ANYONE running 32 alpacas nowdays would almost be classed as a serious breeder.

  • Who: Roger Polkinghorne
  • What: sheep
  • Why: alpaca guard squad
  • Where: St Arnaud

But rather than breed them, Roger Polkinghorne, a serious breeder of Merinos, employs the alpaca to guard ewes and lambs from foxes, dogs and other likely predators, including eagles.

The Polkinghornes, better known for their Charinga, Banavie and Gowandale studs, lamb down 15,000 stud and flock ewes on several properties in the Charlton, St Arnaud and Marnoo districts.

About nine years ago, Roger and Donna Polkinghorne opted to try an alpaca as a guardian of the flock, a concept promoted by alpaca breeders keen to offload unwanted males or wethers.

Since then, they have increased their guard squad to 32 alpacas.

"They've got to be castrated wethers, preferably two to three years old," Roger said.

The Polkinghornes run their alpacas at the rate of one per mob of about 100 ewes.

"We tend to run one alpaca per stud mob, although I guess you could run one per 200-300 ewes in a commercial flock," Roger said.

So how good are they?

Roger is not quite sure, although he hasn't seen evidence of a fox attack since adding alpacas to lambing mobs.

"Certainly there are plenty of foxes in the district," he said.

Roger said the studs' ram customers were confident alpacas had helped lift lamb markings by at least 10 per cent.

Evidence in favour of alpacas surfaced a few years ago, when Roger spotted an alpaca standing between a ewe with a newborn lamb and an eagle perched on a fence several yards away.

"That alpaca wasn't going to budge until the eagle left," Roger said.

As a demonstration of the alpaca's protective instincts, Roger put one of his more experienced dogs around a mob of ewes on the point of the lambing.

Even though the dog was able to move the ewes, the alpaca made sure he worked at a distance.

Roger said it paid to be careful with the type of dog used around a guarded mob.

"It's not the place for young dogs or dogs with 'eye'," he said.

But apart from the guard duty, Roger said alpacas offered other benefits, including mustering lambs that tended to wander from the mob, and as leaders of the flock.

"(They are) very handy when you want to put a mob through a gateway," he said. "The alpaca will often lead the way."

With alpaca wethers now being advertised for $200-$500, Roger said he was prepared to pay at the top end for a wether that was not only white, but from a herd with a Johne's Disease MN3 accreditation, because he wanted to maintain the MN3 status of the Merino studs.

He said the alpaca was a hardy animal and happy to graze what the sheep grazed.

Since 2000, the Polkinghornes have lost only one alpaca. Some of them are now more than 10 years old.

If the alpacas are that good, there must some downside.

"Shearing them," said Donna.

"You have to shear them each year, because they will get very scruffy."

Shearing, it seems, is a matter of all hands on deck, to restrain the blindfolded alpaca.

And the shearer walks away with $25 for each animal.

Tips for running alpaca guards: 

  • Beware of putting an alpaca into a mob of ewes at joining, as some will prevent the ram from doing his duty. 
  • Preferably introduce an alpaca to a mob one to two months before lambing.
  • Transport the alpaca to the flock rather than attempt to drive it on foot.
  • At weaning, leave the alpaca with the weaned lambs, as they can lead these lambs to water.
  • Preferably run one alpaca per mob. Running two or more together runs the risk of them looking after each other rather the flock.
  • Once off guard duty, alpacas can be run together.