Tufts of luscious hair sit atop nearly two dozen pairs of wide eyes. The fluffy faces sport toothy grins and come in all shades, from frosted white to charcoal black. This February marks the two year anniversary of the day the Blocher family decided to go from having no experience with alpacas to owning 16 of the affectionate animals.
“It’s been learning as I go… lots and lots of learning,” says Andrea Blocher.
Andrea is an animal lover and was an aspiring veterinarian from a young age. Though she has since traded in that particular dream for a career in pharmacy, Andrea is getting her animal fix from the business she and her son, Graham, co-operate— Crazy Hair Alpacas Alpaca Farm.
Graham, a fourteen year-old with a knack for math and computer science, has developed an affinity for farm life as well. He knows every alpaca by name and temperament.
“This one is Brexit. He’s mildly friendly, but in the wrong way,” Graham says, pointing to a lofty tan male. “He jumps on people.” Walking over to the female side of the barn, he points to a snowy white girl named Sandy. “Sandy is our very prissy one… she’s the only one that will directly spit at a person,” he continues. “And this is Champagne. She’s just shy.”
The Blochers’ old neighbors owned alpacas in the past. Andrea was charmed by the animals, but she knew from her neighbors’ experience that they cost a fortune to import from Peru. So, when she saw that somebody was giving away 16 alpacas for free on the app NextDoor, there was no hesitation on her part (only persuasion for the rest of the family).
Alpaca wool is a very warm, hypoallergenic, and tear-resistant fiber. That makes it a great base for the products that Crazy Hair Alpacas sells, including blankets, rugs, socks, knitted hats, scarves, and yarn in an array of vibrant colors.
The alpacas feel as one might imagine a cloud does. In fact, that’s the contested name of one of the Blochers’ alpacas. According to Graham, his mom is attached to the name Cloud for the fleecy boy, but the rest of the family prefers Maurice.
Each spring, Andrea shears her flock of 22 alpacas. She uses a separate bag for the alpacas’ neck, shoulders to back, and legs. By the end of the chore, she has roughly 66 bags of alpaca fiber to work with. From there, her and Graham will wash the fiber and get it ready to send to a mill where it is processed. The fiber must be processed before it can be used for yarn and other products. Their inventory also consists of wholesale products outsourced from Peru.
Andrea’s goal is to own a mill of her own so that she can have a more hands-on approach in the creative process. Ultimately, she would like to have an operation big enough to employ people with special needs to help her and Graham run the business. She also has a heart to completely locally source her products and make alpaca farming more sustainable in Colorado.
“It’s difficult and expensive to process fiber, so I think a lot of people end up storing it for too long and wasting it. The lady that I got the alpacas from had years worth of fibers stored,” Andrea says. ““Eventually, I would love to help small alpaca farmers learn how to process all of their fibers here so we can make it a viable industry.”
You can learn more or shop for products from Crazy Hair Alpacas at https://www.crazyhairalpacas.com/. They are available for photo-ops as well!
