Our Story
A chance encounter with an alpaca over a neighbour’s hedge in 2013 sparked an immediate interest in these beautiful and curious animals. By 2015 Chris and May had done their research and decided to invest in six white breeding females carefully selected from two of the most established breeders in the UK. With our award-winning huacaya, our mission was clear; to work only with world-class genetics allowing us to breed elite animals year after year.
Today, Cold Comfort is a thriving family enterprise based in the heart of Kent. Selecting only the best genetics from the start has paid dividends; since appearing in shows from 2016 we have won numerous show awards including supreme champions, champions and reserve champions, each bred from the initial investment in top quality females. As our interest in colour genetics has grown so has our colour range. Without compromising on our commitment to breeding alpacas with the finest fleeces in our industry, we have selectively added fawn and grey to our herd.
Alongside our focus on high-end fleece production our breeding considerations are also shaped by a vision of the optimal phenotype, or the “look”, of our herd. We breed for strong, well-proportioned animals, fit for entering our or our clients’ breeding programmes.
Cold Comfort has grown into a diversified farm, offering for sale breeding females from our quality genetics, award winning studs and halter trained wethers. A variety of processed fleece products are also for sale, made exclusively from fleece produced by our farm animals.
Biosecurity and Animal Welfare
Kent is one of the very few bTB free counties in England. However, we are never complacent and perform routine tests when breeding stock is moved between farms. As a purpose built alpaca stud facility, Cold Comfort offers separate quarantine areas for visiting and newly acquired animals, as well as a dedicated mating areas. We never compromise on our high standard to ensure the health and wellbeing of our animals.
Our vaccination protocols and parasite control measures are world-class; 10 x clostridial vaccinations are standard and our paddocks are poo-picked daily to prevent parasites from spreading. We never deworm our animals as a matter of course, instead we carry out Modified Stoll faecal testing to detect lower egg counts twice yearly.
Farm Infrastructure
Cold Comfort is a more than an alpaca business, it’s our home. The farmhouse overlooks the paddocks and we share a tranquil, tree-fringed pond with our cria and pregnant females. A haven for shade-seeking mums in the summer!
Investments in our enterprise extend beyond acquiring world-class genetics. Six self-contained paddocks, each with five-foot-high fencing and dedicated shelters, ensure our animals stay in and unwanted creatures are kept out.
And our spacious 2,000 sq ft Dutch barn, equipped with CCTV, hot water, heating and dedicated pens functions as the occasional ‘animal hospital’ and a temporary home for our weanlings.
Sustainability
Operating a responsible farming enterprise extends beyond our focus on animals. Cold Comfort consumes only renewable resources for all its energy needs. A biomass heating system is fuelled by locally sourced logs and our electricity is purchased from providers of hydro and wind generated power.
Careful paddock maintenance removes the need for herbicides. The majority of our alpaca poo is recycled for use in our farm garden from which we produce organic fruit and vegetables all year round. In 2018 we added 3 coloured ryeland sheep to farm; ducks and bees are next on the list!