Welcome
Helen & Geoff Shephard welcome you to Alpaca Partners website and their fascinating story about their passage
from interest, hobby to business.
On a trip to Peru and Chile in 1989, we first encountered alpacas and were intrigued
by these fascinating animals. Little did we think at that time that we would be proud owners in a few years time.
In 1991 we decided to leave suburbia and head for a rural lifestyle change, so we moved from Sydney to a five
acre property at Windsor. While there, we purchased our first 3 alpacas and we were very proud of our acquisitions
at that time. We have come a long way since then:
We have improved our genetics to continue winning in a highly contested show ring.
After 11 years our large herd had outgrown Windsor, so we decided to make the move to a much larger rural property.
We relocated to Yass, renowned for being a superfine wool district, located 50 minutes from Canberra and 3 hours from Sydney.
“Shephard’s Rest” is situated on 135 acres, 6 mins off the Hume Highway, has permanent water, plenty of paddocks for
grazing and many shade trees for the alpacas to relax under. The alpacas think they are in seventh heaven with 10-20 acre
paddocks to meander through.
Along with our alpaca herd, which numbers over 100 animals, we also breed superfine Merino, which has certainly added
diversity to our farm and given us the opportunity to utilise alpacas as herd protectors when lambing.
Alpaca Partners began with a variety of coloured alpaca; however, over the years we have changed direction and
now breed for white and fawn. Hence 80% of our herd is now light in colour, with black, grey and
brown animals making up the balance. The herd consists mainly of Huacaya with some Suri.
From the onset of our breeding programme we have sought elite genetics, striving to advance the quality of our herd
which now contains 41% of superfine animals.
The following bloodlines have been paramount in our breeding programme:
| Peruvian: |
Accoyo: |
| Cchatanca ( USA ) |
Tulaco |
| Hemingway ( USA ) |
Rasputin |
| ILR Caudillo ( Imported from USA ) |
Snowmaster |
| ILR Cordero ( returned to USA ) |
Valentino |
| Spartacus |
Jacomo |
| Escobar |
Ayaviri |
| Grey Legend |
| Golden Sun |
| Don Julio |
| Braveheart |
| Jolimont: |
Purrumbete: |
Suri: |
| Warrior |
Inti |
Senator |
| Conquistador |
Ledgers Dream |
Tejas |
| El Dorado | Amadeus |
| | Amador |
Alpacapartners White Cloud has been the basis to our Superfine Success. 9th Fleece November 2004: 22.1 mic 3.9 sd 17.5
cv 96.4 cf 20.9 sf.
We invite you to come and visit us to see what we have achieved in 12 years.
There is a wide range of quality alpaca for sale, and we also offer agistment and provide ongoing after sales support
and advice.
Shephard’s Rest is MN3 and Q – Alpaca 05-006.
