Hank & Shiela

Brhydn Ventures is a partnership of a father, son and daughter and their spouses. We started our enterprise in 1999 with 4 female Chilean Alpacas, purchased from Aztec Alpacas and Adventure Alpacas, both in the Calgary Area. Hank and Sheila Froese live on an acreage located west of Calgary, Alberta. In the spring of 2002, Bev and Brian Lummis and Don and Shannon Froese moved to a farm 50 kms north of Red Deer, Alberta. We wanted to be involved in an extended family business that could include the children and therefore decided to invest in alpacas. Our original alpacas have been bred to Peruvians and since the start of our operation, we have had 47 births of Peruvian, Chilean mix on our farm. We have also aquired five breeding males and as of Nov 2007 have a herd of 38. Between the two farms we are able to provide boarding and breeding services to our clients.

Don & Shannon

In summer, our animals feed on grass pasture in fenced enclosures and in the winter months are fed a combination of grass hay and camelid rations with mineral salts available to them year round. The summer temperatures here range from 16 to 22 degrees Celsius with winter temperatures ranging from 4 to -40 degrees Celsius. Barns are not necessary but three sided shelters are required to protect them from the wind. We have installed five foot high fencing on the outer perimeter of the general field to protect from predators such as dogs and coyotes.

Bev & Brian

We shear our alpacas once a year in spring, late April to early June, so they will not overheat in the warmer summer weather. We process some of the fibre ourselves and some through the Canadian Fibre Co-op. We pasture the males and females separately. The females are individually bred two to three weeks after their crias are born and have an approximate gestational period of 11 months. Most of the crias are born without any assistance from us.