Churchfield Alpacas

25/12/2025

Merry Christmas everyone!

Wishing you and your loved ones a lovely Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.
🥂🎁🎄🎁🎄🥂

07/12/2025

Great news!!

On 5 December 2025, the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill passed its final stage in the House of Lords — the “third reading” in the Lords — meaning Peers approved the Bill. This amendment updates the old Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953.

• The Amendment Bill broadens that definition of “livestock” to include camelids — that is, animals such as Alpacas and Llamas Previously the 1953-Act, “livestock” meant only animals like sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, horses and poultry.
• In practice, this means that if a dog chases, attacks or “worries” (i.e. menaces or disturbs) an alpaca or llama, the owner of the dog can now be prosecuted under livestock-worrying laws — just as if the victim were a sheep or cow.
• Extending legal protection to alpacas & llamas recognises that these animals are increasingly kept or farmed in the UK so the law is updating to match real-world farming practices.
• This change helps prevent dog-attacks or chases on alpacas/llamas from going unpunished — giving their owners the same legal redress and protection as “traditional” livestock owners.
The Bill also:
• Extends the offence to include incidents not only on traditional farm fields/enclosures but also on roads and paths — recognising that livestock are often moved between fields and may be vulnerable during transit.
• Gives police greater powers: they can detain dogs suspected of worrying or attacking livestock, enter premises to gather evidence, and take samples (e.g. from dogs or livestock) to support investigations.
• Raises the maximum penalty: currently the fine for “livestock worrying” is capped at £1,000 — under the amendment the fine becomes unlimited, giving courts discretion to match the severity of the offence.

The “alpaca amendment” (i.e. adding camelids) shifts the status of alpacas/llamas from being unprotected under livestock-worrying laws to being fully protected, with all the same legal consequences for someone whose dog attacks or harasses them.

This aligns the law with changing farming practices in the UK, where alpacas and llamas are increasingly farmed.

https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/lln-2025-0028/

05/11/2025

After a bit of a delay, I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to tell you that ‘Art of Fibre UK’ fibre testing service has officially opened, and so I am now able to carry out testing of alpaca samples here in the UK. While I am now fully trained to carry out standard alpaca tests, I expect to be trained to carry out Genetic Focused testing in about another month.

We were hoping to have started the service a month ago, however, Paul was not happy with the way the OFDA2000 was functioning after it was delivered from Canada, so we tried to get it repaired. This did not give him the standard he wanted, so he bought a new OFDA2000 - which I've affectionately nicknamed "Shelia," which is what we now have here in the UK.

As we don’t have an ‘Association Agreement’ in place in the UK, I am delighted to announce the special rate will apply to all UK breeders under the new UK National Testing Scheme. That means certified alpaca testing is available at a flat rate of £3.00 per sample. The more advanced Genetic Focused testing is £3.58 per sample. The link to the ordering and payment page is: https://artoffibre.com/product/uk-national-testing-scheme/ Full details of our ‘Quality assurance scheme for testing alpaca fibre’ is shown at the bottom of the ordering page.

I am genuinely excited that I am in this position where I can support other UK breeders with their fibre testing as well as helping with regional fleece shows (please note I cannot test fleeces if I have entered the fleece show – in this case, Esther will come over to do the testing). In time, I also plan to provide training opportunities and initiate much needed research and trials relating to fleeces.

Supporting the UK alpaca industry has always been at the heart of what I do, but this opportunity allows me to take that support to a whole new level – and I couldn’t be more happier about it.

Harley Taylor

25/08/2025

Incredibly proud of my wife, Harley Taylor She's starting an exciting new role as the UK technician for Art of Fibre, who are bringing their brilliant fibre testing service back to the UK on Nov 1st. Fantastic news for UK alpaca breeders!

I am pleased to advise Art of Fibre will re-commence its specialised alpaca fibre testing service in the UK commencing 1st November 2025.

We are fortunate that Harley Taylor has agreed to join our team as technician for the UK service. Many of you know Harley who, with her husband Sam, own and manage the Churchfield Alpaca Stud in Essex.

I might mention that Harley will be signing a confidentially agreement. In addition, we have discussed the uncompromising requirement that test results are strictly between Art of Fibre employees and the customer.

One reason for returning the service is that I confess to the error of judgement of having left the UK without a professional testing service specialising in alpaca fibre. I might mention that before I pulled the service, I attempted to sell it with the proviso it remain dedicated to alpaca breeders, however, this offer was not accepted.

I plan to have our website updated around the 25th September so that customers can order testing with the UK service, complete with all contact details and address for sending samples.

With our twenty five years’ experience supporting alpaca breeders combined with Harley’s passion and knowledge of alpacas and her eventual competency with using the testing technology, I like to think this will be a popular decision.
Paul.
[email protected]