Hallmark Ranch Alpacas

10/21/2024

Bachelorette weekend! We feel so honored that this fun group included an alpaca meet-and-greet in their festivities. Congratulations Preston! We wish you all the best!

08/18/2024

Come join us Sept 7th and 8th for the 13th annual Salida Fiber Festival! It's a beautiful festival in beautiful Riverside Park, downtown Salida. Check out our website at: salidafiberfestival.com

And we need volunteers! Take a look at the volunteer opportunities on our website, through the link below. We'd love to see you and have you be a part of the fun. All volunteers get a 1/2 off drink ticket for a beverage of their choice in our Beer Garden!

https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/43677792046/false #/invitation

SignUp.com makes it easy to coordinate school events & classroom activities, fundraisers, snack schedules, potlucks & more!

07/28/2024

Great photos taken by Kalie V., a recent ranch visitor. Thank you Kalie for sharing!

07/14/2024

Have you met the alpacas at Hallmark Ranch yet? Come by and say hi to our small, friendly herd. Then, check out what we have to offer in our fiber studio/ranch store, including a new batch of beautiful handcrafted mugs from local Maverick Potter!

07/07/2024

A question we are often asked is, "do you get a lot of visitors?" Yes! In the summer, we are busy nearly every day! We schedule in advance and try to stick with just the morning hours, so we have afternoons for ourselves. We enjoy sharing our alpacas with others and the people we meet are always special and leave with a smile on their face.

Give us a call at (602) 300-4209 or contact us through our website: www.hallmarkranchalpacas.com, a day ahead if you'd like to schedule a visit to meet our girls.

Here's what our week looked like (I likely forgot a few):

06/12/2024

Who wouldn't love a team event at Hallmark Ranch Alpacas..? This work group from Toyota came down from Denver today to meet the alpacas, and then spend a little time in Salida. We loved introducing them to the girls. Thank you Emily for choosing us as your team building event!

06/08/2024

What a gorgeous day for alpaca visitors! We had a lovely family stop by and Kenny took some beautiful photos, which he shared with us (a few posted here). Roxie got the royal treatment from the 'cousins,' and enough lovin' to last her at least the rest of the day. Thank you, Michelle, Kenny and family, for visiting; we hope to see you again in the future!

05/30/2024

Visitors today included Girl Scout Troop 45213 from Colorado Springs. We were just one of their stops on a fun trip to Salida & Buena Vista. What a lovely group of young ladies and their leaders!

05/27/2024

Nice weather means the start of a busy visitor season. A large group of 14 came by to meet the alpacas today. We had to take turns in the pen, so as not to overwhelm the girls. The young visitors were very patient and respectful of the alpacas' space. What a great family!

05/19/2024

It was a sad day today at Hallmark Ranch. We lost our beloved Rowdy. A friend to all, and a stellar guardian to the alpacas, we acquired Rowdy as a puppy eleven years ago. He fit easily into the ranch family, always knowing he had a job to do, and he did it well. When we lost Rowdy’s last pen mate (Rambo) 3 years ago and later acquired Roxie, we cautiously introduced the little pip-squeak to Rowdy, the ‘main man’ in charge. Rowdy, as only Rowdy would, took her under his wing and was unbelievably patient and tolerant as Roxie worked through her puppy phase, her multitude of play times with him, and even as she ‘chomped’ onto his jowls as they walked together to the barn at dinner time. The ranch will not be the same without him. We will miss you Rowdy – Rest in Peace.

“If the kindest souls were rewarded with the longest lives, dogs would outlive us all.” ~Unknown

04/20/2024

A popular item in our fiber studio/ranch store are these cute alpacadorables made from alpaca fiber. There is the option of adding a cute little churro hat as well. Occasionally someone will get just a little hat to use for another purpose. Most recently we had a visitor buy 2 for their lizards! Who would've thought. We meet the most interesting people at our alpaca ranch!

04/17/2024

Remember this? Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike -- guess what day it is?” ....It's hump day!

And did you know… that alpacas are part of the Camel (Camelidae) family, along with llamas, vicunas and guanacos.

Like camels, alpacas have a split upper lip. They eat grasses and shrubs and have three-chambered stomachs. Both have long legs with padded feet with two large toes.

If they are related, why don’t alpacas have humps, you might wonder.

In short, the camel cousin evolved fluff instead of fat. Research suggests the common ancestors of camels and alpacas most likely broke away millions of years ago with the close camel relative being more tolerant of harsh, hot environments while the alpaca’s ancestors led more relaxed lives in South America’s cool highlands.
More info here: https://nhpbs.org/wild/camelidae.asp

Happy Wednesday (aka "hump day") everyone!

04/15/2024

Alpacas are very cautious animals, but also extremely curious. Maddie, one of our dogs, got a major coat trim today. Everyone is trying to figure out, "who's that??"

04/04/2024

Beautiful spring day, perfect for a lovely family to come by to meet the alpacas. The little toddler loves all things 'farm' so this was a good outing for him. The alpacas were fun to feed, the big dogs love people and it turns out alpaca treats are tasty, don't you know..

03/20/2024

Roxie: I'm telling you the dinner bowl is empty. And when you fill it up again, I would like to eat in bed!

03/15/2024

Snow Dogs! We finally got a good amount of snow - all day! It hasn't stopped since last evening and it's supposed to continue through the night. It's so funny to see how much the dogs love it!

02/27/2024

How many llamas can you fit into a car? Watch this video of a man loading his llamas into an SUV. 😀

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=690900408400442

02/24/2024

Say hello to this group of great folks who came to visit on this gorgeous day. They came to Colorado for sking and snowboarding, AND a visit to meet the alpacas! Thanks so much for stopping by!