Alpacas

a llama, fancy geese and chickens

After we left Barkley Lake, our next stop was Bowling Green. We were going to spend two nights at an alpaca farm as part of a program called Harvest Host. We signed up at the start of this year to lock in a lower yearly price that last as long as you retain your membership. The program allows you to stay at farms, wineries, and other similar places for free as long as you purchase an item from the business. This was our second farm and a real treat. We stayed at Haven Hollow in the spring. This place is called Alive and Fuzzy.

We were able to walk out to the pasture and feed the alpacas and then participate in herding them to them into the barn. The farm owner is a vet and it was time for worming the next morning. The coolest thing that Dr. Painter does is a 4H program for local kids where they get to learn about alpacas and participate in the spring shearing event. If they are really into it, she allows them to actually show the alpacas at a big national show in Fort Wayne Indiana. Bowling Green is a fairly large town, the third largest in Kentucky so most of the kids live in suburbia and not on farms.

In the shows, alpacas are primarily judged on their coats. Dr. Painter sells socks and a few other items made from her alpacas and others mixed together. She chose them for her farm because they are smaller and more docile than llamas so easier for her to handle. They generally weight about 150 pounds and live 17-20 years. A llama weighs more like 350 and she does have one. It is a guard llama that protects the babies and she had several babies that were still nursing. Alpacas are bred strictly for their fiber and not as workers like llamas.

Bowling Green is in southern Kentucky, about 60 miles of Nashville. It is a college town and the home of Western Kentucky University. We went for lunch at a place called Double Dog, another dog friendly place we found on the app, Bring Fido.

Back at the farm, we were invited to sit on the patio with Dr. Painter and her friend John. We got up close with the fancy geese and the chickens who like mealy worms. We really enjoyed the experience.

In the evening, we took a walk and this was as close as Kismet got to the alpacas. They are sweet but have their limits and will spit if aggravated.