About Us

Welcome to theWonderful World of Alpacas

For centuries, people have been drawn to alpacas for their superior fiber. In the United States, we are just beginning to see the growth potential in the Alpaca Industry. Most people are attracted to raising these magnificent animals because they offer us the chance to escape the rat race of our hectic modern lifestyles. Many of us are looking for a shift back to some of the better qualities of life a hundred years ago.

Most people who invest in alpacas fall into one of three groups. One group wants to increase their net worth while creating a lifestyle where their children can grow up safe, happy and healthy and develop values and a work ethic. The second primary group of people raising alpacas have finished raising their own families and are ready to settle down, sometimes to an early retirement, with the goals of creating a continuous income from their investment while raising animals that are a joy to share your lives with. Finally, there are those who are involved strictly for the investment with no plans of ever becoming involved in the daily care of their alpacas.

Our family falls into the first group. We were ready for a change. After spending six years in downtown San Antonio, we decided to stop fighting it and start listening to those little inner voices that were calling us to life on the farm. Although I had always lived in urban areas, I had always dreamed of living on a farm. In three short years, we had developed a nationally recognized herd of show rabbits and had learned that, although we are not opposed raising animals for meat, we greatly preferred raising breeding stock and fiber animals. One night, I was out surfing the web trying to decide what we should raise on our farm-to-be. While researching the fiber industry, I linked to llamas and then, as my heart skipped a few beats, through cyberspace, alpacas came into my life ~ It was love at first sight!

We will develop a world class herd of alpacas without compromising our values and commitment to our partners, our clients, and ourselves.

We will conduct all relationships and transactions with integrity and respect for all.

We will strive to provide investment growth with economic stability for ourselves and our partners by conducting business conservatively and with due diligence.

We will never knowingly compromise the health and safety of people or animals for any reason.

We will provide a safe, wholesome and fun environment for our visitors and the animals residing at BelleauWood.

We will offer value by constantly improving our knowledge and abilities in every aspect of the industry and working with you to improve yours.

We will expose your animals to a national clientele through good marketing efforts and by taking a leadership role in the industry.

We will offer the highest quality herdsires we are able to and will ensure that the gene pool available advances the goals of your breeding program.

We will work with you to achieve the goals you have established for your herd.

Our commitment to developing a full service alpaca farm is truly our greatest strength. We believe that your satisfaction and your relationship with us will be determined by the strength of these services. Who hasn't experienced a time when you received a great product only to be very dissatisfied with the experience because of poor service. We are committed to our customers and will do everything we can to ensure your success.

In doing so, we are developing a broad range of services that we saw the need for in this industry as we were getting started. Some of our services are offered by many farms, but there are few farms that offer the comprehensive services we do. We are still small so we understand what you need while you are trying to launch your own farm.

We are also very happy to offer our services to other established farms and their customers. We even offer a referral service to help larger farms offer their customers solutions to services they may not offer.

Who We Are

Erin McCarthy - Erin is responsible for the marketing and business planning. She also provides expertise on conformation and genetic issues. In four short years, Erin was able to develop a herd of wooled show rabbits that was first for her breed in Texas and seventh in the country. Many of her grand champion rabbits were her breeding back seven and eight generations. Rabbit breeding provided the perfect classroom to learn about genetics and selective breeding programs, as well as fiber characteristics. Prior to becoming a full time alpaca breeder, Erin worked as a vice president of Information Management for Bank of America corporate offices in Charlotte, NC. She has an MBA in Business, a BA in English Literature and an AA in Management Studies. She has ten years of experience in direct marketing, working for USAA, a major investment company; The Vermont Country Store, a great mail order company; and Bank of America. She has spoken at numerous conferences on various marketing techniques. She has completed coursework in domestic and international marketing, business planning and strategy, financial planning, investing, wealth accumulation, estate planning, and income taxation. Erin specialized in statistical modeling, database analysis, demographics, customer research, generational marketing, relationship marketing, loyalty marketing, and integrated channel campaigns.

Megan McCarthy - Megan has moved up to the Assistant Manager of the farm. She has many of the responsibilities of running the farm. For many years, Megan has been in charge of monthly wormings and much of the health care issues. She also has a strong background in genetics from breeding superior show rabbits. With ten years of experience, Megan is truly a professional who has grown up in the alpaca industry. She spent a semester at UMASS as the Camelid Herd Manager, Assistant to the Director of Camelid Studies, and was a TA for camelid courses. Megan currently attends Queens University in Charlotte. She works part to full time on the farm. She has responsibility for office filing, show registrations, ARI registrations, Buyers Permission to Show, show winnings tracking, and Event Planning.

Robert Bingham - Robert began working with alpaca care January 2005. He manages the daily health care of the alpacas, fecal tests, IgGs, vaccinations, medical treatments, breedings, and equipment maintenance.

Vicki Swiger - Vicki has worked with alpaca care since April 2005. She is responsible for daily care, birthing, cria care, breedings, and field maintenance.