A voyage of discovery.

I have been caring for alpacas on the cliff tops of Lyme Regis for over 12 years, enjoying the company of these gentle, intelligent creatures.

After many years of breeding, delivering and caring for hundreds of cria, I have seen and lived through most alpaca eventualities. What I didn’t expect, all those years ago, was the catastrophic nature of parasites in the herd. I learned the hard way, with a couple of very unfortunate events, the emotional distress of losing alpacas - particularly with the discovery that the loss could have been avoided. The deaths of 2 particular alpacas, Sandy and Herbie set me on a journey of discovery into the world of parasites. Happily, I am still on the voyage and invite you to join me, exploring alpaca parasites to improve health and husbandry of these beautifull creatures.

 My background

My first degree was in Biology, with a particular emphasis on Ecology and Population Dynamics, to prove extremely useful in the years to come!I Science teaching was next, in Secondary schools in Coventry, Worcester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Chester and latterly Guildford.

In 1988 together with my husband Ian, I founded a digital communications company, focussed on delivering easy to use IT & internet based solutions for conference presentations. 14 years on, following the sale of the company I returned to teaching, completing a Masters in Education at Exeter University, researching the effective delivery of IT in schools, with a particular emphasis on Science in the curriculum.

By now, our alpaca herd was growing, but poor & conflicting information on welfare in relation to parasite control led me to the University of Bristol where I completed a Masters Degree, researching Veterinary Parasitology specifically relating to alpacas.

Now, with some published research papers under my belt I moved towards a PhD at the amazing Royal Veterinary College where I continued alpaca parasite related research in the field and laboratory for 3 years.

My mission has always been to improve the body of knowledge on alpaca parasites in the UK, not by folklore but by evidence based information and data.

If you join me on an Introduction to Parasitology Course this information forms the backbone of the day, along with learning the science basics for you to test alpaca faecals on your farm. You will be able to identify the main internal gut parasites by faecal analysis and quantify the parasite load to inform effective treatment programs.

This information will also feed into your breeding decisions and future buying decisions as you can interweave knowledge of fibre and conformation with parasitology benchmarking of your herd.

If the course is not for you right now but you would like to understand a little more about the parasites in your herd, then you can send your alpaca samples to me for analysis.

Click here for Sample Analysis