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Robyn's Alpaca Nesting Heart
Robyn's Alpaca Nesting Heart
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Robyn's Alpaca Nesting Heart
“A willie wagtail landed on the back of one of our alpacas and started pulling fleece straight off him. Came back every morning for a fortnight. The birds worked it out long before I did — I just finally noticed what they’d been telling me.”
Alpaca fibre is hollow through the centre, so it traps far more warmth than solid fibre. A nest lined with it holds heat through a cold Highlands night — which is exactly what eggs and new chicks need.
Unlike sheep’s wool, alpaca fleece carries no lanolin. Nothing greasy, nothing to irritate. Soft and clean against a chick’s skin from its first day out of the shell.
Synthetic thread holds a loop and tightens over time. Alpaca fibre compresses and breaks down inside the nest instead — no loops, no rigid strands, no entanglement risk.
Alpaca fibre repels moisture on its own. Spring rain runs off rather than soaking in, so the lining stays dry instead of turning into a cold mat underneath the chicks.
The heart is a mesh frame, not a disposable. When the birds strip it bare — and they will — push fresh fleece, raw wool or pet brushings back through the hexagons and hang it up again. Season after season.
The mesh openings are wide enough that a wagtail or fairy-wren can get a proper grip and pull a strand free, tight enough that one gusty night doesn’t empty the whole heart across the paddock.
“Fibre entanglement is something we see every single spring. Chicks come in with synthetic thread wound around a leg or a throat, and almost always it has come from nesting material a parent bird collected in a nearby garden. Natural fibre like alpaca fleece compresses and breaks down safely. Synthetic fibre does neither. Putting soft natural fibre out in September and October is one of the simplest things a household can do.”
Avian Ecologist & Wildlife Rehabilitator · Highlands Wildlife Care Centre, Bowral NSW- Fleece from one named herd. Fourteen alpacas at Robertson, shorn in December 2025. Not a blended bale from three countries.
- Inner fleece only, four colours. Robyn sorts out the coarse guard hair by hand and packs only soft inner fibre — dark brown, cream, caramel and charcoal, from four different animals.
- Hand-cut frames. Don cuts and shapes every one from mesh offcuts in the shed. Slight differences in shape are the point, not a fault.
- Nothing added. No dye, no scent, no treatment. Washed, dried, packed. That’s the whole process.
- Built to stay out. The frame lives outdoors year-round and weathers to a soft grey. Refill it each spring.
Hang it out. If no bird has touched it and you’re not glad you bought it, email us within 30 days and we’ll sort it out — no forms, no posting it back at your expense.
December’s clip was the final shearing of the Hartley herd. Every heart still listed is made from that fleece — when it’s gone there is no next season to make more from. Because each frame is cut and shaped by hand, expect small differences in outline and in how far the fleece sits proud of the mesh. The colour blocks fall differently on every heart too, because they come off different animals. That’s what handmade looks like.
Robyn’s story
Robyn’s story
A note from the shed:
Robyn Hartley and her husband Don have kept alpacas on two hectares at Robertson, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, since 2003. She taught primary school for thirty-four years; he put up fences across the district for forty.
In her first spring after finishing at the school, Robyn watched a willie wagtail land on the back of one of their alpacas and pull fleece straight off him — then come back every morning for a fortnight. Don cut a heart out of an offcut of fencing mesh, packed the hexagons with fleece from that year’s clip and hung it on the post by the hawthorn. It came out crooked. He never straightened it. Within two weeks the birds had stripped it nearly bare.
They gave the hearts away for five years before their daughter set up a shop. About 2,400 have gone out since.
December’s clip was the last one. Robyn and Don are moving to the coast after Christmas and the herd goes to a friend’s place at Moss Vale. Every heart still listed is packed from that final fleece — four undyed colours, four different animals. When it is gone there is no next season to make more from.
Shipping & size
Shipping & size
Free shipping Australia-wide
- Delivery time: 3–7 business days
- Dispatched within 2 business days
- Tracked and insured
Size and fitting
- Approx. 30 × 28 × 8 cm
- Hanging chain fitted — branch, fence post, verandah rail or balcony
- Refillable through the mesh with raw wool, alpaca fleece or pet brushings
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email info@backroad-goods.com
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get in touch?
How do I get in touch?
Email us anytime at info@backroad-goods.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (AEST). Robyn reads the ones about birds herself.
What if it is not right?
What if it is not right?
30-day money-back guarantee. Hang it out, give it a week or two, and if no bird has touched it or you are simply not glad you bought it, email us. No forms, and you are not posting it back at your own expense.
How is it actually made?
How is it actually made?
Don cuts each heart freehand from offcuts of fencing mesh in the shed — no press, no mould, just mesh and forty years of practice. Robyn then packs the hexagons by hand with fleece from their own herd, sorting out the coarse guard hair so only the soft inner fibre goes in. Four colours to a heart, from four different animals, all undyed and untreated. Shearing to packing, they do the lot themselves — which is why no two hearts come out quite the same.