Volunteering with alpacas

Here at Spring Farm we are fully staffed from a day to day perspective but can always make room for volunteers – providing they are happy to muck in and are available for at least a few hours a week on a medium term basis. We do have two volunteers working for us at present – but given we will give you full training, its not in your or our interest to meet up if this is just something that would be a one off or very limited time. We are slightly in the middle of nowhere so own transport is also a must.

Our working day starts around 8:30am with a morning meeting. We normally wrap up at 5:30 pm but as a volunteer the hours can be flexible. We spend most of the morning bringing the alpaca groups into the yard and feeding/checking them. Our alpacas health and well being is paramount to us – which is why it takes a while! Over the middle of the day, we are often taking walks out with the public within our 110 acre farm – but also halter training and poo picking. The late Spring/Summer months  are when the baby alpacas are born (they are called cria). We spend a lot of time with the expectant mums and the new-borns just watching them to make sure all is well. Its a great time of the year as we also shower the alpacas when its hot – guaranteed to bring a smile to your face!

We welcome vet students from the various veterinary colleges to learn more about camelids and we take time out to train them in handling techniques. As a result, when they meet camelids in their future careers, they will have a grounding in handling them. Typically the students are here for a week or two.

As a small team, its very important that volunteers fit in with us and our staff. We really want you to enjoy their time here at Spring Farm Alpacas. If you think this might work for you, why not drop us a line and lets see what you would like to achieve out of volunteering for us? Subject to that, we can meet up and see how this might work (and look forward to meeting you!). We are COVID compliant and fully insured as well.