For our last Meet and Greet we met the sweet Miss Rosie. Don't forget you can read all about Rosie in Kim's book! Rosie is the mother to this week’s featured alpaca, Lovey Love. Female alpacas generally have to be about 2 years old before they can be bred and since their gestation period is 11 months, they end up having their first cria (baby alpaca) when they’re three years old. Because Rosie is such a sweet, friendly and beautiful alpaca, Kim hoped she would be a long time breeder. When she had Lovey it was apparent that she was born to be a mom. She had incredible natural instincts, while being a chill and laid back mom. Even though Rosie loves being a mom and would have as many babies as she could, she’s only had Lovey do to some medical issues. About 3 years ago Kim was condensing her herd and knew that Lovey was an alpaca who was meant to always be around people making their day, so she knew the perfect place for him to end up: Alpacas of Montana.
Baby Lovey and mom Rosie with Kim!
Lovey came to our farm when he was 9 months old. He was deemed by Kim to be a pet quality alpaca and not a breeding alpaca, because he has superfine fiber (which is really soft and sometimes hard to use because it’s almost too soft), but James knew he would use his fiber, since Alpacas of Montana uses every ounce of fiber we get from our animals in our products.
As a baby, Lovey always liked to be really up close and personal with his mom!
Originally, James wasn’t going to breed him, but the people just couldn’t resist Lovey Love. Whenever James sells a female alpaca, if the family he sold the alpaca to wants to breed the female, they breed them at the Alpacas of Montana farm with one of our males, of which they get to choose. James sold quite a few females, so when people would come over to the farm to pick their male, they would always immediately fall in love with Lovey since he walks right up to everyone and likes hugs, so everyone wanted to use him. Most people who breed alpacas are looking for one of two things: a show quality alpaca or a pet quality alpaca who is sweet and fun. Lovey fits the bill for the latter very well.
(Left) Our dear volunteer Annie brought her mom to the farm to visit this alpacas! This was her first time meeting Lovey. (Right) Lovey and Pete getting hugs downtown!
Being his sweet (and originally innocent self), Lovey was trying to breed and his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell off the girl. He literally fell off and fell onto the ground and collapsed because he couldn’t handle himself. Sarah thought he had a heart attack, but he just couldn’t handle his first sexual encounters -- it happened for the first several times.
(Left) James / Chief Pooper Scooper cleaning up after Lovey downtown. (Right) Lovey and his pals playing basketball!
Now that he has the whole breeding thing more figured out, Lovey will be having 5 babies in the summer of 2022. Lovey is now 4 years old and has a best friend named Steal. James and Sarah bought Pete, Steel and Lovey at the same time, because they wanted them to have a little possy where they felt safe and happy. They are super tight buddies and always love to be together, but Steel got castrated and Lovey didn’t so they were separated all summer, which made them a bit sad. They still love each other a lot and love to hang out. Lovey, like Pete, is one of the main guys who travels with Alpacas of Montana, because he is an exceptionally sweet alpaca who just loves to love. You’ll be seeing lots of our Lovey Love at Owenhouse Ace Hardware this winter, so make sure to come say hi, give Lovey a hug and shop all of our products!
Join the alpaca revolution! Alpaca is a sustainable alternative that is not only good for the earth, but for all of us. Alpaca wool is stronger, softer, more eco-friendly, and offers 85% greater wicking capability than merino wool. It is also hypoallergenic! Learn more about the benefits of alpaca in our Alpaca vs. Wool blog posts, shop our collections and follow us on social media!
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