Alpaca Fencing

September 2021

Starting an Alpaca stud has its challenges. One thing we soon learnt after purchasing Barbarella ("Barb") is that alpacas require a certain type of fencing.

It was not long after bringing Barb home that we looked outside and could see that she was on one side of the fence while her buddies were on the other side. At first, we did not know how she was doing it, so we put in an additional wire that was about half the distance between your knee and the ground. We thought she's so little maybe when her head is down she just pushes on the top wire and walks under.

This did not fix it. Two days later, she proved that that was not low enough. We soon learnt that she was rolling under the fence.

The solution, a wire at 10cm off the ground!

We have found that anything higher and she gets out.

If you are wondering what type of fencing to use, we recommend using at least five single strands with one strand at 10cm off the ground OR sheep fencing is a great way to keep them in.

February 2022 (Update!)

Well, it is decided, the best fencing for alpacas is square sheep fencing. Soon after bringing our stud male home, he demonstrated to us how he could 'walk' straight through the strings of wire like the wire did not exist and wasn't tensioned (when it most certainly was). We also later learnt that our small cria could get through. So new fencing was a must.

The solution: South Wire Farm Fence 8W - 115X15cm.

We understand fencing can be expensive, but it is a necessary requirement for anybody who plans to keep alpacas, sheep, etc. We will slowly change our current fencing over to ensure the safety of our alpacas.