Our youngster of 8-9 months old have now left their mums and are now the only alpacas based at Yew Tree for the next 4 weeks before going to be with the main herd.

They are kept together as a group initially as this is far less stressful than putting them into the big herd at the time of weaning.

 
Its important to train them to wear a headcollar and also walk on the lead rope both for easier handling and for training to walk in the walking team.

 
It will be a minimum of 6 months before they can do any practice walks with us out on the footpaths and likely 9 months before they meet a customer for a walk. The training duration varies as different personalities take to it at different speeds. Here’s a glimpse of the young ones and how they getting used to leading and wearing their headcollars.

Alpaca teens learn to walk

Carlos dislikes his headcollar

Zebedee getting used to headcollar