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IAC Home > Alpaca Resource Center > Breeder's Tips
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| Alpaca Barns
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In South America alpacas are put in corrals at night for protection from predators and to keep them from wandering away.
In the United States most alpaca breeders construct open shelters for their animals as opposed to closed barns.
Alpacas simply need to get out of the wind and have a dry place to eat or lay down during a storm.
An ideal shelter allows the alpacas to come and go as they please.
Gravel (as opposed to cement) is the best flooring material.
The feed troughs should allow about 18" of lineal space, per alpaca, to eat. This means that 12 alpacas would need about 18 feet of feed troughs. The troughs should be built low to the ground: 18 inches high is ideal.
The shelters should have side walls or closed ends to block the wind. For cover I like to see about 12 to 16 feet of roof over their heads from the back wall to the eaves.
A barn or shelter should serve several functions: 1) to provide a loafing area for the alpacas, 2) to store hay, 3) to provide catch pens for the alpacas and, 4) to provide an area to clip toenails, give injections and shear the animals.
You will also want a small storage area or veterinary room.
The most useful barn will service a large number of pastures.
The smallest barn at Northwest Alpacas services four pastures and the largest has eleven pastures feeding into the structure.
Barns can be octagon, round, square or rectangle in shape.
The most functional barn I have has a center corridor for hay storage and animal workspace with pastures feeding in to covered spaces on both sides.
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 |  Alpaca Facilities
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The Ideal Alpaca Community College is a great place to learn the ropes of the alpaca inudstry. Looking to learn how to train your unruly alpacas? Marketing got you down? Sheering not your thing?
These classes, offered at your farm or in groups around the country can put you on the right track.
Find out more
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