CALEDONIA, Ill. — True Colors Alpaca Farm will give visitors a chance to meet its animals during an open house from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 24 and 25. In conjunction with National Alpaca Farm Days, the public is invited to tour the farm and learn more about this niche livestock industry.

“We like to educate people about alpacas. A lot of people don’t know about them,” said Ken Adams, owner of True Colors Alpaca Farm. “People may have seen them at the zoo or in pictures, but few get the chance to actually see them up close and personal or interact with them.”

Adams encourages visitors to catch a farm tour and interact with 38 “gentle, curious and people-friendly” suri alpacas at his and wife, Laura’s, 7.5-acre farm. In addition, Laura will demonstrate hand-spinning the alpacas’ natural fiber into yarn. This luxurious fiber, which has been compared to cashmere, is used to make clothing, accessories and art projects.

The Adamses and other vendors will sell alpaca-fiber yarn, rugs, throws, socks, needle-felt goods and other items. Attendees may even purchase a registered show alpaca.

“Alpacas are an ideal livestock for small acreages,” said Ellen Phillips, local foods and small farms University of Illinois extension educator. “With growth in the fiber arts, there are many value-added opportunities.”

The Adamses are relatively new to the business, purchasing their first female in 2006, Ken said. They lived in Island Lake, a northwestern Chicago suburb, and Laura wanted to own alpacas for a number of years. When Ken was injured on the job and could no longer work as a heavy equipment operator, they started research and purchased a pregnant female from a farm in Woodstock, Ill.

He said that farm boarded their first animals for nearly a year until they found the acreage where they now live, in Caledonia. “I don’t tell people there’s no work involved in raising alpacas; they are still livestock. They are easier than most other livestock, though,” he said.

Ken described the gentle creatures, related to camels, llamas and vicunas, as somewhat “catlike” in their demeanor. “Some are standoffish, but ours are more social and very curious.”

He and Laura are members of the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Assoc. (www.alpacainfo.com) and the Illinois Alpaca Owners and Breeders Assoc. (www.iaoba.com), the latter of which Ken serves as vice president. This is the fourth year they have hosted an open house, and he said the crowd gets bigger every year.

“We had about 350 to 400 people visit last year. I expect even more this year since we partnered with the U of I extension, and we’ve done some radio advertising and got some fliers out,” he said.

This event is cosponsored by extension. For information on manure management, the Master Composter program and animal science youth programs, stop by the extension booth on-site.

The True Colors Alpaca Farm open house is free; however, attendees are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item for the Belvidere/Boone County Food Pantry, to be entered in a raffle. A silent auction will also benefit the food pantry.

The farm is located at 14718 Illinois Route 76 in Caledonia, about 15 miles northeast of Rockford, or seven miles north of Belvidere near the Interstate 90 exit in Boone County.

For more information, visit www.truecolorsalpacas.com