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AlpacaNation Q&A with Jackpot! Alpacas
Kathy Dannel Vitcak & Steve Vitcak
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17025 Sitka Dr. NW, Pinewood, MN 56676
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218.243.2845
AlpacaNation: Tell us about yourself...
Jackpot! Alpacas: I grew up in Mississippi (down the road from Oprah), moved to Dallas after I graduated from college and worked in the fashion and then pet industry for about 15 years. Yes, I had some big, blonde hair! Then at 40 I had a mini-midlife crisis and took a job in magazine publication in Minnesota. One week after I moved to Minnesota I met Steve and that was that. I wanted to get married on our second date, but he wanted to wait...so five years later we got married. A few months after we got married Steve came home and announced he wanted to buy a fishing resort. I agreed and went back to bidding on something on eBay. A few months later we bought
Dancing Bear Resort and moved to far northern Minnesota.
After 15 years of breeding and showing top ranked French Bulldogs my eye began to wander. I adore my dogs, but nothing lasts forever and I was ready for a new twist in my journey in life. Like I mentioned, we saw alpacas on the Discovery channel and here we are!
AlpacaNation: Describe your first alpaca purchase... would you do anything differently today?
Jackpot! Alpacas: I visited Double B Alpacas and fell in love...I was smitten. I begged Bob not to sell the girls I wanted until I could bring my husband back out and he agreed. As quickly as possible I towed Steve to Bob and Bonnie's and to my astonsihment, Steve made Bob an offer and we were alpaca owners! Steve is usually VERY cautious, but he said he knew in his heart alpacas were for us.
I bought with my heart and know that it was the right thing for me. Yes, I had done my homework and knew they had nice pedigrees and fit what I wanted. But, when I saw them, I had to have them in my lives. I would not change a thing, Bob and Bonnie have been great and the alpacas are everything I wanted or expected and MORE!
AlpacaNation: How long have you been in the alpaca business?
Jackpot! Alpacas: We got our first alpacas in October of 2006, so we are newbies, for sure. I am one of those obsessive people who totally immerses themselves in their passion, and have jumped in with both feet. I have googled around, visited literally hundreds of websites, have AlpacaNation on one click in my browser and have bought every
book I can find on alpacas. There is so much learn and I am loving it!
Every spare moment I have my nose in an alpaca book or magazine and am devouring all I can find. WHEW! My blonde head is spinning!
AlpacaNation: How did you become interested in alpacas?
Jackpot! Alpacas: Like I mentioned, we saw them on Discovery Channel and then jumped in from there. Everything about the alpaca lifestyle suited us...from how easy they are to care for, to the self induced ovulation and the fact they do not get slaughtered as a part of raising them. Plus, as an artist, I loved the otherwordly look of them.
My husband was impressed with all of that and the fact that they would not be in the house. Plus, the central potty just intrigued him. Especially after his ten years of living with French Bulldogs, who are notoriously hard to housetrain! Steve is also excited about the financial aspect of the business and feels we are blessed to be a
part of the start of this great opportunity.
Our goa; is to have a self sustaining alpaca farm as an adjacent business to the resort and have fun doing it!
AlpacaNation: How did you decide on your farm name? Is there a special meaning behind the name?
Jackpot! Alpacas: Jackpot! was my kennel name in Chinese Shar-Pei and then French Bulldogs. It has brought us a lot of luck and we have met a lot of absolutely fabulous people through the dogs. We know that the same will be true in alpacas. I toyed with several other farm names, but Steve moaned and groaned at most of them and we kept coming back to Jackpot!
Ironically, we are not big gamblers in the monetary sense of the word! I truly feel each and every day is a Jackpot! in and of itself and we should each view life as winning a HUGE Powerball.
AlpacaNation: What sets your farm and herd apart from others in the industry?
Jackpot! Alpacas: We hope that our customer service, enthusiasm and unwavering optimism will set us apart. We are trying to pull together the best pedigrees we are able to and will raise our alpacas with all the care we can. Plus, we can give you one-stop shopping! We can put you up in a cabin when you come visit, take you fishing for a bit, and I can
build your website to showcase your alpacas for you.
I do believe that we tend to attract people that have similiar values and goals and know we will find the people we are supposed to be working with. Life is good!
AlpacaNation: What steps did you take to prepare for raising an alpaca herd?
Jackpot! Alpacas: I read everything I could get my hands on, talked to many breeders a nd visited area farms. Luckily, my husband is a contractor and he was able to build our first barn. Since I was smitten by alpacas in October, we did not have much time to do a big build since it snows here in October and the ground freezes.
Luckily, my years of raising dogs has given me a good background in animal husbandry. I know that French Bulldogs and alpacas are worlds apart, but I have learned when to rush to the vet and when you can treat at home. I have learned that you cannot keep all the baby animals and you have to sell some of them. I have learned that it hurts like hell to lose any of them and that part never gets any easier. I have learned that if you treat people fairly and like you would like to be treated, it will usually work our beautifully and if not...well, I tried and cannot control other people's actions. But at least I know I will act with honor and integrity.
AlpacaNation: What advice would you give to those just getting started in the industry?
Jackpot! Alpacas: Visit as many farms as you can and ask lots of questions. Join all the chat groups (digest version will save you time) and read the back files. On that note, you will probably be able to discern who you would or would not like to do business with from how they conduct themselves on public forums (teehee). Join AOBA, AFCNA, ARI and your local affiliates and clubs. Go to meetings and stick your hand out and meet people!
Buy back issues of Alpacas Magazine and study the articles and pedigrees. Look at the pictures until you have them memorized..then decide on the look you adore. Then make your first purchase. The pictures that you go back to over and over will probably have something in common, figure it out!
I am not one to tell you to go slow...go at the pace that suits YOU and follow your passion. If the looks of the alpacas is the most important to you...buy pretty ones. Of fiber excites you, but the ones with the type of fiber you adore. Love what you do and do what yo
AlpacaNation: How do you see your farm and alpaca business growing over the next 5 to 10 years?
Jackpot! Alpacas: My dream/goal is to have 30-50 alpacas within five to seven years and eventually 100 or so. I want to have a viable business to enjoy after we no longer run the resort. Luckily, with Steve's ability to build anything and my nagging him as we go along, I know our physical facility will be great!
I want to be active in the alpaca community and be a growing part of the industry.
I also will work on establishing a look that says JACKPOT! That is important to me and a part of it I enjoy.
AlpacaNation: How do you see the industry developing as the U.S. market grows rapidly?
Jackpot! Alpacas: Yes, the future is in the fiber! I feel there will always be a market for well bred, good producing, correctly fibered alpacas. The breeders that provide top producing stock will always command top prices. But we must concentrate on developing and supporting the AFCNA and making it the major source for selling alpaca goods.
We should have reps at all the major clothing markets and alpaca should be in every specialty boutique. Alpaca should be in all the magazines, with articles on its advantages. We ahve truly just scratched the surface of what alpaca is capable of doing.
We should all be supporting the future of this industry to allow us all to continue to enjoy this lifestyle and living with these lovely animals.
AlpacaNation: Any embarrassing moments you would like to share?
Jackpot! Alpacas: I sauntered outside one day and saw our girl Cinnamon had been rolling in the dirt and her two left legs had slipped under the fence! She was lying on her side...still. I tore outside to save her. I pulled her legs out, but she would not stand up. I kept pulling her legs out from under the panels and she just lay there - mocking me! I thought of the answer. I ran into the house to get an aromatherapy called "Peace & Calming". I was convinced that would relax her and then she would stand up. I could not find the "Peace & Calming" and was screeching "Where is my Peace & Calming?" to the dogs. So I grabbed the "Valor" I knew it would make her BRAVE and bounce right up. I ran back out and rubbed the oil into her ears and talked calmly to her...they all just LOOKED at me like I was crazy. I smelled good, but was crazy. She still just lay there. Then my brain kicked in, I called my neighbors and they came and we got her up on her feet. She jumped up and started eating after giving me a LOOK.
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