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AlpacaNation Q&A with Santa Claus Alpacas
Brett Heiney, MD & & Lu Heiney
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P.O Box 127, 6242 E. County Road 100 S, Fillmore, IN 46128
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812-630-7294
AlpacaNation: Tell us about yourself...
Santa Claus Alpacas: My husband Brett & I live in Fillmore, Indiana with our 3 boys. Jason, 22, graduated from Indiana State University with a Criminology Degree. He has just completed Boot Camp at Fort Leonard Woods, Missouri and will be stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Hunter & Ryan , our identical twin 20 year olds, are juniors at Western Kentucky University.
Brett is an Emergency Room Physician at Union Hospital in Terre Haute and also fills needed shifts at St. Vincent Clay Hospital in Brazil, Indiana. I am retired from a 27 year career as a teaching tennis professional , and am a full time eBay seller. We are both now in the learning stages or our New Alpaca Venture!
AlpacaNation: How long have you been in the alpaca business?
Santa Claus Alpacas: It was early summer 2005 on a very rare night that would find me sitting in front of a TV. I turned it on just in time to hear the very end of an advertisement with murmurings about alpacas, retirement, tax advantages.....I caught myself wondering, " What in the World is an Alpaca?".
My curiousity had to be satisfied so I headed to my computer. Three hours later when Brett returned from the Hospital, I greeted him with an enthusiastic, " I have the Answer! I have figured out how we can turn this property into a farm, with significant tax advantages......
Believe me, it didn't take long to convince Brett, an animal lover from birth, that we needed to look into this further. ( I blame him on the 12 parrots and 3 bird dogs!).
Long story short, 10 days later, after four visits to nearby farms, we had purchased our 1st Alpaca.
AlpacaNation: How did you decide on your farm name? Is there a special meaning behind the name?
Santa Claus Alpacas: Well, this was easy. We live in a town with a Unique name, so
we quickly adopted " Santa Claus Alpacas".
AlpacaNation: What steps did you take to prepare for raising an alpaca herd?
Santa Claus Alpacas: We were very fortunate in that we already had 9 acres of land as well as a nice barn on our property. We had pastureland, but knew that it would need to be seeded before it could acommodate our animals. We decided to add additional fencing from the barn towards the house , which would allow us view our animls from the house. Brett is a great project person and has taken on a lot of the fencing work that has had to be done. He has just completed additional fencing as we will soon need to begin separating males from females, etc.
AlpacaNation: What is your greatest achievement or favorite memory since you started raising alpacas?
Santa Claus Alpacas: Well, this would have to be the birth of our first cria, Pride, last November. Though it was a perfectly normal birth, I certainly didn't know it at the time! Wouldn't you know that it was the one hour of the week when the Vet said his cell phone would be off ( Sunday Church hour) and Brett was at work!
When I called up to the house my son Hunter could hear the panic in my voice. He hurried down to the barn with towels, hair dryers, and my newly purchased cria birthing kit. It was Mocca who did all the work , and 1 hour later, our healthy little "Mocha's Pride" was on his feet.
AlpacaNation: What advice would you give to those just getting started in the industry?
Santa Claus Alpacas: Certainly to make visits to nearby farms and take a list of questions! We found everyone to be so helpful and more than willing to provide us any answers we needed. There is also a wealth of information on the internet, and many wonderful publications. Do your homework!
Yes, there are tax advantages, but there is much more to consider. You need to love animals and love the outside. Though the alpaca are low maintenance animals, it is a daily thing. For us, it was a perfect fit!
AlpacaNation: Describe your first alpaca purchase... would you do anything differently today?
Santa Claus Alpacas: Cirque was our first alpaca purchase and Brett & I used entirely different criteria. I bought from the heart, she was so striking looking and beautiful standing in the field. Brett's criteria was much better, he liked her conformation, rose-gray coloring, and the fact she was a very unique 3/4 accoyo.
Our decision, 1 year later, would have been the same.
AlpacaNation: Do you have a favorite Alpaca? Why is it your favorite?
Santa Claus Alpacas: Are You Kidding?
AlpacaNation: Any embarrassing moments you would like to share?
Santa Claus Alpacas: Well......it was my 1st Experience with the Re-breeding process. We had decided to use the "Mobile Breeding" option , so that we could keep our mom & cria on the farm rather than send them away for 60 days. Terry Murphy , who was traveling from Seldom Scene Farm with Ndume to our farm, called the night before to confirm their arrival. The last question I asked him was , " Terry, Is there anything I need to do to prepare for the breeding?"......This was followed by a long period of
silence where I could hear his attempts to keep from laughing out loud!
I still have a girlfriend who says, " Dim the lights, turn on the Music....the stud is coming to town!"
AlpacaNation: What do you tell prospective buyers who look at the small profit the alpaca fiber produces compared to the daunting prices of alpacas?
Santa Claus Alpacas: I emphasize that, Yes!, the product is the Fiber! And the answer to their question of their being so little profit in the fiber is, " Not Yet!". The United States is probably at least 10 years from being able to provide enough fleece to justify the large mills setting up for production. This is due in part to the end of importation ( no more alpacas can be imported into our country), and the slow gestation period ( 11 months).
In the meantime, as the National herd grows, efforts are being made to greatly improve the fleece quality - to produce fleece that is both fine & dense. In time, the fiber market will materialize, but for now it is primarily a breeding business.
In the meantime, you can benefit from very attractive tax advantages. If alpacas are raised for profit, all expenses can be written off against your income. Alpaca breeding also allows for tax deferred wealth building where an owner won't pay taxes on increased herd size until the time he decides to
AlpacaNation: What sets your farm and herd apart from others in the industry?
Santa Claus Alpacas: We are carefully selecting our animals, trying to buy the best we can buy, to ensure a high quality herd. Conformation & Fleece characteristics are paramount in our selection process. Our eyes are on progeny in making our breeding decisions and this year we will be rebreeding our females to some of the top herdsires in the country, anticipating exciting results! We have also recently purchased our first herdsire, a National Blue Ribbon Winner with Outstanding Pedigree.
We hope that the quality of our herd and the size of our farm will set us apart. We plan to remain small enough to be able to provide continuous and ongoing support to our customers. We have been fortunate to have had great mentoring as we set out to establish our business. Many thanks to:
Paul & Lindy Huber-Seldom Scene Alpacas
Bob & Kris Ryan-Peterson Creek Ranch, LLC
Roy & Stacey Conley-Out of the Gray Alpaca Farm
Tom Baster-Snugglers Meadow Alpacas
Jeff & Beth Kressin-Alpacas of Ohio
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