the parts work and she is capable of carrying the pregnancy to full term. What’s the proof on this? Well, an 11 month pregnancy! I’d like to point out that for a Seller selling a maiden female, there are some major risks involved with these guarantees. For example, if the Buyer mistreats the maiden or damages her in some way accidently, the Seller could find himself responsible for a problem not of their making. For example, gross obesity or starvation can cause females to shut down reproductively. Scar tissue due to overbreeding or infections can occur at the Buyer’s farm and can cause sterility. How do we handle this? At our farm, we sell maidens WITH a free breeding and this means that we are the first to breed the female. In this way, we not only have the responsibility for the first breeding, but also the control. This is why when we are occasionally asked to transfer the free breeding from the female to another female, we refuse to do so because this negates the purpose of the first breeding. Once the female reaches 11 months pregnancy and has carried to full term, most warranties that I am familiar with, end.
