WELCOME TO EAST YETTS
Welcome to East Yetts Alpacas, where we offer “Alpaca Encounters” on our little farm. We are located in the stunning countryside close to the village of Elsrickle, minutes from the market town of Biggar.
East Yetts is a family run small-holding, operated by siblings Gus and Wilma. Our alpaca journey started back in 2018, when Wilma decided to look for a humane way to stop Mr Fox paying us a visit and stalking our ducks and hens. Upon discovering that alpacas are used in many parts of the world to act as guards for other animals, Wilma decided to learn more.
This curiosity lead to us attending an introductory course on keeping alpacas, facilitated by the very experienced alpaca breeders, Graham and Jenny McHarg of Fowberry Alpacas.
It’s fair to say we were hooked at that point! Whilst only looking for a few pet boys it still took us several months to find the right chaps and in August 2019 after careful planning and preparation our boys arrived from Redens Alpacas.
Ron and Linda have been fantastic and have helped us greatly on our journey to becoming alpaca guardians. We’re also delighted to say we haven’t seen a fox since.
Following the introduction of females and the birth or “unpacking” of their offspring called “cria” our alpaca herd has grown and we now have 20 alpacas. We mainly have black alpacas but there are a couple of fawn boys, Earl and Eggnog. Gus is the alpaca whisperer, he loves looking after the herd and feeding them little treats of apples and carrots.
An East Yetts Alpaca Encounter will give you the opportunity to meet the herd, learn more about their behaviours, share lots of alpaca facts and get answers to all your questions. You will be able to get up close and personal with our “boys”, give them cuddles, get your selfies and photos to remember your time here. Each encounter is slightly different as its “your encounter”.
Being a small holding we also have a small flock of Herdwick sheep, a few Kune Kune pigs and a couple of Pygmy goats.
Our pigs, Betty, Cammy and Harry tend to make a big impression on all of our visitors. No matter your favourite, all of our animals are very friendly and happy to greet you particularly if they are getting a slice of apple or carrot.
East Yetts is the perfect place to relax, unwind and make some new “friends”.
A visit to us offers something for everyone!
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NO SPECTATORS OR PLACES FOR THOSE NOT WISHING TO VISIT ALPACAS TO WAIT.
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BOOKINGS AND VOUCHERS
At East Yetts, we love to welcome guests to our farm. If you would like to pay us a visit, gift an alpaca encounter to another or redeem a previous East Yetts voucher, then click the button below to find out more. Our booking form/payment gateway will do the rest.
Important Information
Duration 1 hour
Before booking onto one of our alpaca encounters, please take the time to read our guidelines below to make sure our alpaca encounters are suitable for you.
1. Anyone 17 or under or a vulnerable adult must have a responsible paying adult, 18 or over, attending. Adult tickets are for anyone 18 or over, but for insurance reasons we require a minimum of one person 18 or over booked onto the encounter per 2 children (17 or under). This ratio of one adult to every two children is very important. In the event you book incorrectly to this ratio, we will need to add an additional adult on following your booking. We will not be able to offer a refund if a booking error is made and an additional adult cannot be sourced.
2. Whilst we have extensively trained our herd and exposed them to all sorts of different things, alpacas are ultimately animals. They can be excitable, or they might be lovely and chilled, if you are nervous around animals at all this is the perfect activity as we can take things at your speed, so please let us know if you are unsure or might prefer a slower introduction.
3. We do have a toilet on site, but as it is at the farmhouse we do prefer to view it as an emergency toilet to be used at the start or the end of your activity if required.
4. Suitable footwear is compulsory as we walk across grass. During summer we recommend trainers or walking boots, and during winter walking boots or wellies are best.
Alpacas have softer feet then horses but we insist that toes are covered all year round to be on the safe side.
We do have a foot-dip for biosecurity reasons which we request that all visitors use to keep the alpacas safe.
5. Please wear warm clothing as it can be slightly colder in the countryside when compared to temperatures in our towns / cities. In the event of rain, we do not allow umbrellas on the encounter as these can spook the alpacas so please bring waterproofs instead.
6. Due to the nature of the ground, unfortunately we are unable to accommodate wheelchairs and prams all year around, so please get in touch to see what we can arrange. Some walking aids may be suitable. Please get in touch to discuss your exact requirements before booking and we will do our best to design an activity that is perfect for you.
7. No dogs, including guide and assistance dogs. Please don’t bring dogs and leave them in your car.
8. We recommend the use of insect repellent due to the nature of being with animals in open countryside.
9. We run our encounters in all weather, except storms or when there are dangerous road conditions locally.
10. All visitors must only arrive on site 5-10 minutes maximum before the start of the encounter, you will then be collected from your car by a guide when we are ready for the session to begin. If you are going to be late please get in touch as soon as possible.
11. We do not offer refunds, in the event of a cancellation we will transfer your ticket to a gift voucher which will be valid for 12 months. We require at least 7 days notice if you need to cancel, any cancellations after this time will not be eligible for a gift voucher and the booking will be lost with no voucher, transfer or refund due. We often struggle to fill slots at such short notice and as such lose business.
In the event you used a gift voucher to book, the cancellation will not be eligible for a 12 month voucher. Instead, the value of the booking will be returned back onto the original gift voucher, and the original expiry date will remain. Any additional value paid will be issued on a second gift voucher, which will be eligible for the full 12 months validity.
12. Unfortunately we do not offer tickets for spectators. If your group size is larger than 8 please get in touch and we will do our best to accommodate your group size.
Thank you,
East Yetts Alpacas