Alpaca business booming in Snellville

Precious approaches with a wide, toothy grin. The 7-year-old raises her long neck, stares and motions for affection.

“Most alpacas don’t like to be pet, but she’s the exception,” farm manager Joe Fowler said. “She’s like our public relations ambassador.”

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Vino Wong/vwong@ajc.com

Precious, right, is the unofficial ambassador for Creekwater Alpacas in Snellville.

ABOUT CREEKWATER ALPACAS

• What: A 52-acre farm that breeds and sells alpacas and sells socks made of their fleece.
• Where: 2742 Centerville Rosebud Road, Snellville
• Cost: $18,000 to $24,000 for an alpaca; socks go for $15 apiece, or two for $25
• More info: www.creekwateralpacas.com; www.creekwaterproducts.com

• Photos

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Precious is one of about 150 alpacas that roam a patch of land on the outskirts of Snellville. These long-necked relatives of camels are the star attraction at Creekwater Alpacas, a 52-acre farm nestled in a quiet neighborhood just a few miles from business-lined U.S. 78.

Started in 1993 with just three alpacas, Creekwater Alpacas has grown into a booming business of breeding, raising, showing and selling the docile animals, owner Nance Sturm said.

“They’re real quiet, gentle creatures,” Sturm said. “You can’t help but like them.”

And what’s not to like.

Alpacas, native to the South American countries of Peru, Bolivia and Chile, are friendly, soft to the touch and easy to care for, said Fowler, who works at the farm six days a week. They are fed grain twice a day and have an abundant supply of hay.

“They’re not a grazer; they’re a browser,” meaning they eat a little bit of everything, including leaves off a tree, Fowler said.

In the cooler months, Fowler teaches an alpaca seminar every six weeks, covering everything from daily care to special care to birthing.

The course draws 16 to 18 people interested in the animals.

“Some people come to look to buy,” he said. “Half come to just stare at the animal.”

Sturm said alpacas fetch from $18,000 to $24,000, depending on the breed and type. She added that most people buy them as investments, not as pets.

“I don’t know if anyone would put that kind of money into a pet,” she said.

At Creekwater Alpacas, the animals come in 22 colors and range in age from a few days old to “geriatric alpacas,” those well into their teens. The average lifespan is 18 years, Sturm said.

Hundreds of people file through the farm each year, including curious children from neighboring schools. And a few years ago, a woman in her mid-30s suffering from cancer spent about two hours on the farm. “She so loved it,” Sturm said, adding that the woman later requested a tape of the alpacas humming.

Raising and breeding alpacas isn’t the only business at the farm. For the past few years, Creekwater Alpacas has made a bundle in selling socks made of alpaca fleece, which Sturm said is warmer and stronger than wool.

Despite tough economic times, business doubled this year, well above Sturm’s projected 30 percent increase.

“Our business is good,” she said. “It’s very good.”