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Windy
Hill Alpacas was an award winning farm for 2002.
The Grainger County Soil Conservation District
awarded our farm as the best grassland farm in
the district for the year. This means that our
pastures are top notch! |
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Windy
Hill Alpacas - Farm History |
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In 1994, we (Mary and Wayne
England of Tazewell,
Tennessee), purchased a
240 acre farm, located half way between Rutledge and Bean Station, Tennessee, on Highway
11W. It is approximately 35 miles north of Knoxville, Tennessee.
We built a new home, made farm improvements and
began raising cattle, but
at the same time we were exploring new ways to make our farm more profitable. |
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Wayne and
Mary England
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On a
business trip to Mexico, Wayne was reading an article on alpacas which was featured in an Alaskan
airline magazine. When he returned home he asked me (Mary) what I thought about raising alpacas.
I replied, "For years I had said that when I retired I wanted to raise llamas. I reckoned an alpaca was close enough."
(Wayne was
surprised that I even knew what an alpaca was).
After doing some alpaca research and attending several alpaca shows,
WINDY HILL ALPACAS was established in 1997. We started the business by purchasing 2
geldings to "experiment" on caring for them. We wanted to see if we could give
them the proper care and to determine if we liked tending to alpacas.
To date, our herd has increased to over 40 beautiful alpacas.
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the animals, we raise our own blend of grass for alpaca
and cattle hay. |
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In addition, Wayne enjoys growing a vegetable garden and
I like to
can. We also have a blue bird trail, consisting of numerous nesting boxes. I plan to
register the trail with the North American Blue Bird
Society.
On January 1, 2000, after lengthy careers,
we retired to
a stress-free life style of farming, tending cattle and raising alpacas. My husband,
Wayne, was an executive and part owner of England/Corsair Furniture Manufacturing Company,
in Tazewell, Tennessee, that recently was bought by La-Z-Boy. He retired after 37 years
with the company. Mary, his wife (that's me), was a certified registered nurse anesthetist.
I retired after 371/2 years of being the head of the anesthesia department of the
Claiborne County Hospital, also located in Tazewell. Neither of us had prior experience in
farming or animal husbandry....so far.....so good! We are now in our 60's and if we can do
it.........ANYONE CAN ! |
