About BaggyWrinkle Alpacas
For us, the alpaca adventure began in 1995, when Kathy met and fell in love with her first alpaca at Marty McGee’s TTEAM training clinic for llamas. Soon afterward, “Miss Midnight Madness”, a striking black female with soft, lustrous fiber, became our first alpaca and the matriarch of a growing herd.
Living on a small farm, we embarked on a new lifestyle of raising and breeding a core herd of exceptional alpacas. From caring for such wonderful creatures, to the excitement of the show ring, we managed a small and successful family run operation until our move to Alaska several years ago.
Now, our alpacas are boarded on a few select farms across the country. Our commitment to the alpaca industry remains well grounded as we continue to breed top quality alpacas, to volunteer in the industry, and to support the growth of alpaca fiber uses. Kathy is a Certified Veterinarian Technician and Gerry is a chef. Both formerly had careers in the U.S. Coast Guard and sailed on the tall ship, EAGLE.
BaggyWrinkle Alpacas' Breeding Philosophy
Our breeding practice, representing a masterful blend of superior alpaca bloodlines, can best be described as “balancing beauty and function.” What does this mean?
Beauty: We appreciate the beauty in a well-conformed alpaca with gorgeous fiber. Presence -– an alpaca’s proud stance and upright posture – is important to us. And of course, everyone at BaggyWrinkle Alpacas loves a beautiful face!
Function: As beautiful as alpacas are, they are expected to do more than look pretty; they are expected to produce – both fiber and healthy babies. To do that reliably, an alpaca must be reproductively sound in birthing and breeding. We value the traits that make raising alpacas a joy - a female who births and nurses her babies without assistance, producing healthy cria year after year and an alpaca who maintains desirable fleece qualities over time - these are the truly valuable animals.
What's in a Name?
When hearing the name "baggywrinkle" for the first time, you may envision the wonderful whimsical creatures we love. It is whimsy and more. Years ago, sailors on the old square-rigged sailing ships often made baggywrinkle, protective gear made from frayed rope and used on ship rigging to prevent chafing. A ship without baggywrinkle was a ship in trouble. Such details had grave consequences should a sail be lost due to chafing. By nautical tradition, ships meeting at sea exchanged baggywrinkle as a gesture of goodwill. When we embarked on our alpaca venture, we knew it would be a long voyage and we have prepared to weather the storms as well as enjoy the gentle breezes of success. Any sailor worth their salt knows the true value of baggywrinkle!