Double 8 Alpaca & Llama Ranch

11/29/2022

Our Holidays on the Farm Event this past Friday was a huge success!! I’m so thankful to our friend and employee Beth, and for my husband who spent the entire week helping me with decorating the farm and barn with fresh green garland (Sincerely grateful for Beth Ann White Cioni as I was about to lose my mind trying to figure out how to unwind it Lol 😂 ) and Christmas lights. Another shout out to Beth for working the farm store while Doug and I answered questions about Llamas and Alpacas. Another shout out to our good friend, Lori, and her daughter, Caitlyn, who helped make more “llama & alpaca p**p ornaments” and to my daughter, Nadia Flikova and granddaughter for trying to find some fresh Greenery on our farm and making our own garland. It was a FUN adventure!!

If you missed the Holidays on the Farm this past Friday, don’t worry…There’s another one on Saturday, December 10th from 2:00pm-6:00pm. Come spread some holiday cheer with the cute llamas and alpacas and do some holiday shopping in our farm store. We have alpaca hats, scarves, gloves, mitts, socks galore and so much more!

11/22/2022

We’re decorating the farm for the holidays.
Come visit us during our “Holidays on the Farm” events: Friday, November 25th (1pm-6pm) and Saturday, December 10th (2pm-6pm)

Self- Guided tour through the barn decorated for the holidays and shopping in our farm store.

11/14/2022

P!NK - Never Gonna Not Dance Again (Official Video)

Wait for it, or fast forward to about 3:15.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3e5yoxxMvuXlgUB27F-sIltp9IMl8EBFSQFizGqAcRccw4gWWDvFe_q_o&v=iqYK79jCssA&feature=youtu.be

Listen to P!nk's new single “Never Gonna Not Dance Again," out now: https://Pink.lnk.to/NGNDACall 1-888-262-PINK for more information.P!nk Summer Carnival 20...

10/31/2022

Join us for Holidays on the Farm. Walk through the llama and alpaca barn and enjoy the holiday music, light display, and llamas and alpacas decked out for the holidays. Shop in the farm store for the perfect holiday gift.

10/08/2022

Thank you to the most awesome 4-H club!! Doug and I LOVE our mugs!!
Loudoun County 4-H Alpaca and Llama Club Loudoun County 4H Fair Grounds VCE Loudoun

09/29/2022

We are closed this weekend due to participating in a llama and alpaca event. We will re-open Tuesday, October 4th. In the meantime, enjoy !! This is MSF Max Scherzer and MSF Southern Gentleman (2 of the 3 llamas attending the llama/alpaca show) and Double 8 Princess Leia and her newborn female cria.

09/13/2022

The Bluemont Fair | A real community based fair in western Loudoun County

Come see us at the Bluemont Fair this weekend. We will have our fibery friends with us again this year. https://www.bluemontfair.org

A country fair in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains We will see you on September 17 & 18, 2022 (10 am – 5 pm each day) for the 52nd Bluemont Fair! Admission: $10 Children 9 and under are free. Sorry, no pets. Parking is free. Welcome to the Bluemont Fair! Bring your family and friends to t...

09/13/2022

Double 8 Alpaca & Llama Ranch updated their information in their About section.

Double 8 Alpaca & Llama Ranch updated their information in their About section.

08/11/2022

Home

If you’re looking to start an alpaca and/or Llama farm or if you already have, you shouldn’t miss this educational conference. https://galaonline.org

Welcome Welcome to the Greater Appalachian Llama and Alpaca Association’s website. It’s GALA's '"face to the world" and our Members’ resource destination. Check out the information of the various pull-down tabs. On these tabs you will find information about the organization, how to join, resou...

08/01/2022

Thank you for your patience as we work on responding to calls and email inquiries that came in the last couple of weeks. We were busy helping the Alpaca & Llama 4-H Club of Loudoun County members get ready for their big fair competition. Our farm is the host to the club. The kids use our animals and learn from us how to take care of the animals, groom and show them.

We were at the fair with the club all of last week. It was a successful fair for the club members!! VCE Loudoun 4-H Loudoun Farms

05/20/2022

We are open to the public this weekend, Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22 from 10am-4pm for the Loudoun Spring Farm Tour. Bring your kids to hear the 4-H members read Macca the Alpaca and Llama Llama stories and demonstrate obstacles. Storytimes are 10am, 12noon, and 2pm.

Loudoun County Fair Loudoun Farms Loudoun County Economic Development

04/08/2022

Farmer Trading Cards 2022 - Farmers Lincoln and Eden

Congratulations to Eden and Lincoln Lucas Reck for all of your hard work on your farm and especially making this outstanding video sharing your love for fiber animals and the projects you make from their fiber!! Soon you will have an alpaca and Llama from Double 8 Alpaca Ranch! We are honored to have had the opportunity to support your learning about alpaca and Llama fiber.

03/28/2022

This April will be a busy month for us. We start the month off at a wedding with our alpacas at 48 Fields. We will be attending the MA PA Pronk in Westminster, MD April 8-10 and MAPACA Jubilee and GALA April 22-24. That’s 3 very busy weekends. We will also squeeze in shearing as well in April with Mariacher Shearing.

If you are looking to book an event or farm tour with us, we should have more availability in May.

11/17/2021

Can you spare a minute to help Doug Kittrell?

Save rural Loudoun. Sign this petition
There is a process that needs to be followed by the Loudoun Board of Supervisors to annex ag preserved property. It’s protected for a reason.

Save Loudoun Agriculture!

11/12/2021

www.openherd.com

Come see us, Double 8 Alpaca Ranch, at the MD Alpaca Fiber Festival this weekend, Saturday, Nov 13 & Sunday, Nov 14 from 9am-4pm at the Howard County Fairgrounds. We have beautiful raw alpaca fleeces for sale!! We also have the most beautiful yarns!! We will also be at the Leesburg Farmers Market Saturday, Nov 13 from 9am-12noon. Come get a head start on your holiday shopping and get one the new alpacas hats I've made this week! https://www.openherd.com/users/7115/2017-FESTIVAL.mp3

08/08/2021

Happy 18th wedding Anniversary to us. And 16 years ago, our farm was named after our wedding date, August 8th...Double 8 Alpaca Ranch and now Llamas Too! Doug Kittrell

07/28/2021

We are the host farm to thr 4H Alpaca Club of Loudoun County. This year the kids decided to learn how to wet felt with the alpaca fiber and make bookmarks to sell as their club's fundraising project. They are doing fiber demos all week at the Loudoun County fair in Leesburg, Virginia. Come see them and support their hard work! Loudoun Farms Loudoun County Fair

07/28/2021

The farm will be closed for private farm tours this week, Tuesday, July 27- Sunday, August 1. We will be at the Loudoun County Fair in Leesburg, Va supporting the 4H Alpaca Club of Loudoun County. Come see our kiddos compete in Showmanship on Saturday at 5:30. For a real treat, come a little earlier at 2:50 and see what the kids have planned for our llama and the costume competition!

04/13/2021

We will be closed for tours for the next 2 weeks, April 13-May4, as we prepare for and attend a couple alpaca and llama shows, and shear our herd of llamas and alpacas. If you've already booked a tour, you will still have your tour. We just can't schedule anymore until May. Thank you for understanding this is our busy busy season. We look forward to seeing our new and returning farm tour visitors after May4th!

04/01/2021

Llama on duty

03/30/2021

Happy Spring Break! I will be heading to Charlottesville tomorrow to learn about trekking with llamas for my spring break. Sure, The beach or a tropical island would be preferable for a spring break, but we plan to start offering a hiking with our llamas and alpacas experience next year so I need to learn as much as I can to be able to offer you the best experience possible.

Photo is of Max Scherzer of Double 8 who was born 2 weeks ago. He's our 1st llama born on our farm. He's twice the size of our baby alpacas. He's super sweet and calm and will make an excellent packing/trekking llama!

Because I will be away, our farm will be closed for tours until next week, since my hubby can only manage so much with chores, a new LGD puppy, and oh yeah... his day job!!

03/15/2021

Llama Momma, White Gold, delivered her sweet baby boy (cria) yesterday. Momma and baby are doing well. Baby weighed in at 24.5 lbs at birth.

03/09/2021

Hi! If you'd like to book a private farm tour please visit our website for pricing, which varies depending on the number of guests. Thank you 😊
www.Double8alpacas.com

03/07/2021

Thank you to our farm guests for understanding how incredibly busy we are on the farm EVERY DAY. Please continue to give us 48 hours to respond to your calls, emails, and social media messages. Today alone we have llama training, 2 farm tours, and the horse farrier here, and we began baby alpaca and llama watch this week!! That's on top of our usual farm chores (cleaning barns 2 times daily, and feeding a over 60 farm animals) We consider it a good day if we can find time to feed our human selves. It's just 2 humans running our farm, no employees to keep your farm tour fees reasonable.

03/02/2021

Natural fleeces offer a renewable alternative to synthetic fibers

Does this make me a published author? Doug Kittrell Bonnie Belfiore Kittrell

https://vfbarticles.personifycloud.com/news-and-features/categories/natural-fleeces-offer-a-renewable-alternative-to-synthetic-fibers

Soft, cozy and natural, wool is making a comeback as a preferred fiber in the fashion world thanks to its sustainable properties. That fact isn’t lost on Augusta County farmer Francis Chester. He raises Columbia, Targhee and Rambouillet sheep for wool at Chester-Cestari Farms, on land located dire...

02/12/2021

Thank you to all of our farm tour guests and especially to those who have been understanding when we have to ask to reschedule their farm tour. We never realized how snowy and icy it would be at our new farm. We are guessing that because we are between 2 major mountain ranges we are seeing more precipitation here and less melt like our city and our suburban town friends are experiencing this winter. We do make special exceptions when farm tour guests are here from out of town, but we make sure they are totally aware of the farm conditions and the risk it may pose. We highly recommend boots with non slip soles. Yep! Even I had to buy a brand new pair of heavy duty snow/farm boots with a good grippy bottom sole to get around the farm for chores. You should have seen me skating from animal barn to animal barn just last week doing the chores! Thank Goodness for Amazon and their prompt delivery services!! Also if you come to the farm during the winter, dress very warm! It's also quite breezy between the hills here.

We will be closed to the public this coming week as I need to stay in quarantine for an upcoming minor operation that is scheduled for next Friday, Feb 19th. We will be open the following week, again weather permitting.

Stay safe this weekend as we are about to see even more snow ❄️ out here in Western Loudoun County, Va!!

02/05/2021

We are closed today to celebrate Doug's Mother's life. Sandy was a loving mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother. Because of her beautiful soul, we named one of our alpacas after her when it was born on Mother's Day. We will never forgot you Sandy.

We will also be closed tomorrow.

02/05/2021

Cultivate Winter 2021

We were honored to have been selected to be interviewed for the Cultivate Winter 2021 magazine!!

Cultivate is published quarterly with a focus on safe, fresh and locally grown foods and the Virginia farms that produce them.

01/23/2021

Hello from Sugar Baby! We will be closed to the public this weekend as we will be working hard today slinging 200 bales of hay (loading, unloading, and stacking in the barns).

Tomorrow, Sunday, Jan 24th, we will be on a field trip of a sheep farm with our 4H members. Double 8 Alpaca Ranch gives back to the community by being the host farm of the 4H Alpaca Club of Loudoun County along with being volunteer leaders who educate the youth on farming, raising and showing alpacas, community service, and fundraising.

12/15/2020

Double 8 Alpaca & Llama Ranch updated their business hours.

Double 8 Alpaca & Llama Ranch updated their business hours.

12/02/2020

Busy week thus far on the farm. Worked on a custom alpaca planter order, moved animals around as fencing is getting installed, and had a couple awesome farm tours!

I have to say how much I just love our farm tour guests we've been getting. No matter how tired and stressed i've been these past few months with our move, I am greeted with such kind visitors who just love our alpacas, llamas and views of our new farm. Their smiles and excitement make my days as of late!

Thank you to Agile Exteriors: Home of The Rugged Fence for installing phase two of our fencing. Spencer and his crew are doing a great job!!

11/24/2020

We will be closed to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, Wednesday, November 25 through Thursday, November 26 with family. Please have a safe Thanksgiving!

We will be at the Leesburg Farmers Market every Saturday through March from 9am-12noon. We will have our famous Farm blend socks, Loudoun Grown, Loudoun made hats, ear warmers, and scarves, and alpaca dryer balls. You can book your private farm tour to meet our friendly herd by visiting our website: www.Double8alpacas.com

10/31/2020

Our 1st Annual Halloween Alpaca Costume Contest!

Our 1st Annual Halloween Alpaca Costume Contest!

10/18/2020

We are beyond thankful for this beautiful gift from the Loudoun County 4H Alpaca Club!! We had an amazing show today! The kiddos did a fantastic job showing in showmanship and obstacle and everyone had a fun time!!

09/24/2020

This weekend the herd is moving to our new farm located at 13374 Harpers Ferry Road, Purcellville, Va 20132. We are temporarily closed until October 18th as we get everyone settled into their new digs. We're sure you're going to love the new location! Check our website to book your private farm tour: www.Double8alpacas.com

09/17/2020

TBT. Step in the way back machine to 2005. Part of our first alpaca purchase John LoVerde Barb Sodums

09/07/2020

Ready, Set, Go!!

06/29/2020

Emmy the llama is enjoying the fans today.

05/30/2020

Follow the link and check us out at stop #4 on the virtual map! https://linktr.ee/Loudounvafarms