Raise healthy, happy alpacas — wherever you live.
Free, evidence-based answers for alpaca owners: what they can eat, which plants are poisonous, what a symptom means, and a climate-based care calendar for every U.S. county.
Answers in seconds
Calculators and checkers built for real alpaca questions. Everything runs in your browser.
Toxic plant checker
Is it poisonous? Search 201 plants with symptoms and first aid.
Symptom checker
Not eating, wobbly, pale gums? Likely causes and when to call the vet.
Feeding & water calculator
Daily hay, protein and water for any weight and life stage.
Due-date calculator
Birthing window and a pregnancy checklist from the breeding date.
Heat-stress calculator
Temperature + humidity index with clear actions.
Can alpacas eat…?
149 foods and treats with verdicts and USDA data.
Is your alpaca unwell?
Alpacas hide illness. If something seems off, start here — every guide lists likely causes and when to call the vet.
Can alpacas eat…?
Quick verdicts with serving sizes and USDA nutrition data for 149 foods.
The deadliest plants for alpacas
A few mouthfuls of these can kill. Check your fence lines.
Alpaca care tuned to where you live
When to shear, when crias should be born, heat-stress and worm-season months — computed for 3,143 U.S. counties from NOAA climate normals, plus 53 regions worldwide.
Start here: essential care guides
What Is an Alpaca? A Complete Introduction
Everything you need to know about alpacas — where they come from, how big they get, what they eat, how they behave…
Getting startedBuying Your First Alpacas: A Step-by-Step Checklist
How many alpacas to buy, males vs females, what to look for, questions to ask breeders, prices, paperwork and how to…
Feeding & nutritionFeeding Alpacas: The Complete Nutrition Guide
How the alpaca digestive system works, how much hay and water they need, protein by life stage, minerals, treats…
Health careAlpaca Parasite Control: Fecal Egg Counts, FAMACHA & Smart Deworming
A modern parasite program for alpacas — fecal egg counts, FAMACHA, targeted deworming, resistance testing, pasture…
Breeding & criasCria Care: The First 48 Hours and Beyond
Newborn alpaca care — standing, nursing, colostrum, navel care, temperature, daily weighing, IgG testing, warning…
Fiber & craftsShearing Alpacas: Timing, Preparation and Shearing Day
When to shear alpacas, how to prepare the herd and the fleece, what happens on shearing day, bagging fleeces, and…
From fleece to yarn
Alpacas grow fiber in over 20 natural shades. Explore colors, micron grades and how alpaca compares with other fibers.
15 trusted sources, updated regularly
We combine veterinary references with public datasets — NOAA climate normals, USDA nutrient data, PubMed research, OpenStreetMap, GBIF and more — and show our sources on every page.
- NOAA NCEI nClimDiv — 1991–2020 county climate normals behind every U.S. county guide
- U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer — county names, coordinates and land area
- Open-Meteo Historical Weather API — humidity for heat-stress estimates and climate for Hawaii and international regions
- USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) — sugar, fiber and mineral values for fruits, vegetables and foods
- NCBI PubMed — peer-reviewed references for health topics and the research library
- Europe PMC — citation counts and free full-text (open-access) links
- OpenAlex — publication trends and research topics
- OpenStreetMap — alpaca farms, shops and visitor farms on local pages