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From Breast Cancer Limbo to Breeding Alpacas By Pamela Harwood, Longwoods Alpaca Farm, LLC How does one go from breast cancer "limbo" to breeding alpacas? I worked in the investment business for 12 years and my husband, Hugh, is a family doctor. A couple of years after our second son was born, I became a full time mom. I was a housewife and hockey mom for the next 9 years until November 2002 when my husband returned to private practice. I was scheduled to work part-time in his new office, but on his last day of work at the hospital, we got a phone call that turned our lives upside-down: a recent biopsy was positive for breast cancer. The next 8 months were filled with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, but the silver lining is I learned to knit during chemo. While I prefer natural fibers, wool was too coarse for my hairless head and neck. Someone suggested I try alpaca, and I’ve been hooked on knitting with alpaca ever since. Cancer treatment was finally done. I had survived, but no one could guarantee I was cured, and I found myself in "limbo", at a loss for what to do with my life. Then in November 2003, while looking for "something" that would keep me closer to home (we still had one son in high school) with real prospects for future income, we saw an ad in the local weekly for Royal River Alpaca Company’s Open Farm Day and I met my first alpaca, nose to nose. Still, it wasn’t until our neighbors came over bearing pictures of their latest investment – 2 bred alpaca females – that I got on the internet and learned about not only the wonderful lifestyle changes that beckoned, but also the tremendous tax advantages that could help us realize our longtime dream of having a "working barn" with livestock grazing in our pastures. Research and farm visits confirmed our belief that alpacas were the right choice: I love their fiber for knitting and felting, they are a manageable size, the communal dung piles help a lot with clean-up, there is still tremendous growth potential in developing a national herd large enough to support a commercial alpaca fiber industry, and so many wonderful and interesting people with more enthusiasm than previous livestock experience are successful alpaca breeders. "If they can make a go of it, why can’t we?" The alpaca community is wonderfully supportive of and encouraging to newcomers. The time is right – there is greater public awareness of alpaca farming, and more is known about alpaca husbandry and pasture management. Fewer risks, yes – a sure thing? No, but having just survived a tremendous scare, Hugh and I thought, "Why wait?" All of a sudden, I was looking forward again, and moved out of Breast Cancer Limbo and into the wonderful world of alpacas. We incorporated the business in April 2004 as a Limited Liability Corporation after consulting with legal and tax advisors, and purchased our first alpacas, 3 bred females, soon after. They didn’t arrive on our farm until November 2004. In the meantime we developed a business plan, secured financing, developed a site plan and presented it to the town Planning Board for approval, found a design for a barn that we liked and someone to build it, put up the fencing, found a camelid vet, and bought a lot of "stuff" one needs to have on hand to care for alpacas. 
Our farm is located on a 25-acre narrow strip of clear pasture between the Maine Central RR
and the Cumberland Town Forest. A 30' x 40' barn that has a 10' shed along the side replaced
the 50' x 100' hockey rink that we maintained with our neighbors for 9 years. We store
hay upstairs, have 4 stalls on one side, a center aisle, and farm implements, feed storage,
office space, and a farm store on the other side. The 1 acre paddock is subdivided into thirds,
though most of the time our bred females, weanlings, geldings, crias and herdsire all live
happily as one herd. Out back we have another 3 acres fenced in Geotek’s Common Sense Fence
and ElectroBraid. They are divided for easy pasture rotation. Other than hunting season,
birthing season, and the coldest winter months, our alpacas live in the back pastures,
sheltered by a 3-sided shed.Hugh and I have always worked well together, and alpaca farming has added a new dimension to our cooperation and togetherness. We are looking to keep the herd to about 20 -- small enough so we can manage it without hired help, yet large enough to produce some income: 5-6 breeding females and their cria, a herdsire, and a bunch of fiber boys. In addition, we agist alpacas we’ve sold that are waiting for their new farms to be readied. Hugh is the idea guy, problem solver, designer, fixer, tractor and snowplow guy. He holds, I do shots (even though he’s the doctor). I manage the finances, attend meetings, monitor herd health, and do the morning and evening chores. He cuts up the carrots for their bedtime snack, and we both "put them to bed". What we like most about alpaca farming is puttering around the barn, scooping this, sweeping that, and fixing something else – just being around these delightfully curious animals is calming. Scooping poop may be considered a "chore" by some, but it gives me a good workout. I talk to the alpacas while feeding and scooping, think about my day, and 5 years after my diagnosis, I come into the house feeling refreshed, strong, joyful, and alive! |
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