Mar 12
1
Information On Alpaca Breeding
When starting an alpaca farm, alpaca breeding is a very important part of that process. It is arguably the most important factor in running a successful alpaca farm. If done correctly, you will be able to sell cria for prime prices across the globe, and produce alpacas with the finest fiber in your area.
Great care must be taken when selecting animals to purchase and then to breed. If you are not familiar with alpacas, you should take a trusted expert with you on your first few trips to purchase breeding stock. Each animal should be registered with the ARI and have an outstanding pedigree. They should also have a good disposition and be healthy.
Some of the traits that are inherited are fleece micron, fertility, and health. If you want a healthy, fertile herd with a low fleece micron, you must carefully select your initial breeding stock. Both the sire and the dam should have good histories of everything you want in an alpaca.
It is best to start out with several pregnant females before you introduce a male to the herd so that you can fully experience pregnancy and birth in your herd without the males around. Then, you can begin to add males to you herd. Males will not become sexually active until they are about 3 years old, but females can be bred as early as 1 year.
Females are perennially fertile, which means they are ready to breed at any time. For this reason, it is important to plan when you want the breeding to take place. The dam’s gestation period is 11 and a half months long, so you should allow your chosen alpacas to meet to breed 11 months before you want the baby to be born. Crias that are born in the springtime have a thicker fleece.
To ensure the successful breeding of your selected pair of alpacas, put the two of them alone together for at least one day. It is best if you keep an eye on them to be sure the breeding actually happens. If the female alpaca spits and/or hisses at the male, she may not be willing to mate. You will have to either wait, or try again in a few days. Female alpacas will also react that way if they are already pregnant. Usually, the female will be docile and willingly accept the male, which makes alpaca breeding a pretty straightforward affair.
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Feb 12
23
Benefits Of Using Alpaca Products
There are many benefits to using alpaca products for your crafting business or hobby. Alpaca farming is becoming more popular in the United States, and alpaca fleece is more available today than just a few decades ago.
The alpaca farming community works very closely together will all of their members, both the producers and the consumers. It is important to get involved with that community if you are going to be successful in the purchasing and then selling of alpaca products. This is fairly easy to do, as there are many different groups across the United States that you can get involved with. Once you do get involved, be prepared to meet a great group of people who can answer all of your questions about alpaca fleece.
Once of the greatest advantages of using alpaca fleece is that each farmer keeps careful records of which animal it came from. Many of these alpaca farms are small farms, and you can find places that sell bundles of fleece and yarn with the alpaca’s name and picture attached. This gives the products that you produce a unique edge, as in this commercialized world people enjoy actually knowing where things come from.
Alpaca fiber can be used in the same way as sheep wool, but it is vastly different. First of all, they are hollow and not coated in lanolin. The hollow nature of them makes them both light and very warm. They are about five times warmer than sheep’s wool, but about half as heavy. Because they are not coated in lanolin, there is not an extensive cleaning process that needs to be done, so the alpaca fibers are able to retain their natural shine.
You can find alpaca fleece in 22 different natural colors, many of which are beautiful on their own and require no dying. They can be black or brown, tan or white, and some are even tinted pink. Many people prefer these beautiful natural colors, but you can also dye the white fibers if you desire. However, there is a big market today for natural products, including a sweater from a deep chestnut colored alpaca.
Alpaca fleece is measured in microns, with the smaller numbers being the finer fleece available. Even the smallest of fleece is incredibly durable, and will last a lifetime or more, when properly cared for. This is another great advantage to using alpaca products in your crafting hobby or job.
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Feb 12
16
Alpaca Shearing Tips
Many people who own alpacas do not know about alpaca shearing. They instead hire professionals to shear their alpacas. This is great for when you are starting out, but it is also good to learn how to do it yourself, and there are many tips that will help you properly shear your alpacas to maintain good quality fleece.
The most important thing is to go out and learn how to shear alpacas properly. You can find shearing workshops in your area that will be very beneficial and contain plenty of information, and somewhere that you can ask questions. Proper equipment is the key to a good shearing. Badly aligned or dull clipper blades will damage fleece and very quickly lower the value of it.
The collection method is also important, and a good one will help you avoid the mixing of different types of fibers. Be aware of the different types of fleece that alpacas give, firsts and seconds. Firsts are the finer fibers found on the body and saddle area, and are of a high quality. Seconds are everywhere else on the alpaca, and are of a lower quality. It is important that these two different types are kept separate.
When you finish shearing, each alpaca should have two bags of fleece, firsts and seconds. Each bag needs to be labeled with the alpaca’s name, ID number, the type of fleece, the date, and any other information that you may need. It is important to keep these records on file, so you can keep track of the fleece quality for each alpaca. This information will help you decide which alpacas should be bred together. It is also good to have for showing or selling purposes.
As you are shearing multiple alpacas, it is best to do it in order of color, with the lighter colors going first. This will help avoid a mixing of colors in the individual bags of fleece. The shearing area should be cleaned well in between to help avoid this. The clippers and all equipment should also be cleaned off in between uses, to keep the clippers sharp and working well.
When you are first starting out learning how to shear, take your time to get into a habit, and find a trimming system that works for you. It may take you up to an hour to shear your first alpaca, but don’t worry about it. With time, patience, and lots of practice, you will be an alpaca shearing expert that can finish one in less than 10 minutes, easily.
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Feb 12
9
Information On Alpaca Fiber
alpaca fiber is not at all like wool, and is highly sought after by people who knit and do other projects with yarn or wool. It is important to understand the differences between the different types of alpaca fibers, and what the different sizes mean.
There are two major categories of alpaca fiber. Huacaya fleece has natural kinks in it that allows it to hold its shape well. It can be spun into yarn on its own. This is good if you want to only use alpaca wool. Suri fleece is straight and does not have kinks. Its natural luster is retained even when dyed, producing brightly colored yarns. However, because of its lack of kinks, it does have to be combined with fiber that does have kinks in it. Typically, merino wool from sheep is used for this.
Fibers also come in many different sizes, which are used for different things. A micron is the measurement used for fibers. The smaller fibers are the most sought after, as they are significantly softer than the larger fibers. Anything under 18 microns is called royal fiber, and it is very rare, and can usually only be harvested from the first shearing of alpacas. The next size up is called super-fine, and is between 18 and 20 microns. Between 20 to 25 are fine fibers, which is the largest size that can be used for clothing.
When a fiber is between 25 and 30, it is a medium fiber, and is no longer fine enough for use in clothing. Anything over 30 is also too large for use in clothing. These fibers are good for use as batting for quilts, where they won’t come into contact with the skin, as they are too rough and will be itchy.
Alpacas get sheared once a year, usually in the spring or summer. One alpaca will yield about 4 to 6 pounds (1.8 to 2.7 kg) of fleece. This is about enough to make one sweater, once it’s spun down into yarn. Although most of the alpacas today are white so that their fleece may be dyed, alpacas come in 22 different recognized colors that are very rich and desired by many people. White fleece can be easily dyed into many different colors, and suri fleece retains its luster very well.
Whatever you plan on using alpaca fiber for, it is important to know all the facts so that you can know exactly what you need for the project that you have in mind.
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Jan 12
22
Strategies For Alpaca Breeding
It is certainly true in the United States and in Canada, that the greatest return on investment results from alpaca breeding rather than alpaca fiber.
You will need to plan meticulously when setting up an alpaca farm for breeding purposes. An important consideration has to be where your goals for stock improvement lie. With alpacas your selections will most likely be related to the improvement of the fleece. Female alpacas carry their young for over eleven months. This means the results of your strategies will take time to manifest in reality.
The female alpaca ovulates only once mating has already occurred, usually in the 1 to 2 day period thereafter. Compared to most other mammals, alpaca mating is a lengthier procedure. The female cushes down, with the male lying over her. Various methods can be employed. Hand breeding affords the owner the most control over the process, but for this to succeed, your alpacas will need to be fairly tame and comfortable around humans. One male and one female are brought together. With this method, you have the best chance of predicting an exact due date, but the possibility of forced breeding might cause damage and later infection in the female. With both pasture and pen breeding, the alpacas are left mostly to their own devices, either in a small pen for a couple of days or in a pasture for several weeks. One or a few females could be left with the desired sire. While these methods may make it trickier to predict the cria’s arrival, there is a higher success rate, since it simply allows nature to take its course.
The corner stone of most alpaca farms that focus on breeding has to be the herd sire. Finding a male with the type of virtues that you want to introduce to your future alpacas might not be so easy. Mike Safley, an expert and author on the subject of alpacas reports on his visit to Peru where he observed the selection process, as applied by one of that country’s foremost breeders. Shearing time becomes a type of contest between the male yearlings. The ones with the lowest fiber yield fall out of the evaluation. At two years, the remaining male hopefuls are again sheared and their fiber weighed and graded. Fleece is however not the only measure. The strength of an alpaca’s bone frame is also taken into account. The breeder does not make any premature selections, but waits for his young males to mature before making a final judgement on their worth.
alpaca breeding is an investment that may take a while before it pays out, but with the right approach, it could be very rewarding.
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Jan 12
18
A Look At Alpaca Products
While alpaca products do not quite enjoy the market share of wool, cotton or mohair, they have slowly but surely become more noticeable in the fiber world.
Resilience can be noted as one of alpaca’s outstanding qualities. Archaeological excavations of old Inca settlements uncovered fragments of alpaca cloth that was tentatively dated at 2000 years. Thin or thick, alpaca may surprise you with its long-lasting strength. Not only is it warmer, softer and lighter than sheep’s wool, but since it has no lanolin it is hypoallergenic and does not itch.
One of the true advantages of alpaca is the ability to warm the wearer with a surprisingly light weight garment. The real reason for this lies in microscopic air pockets contained within the fiber.
The fiber originating from alpaca farms around the world can be transformed into a great and diverse range of luxury items. Clothing, such as sweaters, coats and socks come to mind first, but a number of accessories such as shawls, scarves, hats and slippers are also available. Alpaca fiber being light-weight, yet warm, it makes a popular choice for winter blankets.
Another branch of alpaca items are soft toys. While most commercially made teddy bears are of synthetic fur or mohair, hand crafters have begun creating collectable toys using alpaca fleece. There has even been a line of toy llamas and alpacas, created using authentic alpaca fiber.
In an experiment from the 1880s, alpaca fiber was used in the manufacture of umbrellas. Cheaper and longer lasting than silk and unusually water resistant, the venture went well enough to see 45,000 umbrellas sold in a single year. Nowadays, though, most umbrellas are made of synthetics.
In the creation of yarn, the spinning process controls the ultimate width and weight of the thread. One of the great beauties of alpaca is the great variety of natural colors it occurs in. When using natural undyed wool, the colors will not fade away as it is entrenched into the wool right down in its cells. Finding a place on the shelf in yarn shops, more and more knitters are experimenting with creations in alpaca.
Apart from weaving and knitting, another application for alpaca fiber is felting. Although far from reaching its full potential, alpaca brings fresh innovation to the clothing and crafting world.
It must be heartening to any alpaca farm owner to observe the vast array of alpaca products that can be made from the fleece of your animals.
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Jan 12
14
Shearing Alpacas
A big milestone in the life of a first-time owner of an alpaca farm is the springtime activity of alpaca shearing.
A group of professional shearers could shear an alpaca in minutes, but obviously they charge fairly steeply for their skills. At a number of alpaca farms, the owners have organized themselves to handle the chore on their own. Safety would be your primary obligation towards your alpacas and also yourself. Most experts agree that at least two persons will be required to manage the process, one to hold the alpaca, while the other does the actual shearing.
When considering shearing equipment, bear in mind that alpacas are very different from sheep. They are larger, for one. For alpacas, portable shearers work better than the stationary kind used for sheep. To accommodate the dense alpaca fleece it will have to be the heavy duty version, with a comb that can be adjusted. There are also a number of choices regarding the comb. A sheep comb has flayed teeth and makes quick work of an animal’s fleece. A goat comb has parallel teeth. This may slow you down with overlapping strokes, but it can handle the more angular sections of an alpaca with greater dexterity. Blades and combs will need replacing fairly quickly, as you are shearing. You could budget on using a blade for each alpaca and a comb for every second animal. Align these two components correctly, to avoid injury or friction damage.
For a successful shearing experience, you have to get the angle just right. Too shallow and it cuts over the alpaca fleece. Too steep and you may injure your alpaca.
When shearing alpacas, it is very important to oil the blade and hand piece. While sheep’s wool naturally includes lanolin, alpaca fleece is different and the process of shearing could create heat and friction.
If you want to consult the internet to learn more of what the procedure involves, you will find a comprehensive tutorial at the website gateway alpacas. Various countries boast their own shearing schools. While you may have to learn the process on a sheep, any practice would no doubt be helpful. In the North Devon County of the United Kingdom, you may even take various courses at a facility that is specifically dedicated to alpacas. Situated at Langaton Farm it is called the Alpaca Training Center. There are also a number of video tutorials on the subject of alpaca shearing to be viewed at your leisure on YouTube.
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Jan 12
10
Alpaca Farming Around The World
Although once considered a rarity outside of South America, alpaca farming has been gaining ground in places as far afield as Australia, Canada, New Zeeland, South Africa and China.
Alpacas can be found naturally in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, but the finest stock is said to originate from Peru, which has an alpaca population of around three million. While the country has long been the source of the highest grade of alpaca fiber, nearly all of this had in the past been processed in Europe. After the Second World War, the scenario began to change. A more efficient infrastructure led to a textile mill opening in Arequipa. The Michell Company, which was operational by mid-1947, and Grupo Inca now dominate Peru’s alpaca industry. It represents a $50 million slice of Peru’s economy.
Alpaca farms first took off in the United States, Canada and Australia during the 1980s.
Early US alpaca farmers had close ties with the llama industry. The Alpaca Registry began as a subdivision of the Llama registry. In 1993, US alpaca breeders were finally able to add Peruvian alpacas to their national gene pool. With the aid of the Alpaca Registry, the family tree of virtually every alpaca in the USA is known and concerted efforts are being made to improve the quality of the national herd. Each import is registered and screened as well.
In the United States and Canada, much of the emphasis has remained with breeding, as neither has a particularly robust fiber industry. Breeding strategies dominate discussions on alpacas.
According to the alpaca experts, one of the best tests of good breeding stock lies in the quality of the progeny. This is particularly true of the herd sire. While the strength of his bone structure and the quality of his fleece would play a role in his suitability, the ability to transfer his genes to a next generation of alpacas will ultimately be the most important test.
One theory asserts that a better herd results not from diversifying, but from concentrating the genetic heritage of a particular alpaca farm. When the gene pool becomes too diverse, it becomes difficult to predict which traits will dominate. Another theory argues that by opting for genetic diversity, there is a greater chance of a cria introducing new desirables.
In Australia, priorities were different. With a well-established wool industry resulting from its vast population of sheep, the transition from a breeding market to a fiber market was effected far more rapidly. The Australian industry also diverged in other ways. Australian breeders have no qualms about using artificial insemination or about crossing Huacaya stock with Suri. They have however been able to profit from trade with China and Europe in both fiber and the alpacas themselves.
Although relatively juvenile in some parts, alpaca farming has succeeded in gaining enthusiastic supporters across the globe.
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Jan 12
6
Online Alpaca Tools
Many alpaca farm owners may wish that they could predict the outcome of their breeding choices, or at least have a few clues towards the probabilities. The good news is that there is at least one website where you can find such help.
When you visit the website alpacas.com and browse through the resources section, you will find various calculators that should give you some idea of what to expect. There is for example a herd growth calculator that lets you determine, by entering your stock demographics, how fast your alpacas will multiply. An even simpler tool is the gestation calculator, where you can enter the breeding date and determine the due date of your crias.
The most interesting for the managers of most alpaca farms would be the color calculator, that predicts the most likely colors to result from a specific pairing. By setting the variables of sire and dam to a color choice, the site will then reveal the most likely outcomes.
It seems fairly logical that from two parents that are both solid black, there is a likelihood of well over 80 percent that the cria will also be solid black, with solid dark brown being a distant second choice.
With two solid white alpacas, however, the odds of a solid white baby alpaca are only about 56 percent. Pairing a solid white sire with a light, medium or dark grey dam and you have at least a 30 percent likelihood of that coveted solid white cria emerging.
Crossing a solid dark brown sire with a solid dark brown dam is most likely, by more than 50 percent to result in a solid black cria. The combinations of two solid light grey alpacas offers almost zero chance of a cria that will match its parents. From that combination, only three options had been observed, namely 40 percent black, 40 percent solid rose grey and 20 percent solid dark grey. With two solid dark grey parents, you are still most likely to see a black cria emerging, although there is an outside chance of 14.3 percent that the little alpaca might be dark brown. Whatever the combination, when you add solid black to the equation, it tends to dominate the results.
A more varied spread of possibilities result when one parent, ideally the sire, is solid white, while the other is light or medium fawn. Interestingly, a match of solid black with solid white yields equally varied results, with crias of rose grey, various shades of brown, dark fawn and grey being recorded.
A handy aid for the average alpaca farm owner, the application was created from the statistics of over 10,000 pairings.
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