The good news is that we have now cleared all 1,600 feet of fence line. Rolled up the barbed wire and stacked the T posts....not quite sure what to do with the old wire but someone will know.

I have decided to replace the old fence with what is called a New Zealand fence in America...much to the annoyance of Australians who ...yes you guessed it , call it an Australian fencing.

I will be installing 8 foot tall, 6 inch diameter wooden posts at 50 foot intervals and stretching 6 strands of high tensile wire in between. To help support the wire I will also be installing some 4 foot long, 3/8ths fibre glass rods. This arrangement is going to be fine for the hay field and will certainly stop the odd alpaca that gets lost. It would however be totally useless for horses or cattle.

I did have an e-mail from a fellow alpaca breeder in the UK to warn me about using tensile wire and how it has a "life all of its own".... the secret or so I am told is to use a "wire Jenny" that keeps the wire under tension while you unroll it. Well that's the theory at least...we will have to wait and see what happens in practice.

Adrian Stewart