About Us

Where it all started . . .

From the start – Mulberry Alpacas has been a family venture and a way of enjoying our family time together since 2006 when Chloe was just five. After very careful research we bought our first three boys to guard the chickens from Mr Fox who wanders by regularly – he took our previous hens in the middle of the day !

We have done a vast amount of research and visited many herds of all types. We decided from the outset that we wanted to work with the fleeces, our first shearing was part of a very steep learning curve. We have unashamedly sought advice over the years and greatly value our networking through the British Alpaca Society who provide quality markers for all aspects of our enterprise.

Harry has attended many training courses provided by and supported by BAS over the years. These have included aspects of husbandry, fleece assessment, breeding and birthing and fibre to market as well as the completing the foundation course for judge training. Our education is ongoing and now we find ourselves sharing our knowledge and experience with others as we deliver courses and offer individual support to new alpaca keepers. We are now BAS Affiliated Trainers. Harry has passed the BAS instruction course and is now able to lead Husbandry Workshops for individuals.

Breeding & Management

Harry takes a lead in herd management, husbandry and breeding programme constantly researching new studs year by year. He is also busy delivering group talks about our herd & products, running alpaca husbandry courses and showing visitors around the farm.

Chloe has learnt to handle and manage the herd over the years and has become a very capable alpaca handler. She heads up the halter training of all our youngsters and seems to manage this very efficiently with little fuss. She is usually the one who will take our show team into the ring. Explanations to visitors and groups about halter training are a very familiar part of her repertoire. She is always willing to lend a hand with matings and “spit offs” (If you want to know more – ask her!).

Fleece

From the time our first ball of yarn came back from the mill Roz has enthusiastically knitted, crocheted and felted – she heads up our team of knitters and monitors our showroom and products with meticulous scrutiny. We are constantly looking for new ideas in what we are doing with our fleece.

There is a special thrill to see garments produced from the fleece of a particular animal we know. We always thank our alpacas for producing such warm sock & duvets and beautifully soft yarn and knitwear. Our balls of yarn often carry a label with the name of the alpaca it came from.