Welcome
- and thanks for visiting our website.
As you browse
these pages and get to know us better, you will quickly realize that we are simply NUTS about animals. We adore
our lovely alpacas, and we cannot imagine being without our dogs. We have a herd of alpacas, and six dogs - four Great Pyrenees
to guard the alpacas, and two house dogs to guard us.
You
obviously wish to know more about alpacas and whether breeding and caring for them is something that might appeal to you.
Well, you've come to the right place. We'll give it to you straight - warts and all - with no sales pressure, just
facts and solid information.
Tall Pines Farm
is the home of Classic Alpacas and the famous Breedmaster® herdsires - superior quality alpacas at reasonable prices. We began nine
years ago with three pregnant females and one male, now we maintain the herd at between 30 and 40 alpacas on our farm - a
level that we, as retired 'old folk' can comfortably operate.
We are located in Citrus County on
The Nature Coast of north central Florida, amidst the rolling hills and tall pines that give our farm its name. Blue skies
and year-round sunshine allow our herd of contented alpacas to roam and graze whenever they wish. We have a select herd of
Peruvian and Bolivian huacayas with elite championship bloodlines that have been carefully bred for beauty and value, and
we love every one of them.
We specialize in selling starter herds - frequently packaging as many as nine quality animals
for the price of three!
In our over-fifty
years of marriage together, Gillian and I have owned and operated many businesses, but never before have we become enamored
with the 'inventory' or 'product' as we have with these lovable, gentle creatures. Our only regret is
that we didn't start this venture 15 or 20 years sooner.
We take a low-key approach to owning and breeding
alpacas. We are not big on trekking around the country with a trailer full of frightened animals, attending shows and entering
competitions just so that we can accumulate ribbons and awards to satisfy our egos. This is stressful for the animals, especially
in the first and last trimesters of their pregnancies, and, despite the best precautions, such shows frequently spread diseases,
parasites, and viruses.
Instead, we attend very few shows
and prefer to spend our time with our animals in their pastures and barns; watching them, learning from them, and seeing that
they are as healthy, comfortable, and contented as we can make them. In this way, we try to ensure that they grow to be healthy
and fit, and we guarantee that their fiber is as fine, dense, and lustrous as almost any herd on the continent.
Our alpacas are socialized. By that we mean that they
will come when called, feed from your hand, and they mix easily with the Great Pyrenees guard dogs, farm visitors, and
children, and they love to be petted. The comfort of the animals is our highest priority - we never tie them down, even
when we shear them; and we clean and vacuum the pastures every day - sometimes twice a day.
Yes, you read it correctly, we actually vacuum the pastures!
Cleanliness is most important. In
a hot humid climate like Florida, parasites can breed and spread rapidly. Twice in the past two years we have taken part in
a national program sponsored and conducted by the University of Georgia, under a federal grant,
to assay and measure the presence of parasites on alpaca and llama farms. Both times we were told that the dozens
of samples taken from our farm indicated that we did not have sufficient parasites present to be measured! We are proud of that!
For their safety and comfort, all of our alpacas are acclimatized to the Florida climate.
Each year we breed our females to our exquisite herdsires for exceptional crias (baby alpacas). Their quality bloodlines ensure
superior genetics and our low overhead allows us to sell at very competitive prices. In addition, we can purchase animals
from over 260 breeders across North America to bring new bloodlines and genetics to our herd each year. If you tell us what
you are looking for, and we are unable to show you exactly what you wish to see, we will act as your broker and search the
country for an exact match for you - at no service charge to you!
We also board alpacas at our farm for those who do not have the land, or the time, to look
after the animals themselves, and we care for them as we do our own, at very reasonable rates. Superior personal care
at low rates - what more could you want?
Alpaca fiber is the softest natural fiber, softer and finer than Merino, Angora, Mohair, or Cashmere, and
yet it is extremely strong, and is in great demand by weavers and spinners alike. Also, alpaca fiber contains no lanolin.
Each fiber is hollow and is hypo allergenic and 100% environmentally-friendly.
Until recently, we owned a very special animal, CATER, a rare son of Rockamundo, the
alpaca that was tested to have the FINEST FIBER EVER MEASURED. Cater's offspring, both male and female, are now on
our farm and available for breeding and could bring their superior genetics to your herd.
We are a complete facility and take great pride in helping new clients
get established on their farms and become successful. From design, setting up, and daily operating, we help clients AT
NO CHARGE. We are available to you long after closing the sale. We want you to be as successful as we have been, and to enjoy
that success as much as we do.
We welcome visitors. So call us and come and see what the alpaca lifestyle is all about.
