A Serene Success Story
From a couple of pet wethers in 1997 Michelle from Serenity Alpacas has seen her business grow to a breeding herd of over 120 animals and a successful retail shop selling toys, clothing and products made from alpaca fibre.
“Alpacas are great fun and smart, inquisitive and sweet animals. We’ve spent lots of hours on herd development, at shows and poring over genetics to make sure we have the right animals in our herd. We pride ourselves in being a holistic business, so we not only sell the animals for pets, guards and breeding, we also have SerenityCare to take care of other peoples’ animals.
“Fibre we shear is sold to hand spinners and crafters, made into yarn or sold to larger producers to make specialised clothing, rugs and products. We even sell poop by the bag or the trailer load which is great for gardens. We sell it as fast as we can vacuum it!” Michelle said.
“It’s been a tough few months as all alpaca shows and field days have been cancelled for the rest of the year. However, we’ve spent the time building a retail website and planning for some virtual training webinars.
“Alpaca farming is very strong in the local area with some fabulous boutique breeders, as you don’t need to have large acreage. Our future plans include exporting to Europe and we are confident ours and the industry in Victoria and Australia will continue to expand in a sustainable fashion,” Michelle said.
Visit www.serenityalpacas.com.au for animal information and www.alpacastore.com.au for products.