Turkey farm hires gang of guard alpacas to foil foxes

A farm in Berkshire has hired a herd of alpacas to guard its 24,000 free-range turkeys from foxes this Christmas.

Alpacas have a natural instinct to guard, so Tom Copas, owner of Copas Turkeys in Cookham, decided they were the best choice to look after his birds.

Foxes have killed hundreds of Copas’ turkeys, which roam freely around the farm’s cherry orchards and grass meadows.

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The farm now employs 10 alpacas, named Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Prancer, Vixen, Sage and, er, Onion.

The farm’s marketing manager, Dominic Spooner, said: “They tend to stay very close to the birds and they seem to get along very well with them. They just watch them.

“It’s something in their nature. They’re just instinctively guard animals. But they’re also very curious and they’ll come trotting over if you go into the field.”

Alpacas are used as guard animals around the world, used to ward off attacks on livestock by wild and domestic dogs, foxes and coyotes. Llamas and donkeys are also used for the same purpose.

It’s thought that alpacas react aggressively to foxes because they attack unguarded baby alpacas.

The Copas family has been rearing turkeys for 58 years. After 26 weeks of wandering around the farm and being guarded by alpacas, they are slaughtered, hand plucked and game hung before being sold for about £14 a kilogram.