I saw on the web today that county planners in Larimer County near Denver Colorado are starting to put limits on the number of animals people can keep on smaller farms or "ranchettes " as they are sometimes callled.

The proposal would restrict landowners from two horses per acre to one horse per acre, as well as place limits on bison, mules, ostriches, emus, goats and alpacas. Too often, county officials say, property owners allow horses, pigs and cattle to overgraze small parcels, destroying prime grassland.

Interesting to see alpacas are in there but when he was pushed the local planning guy had to admit if someone asked about alpacas he wouldn't know the answer...

The county's existing livestock regulation was written in 1963 and essentially only covered riding horses and feedlots, said senior planner Al Kadera.

"If someone called me today and asked me how many alpacas he could have on his land, I couldn't tell him," Kadera said.

The county planning commission approved the proposed regulations 4-3 last week and sent them to the county commission for consideration next month.



Adrian Stewart