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AlpacaNation Q&A with eye of the needle ranch
Michel & Michelle Swango
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23900 Rockland Rd, Golden, CO 80401
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303-421-1939
AlpacaNation: How did you decide on your farm name? Is there a special meaning behind the name?
eye of the needle ranch: We got our name from the Bible. Forms of the following verse are in 3 of the Gospels:
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, & Luke 18:25
Jesus and his Apostles thought it was important to remind us that we can’t buy our way into Heaven and we thought it was a perfect name for our ranch. It supports our Christian beliefs, is a wonderful message about being humble, and includes the Alpacas’ cousin the camel.
AlpacaNation: How long have you been in the alpaca business?
eye of the needle ranch: We have been Alpaca Ranchers since 2003. We feel that the Lord has led us to this industry and opened many doors to us. We have met many great people since we started and some we count as dear friends. We feel like we are right where the Lord wants us and he continues to guide us.
AlpacaNation: Tell us about yourself...
eye of the needle ranch: We have been married since 1983. We have two beautiful daughters. We are both professionals from the telecommunications industry. The telecom industry is a very service intensive business. We believe that service to the customer is the most important attribute of any company. We have had business dealings with many ranches. Most good, some bad. We think that we are fair and honest. That’s how we do business and that’s what we expect from others.
AlpacaNation: How did you become interested in alpacas?
eye of the needle ranch: We were researching Llamas on the Internet for packing on Lookout Mountain, where we live at 7,500 feet above sea level, when an ad popped up saying “The tax advantages of owning Alpacas”. This sparked our interest so we started researching Alpacas. We Prayed about it, went to shows, ranch visits, and talked to everyone we could about it including our Finical Advisor, CPA, and Insurance Agent. Six months later we bought our first 4 animals and we were Alpaca Breeders.
AlpacaNation: What has been the most helpful advice you have received from your veterinarian?
eye of the needle ranch: Our vet is Dr. Debra Mayo. As far as we are concerned she is one of the best vets in the industry. She was another door that was opened to us. Not only is she our vet but we also count her and her family as one of the dear friends we have met because of Alpacas. She doesn’t beat around the bush. Everything she tells us is based on the good of our animals and our ranch. On top of that when we moved to our ranch we changed churches. Come to find out she attends that church.
AlpacaNation: What sets your farm and herd apart from others in the industry?
eye of the needle ranch: We have spent a lot of time and money developing and collecting great bloodlines and establishing a good foundation herd all with fleece quality in mind. We don’t breed for color and we don’t spend a lot of time worrying if a particular animal was imported from a certain country or a certain ranch. We are breeding for the best quality fleece we can produce. As we said before we think that we are fair and honest. That’s how we do business and that’s what we expect from others.
AlpacaNation: What steps did you take to prepare for raising an alpaca herd?
eye of the needle ranch: We already had horses so we knew a little about ranching. We had to adjust to the new animals but that is where a good mentor comes in. We have learned a lot about hay, fencing, shearing, fleece, showing animals, choosing bloodlines, and finding good breedings.
AlpacaNation: What advice would you give to those just getting started in the industry?
eye of the needle ranch: First be careful…Alpacas are addictive! Second find a mentor that can guide you through the learning curve. Another door that was opened to us was finding Tim and Dianna Timmerman (who we also count as dear friends). Their knowledge and experience has helped us immensely. We know that without their help and guidance we would not be where we are today. We gained a huge jumpstart as new breeders by having them as our mentors. We are sure that their help has saved us untold amounts of money and allowed us to establish a herd of high quality Alpacas.
AlpacaNation: How do you see your farm and alpaca business growing over the next 5 to 10 years?
eye of the needle ranch: For the last 5 years we have been concentrating on growing our herd. We have collected some of the best blood lines in North America. We have produced some great animals with quality fleece. Over the next 5 years we plan to increase the quality even more and help develop a thriving fleece industry.
AlpacaNation: What has been your biggest lesson learned in terms of breeding?
eye of the needle ranch: If you want to hear God laugh tell him your plan. As hard as you try things don’t always turn out the way you plan. Case in point we bred a true black male to a bay black female and got a medium fawn cria. Two things, first make the best breeding decision you can then turn it over to GOD. Second always make your breeding decision expecting a male. Since there are already so many great breeding males they tend to be harder to sell. It is much easier to sell one with quality fleece and a great heritage.
AlpacaNation: Describe your first alpaca purchase... would you do anything differently today?
eye of the needle ranch: This was another door the Lord opened to us. As part of our research we talked to everyone we could about it including our Finical Advisor, CPA, and Insurance Agent. Our Insurance Agent because we wanted to find out who insured Alpacas. It just so happened that he was also looking at becoming an Alpaca rancher. He told us you have to visit Aussie Acres. They are wonderful people with great animals and very knowledgeable in the industry. We went to Aussie Acres and met with Tim and Dianna. They spent the whole day showing us what to look for and what to look out for when buying Alpacas. By the end of the day we talked them into selling us (the sign of a true salesperson…we still think we talked them into it but, we do think it actually set them back a year on their breeding program) four of their best females. Two of which we have since been told by other breeders that tried to buy them that Dianna would not sell them. We still think we got a great deal and a head start on our breeding
AlpacaNation: What unique challenges do you face as a small, mid-size, or larger breeder?
eye of the needle ranch: Limited resources, not only dollar wise but the number of animals you have to work with. As a small breeder we make the best breeding decision we can and wait a year to find out if that combination of genes produces the expected result. A large ranch can put a male on ten females with different fleece types and find out which combination is best then reproduce that with their customers’ animals. A large ranch can establish in one year what may take us ten years to duplicate. Another challenge is the show circuit. If we have 5 crias in a year we take all five to the first couple of shows to see how they are going to do. A larger ranch might have a show string of the highest quality animals that is larger than our whole herd. The other side of the coin is that we don’t have the overhead the large ranches have. We only need to sell a couple of animals a year to cover our overhead.
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