About Camelot Ranch Alpacas

Camelot Ranch Alpacas is located on 5 beautiful acres in Ferndale, Washington near the USA – Canadian border. The scenic Birch Bay State Park is minutes west of our ranch. The breathtaking Cascade mountain range provides a spectacular background to our alpaca ranch.

We are Les and Carol Boswell and we began Camelot Ranch Alpacas in 2001 with 4 alpacas. Neither of us has farming or livestock backgrounds. That hasn’t stopped us! Les has a very successful career in construction and Carol is an R.N. We’ve used our career talents to build our alpaca business.

Camelot Ranch Alpacas now has 14 alpacas in 2006-2007. Cria season remains a joyous time. The first cria’s of 2007 will be arriving in April 2007. We currently offer 2 stud males, both with outstanding genetic backgrounds. The first 5 years have been busy and wonderful. Both of us enjoy being very “Hands-On“ when it comes to caring for our herd. We have attended a large variety of clinics and seminars to further our alpaca knowledge and are very willing to share our knowledge with YOU! We have proudly assisted several farms in their start-up alpaca ventures. These folks become good friends, not just business accounts! We are members of Alpacas Owners & Breeders Assoc. (A.O.B.A.), Alpaca Registry, Inc., our local affiliate Alpaca Ranchers of the Northwest (A.R.O.W.)and sotckholders in Alpaca Fiber Coop of North America (AFCNA).

We raise Huacaya alpacas, concentrating on Peruvian Accoyo stock known for their fiber density. All our alpacas are registered with the Alpaca Registry, Inc. USA. Our breeding goals continue to include correct conformation, sound health, fine fiber with density, and a good disposition. We prefer to breed for solid color, with a concentration on white. We are committed to assisting North America become a commercial alpaca industry which we believe will favor white fiber.

While the ranch keeps us busy, we find a variety of ways to enjoy and promote our alpacas. Carol has been a volunteer with the local 4-H organization as the leader of our county’s only Alpaca club for 4 years. Our county holds a Youth Fair each spring where Carol volunteers as the Alpaca/Llama Super introducing alpacas to the community’s children. Carol co-chaired AlpacaPalooza 2003, a local affiliate’s annual AOBA sanctioned show, and will chair AROW’s Herdsire Auction 2007 during the AOBA affiliate’s annual Show in Sept. 2007. In addition, Carol heads an alpaca ladies luncheon which meets monthly to work on alpaca fiber projects, share a meal, and support one another in all things alpaca. The group began with 4 alpaca owning women and has now grown to 16 members. The group has sponsored trophies for children competing with their alpacas during the county fair the past 3 years. Officially the group is known as Whatcom County Ladies Fiber Group, but the husbands refer to us fondly as the Stitch-n-Bitch group!!!

Les does his share of volunteering as well by offering his talents as an auctioneer with 4-H animal auctions, alpaca auctions such as A.W.E and in 2007 A.R.O.W., as well as a variety of non-profit community organizations. Les has been shearing alpacas for 5 years, and our ranch now offers shearing & sharpening services to neighboring farms. 2006 was a very busy shearing season for us!

Our ranch has grown to include the addition of an on-site ranch store. We donate fiber to our coop (AFCNA) and process the remainder into lovely yarn we call our “Farm Yarn.” We proudly display our AOBA show ribbons, 4-H related information, and all the beautiful “Farm Yarn” and other alpaca products for ranch visitors.

On the horizon for Camelot Ranch Alpacas is increasing our shearing business and continuing to participate in a variety of AOBA sanctioned national alpaca shows in 2007. Look for us at AlpacaPalooza, Heart of the Valley, Alpaca Showcase, and Alpaca Affaire. We may even venture to Louisville, KY for the first time!

Are you thinking about alpacas for your family? Want to add to your herd, or breed to an outstanding Stud? We’d love to talk to you and help you explore these wonderful animals. Give us a call, or send us an email. You are warmly invited to visit.