Alpacas fetch pretty penny at auction
Rick Ritenour of Alpaca Palace shows Houdini, a huacaya male alpaca that sold for $33,500 during the Royal Progeny alpaca auction Saturday at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino.
Auction manager Debbie Harden-Vigus of Silver Penn Sales, wears a shawl made from the fleece of Snowmass Royal Seven, a huacaya male from Idaho.
Bid catcher Matt Printz takes a bid on Ajar Balboa’s Coral Princess, a suri female alpaca.
When organizing an auction, variety is key.
“You want to make sure you have a good group of animals,” Debbie Harden-Vigus said. “You want a good mix of males and females and different colors.”
Founder and co-owner of Silver Penn Sales, Harden-Vigus manages livestock auctions and runs the 60-acre West Penn Alpaca farm in Claysville. She’s been organizing events across the country for about 10 years, but Saturday’s Royal Progeny alpaca auction at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino was her first so close to home.
“This is the first one I’ve held right here in my hometown,” she said. “It’s exciting for me on many levels.”
Harden-Vigus and her partner, Brett Kaysen, presented 54 huacaya and suri alpacas to more than 100 alpaca-enthusiast bidders. After singing, “Proud to be an American,” livestock auctioneer John Korrey started the sale with Prima Donna, a huacaya bred female from Alpaca Palace of Butler, host farm of the auction. Prima Donna went for $11,000.
Huacaya alpacas, the more common of the species, have fluffy hair, while suri alpacas have hair that resembles dreadlocks. Alpaca fleece is similar to sheep’s wool, but is softer, water-repellent and hypoallergenic.
The domesticated animals are usually purchased for breeding, so award winners tend to fetch higher bids.
“You look at the genetics, the build and the fleece characteristics,” Harden-Vigus said.
Straight legs and strong bone structure are desirable traits in the animal, which grow to be 100 to 200 pounds.
Seminars were held Friday and Saturday on topics from trailer safety to alpaca embryo transfer to farming and tax laws. The highlight of the weekend, though, were the 54 alpacas going home with new owners.
With her signature catchphrase, Harden-Vigus kicked off the auction with, “We didn’t come to play, we’re having an auction today.”