THICKTHORNE LLAMAS
N.Z's
Southernmost Breeders of Llamas & Guanacos
Home -
About Us -
Gallery
-
Fibre
and Handcrafts
|
 |
|
Janette |
Needing a variety of
soft, natural-coloured camelid fleeces
for use in spinning and weaving led to the purchase of my
first three Llamas in 1989.
Since the mid-1980s, I had been handcrafting with Alpaca
fibre, but developed a leaning toward the Llama as an animal.
Having sorted many fleeces from both types of animal
I discovered that the llama fibre was just as good, and in some
cases, finer than alpaca. The fact that my base breeding stock
included Guanaco genes would have contributed to these fine
fleeces.
I purchased a pure Chilean llama “Homestead Andy” in 1996
and he has been a wonderful asset to my herd. Ten years on,
I have a wonderful herd of 50-plus llamas. Andy’s son “
“Thickthorne Hank” is now succeeding him; and “Waratah Mozart”
has also made a valuable contribution to the herd.
Our large hill country property at Waikawa Valley, in southern
New Zealand is 10 minutes off the Southern Scenic route which
winds through an area known as The Catlins. As a result,
“Thickthorne Llamas” receives a goodly share of visitors, to view
the animals (which include Yaks and Gotland sheep)