Wayne & Eileen Ausland
460 Foothill Road, Hollister, CA 95023
(831) 637-8655

Foothill Llama and Alpaca Ranch is centrally located in the state of California (nestled in the foothills) in beautiful San Benito County, 45 minutes away from San Jose International Airport. 

Wayne and Eileen Ausland have ten acres on which their 70 alpacas and 23 llamas live, plus 6 chickens and many cats. There are rolling green hills surrounding them and a few scattered houses.

San Jose International Airport provides easy access to visitors from out of the area. Visitors interested in investing in alpacas are welcome to tour the ranch. Please call for an appointment (831-637-8655).

Eileen fell in love with llamas when she still lived in the Bay Area. She was able to touch the llamas at Marine World Africa USA, remembering Dr. Doolittle's Push Me Pull Me. Their precious faces attracted the latent farmer in her, and she was hooked. They finally found the perfect spot that met their requirements in Hollister. In 1980 they bought the ten acres with hopes of growing jojoba beans and raising llamas. The jojobas lost their appeal after purchasing their first llamas.

Wayne & Eileen Ausland

Eileen has never forgotten her first sight of an alpaca about 1987. They had come from Chili and were some of the first in California. She was attracted by their size, as they are smaller than llamas. They bought a male and two females and thought about buying more. When Eileen inherited some money from her mother her thoughts were, 'What would Mom like me to do with this money?' She laughs now when she says that her sister bought a Porsche and she invested in more alpacas.

These animals were considered rare and exotic then, which made them even more desirable and challenging. No one really knew how to take care of them or what exactly to feed them. Wayne & Eileen felt helpless and frustrated at times when problems would arise and there were no answers.  Trying to find vets that were willing to learn about these rare, new animals and not treat them like livestock was challenging. Thankfully, there were a few interested in learning about llamas and alpacas. Dr. Murray Fowler at the University of California Veterinary Hospital at Davis, California, really helped all of them raising these animals, as did some vets brought up from South America.

Eileen says her first thoughts in the morning when she arises are about the animals. Are they all okay? Are there any new babies? She is always excited about going out to the animals to feed. That is when she talks with each one, checking each for any problems with ears, eyes, legs, etc. Eileen really connects with these animals. When they come running up to her as she goes out into their enclosures, she says "a warm all over" feeling washes over her. She loves even to just sit outside quietly watching them interact with each other. At dusk it is always fun to watch them hop around like deer as well as run around playing with each other.
Eileen cleaning
sheared fiber

The alpacas can be quite vocal, also, with their humming and other noises they make. Wayne also feeds in the morning, though Eileen feels no one checks them quite as well as she does. You'll also see Wayne cleaning the corrals and pens with his trusty rake and wheel barrow. Llamas and alpacas usually go in a community pile which makes manure cleaning a bit easier.

Wayne has had help over the years with the cleaning, along with grandchildren and various hired help. They remember one special man, Pedro, who would sing to the animals in Spanish while scooping and raking. They loved him and would throng around him and follow him. Eileen took pictures of him and the animals with Santa Claus to send to his family in Mexico. Unfortunately he moved on. Wayne and Eileen hated to lose him as it is difficult to find people willing to help that have a connection with the animals.

When Wayne was young he had a horse that he trained. That feeling of satisfaction never left him even after his horse died. Working with the llamas and alpacas he has found much of the same type of satisfaction. 

Wayne desensitizes the alpacas by touching and grooming them and walking them over obstacles and in and out of trailers and vans.  There are always other chores like giving shots, trimming teeth, clipping toe nails, breeding, shearing, etc. to do and never enough time or help. He does say that he enjoys working with the alpacas more than the llamas.

Every spring and early summer is shearing time. Alpacas are sheared like sheep, though more gently. It has been hard to find a shearer who is willing to work a bit gentler and yet have no second cuts. It is hot, dirty work, and when you have some balking, spitting or even just sitting down, it makes the job harder. It also really helps to clean the animal before shearing as it makes for less work later when cleaning the fiber. The neck and leg hair is courser than the body, so separating the fiber is necessary as it is bagged up.

We have a shearing table from New Zealand which makes it much easier on us and less stressful for the animals.

Alpacas have about 22 different shades, some have more than one color on them. The fiber is judged for the quality of fineness in microns. Alpaca is one of the most luxurious fibers available.

They usually have no guard hairs like their cousins, the llamas. There are wooly llamas, though, that have fiber almost as fine as alpacas. After they are sheared, what does one do with the bags of fiber? That's where I come into the picture. I am a textile fiber artist with my on business called Mountain Lady Yarns. I was spinning, weaving, knitting, etc. before my parents decided to raise llamas and alpacas. I live three hours away with my husband and three children in the Sierra foothills. We drive to Hollister fairly often to help with the shearing, training, and feeding. 

The fiber is washed and carded into rovings and is ready to spin into yarns. Then with these handspun yarns I knit or weave ponchos, blankets, rugs, sweaters, vests, shawls, and more. I can not use all of the fiber that is sheared off the animals, so they sell some and store the rest in a cloth and wood Yurt built specifically for storing fiber. It also has some of the items I have for sale made out of the alpaca fiber.

I was brought into their business as I was interested in the animals and am already into the fiber end of it. Going with my parents to alpaca shows, I feel so proud of them, watching them talk with people who are interested in the animals, sharing the information they have acquired over the years seem to cause them to glow. One can tell how much they truly love the animals.

I usually take a few items that I have made from alpaca fiber to show how luxurious it is and if I sell something that's great. I have learned so much over the years about the alpacas, finding that I never get enough of them. It is so relaxing to just be with them. I am also obsessed with working with the fiber. Nothing, in my mind, compares to its quality.

Getting a commission to make a shawl, sweater, or...for a person, out of their own animals fiber, is quite rewarding. The look of pleasure that shows on their face when they hold in their hands something made from an animal on their ranch is very satisfying.

Wayne and Eileen Ausland got into alpaca raising as a business. It has become a passion, a way of life. Eileen just has to quit making all of them her "pets" so they can sell more. They are committed to raising well-cared for animals and selling to people who will continue the commitment.

--Written by Lynette Eads of Mountain Lady Yarns, 
daughter of Wayne and Eileen Ausland