Alpaca guide
Practical, New Zealand-specific knowledge from AANZ members — organised by what you need to know, not how the association is structured.
Fibre
Understanding, harvesting and testing the fleece that makes the alpaca valuable.
- 01Fibre and fleece testingAlpaca is one of the most luxurious natural fibres in the world. The handle [feel] and softness of quality fleeces, pure luxuriousness sets alpaca apart from other natural fibres…
- 02The AANZ breed standardThe Breed Standard is used to determine an alpaca, describing the natural characteristics and traits. These breed standards look at form, conformation and fibre.
- 03ShearingAlpaca shearing is a vital part of an alpaca’s life. Alpaca have been domesticated for the last 6,000 years and do not exist in the wild, as such they rely on farmers to ensure…