About us

We are Neil & Tracey from Starrywell Alpacas, a small family run smallholding set in the Moray countryside. Neither of us come from a farming background so this was our first step into caring for animals that were slightly bigger than a dog! We are both happy to get stuck into all the husbandry tasks now such as vaccinations and toe nail trimming however we do leave the shearing to a professional!

Our journey into the world of alpacas started back in 2018 when myself (Tracey) had been watching an episode of Countryfile. The presenter along with the owner of the alpacas took two alpacas to visit a local care home as part of therapy sessions they did in the area. They even went up in the lift to visit some of the residents!

I was quite fascinated by them and after persistently going on about the programme, Neil said he wasn’t listening to it anymore and that we should get some of our own to keep the grass down and to keep me quiet!

After doing some research, visiting a local breeder with an abundance of alpaca knowledge, our initial intention was to buy 3 pet boys. We decided to find out what was available locally in Scotland at the time. We then bought our first 3 boys from Netherfield Alpacas and came home with 3 boys and 3 pregnant females!! Shortly afterwards we bought another 3 pregnant females to join our ever increasing herd and then the following year we opted to buy our own stud male, Border Reiver. We now have a herd of 21 which includes 1 cria (baby alpaca) born this year.

Initially we did not set out for this to be a business venture but as our herd increased in size and we were clearly moving into the breeding of alpacas we had to change our vision slightly. Our aim now is caring for our alpacas whilst establishing a herd which produce quality fleeces as well as offering meet and greet sessions, educational visits, therapy sessions (that’s how it all started after all!) and possibly weddings too. We also have various hand knitted items produced from our own fleeces here at Starrywell as well as other products which are available to buy through our shop.