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Alpaca Breeder Farm

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Located just East of Historic Homosassa Springs, Alpaca Magic USA is the home of over 100 Suri and Huacaya Alpacas. In 1996 Jean Riley started out with just 2 pregnant females and since then Alapca Magic USA has grown to become one of Florida's largest alpaca farms.

Alpaca Magic USA is a family owned and run business. Jean and her son and his wife, Kent and Doreen Mylin work together to raise, breed and market these wonderful creatures. When the rest of the family saw how easy it is to handle alpacas and how profitable they are they all wanted to join in on the lifestyle and investment. Jean raised llamas for 7 years before purchasing her first alpacas resulting in over 20 years of camelid experience.

Weighing in on an average of only 140 pounds, alpacas are not hard to handle and are easy to keep on just a few acres. They are very soil friendly. A 4 foot fence, some shade, and a simple shelter is all that is required. The cost of feed is a small factor to consider. Alpacas only eat 1 to 1.5 percent of their body weight per day. Raising Alpacas offers a simplified rural lifestyle. We enjoy the 30 second commute to our barn in the mornings.

One of the biggest concerns for potential alpaca breeders here in Florida is the climate. We provide plenty of shade, cool water and fans during the Summer months.

Here at Alpaca Magic USA we give our own vaccinations, do our own deworming and toenail clipping. We will go to your farm and help you do these chores so that you will feel comfortable doing them on your own in your own surroundings.

We offer to board pregnant mothers at Alpaca Magic USA during the last trimester of their pregnancy for those that are concerned about the birth, however, most alpaca babies, crias, are delivered fairly easily. Because they are from cold climates, most alpaca births occur during the day and are uncomplicated. We also board alpacas year round for those who want to reap the benefits of owning alpacas but do not have the land to raise their own.

There are 2 kinds of alpacas-the Huacaya and Suri. Ninety percent of alpacas in this country (and worldwide) are Huacaya. They are distinguishable from each other mainly by their fleece: The Huacaya fleece is wooly and the Suri fleece falls like pencil-thin dreadlocks. Alpaca Magic USA has an assortment of both but mostly Suris.

The herd typically shares a communal manure pile making alpacas easy to clean up after. Their manure is rich and small, similar to sheep manure, and is wecome to gardeners even before composting.

Can money be made from alpacas? If a buyer forms a plan, sets goals, properly prepares his or her farm, (or boarding arrangement with a farm), cares for the herd and carefully plans breeding, the answer is almost a definite "yes". There is a strong demand for well-bred breeding stock, and this is keeping prices high. A number of factors assure future market growth. As of 1998, imported alpacas can no longer be registered with the Alpaca Registry Inc. and all alpacas are DNA tested making it impossible to "switch" crias. Plus alpacas have just one cria per year, which means the growth rate is set.

The end product of the alpaca is their fleece. It is five times warmer and seven times stronger than sheep's wool. We do not have enough alpacas in the United States as of yet to harvest enough fleece to meet the demand of commercial mills to gear up to process alpaca fiber. It will take many years to raise enough alpacas to do so. Supply and Demand!