Some of you might have see this thread Anybody eaten an Alpaca over on the Portal where I was inquiring about the tastiness of our neighbors doe-eyed Alpacas. Well I got enough of a response to encourage me to try some of that protein at the first possible opportunity...
Well I getting the chance to sample an alpaca. These alpacas that our neighbors raise are meant to be used for their wool and to be sold as breeder stock. they are muched loved by these folks but our neighbors came to the realization that their herd was getting too large and the older males were not productive to the herd. These old bucks had just become eating and defecating factories and were not returning any value on the costs to keep them. Our neighbors decided that if they were going to be serious about herd management they had to consider these animals like any other stock. So after sampling some alpaca meat and talking to other alpaca farmers that are entering the processing business, it was time to thin the herd.
So as we have the reputation of being pretty knowledgeable about processing and also being open to trying something new, we were approached with the offer to butcher the first couple of alpacas and test new waters. In exchange for the butchery we were offered half of the alpaca meat. So on a chilly Friday morning my father, my son and I travelled up to the neighbor’s stockyard and humanely put down two of the older bucks. If you can’t handle the reality of where food comes from proceed no farther as I will be discussing and showing images of the butchering in the posts to follow.
Well I getting the chance to sample an alpaca. These alpacas that our neighbors raise are meant to be used for their wool and to be sold as breeder stock. they are muched loved by these folks but our neighbors came to the realization that their herd was getting too large and the older males were not productive to the herd. These old bucks had just become eating and defecating factories and were not returning any value on the costs to keep them. Our neighbors decided that if they were going to be serious about herd management they had to consider these animals like any other stock. So after sampling some alpaca meat and talking to other alpaca farmers that are entering the processing business, it was time to thin the herd.
So as we have the reputation of being pretty knowledgeable about processing and also being open to trying something new, we were approached with the offer to butcher the first couple of alpacas and test new waters. In exchange for the butchery we were offered half of the alpaca meat. So on a chilly Friday morning my father, my son and I travelled up to the neighbor’s stockyard and humanely put down two of the older bucks. If you can’t handle the reality of where food comes from proceed no farther as I will be discussing and showing images of the butchering in the posts to follow.
