Alpacas Go 'Flying' at Long Valley Farm

The Flying Alpacas Farm has been working for about a year according to owner, Ed Ball. "We were researching Alpacas for a few years," said Ball. "Doing horses and cows, forget it." 

Ball said the animals are easy to handle, they only cost about $400 a year to feed, and the fiber and the animals are very marketable.

Among the animals on the Flying Alpaca Farm are two "guard" llamas. From the same family as alpacas, the llamas are very protective of their cousins. 

"We recently had a bear come through here," said Ball, "and one of the llamas rounded all the alpacas in a corner then stood at the fence, stared down the bear and said 'Come get it.'"  Ball said the llamas are less expensive and much easier to keep than a guard dog.    

At the farm, the Balls have three dogs, five cats and 13 chickens that keep the 20 alpacas and two llamas company.