ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2013 £7.00 WHERE SOLD
A SPIN ON BRITISH ALPACA THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY IN 2013
CONTINUING EDUCATION
COLOUR GENETICS
UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL IN YOUR HERD
THE BENEFITS OF VETERINARY COURSES
LIVING THE DREAM
SETTING UP AN ALPACA SMALLHOLDING
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CONTENTS
Classical Publishing Ltd Š 2013 Issue 47 Autumn 2013 ISSN 1477–7088 Editor: Rachel Hebditch Vulscombe Farm, Pennymoor, Tiverton, Devon, EX16 8NB Telephone: 01884 243579 Mobile: 07540 748803 Email: rachel@alpaca-uk.co.uk Advertising: Heidi Hardy Telephone 01598 752799 Email: heidi@ alpacaworldmagazine.com Copy deadline for the next issue: 6th September 2013 Design and Production: TRG Design 68 Rivermead Road Exeter EX2 4RL Telephone: 01392 279371 Email: info@trgdesign.com www.trgdesign.com Printed in England by: Magazine Printing Company Plc. www.magprint.co.uk
WELCOME
The only independent magazine reporting on the international alpaca industry. Distributed by subscription worldwide and through country stores across the UK, Alpaca World Magazine reaches the largest readership in its market.
WELCOME TO THE AUTUMN ISSUE OF ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE THAT TRACKS THE JOURNEY OF MANY ALPACA BREEDERS from the English tattoo artist turned suri breeder in France; to Joy Bearman in Somerset who was NEVER going to spin but is now obsessed; to the huge success of 'walking with alpacas' for West Wight Alpacas and to Paul and Denise Whitty who longed for the good life but ended up manufacturing alpaca pillows and duvets. They have all found a way to profit from alpacas and their fibre in a year when the recession was still with us. Alpaca World's Winter issue will be with you in the New Year. In the meantime Happy Christmas to you all.
Inside Alpaca World Magazine Autumn 2013
The material contained in Alpaca World Magazine is compiled by the publishers for information purposes only. Although the material included has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, no guarantees are given as to its accuracy or completeness. Readers are reminded that expert advice should always be sought in individual cases.
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Whilst every care has been taken in the compilation of the material contained in this issue the publisher does not accept responsibility for any loss arising out of such changes or inaccuracies nor for any other loss suffered as a result of information contained in this issue. Notice to Advertisers: It is a condition of acceptance of advertisement orders that the publishers, Classical Publishing Ltd, do not guarantee the insertion of a particular advertisement on a specific date, or at all, although every effort will be made to meet the wishes of advertisers; further the company does not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by any error or inaccuracy in the printing or non appearance of any advertisement, or if we decide to edit or delete any objectionable wording, or reject any advertisement. Although every advertisement is carefully checked, occasionally mistakes do occur. We therefore ask advertisers to assist us by checking their advertisements carefully and to advise us by the deadline given should an error occur. We regret that we cannot accept responsibility for more than one incorrect insertion and that no republication or discount will be granted in the case of typographic or minor changes which do not affect the value of the advertisement.
NEWS
14
4
Double Dutch!
6
Snow storms hit Peru
6
British Alpaca Futurity 2015
8
Camelid Veterinary Services
8
BVCS Owners' Conference 2014
8
Alpaca Showtime
8 Yarndale
SPECIAL FEATURES
32
10 Alpaca Classic 14 Unlock the colour potential in your herd 20 My own piece of Heaven
28
28 A spin on British Alpaca
FEATURES 32 Appleknit 42 West Wight Alpacas 50 Penrose Products 54 Moor View Alpacas 60 Life at Casa Chapi
HEALTH & WELFARE 36 Tackling Schmallenberg 46 Ask the vet
REGULAR FEATURES 58 Letter from France 65 Breeders directory
www.alpacaworldmagazine.com ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 3
NEWS NEWS
DOUBLE DUTCH! LIVE FEMALE ALPACA TWINS were born in the Netherlands on September 16 - perhaps the first ones. The two, Rosita and Rosanna, weighed in at 4.4 kilos and 5.2 kilos and both are doing well. They were born at Rick and Bert de Mooij's alpaca farm Alpacahoeve Klinkenberg at over 12 months gestation to a white dam Roos and sired by CD Fabian, owned by Yvonne Verbeek.
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If you have news of events or developments within the alpaca industry which you would like to share with others please send it to: The Editor, Alpaca World Magazine, Vulscombe Farm, Pennymoor, Tiverton, Devon EX16 8NB, United Kingdom Email: info@alpacaworldmagazine.com
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 5
NEWS
SNOW BLITZES PERUVIAN HERDS SEVERE SNOWSTORMS IN PERU have killed more than 25,000 animals, ten thousand of whom were alpacas and llamas, leaving farmers destitute. A state of emergency was declared in nine of the country's central and southern regions to cope with unusually cold weather and the most severe snowfall in a decade. Earlier in September Peru's most active volcano Ubinas erupted and continues to do so. The volcano is about forty miles from Arequipa and the ash and gas expelled has settled on alpaca grazing grounds killing off the plants causing more problems for farmers. Residents too have been affected with severe breathing and eye problems. The Alpaca Stud and Bozedown Alpacas decided to raise money to help alpaca farmers in Peru at their Alpaca Classic event. A stud service auction raised ÂŁ3,500 which will be used to buy blankets and anything
else required. The funds will be channelled through Grupo Inca direct to the farmers without any administration costs. In the USA, the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association has teamed up with Quechua Benefit and the National Alpaca Farm Day to raise funds for disaster relief. Every dollar raised will be used to
buy warm blankets and antibiotics for the poorest people in the affected area. Quechua Benefit will be sending doctors to the province of Carabaya, at 16,000 feet above sea level, in November to provide medical care and to deliver the blankets and antibiotics. Donate online at www.quechuabenefit.org
"GRAND" NATIONAL EVENT Showpiece event lined up for 2015 THE LARGEST ALPACA EVENT in Europe, the British Alpaca Futurity 2015, will be staged at the National Exhibition Centre, near Birmingham. A celebration of all things alpaca and a showpiece for the British industry, the Futurity will take place on Friday, March 20 and Saturday March 21, 2015, at Hall 3A. Mark your diaries. More than 400 alpacas are expected to take part in the halter classes for suris and huacayas and there will be an international fleece
6 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
competition. The Futurity 2015 will host an Alpaca Fibre Arts Village with sellers who will also demonstrate their craft to the public. There will be trade stands available for sellers of alpaca equipment, feed, textiles, bedding, clothing and so on. The Futurity is a non profit making show backed and organised by a group of alpaca breeders, The Alpaca Stud, Houghton Hall Alpacas, EP Cambridge UK, Classical MileEnd Alpacas, Bozedown Alpacas and
Moonsbrook Alpacas. The full information pack will be available on the website www.britishalpacafuturity.com in November 2014. For more information before that is published, please contact the Futurity Production Manager Chas Brooke chas@alpaca-uk.co.uk or 01884 243579. If you would like to join the mailing list for our regular email updates please let us know at info@britishalpacafuturity.co.uk
Contact Roger Mount
on 01386 853 841 or 07711044106 Email: snowshillalpacas@btinternet.com Web: www.snowshillalpacas.com
Snowshill Alpacas,
Snowshill Hill Barn, Temple Guiting, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL54 5XX
Introducing Snowshill Ramises solid beige Stud Male. Sire: EP Cambridge Navigator of Accoyo Dam: Snowshill Alexandra Fleece stats @ 22 months: Mfd 19.3 Cv 18.3 SD 3.5 Cf 99.3 Weight of fleece 6.0kgs !!!
Introducing Snowshill Ciscero solid mid fawn Stud Male. Sire: Eringa Park Lionheart ET of Cambridge Dam: Silverstream Escudo of Anzac Fleece stats @ 23 months: Mfd 21.5 Cv 18.1 SD 3.9 Cf 97.1 Weight of fleece 4.3kgs
We have several other new stud boys in addition to the above (some of whom are available to be purchased), as well as our large selection of proven studs. Introductory stud fees (lower!) will apply to new stud males for bookings made prior to 1st April 2013. We, also, have pet boys and breeding females for sale in various colours. Below are a few of our established stud boys. Please visit our website for further information or, phone us. We adhere to good biosecurity practices and had badger deterrent fencing installed in 2009.
Snowshill Shadow Dancer
Stats @ 58 months: Mfd 24.3 Cv 19.5 SD 4.7 Cf 89.6
Snowshill Peregrin
Stats @ 84 months: Mfd 21.8 Cv 17.3 SD 3.8 Cf 97.4
Snowshill Orlando
Stats @ 34 months: Mfd 24.3 Cv 20.5 SD 5.0 Cf 88.3 ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 7
NEWS
CAMELID VETERINARY SERVICES EXPANDS Claire Whitehead SOME OF YOU may already be aware that I am expecting a baby in early October. This will obviously mean some changes in the delivery of my services although I will not be dropping off the face of the planet. I am pleased to announce that the diagnostics service (faecal examinations and cria IgG testing) will continue an uninterrupted service: I have trained someone to take over the practical part of this service, although I will still be providing all interpretations. If
you call my mobile number (07769 271506), you will reach Stephanie who will arrange slots for faecals and triage any questions you have. If you have urgent questions about sick alpacas, please call your vet in the first instance as normal: if they require advice, Stephanie will direct them to an appropriate source. I will be able to answer some emails periodically, but please try to wait to ask any non-urgent queries by email until November! I appreciate your patience during this time.
BVCS OWNERS' CONFERENCE 2014 Claire Whitehead IT MAY SEEM a little early to be talking about a conference taking place in the Autumn of 2014, but I am posting this in the hope that I may find a volunteer from the Camelid Industry who would be willing to take on the responsibility of being the Owner Coordinator in charge of the Owners' side of the BVCS Conference. Unfortunately, I felt that it was not possible to run the owners' conference this year because of the work it involved last year and because I will have a one
month old baby this time around! Your responsibilities will include helping to select speakers (and venue) and putting together a one day programme, advertising the event to the Camelid Industry through both alpaca and llama groups, receiving conference registrations, liaising with the venue, and running the programme on the day. Please email me if you are seriously interested in taking on this role (claire@ukalpacavet.com).
YARNDALE Show news
YARNDALE, A NEW CREATIVE FESTIVAL for natural fibres, took place at the Auction Mart in Skipton over the weekend of September 28th and 29th. There were 161 stands and a healthy contingent of alpaca people with UK Alpaca, Toft Alpaca Shop, Purl Alpaca Designs, County Alpacas, Town End Alpacas and WhyNot Alpacas all showing alpaca yarns.
Although there was parking for 1,000 cars and a free red double decker bus ferrying people from Skipton , some visitors found themselves in long queues on the Saturday to get near to the venue. Once inside the queues
A BRAND NEW ALPACA SHOW 'Alpaca Showtime' will be held at the Houghton Hall Equestrian and Alpaca Centre in Cambridgeshire on March 29th and 30th in 2014.
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This will be a halter and fleece show, the judges will be announced shortly, and all exhibitors are welcome. www.alpacashowtime.co.uk
Giggleswick & Settle Brass Band
for the cafe and loos were equally long. Marketing for the event had been extremely successful and stand holders found the place rammed with buyers on the Saturday. Comment about the queues on the online site Ravelry may have put some people off coming to the Sunday as it was noticeably quieter. Yarndale was organised by a group of seven self confessed yarn addicts who felt there should be a fibre festival in Skipton given its strong textile heritage. It joins Wonderwool in Wales and Woolfest in Cumbria in the woolly calendar.
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ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 9
ALPACA CLASSIC
The makings o
Rachel Hebditch reports from the 2013 Alpaca Classic
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T
he Alpaca Classic 2013, held in September by The Alpaca Stud and Bozedown Alpacas, offered a weekend of seminars, free food and drink and an auction of twenty six elite alpacas. Top prices achieved were 9,500 guineas for Alpaca Stud Vanessa and 9,500 guineas and 9,000 guineas for the Breeders Selection where the buyer could choose from the entire crop of 2012 born females at The Alpaca Stud and Bozedown Alpacas. The auction was conducted by David Tomlinson and Heather Pritchard of Harrison & Hetherington with guest speaker Brett Kaysen adding his own brand of American pizazz. Brett Kaysen gave two lectures 'Alpacas Worldwide - an independent perspective' and 'Auctions - getting the most out of them as a
buyer'; whilst veterinarian Claire Whitehead talked about 'The Practicalities and Implications of ET and AI in Alpacas' and 'The Top Four Causes of Cria Mortality'. Cheryl Gehly, with her dry wit and nononsense, practical seminars was a hit with the attendees. She became an AOBA certified Fleece Judge in 2002, is an AOBA instructor and fleece judge trainer and one of the authors of The Art & Science of Alpaca Judging. In the first seminar - 'Crimp and Lock Style in Perspective', the main message was that fineness, density and uniformity are the important traits whilst crimp and lock structure are secondary traits and a good indicator of what is going on under the skin. Fleece judges assess fineness by determining the average micron count of the fleece which
ALPACA CLASSIC
of a Classic Highest selling animal Alpaca Stud I.E. Vanessa at 9,000 guineas, bought by Rachel Hebditch and Chas Brooke of Classical MileEnd Alpacas
Brett Kaysen lecture
Buyers of the two Breeders Selection lots that made 9,000 and 9,500 guineas - Barbara Hetherington of Beckbrow Alpacas and Julia Corrigan-Stuart of CS Alpacas
Cheryl Gehly seminar
requires experience and repeated practice. Uniformity refers to consistency in three areas - micron, length and colour. Density refers to the number of fibre follicles in the skin, per unit of measure. Fleece judges can make an accurate assessment of density by evaluating the solidity of the individual staple groups and locks. The second seminar 'The Meaning of Micron' meant that the participants, working in pairs, had to learn how to assess micron values with the aid of fibre samples on black cards (pictured right). This quickly turned into a good humoured competition with the breeders hoping fervently that some of the judges present might get it wrong. The amount of variation in the micron of the samples was a point strongly made as was 'the ambition' - to breed animals with as good an SD as the mummified alpacas discovered in Peru - SD1.1.
Fleece samples
Seminar number three 'Evaluating Fleece - Gaining a Full Perspective' was again educational and a lot of fun. This time participants were in groups of six to eight people with a whole fleece on the table in front on them which they had to evaluate. Most people had enjoyed identifying the stronger primary fibres in the smaller fleece samples but now they had a whole fleece to go at. Cheryl guided them through assessing the micron, uniformity, density and brightness of the fleeces. This got very competitive with each table rooting for their fleece and if it was the best in one of the categories cheering loudly. The Alpaca Classic 2014 co-hosted by The Alpaca Stud and Bozedown Alpacas will take place over the weekend of September 6th and 7th at Bozedown Alpacas. ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 11
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GENETICS: COLOUR POTENTIAL
Teresa Hawkin and her partner, Victor Wilton, bought their first alpacas in 2007 and now run Rosecraddoc Alpacas in Cornwall. We decided to focus on greys in 2009 and have started to see some success in the show ring. We keep a few patterned animals because of my interest in genetics and we like them. We have all had those “surprises” in our fields at birthing time and been left
UNLOCK THE COLOUR POTENTIAL IN YOUR HERD 14 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
GENETICS: COLOUR POTENTIAL
scratching our heads and muttering “where did that colour come from”? And some of us are passionate about a particular colour of alpaca be it brown, black or grey and so want to maximize the number of cria that are born this colour. A basic model of colour genetics can explain the little surprises and help us plan our coloured breeding programmes. THE BASIC THEORY Don’t panic, I promise not to bang on about chromosomes, alleles and all manner of other technical terms that will make your eyes glaze over. There are just two basic facts that we need to know and understand: • Genes, like jeans, come in pairs. I never did quite understand that one – I know they have two legs but jumpers have two arms. So, every alpaca carries two colour genes - it receives one from each parent. These may be two of the same colour or two different colours. • Lighter colours are dominant over darker colours. This doesn’t mean that if you mate a white animal to a fawn animal you will always get a white – it’s not quite as straightforward as that I’m afraid. What it means is that an animal will always physically appear the lighter of the two colour genes that it is carrying. If we think about this for a moment, these two facts together tell us that for any alpaca in front of us, we know it must be carrying one gene that is the colour the animal appears plus one that is either the same or a darker colour that is “hidden” or “masked” by the lighter, dominant colour. So for example, an alpaca that appears white must be carrying a white colour gene, but it’s second colour gene could be white, fawn, brown or black. A fawn alpaca MUST be carrying a fawn gene and the other gene could be fawn, brown or black. It can’t be white which is a lighter, more dominant colour or it would appear white. For a brown animal it MUST be carrying brown and its second colour could be brown or black. Black animals are the most straightforward of all – they MUST be black and black.
THE KEY Identifying this second colour in your animals is the absolute key to predicting your possible mating outcomes and helping you avoid those surprises or breed for specific colours. However, it sometimes takes a little detective work to do this. The Herdbook is your best friend here. You can start by looking back through an animal's pedigree and try and allocate both colour genes to each animal on there to work out what is most likely carried by the animal in question. This isn’t easy, especially once you hit an imported animal. You often end up with a couple of possibilities for an animal. There are a couple of tricks that can help: • If one parent is black you know that any progeny will have received a black colour
gene from them. So if the female in question is fawn but her sire is black then she will be carrying a fawn and a black gene. • If the animal has a number of progeny on the ground then the quickest approximation to its second colour is to look at the colours of the progeny. The animal must be carrying a second colour gene that is at least as dark as its darkest progeny. So for example, if you have a fawn female and she has thrown a brown cria then she must be carrying brown or black as her second colour, because if she’d been fawn/fawn she would have thrown a fawn colour, which is lighter than brown and the cria would have been fawn. If she has thrown a black cria, you know that she must be carrying black. Remember it takes two black colour genes to make a black animal, one from each parent. Be warned, you won’t be able to sit down and complete this exercise in an hour. Some will be straightforward, some will take a little work, some will take a lot and some you may not be able to map at all. I only have a small herd and still have the odd animal that is keeping me guessing. I suggest you try it out on a couple of animals to start with.
PREDICTING COLOUR OK, so you’ve had some sort of attempt at mapping out the colour genetics of your herd, or at least an animal or two. So what now? How do you go about predicting what the outcome of any mating might be? One colour gene is passed from each of the parents to the cria but either can be passed and in any combination. Punnet squares, please bear with me, are used to help with this. These are Fig 1: What We Expect! Dark grey father, both threw black genes and one threw greying gene, could have equally produced a black.
just a type of table that is used to make sure you have listed out all the possible combinations in an orderly way without missing one. Simply use the colour genes of the two animals to be mated to label the columns and rows of the table. Then go to each box inside the table and list the colours from the corresponding row and column labels. We tend to use the first letter of the colour rather than write it out (W=White, F=Fawn, B=Brown and we use little b=black). And it helps if you list them with the paler colours initial first, then you know that this is the colour the animal appears. By way of an example, imagine we have a fawn female that has both colour genes as fawn (F/F) and that she is mated to a brown male that has both his colour genes as brown (B/B). The possible outcomes are: Female
Male
F
F
B
F/B
F/B
B
F/B
F/B
So the resulting cria would most definitely be fawn, but carrying both fawn and brown genes (F/B). It would appear fawn as this is the lighter of the two genes. Now imagine that this cria then went on to be bred to another brown (B/B) male: Female
Male
F
B
B
F/B
B/B
B
F/B
B/B
Interestingly, it would stand a 50/50 chance of throwing a fawn (F/B) or a brown (B/B). Fig 2: What We Expect? Father was actually a fawn male but carrying brown or black.
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 15
GENETICS: COLOUR POTENTIAL
Fig 3: What We Didn’t Expect! Father was black, mother was brown carrying black. Father threw black, mother threw brown or black and both threw a dilution gene.
Some will take a little work, some will take a lot and some you may not be able to map at all. I only have a small herd and still have the odd animal that is keeping me guessing.
Figs 4a/b: Breeding To The 2nd Colour This brown female is also carrying black which she passed to the cria. The sire, our silver grey male, passed a black and a greying gene to the cria. This young grey is out of the brown female in Figs 2 & 3 and our silver grey male (she is also carrying black).
So you can see from this that you have two fawn animals in your field – one which will only ever throw you fawn cria when put to a brown (B/B) male and the other, which would throw you fawns and browns in equal proportions. Hence, knowing the second colours of these animals will help you choose suitably coloured males for them. If you have a fawn animal that is only ever going to throw you fawns you may want to put the best fleeced fawn animal on her that you can. Or you may deliberately decide to breed to her second colour as part of a longer term colour breeding plan and put a brown male on her with a view to producing more fawn females carrying brown. And by then putting a brown male on the fawn females carrying brown you will produce more browns (50%). Of course, life often gets more complicated than that and there are probably very few animals out there that carry two of the same colour genes. But the model still works – you just need to know both colour genes for each animal. Imagine a fawn female, also carrying black (F/b) that is mated to a white male who is also carrying brown (W/B): Female
Male
F
b
W
W/F
W/b
B
F/B
B/b
The cria from this mating would stand a 50% chance of being white (either W/F or W/b), 25% of being fawn (F/B) and 25% of being brown (B/b). Now you are starting to see why we hear comments like “he’s white, but is known for throwing colours”. It is because of that hidden 2nd colour.
DILUTION GENES – A SPANNER IN THE WORKS I am now hearing cries of . . . “so how come when I mated my brown female to a black male I got a light fawn cria?” Or, “I mated two blacks together and got a beige!” I have had similar things happen to me, see Fig 3, and dilution genes are the culprit. Dilution genes are more common than originally thought and when an animal inherits two dilution genes, one from each parent, its coat colour is 16 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
significantly lightened. Understanding that both parents have had to pass a dilution gene for this to happen is significant – it tells us that they are both carrying a dilution gene. Note it on your herd mapping immediately. You can avoid these dilute animals being repeated by ensuring that any animal carrying a dilution gene is only mated to an animal that isn’t. If you are desperate to pair the animals for other reasons, the news isn’t all bad. Remember, genes, like jeans, come in pairs so an animal carrying a dilution gene will also carry a non-dilution gene. Hence the dilution gene will only be passed half the time, and only one in four cria from parents both carrying a dilution gene will be dilute. Again, the herdbook can be used to look at animals' progeny to highlight any unexpectedly light cria being produced, the colour of the mother will need to be checked also, just in case they were mated to a light fawn, and hence the likelihood of a dilution gene being present. And here’s the thing. There is no need to discard these lighter animals if your aim is to breed dark colours. A dilute animal can still be a valid part of your breeding programme as it will breed based on its two underlying colour genes, provided its mate isn’t also carrying a dilution gene. So your light fawn or beige animal bred from those browns or blacks will still breed like a brown or a black would. Dilution genes occur in lighter animals, fawns and whites, too but are just not as noticeable.
PATTERNS If you’re breeding for solid colours don’t turn the page at this point – you might miss out on some useful advice on how to make best use of those animals bearing the odd white patch, we all have them. Remember from earlier, genes come in pairs so an animal with a pattern gene will also have a “solid” or non-pattern gene, these are in addition to the normal two colour genes. Hence, over time/a number of matings, patterns are typically thrown 50% of the time when a patterned animal is mated to a solid animal. The majority of the pattern genes are dominant so if the animal is
GENETICS: COLOUR POTENTIAL
the animals second colour. If you do the punnet squares for the base colours you will see that a rose grey, brown or fawn, carrying black could produce either silver or rose greys in equal numbers if put to a silver grey (b,b). Whilst talking about greys, we must talk about the lethal gene. There is growing and compelling evidence that a grey x grey mating can produce a lethal grey/grey gene combination (just as in blue merle dogs). The punnet square below, irrespective of base colour, is for a grey (G/S) x grey (G/S) mating where G=greying gene and S=solid (or non-greying) gene:
to revert to the mixed grey/roan show classes. Modern greys/roans deserve to be recognized but given the current small number of greys at many shows, it is unlikely that we will produce them in sufficient numbers to warrant their own classes.
WHITE SPOTTING GENES
These may or may not be part of the family of white spotting genes, but since they are so significant, and my absolute passion, I shall deal with them separately. Silver greys are basically black animals (b/b) and rose greys are essentially fawn or brown animals. As such, rose greys could be carrying a range of colour genes (F/F, F/B, F/b, B/B or B/b) and so tend to throw a wider range of colours. Interestingly, whites could also be carrying the greying gene but the white fibres mixed with white wouldn’t be visible. And it’s not always obvious in some of the lighter fawn animals either. The secret to breeding greys is to plan your matings in order to get the correct base colour (see Fig 4 – black for the silvers and brown, or as dark a fawn as is possible for rose greys, to ensure they look obviously grey. And if one of your animals is carrying a greying gene you stand a 50/50 chance of this being passed to the cria on top of its base colour. You will hear it said that rose grey is dominant over silver grey – this is only true in as far as fawn or brown is dominant over black, as previously discussed. Again, it will depend on
In theory, this would give us our best chance (75%) of producing a grey cria but actually, the cria that inherits a greying gene from both parents (G/G) will not be viable. These normally result in what is often recorded as a nonpregnancy, but are most likely a re-absorption or abortion. This has been backed up by work on the Australian herd book where grey x grey matings resulted in grey offspring only something nearer 67% rather than the predicted 75%. It is a matter of interpretation as to whether you look at the overall picture and say only 50% of offspring will be grey (allowing for the 25% of non-viable pregnancies) or whether you say that 67% of offspring hitting the ground will be grey... Let us also mention here the white faces/ tuxedo patterns seen on many classical grey animals. It is likely that this is the result of the tuxedo gene, as seen in other coloured animals with the white face/throat/feet markings. It is thought that it sits very close to the greying gene on the same chromosome, oops, sorry – that word just slipped out, so is more often than not passed to the cria with it, BUT NOT ALWAYS. Hence we occasionally get a modern grey/roan animal without the tuxedo gene and hence without the white face/throat/leg markings. I may be a little biased, but this is why it would make sense
These include the tuxedos already mentioned, pintos, white or white/spotted ring round the neck, paints, the stereotypical multi, some spotted animals, etc. The thing to remember is that these animals are genetically speaking, a coloured animal, with two colour genes following the model we have previously outlined, with an overlay of white over their base colour. It is sometimes difficult to visualize this - consider the age old childhood debate in the back of the car on Friesian cows and whether they are black animals with white markings or white animals with black markings. This is especially difficult to imagine with the more spotted animals (see Fig 5) or speckled animals, which look white with speckles/spots of colour typically appearing to have been sprinkled along the backline and spreading downwards. Look closely at my own spotty girl, an “inkspot” paint (Fig 5). She is a brown animal, look at her head and legs, with a white pattern overlaid. Think of the white as a sheet/coat of very open lace laid over her neck and back. These white-spotting animals, with a little knowledge, can still be used in a solid colour breeding programme as when bred to solids will produce solids 50% of the time. Even more interestingly, grey animals seem to have the capacity to reduce the multicolour/whitespotting factor and increase the likelihood of solid offspring. Liz Paul’s research based on the Australian herdbook suggests that grey x multi matings produced as little as 14% multi-coloured offspring. The actual results were 43% solid colour, 32% solid white, 14% multi and 12% grey progeny. So if you have a multi and you don’t want to produce more multis, consider putting a grey on it. The same effect was also noted by George Davis of New Zealand in his 1996 paper. See the results of my grey male across my spotty girls in Figs 6, 7 and 8.
Fig 6: Her Brown Cria She passed her brown gene but not the white spotting gene. Sire was our silver grey, who passed a black gene but not his greying gene.
Fig 7: Her Grey Cria Out of the same sire. This time he passed a black gene and his greying gene whilst she passed her black gene and not her white spotting gene, producing a classically marked grey.
Fig 8: Her Patterned Cria Again, out of the same sire. This time he passed his black gene, whilst the mother passed her brown gene and the white spotting gene.
Female Fig 5: Our Inkspot Paint This female is brown, carrying black and a white spotting gene.
carrying them, they will be visible. There are exceptions which I will deal with as we go along.
GREYS
Male
G
S
G
G/G
G/S
S
G/S
S/S
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 17
GENETICS: COLOUR POTENTIAL
For those of you out there that breed whites, don’t think you get away scot free. Be warned, many whites are actually white spotted animals, you just can’t see it, hence the occasional fawn with a white face. And whites can also sometimes even carry the grey gene, which again wouldn’t be visible but might suddenly show up when the animal is bred to a coloured animal.
DARK SPOTTING GENES
Fig 9: Leopard Appaloosa
Consider the age old childhood debate in the back of the car on Friesian cows and whether they are black animals with white markings or white animals with black markings Fig 10: Harlequin Cria Spotting clearly visible.
18 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
These are different to the white spotting genes. Animals carrying the dark spotting gene are characteristically a light colour but not white, e.g. light fawn or silvery grey, with dark spots. This spotting gene is often called the “leopard” gene. Appaloosas (Fig 9) and Harlequins (Fig 10 -12) are classic examples. Little study has been done on appaloosa genetics in alpacas but in horses, it is known that it is not a single gene but rather a complex string of genes and that modifying genes form part of this string and must be present if the pattern is to be visible. These modifying genes are responsible for the extent and amount of spotting that is seen - from a few spots to many. It is likely that something similar occurs in alpacas. This is why appaloosa patterning can appear to skip a generation and why we find instances of solid animals throwing appaloosas. An animal may appear solid due to the lack of the modifying genes but may still be carrying the leopard gene. When mated to another animal who can supply the modifying genes the spots can be seen in the offspring and an appie is born. It is also thought that in some instances, white can mask the dark spotting genes. Overall, appaloosas tend to follow the prediction and produce appaloosas approximately 50% of the time. Harlequins are rarer and again an example of the dark spotting or leopard gene. Animals tend to be born with a light basecoat (typically fawn, although they can be light grey) with lots of small black spots, but shade between 3 and 8 months of age to a roan effect. They typically retain the Fig 11: Harlequin Adolescant Shaded to a roan effect
spots/speckles on their faces and sometimes in the groin area. Even less is known about harlequins but my own theory is that dilution genes have a role to play. They are often born to black or sometimes dark brown parents - and black spots on a black animal would just simply, not be visible. This would account for their rarity compared to appaloosas as it would require both parents to also be carrying a dilution gene and pass them, along with the dark spotting gene to the cria. I have mated my harlequin male this summer to one of my dark brown females which I know to be carrying black and a dilution gene and I can still only rate my chances of producing a harlequin cria somewhere between 12% and 25%... but isn’t half the excitement in the anticipation? Credits/Sources: Genetics for Alpaca Breeders (plus various other articles/lectures), D. Andrew Merriwether Theory of Colour Inheritance in Alpacas, Elizabeth Paul The Status of Grey Alpacas in the Australian Herd, Elizabeth Paul The ABC’s of Llama Color, Debby Ulrich Synthesis of a Miracle, Mike Saffley Fig 12: Harlequin Adult Darker again but speckled face still visible.
UsE oUr gENETics To aDD ValUE To yoUr hErD Joint owners of Dovecote Jaquinto of TAS 2011 Futurity Champion Huacaya HerdSire LMFI & TNT PeruvIaN NTherough Sire MFI Peruvian Jeremiah Standing at Stud
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MY OWN PIECE OF HEAVEN
My own Graham Martin describes the dramatic lifestyle change he made leaving his tattoo business in Manchester for the bucolic charms of France and breeding suris.
20 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
A
leap of faith doesn't even start to describe this little adventure. I am Graham, a body piercer by trade, once owner of tattoo shops, ex union president, reasonably successful businessman, terrible speller and now an alpaca breeder. From art to alpacas you might say. It all started around Easter 2012, I took the family off to France for a quick city break, health and work issues had meant we hadn't been able to get away for a few years but things were getting better so a four day trip to Paris was booked. I had never seen my seven year old so enthused as when she walked around the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay. She was fascinated by the sculptures and artworks. My son, typically, just wanted to see the graffiti and the gargoyles. We had the best of times and while discussing the state of the tattooing and piercing industry and our place in it, my partner and I decided it was time for a change, we had been involved in it for nearly 40 years between us and watched it change beyond all recognition. Somewhere along the line It had stopped being what we lived for, what we loved and it became a job. So a change was most definitely in order, But what? We had loved
MY OWN PIECE OF HEAVEN
piece of HEAVEN our time in France so we thought perhaps we could get a little place over there and perhaps set up a shop, or rent holiday gites or I could make furniture, something I had studied at university while running the businesses. What we did was unimportant our primary aim was to just become more self sufficient and happier. Having the kids to think about we thought it would be a good idea to have a taster of the lifestyle so we booked a little working farm holiday in Wales, the weather was awful but we still had a great time and the kids really loved it. Getting away from Manchester into the country was literally a breath of fresh air for us all. We were still unsure what to do with ourselves if we moved but the holiday reaffirmed our idea of renting out holiday cottages and possibly keeping animals. Everyone in our house just loves animals of all shapes and sizes.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION We figured we should see what we could realistically afford so we looked on the internet at what was available for sale and to our surprise the property was well within our price bracket,
Not wanting to travel too far and have the option of coming back easily if we needed to. we decided Normandy, Brittany or the surrounding areas would be suitable. The ferry was booked and off we went to see what things were like in person, a couple of days of viewings, and a few days of sightseeing and fun stuff for the kids. It was amazing, Brittany just seeped into our souls and things felt right, words cannot fully explain it but it just felt like home.
It was amazing, Brittany just seeped into our souls and things felt right, words cannot fully explain it but it just felt like home.
Several trips later and a failed attempt at buying a property I stumbled over an old watermill. The estate agent wasn't overly thrilled about showing it to me as he said it might not be what I was looking for but the moment I looked at it I knew it was for us, The family hadn't come on that trip as they were visiting relatives in Malta but I just knew it was right, The waterwheel was missing, as was half the river due to a poorly repaired river bank that had given way, the houses were untidy, old and in need of some serious updating but it ticked every single box for me. I had made a list of what I wanted from a property when arranging the initial viewings and this property fulfilled every single criteria. I couldn't hide my delight when I phoned my girlfriend, just to tell her I had found the one, the place we could all settle and fulfil our dreams. It had an extra house on the land to rent out, it had a workshop I could renovate and make furniture in, it even had a fishing lake and six hectares of land, yeah it needed a bit of love but so much space and with a promise of first refusal on the surrounding land. I was utterly blown away. I got back home to Manchester and no sooner was ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 21
MY OWN PIECE OF HEAVEN
Love at first sight?
The waterwheel was missing, the houses were untidy, old and in need of some serious updating but it ticked every single box for me I back than I brought the family out to view it, Not quite as enthusiastic about it as I was things soon changed after a visit to the local Buddhist monastery literally two kilometres from door to door. A couple of days discussion and we made our first offer, then a second which was accepted. Now buying a house in France is not as easy as you might think, nothing like buying one in Scotland or England. You have to wait on the local land cooperative deciding if they want to buy it as well as endless surveys and so it dragged on for about six months.
SIMPLY SURIS Prior to viewing the moulin we had tried to work out what animals were right for us, being committed vegetarians we felt that cows and sheep were not for us. Goats appealed and we thought of goats milk, and cashmere processing. Looking around at what was available we soon went off the idea of goats and stumbled upon alpacas, more by accident than anything else. I was not keen on the look of huacayas from the off, too fluffy for me and it seemed as if they were everywhere, suris seemed cuter, a little more exclusive and I just really took to them. I arranged a visit to a farm en route to catch the ferry to France and when I got there I knew these were for me, I hadn’t done too much research at this point and was just looking for something that clicked. I went to Simply Suris in Oxfordshire. Not the biggest breeder by a long way but twice winner of small breeder of the year at the Futurity so I thought I would see some quality animals. As it turned out I hit it off instantly with Fiona, I informed her prior to my visit I wasn’t in the market for animals and I was just looking to see them up close to see if they were something 22 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
I could work with. She didn’t try and sell me anything and just showed me around and pointed me in the right direction but I knew from the short time I spent on the farm I had found what I wanted to do, breed suris. There was something enchanting about the suris, they were friendly and seemed intelligent and thoughtful. Fiona's honest and forthright views left me in no doubt that this was something we could do as a family. I am so glad I went there first and saw what animals could be. On the way to view the property with the family in tow in early November, we stopped by Simply Suris again so that the kids and my partner could see if the animals were right for them, my daughter was instantly enamoured by them, my son not so much. His idea of a farm means that we need to breed cows or as informed the other day something more exotic such as bison, deer and crocodiles. Louise was smitten straight away and although the wintery conditions meant we didn't stop for long she decided that alpacas were going to suit our lifestyle perfectly.
THE PERFECT GIFT These were the first of many subsequent visits to Simply Suris, I went to an information/vet day and then I would drive down from Manchester every other week to get hands on experience with alpacas. We decided that this would be the best place to buy our initial alpacas and after a bit of bartering and lots of emails, phone calls and a few more visits we decided on our first four animals. As all the readers know four is just not enough so Fiona arranged to view some other animals for me and I ended up purchasing those as well which took me to eight. Time marched on and with the intention of being in France in
April Fiona agreed to hold the animals at her place till we moved and settled. May seemed like a good time by the time we set up paddocks and shelters. Meanwhile I was buying anything I could that might be useful such as a centrifuge, halters, medical equipment, herding tapes, etc., etc.; the list seemed endless but I wasn’t going to take the animals over to France and get caught short on something important. In the mean time Valentine's Day happened and we were heading back to Brittany to sort some bits out. Now I am not the most romantic of blokes, I freely admit this, but occasionally I do have my moments and when Lu had told me she liked one of the alpacas being looked after at Fiona's I thought it’d make an ideal valentines gift. After a bit of negotiating with the owner I was able to get it for a price I was happy with. On the way down the road I gave Fiona the heads up and she adorned poor Benny with love hearts and a red ribbon so that when we arrived on site he was there waiting for Louise in all his glory. It made Lu smile and the kids found it highly amusing. That was alpaca number nine. Discussing herd management on one of my visits we thought that getting a few more males might disperse any aggression and worse case scenario I could split the studs with a companion so I arranged for a couple more males to come up from the same place as I had bought the others. Part of this deal was that I took an extra one seemed like an excellent arrangement, but nothing in life is free. I had arranged for the initial four animals and the extra three males to be delivered the day before a course was being held on parasite identification. A friend of Fiona's was coming up to the course and arranged to pick the animals up en route. When they were dropped off it was apparent that the “rain scald” I had been
MY OWN PIECE OF HEAVEN
informed about on the free animal was a little bit more serious. The animal was not in a good way, to the point of not even moving away from anyone who approached. When we got down for the course and had a look we were a little angry, being duped like this was uncalled for and it really upset Louise. The vet had a look and didn’t give a good prognosis but said to give it a little time in case the animal recovered, a week later he wasn’t much better and another week went by and the skin was in such a bad state that the poor thing bled when he moved his legs or tried to lift his tail. The vet said the best thing for the animal was to put him to sleep, he was too unwell to travel and too far gone to fix. I was gutted. But it was best done quickly so all was arranged and sorted.
AN EDUCATION Time started moving ever so quickly and yet it dragged along. I was dying to get to France with the animals yet I was still so inexperienced with them, no matter how many times I did the four hour trip to Oxfordshire to learn more and handle the animals it was no substitute for having them on my own property and dealing with them every day. That being said I couldn’t have asked for a more patient and helpful teacher than I had. I would speak to Fiona most days with silly questions and to check on the animals she was minding. The Futurity arrived and so I took my daughter down to see the alpacas on show, yes I know school is important but I figured that she probably would gain more from the time with the alpacas in the coming years than that one day of school would give her so off we went to the NEC. That turned into a very expensive day, I saw some friends and looked around a bit then I came across
Bozedown's stall, with the picture of what I was to learn was Idaho. Idaho won herd-sire of the year but by then I had already decided I wanted him, So off I trotted back up the M6 to speak to the boss about possibly buying another alpaca. A couple of days later and i broached the subject with Mary-Jo and we worked the details out over the following week. I was to become the owner of one of the best stud males in the country. It was decided that it might be better to stud him out in the UK for a year or so before bringing him over to France, There was no real option other than sorting things out with Fiona. Once again she came to my rescue. I decided to buy a white female and so Rosie became mine, she is a gorgeous white alpaca with good lineage and I figured it was better to have an extra animal in the herd than to limit the numbers and the future capability of breeding.
My daughter was instantly enamoured by them, my son not so much. His idea of a farm means that we need to breed something more exotic such as bison, deer and crocodiles! ON THE MOVE... AT LAST All of a sudden April had gone by, the house still wasn’t sorted in France, then May came and went. A tantrum or two down the phone moved things along a little. And in June we moved, alpacas and everything else too. The logistics of moving was a little complex, just getting everything to go smoothly was interesting. It was a catalogue of mishaps. No electricity in the house, no running water, these things were sorted easily, less easily sorted was the amount of stuff to ship over but we made it and the animals all got here safe and sound thanks to a very calm and experienced transporter, Bruce spent weeks sorting it all out so there would be no hiccups on the way and his reassuring calls and support at stressful times really did help. Without sounding like an advert I cannot recommend Appletrees highly enough, once unloaded the animals seemed very content with lush green grass and beautiful weather. All I had to do was build some shelters and pray it ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 23
MY OWN PIECE OF HEAVEN
Idaho won herd-sire of the year but by then I had already decided I wanted him, So off I trotted back up the M6 to speak to the boss about possibly buying another alpaca.
24 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
didn’t rain much in the meantime. That prayer went unanswered, thunderstorms a plenty but it remained warm and the shelters did go up, the extra paddocks too. All I needed to do was feed and water them and of course sort out basic husbandry. It came time to sort the matings out. Having three stud boys made it interesting but with a bit of perseverance we managed to get all the correct females pregnant, yup it was a bit like a Benny Hill sketch with the boys chasing the girls round the paddock as I hadn’t had the mating pen set up properly yet. It was then the inexperience started to show, getting the animals to spit off was inconclusive on three of the girls, so I tried again and once more think Benny Hill, next set of spit offs were a bit more conclusive but not knowing my animals well enough made it a bit harder to read the signs. Eventually I got all the girls mated and spat off and I waited for the pregnant female I brought over to have her cria. Whilst waiting
I was able to get to know the animals better and understand their ways a little, Benny likes to think he is in charge and has put me on my backside once or twice, maybe he is just scared of needles but he doesn’t like having his medication at all, Timmy is a bit more cautious than the rest of the boys but at feed times he is always right there, Cinamon is a lovely little lad, a bit too soft and loves finding green grass, usually on the other side of the fence, Dougal is the lookout and the old man of the herd and Dumbledore is, how can I put this politely, very food orientated. The girls all have their own personalities too, Cupcake is protective and full of character, Rosie is a gentle little sweetheart, Shadow is really timid and Amber it turns out isn't half as grumpy when not pregnant, Nutmeg, Flo, and Ermintrude are all mad as hatters but mostly in a good way, they race up and down the hills and Flo does like the boys, constantly trying to get their attention. A family emergency meant several trips back to the UK, the trips had to be short in case Amber had the baby so everyone I knew was put on alert that they might be needed for anything from moral support to actually helping with the birth while I was away, however thankfully nothing happened. A beautiful summer ensued and Amber had her cria at the end of August, She is an amazing mum, did everything by herself and the cria is stunning, I am very biased but little Bramble is a lovely little thing. All legs and neck, watching her frolic around is hilarious and always makes me smile. This is just the start of my adventure and it is the best adventure ever.
M Di Yo Ar Ar u k iE r S
&
fibre festival
Friday 20 + Saturday 21 March
Hall 3A, National Exhibition Centre Birmingham B40 1NT
The full information pack will be available in November 2014 online or as a hard copy. For sponsorship opportunities contact Chas Brooke at info@britishalpacafuturity.com or 01884 243579
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The largest alpaca show in Europe and a celebration of all things alpaca. Halter classes with over 400 alpacas participating, an international fleece show, Fibre Festival, trade stands, elite auction. Join us in March 2015 to make merry and applaud the best of British breeding. The NEC is ideally situated as it is close to the motorways, adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and the British Rail station.
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 25
ift G s a tm s i r h C Ideas ur o ut of y
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A SPIN ON BRITISH ALPACA
A Spin on British Alpaca
Nick Harrington Smith began his musings on the alpaca industry in May and after continual nagging from the Editor has completed the task. 28 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
A SPIN ON BRITISH ALPACA
S
hearing over for some of us, the bulk of the show season gone, birthing well under way, Spring, what Spring you may ask, and Summer supposedly upon us (let's reserve judgement on that), and now the need to start putting the boys with the girls for next year’s crop of cria. There’s no doubt about it, alpaca breeding is like wishing your life away while you look to produce the next world class alpaca. The provocative question has to be WHY do we do it? It surely cannot be to make our fortunes. After all alpaca breeding is a form of farming, and contrary to the beliefs of some, farming will not make your fortune. Perhaps it’s because we would like to establish a meaningful alpaca textile industry with our fantastic fibre producing alpacas, or is it because simply put “it's fun”? Maybe youngsters wishing life away is OK, but for those that can remember when the Beatles first came on the scene, our stock of years is too few to be able to afford such pastime. I’m guessing that truth be known the reason we carry on is a little bit of everything, added to which is hope and the expectation of success.” Now you might ask what’s new in early Autumn, the answer is nothing, but a little more time for reflection, and another season gone, and still the provocative question has changed slightly to WHY DO WE KEEP ON TRYING?
HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED – FROM THIS... Australian import 2004
Peruvian import 1st British Alpaca Society National Show
From humble beginnings...
1st BAS stand at the Royal Show
CH CH CH CHANGES I entered the alpaca industry on October 8th 1998, and yes, it is a date etched in my mind, as are the arguments I encountered no sooner than taking up my post as manager of Europe’s largest herd of alpaca. Almost 15 years to the day later, I ask myself, and others, if anything has changed. I believe the answer is, LOTS. In 1998 the major angst was the justification of owning alpacas, and how the marketing of the end product was essential, and so over just a few years various co-ops were established and funded by breeders who had bought into the idea that all alpacas existed to, and did produce, one of the “noble fibres, and just by taking fibre from those alpacas would guarantee a successful end product. Believe it or not, breeders were so confident of this argument that vast sums of money were raised to form a fibre co-op, in a number of manifestations, fibre bought and sold, and yarns and product made. The end result…..product that not even a self-respecting Labrador would lie on,
and I’m sure it wasn’t only my Labrador! With these end results of course came the realisation that not all alpacas produced fibre good enough to make a product that fulfils the title of “noble fibre”. To the credit of the industry, people kept working on making as good a product as was achievable from the British fibre available, but, with mixed results. What changed was a greater realisation that we could only succeed in creating better opportunities for the British manufactured end product by producing better British fibre, especially if we were to succeed in the luxury clothing market. It thus followed that this needed to be from British alpacas. However with this dawning realisation came other challenges, who to believe, how to source the better alpacas, and of course re-building the confidence of those who had seen hundreds of thousands of pounds disappear into the Coops, with nothing credible coming from this investment. If this sounds like a criticism of those involved at the time it is not, after all it would seem every evolving alpaca country seems to have suffered what are essentially growing pains, so perhaps the past had a certain inevitability about it. With all the new angst caused by such failure, we saw a renewed vigour in some quarters, with much more attention being paid to breeding better alpacas. Of course, to understand better what was needed by the textile industry necessitated a better understanding of breeding, and what really made desirable fibre, and to this end we saw breeders attending numerous courses and travelling the world to gain a better perspective. Circa the early “noughties” we saw targeted imports of “better” alpacas, mostly of Peruvian origins, with some from Australia. Whatever the label, the intent was to improve the National herd by selective breeding, and importantly, make owning alpacas profitable by ensuring a place in the domestic market. And so for many years it has continued, small, targeted imports, when we or other countries suffer from some health scare or other allow, and still breeders apparently striving for better alpacas.
THE SHOW CIRCUIT
British Alpaca Fibre Co-operative fibre collection
Fleece photo taken in 1997
Of course whilst all this progress was being made the national show circuit in the UK and Europe grew rapidly, and a new measure of high quality emerged, show results. This tacit acceptance of this new marker is probably understandable, given that our show judging criteria are weighted towards commercial fleece traits, of course with some exceptions. However some perspective has been lost, and there is a tendency to forget that a show is only comparative, but never let it be said this is a British failing, it is truly international and across many species. I fear that even to this day this “measure” is still causing confusion in breeding programmes as people chase the latest winner. None the less, our show circuit is by far the biggest, and most economic promotion of British Alpacas on both a national and breeder level, and ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 29
A SPIN ON BRITISH ALPACA
has succeeded in placing the UK as the leader in the European Alpaca Industry. As with any show circuit there are always dominant players and the alpaca industry here in the UK is no different. There are breeders who have been in the game a long time, and those who are excited enough by the industry to invest heavily, and in both cases, they have an edge in the show ring. Is this bad? Probably not, as they are showcasing for the whole UK industry, but it does lead to breeders choosing not to play the game because they would prefer not to participate rather than be seen to 'lose'. Not everyone believes it is “the taking part that counts”! We also of course use the shows as an educational forum, and this is an area that I believe people lose out on when they choose not to show, or even attend shows without alpacas. Having already said showing is comparative it does also give individual breeders a perspective on where they stand in terms of their own breeding programme. There can only be one winner in showing, but if you know you are competitive and have heard the judges discourse on placings, you will have some measure of your own progress. Those that stay at home cannot be criticised, it is a personal choice, however much can be learnt from just watching and listening, and of course looking at the winning animals. Now all of the foregoing may, or more probably will have already bored those who have been around our industry a long time, and the rest will be thinking so nothing has changed. In short, we are breeding better alpacas and we are still striving for an end market. At the start of this piece, I said I had reflected more, why? Because we have had a wonderful if short summer, by last year’s standards especially. I realise another year has been wished away with the completion of breedings. I have judged some lovely animals, and some not so lovely, some beautiful fleeces and some aesthetically challenged, but above all else I have come to a rather surprising conclusion. Now for those that know me you will need no reminding, but for those that don’t, I have been known to have an “empty glass” view on some things! I’m saying no more.
HIGH FIBRE My conclusion is, following on from a hugely successful British Alpaca Futurity and Alpaca Classic that the alpaca industry has spun on its axis. We now have a number of very successful yarn and end product manufacturers using high quality British fibre to make fabulous yarn and product. Only a few days ago I learnt of an export of British yarn to Japan, which reminded me of my early Co-op meetings where many thought the British label would be invaluable and once we cracked the Japanese market we were home and dry. What does this mean 15 years on from my first experiences of the alpaca industry? Perhaps we haven’t cracked any market yet but we are closer to attaining a goal dreamt of all those years 30 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
What we as an industry need to do is regain that focus on breeding of the highest order
...TO THIS
Fleece shorn May 11
British Alpaca Futurity
Fleece 2012
ago. It certainly means we need to keep striving to produce the best and this raises the biggest challenge. I hear all too often from the fibre buyers that the quality being presented for processing is poor. In short, too few herds have progressed their breeding programme to produce high quality fibre. You might be thinking nothing has changed however, in my case I think my glass is more than half-full. We now have a fibre sector that require, and can sell, high quality product. What we don’t have is a National herd capable of producing enough high quality fibre. What we do have, and my glass is now more than half-full of the finest malt is animals and genetics in the UK that will match any in the world, and that can produce those much needed top quality seed stock and fibre producing alpacas. What we as an industry need to do is regain that focus on breeding of the highest order. To quote my least favourite political party 'Education, Education, Education'. There are plenty of courses, seminars and workshops to attend but by my reckoning 30 to 40% of the participants on the courses in the UK come from over the Channel. Why? This industry is one big learning curve and we should be topside. After all, the fibre side of our industry is currently outperforming the breeders. Let’s put the trials of the recession and other challenges to one side and find ways as breeders to ensure all our futures by breeding well and breeding British. For those that are worried their animals are not good enough, we need all our breeding females, but only if they are producing higher quality fibre producing animals. There are no short cuts on this, use good proven males, match their strengths to your girls' weaknesses, and don’t gauge your results in the show ring, gauge them by the quality of fibre you are producing. Remember in your breeding programme the core value traits, fineness, uniformity, softness of hand and staple length and you will succeed in producing commercial fibre. Do this and the show results will follow….probably. Will you have crimp, almost certainly yes, because you will have superior fibre and with that crimp will more often than not follow. Of course I have now partially emptied my glass, and am reminded of something a Scottish pedigree breeder once said, “Successful breeding is 10% skill and 90% luck”! So, as to the question WHY? Because we can and have succeeded in establishing something very special, and with shows and the alpacas, it IS FUN.
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 31
APPLEKNIT
RELUCTANT, SOMERSET
Without any intention of getting involved with alpacas originally, Joy Bearman now helps to run a thriving small alpaca business and an unwitting local tourist attraction...
32 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
APPLEKNIT
I agreed to alpacas on the understanding that they were my husband's hobby and I would have little to do with them...
F
our of us stood leaning on the gate, weighing up the possibilities for our new paddock. I had already declared that we would 'grow our own' and had poultry eggs incubating in the dining room. Daughter Kerry saw a steep hill and was happily chattering about mountain boards and snow boards. Youngest Son Ross saw a lot of grass and said “Sit and ride mower is a must and I don't mind doing that job!” Husband Dave said nothing. Two weeks later I had built a hen house and a duck house and purchased an expensive electric fence. Kerry had bought a mountain board and Ross, undeterred at the non-appearance of the sit and ride mower, was creating a slalom course with our old petrol mower. Dave said nothing. A month passed by. A few smallholder magazines scattered around the house and I had decided on a goat for milk. We had felled some trees and I planned to use them to make a field shelter for the goat. Dave, a Structural Engineer, wanted to look at my design. He said “You need to make the roof a bit higher.” I pointed out that it was only for a goat, “you get some quite tall goats” was his reply. A few days later he asked what I thought about getting a couple of alpacas. I confess to never having seen an alpaca before that. After visiting some local
breeders I agreed to alpacas on the understanding that they were his hobby and I would have little to do with them. We bought our alpacas from Chas and Rachel at Classical Mile End Alpacas. Chas told me I would be spinning in no time, I replied “I'm never going to do that. It is Dave's hobby.” Oh, the irony! Six months after our first shearing I was spinning and felting and planning. Our new house and paddock came with a working cattery. I was rapidly running out of enthusiastic young people to clean up after the cats and had had enough scratches to last a lifetime. The recession caused more cat owners to turn to neighbours for cat feeding and hence the cattery could be declared no longer financially viable. We applied for permission to build a bedroom and fibre processing workshop on the site of the cattery with the idea of offering accommodation with felting and spinning workshops and hopefully inspiring others to use our wonderfully versatile fibre. So it was out with the cat hairs and in with the alpaca fleece. Our little paddock was soon too small for a growing herd and after four long years of delicate negotiation we finally bought a few more acres. Dave then set about designing mobile field shelters which cut out 70% of everything, rain, wind and
sun. The herd seem to like them and fight over the best positions, usual scenario – dropped lip, green neck. Although alpaca fleece comes in a range of natural colours I love felting with vibrant colours so I experimented with wool dyes and have had some great results, this winter I have produced a new range of felted hot water bottle covers. For my wet felted teddies and alpacas I still prefer the natural alpaca shades. Five years later we have eleven female alpacas, presided over the births of six female cria and three boys (we're quite happy with that skew!) and a small but thriving business. We have become an unwitting tourist attraction as local residents bring friends and family to see the strange new animals moved into the village, yes, even after five years! In the fibre studio evening felting workshops prove to be a most popular event for groups and for birthday treats. Spinning sessions and fibre craft weekends are also popular providing an opportunity to convert a raw fleece to a completed article over two days. Looking back, all I can say is “Goat? What goat?” www.appleknit.co.uk www.applevalealpacas.co.uk
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 33
a pacas
34 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
Alpaca books & digital discs from Classical MileEnd Alpacas Now available from our online shop at www.alpaca-uk.co.uk or by mail order The Complete Alpaca Book 2nd Edition Eric Hoffman The most complete and comprehensive study of the alpaca. £120 + £8.50 p&p Antenatal Birthing and Cria Care Dr E McMillan and C Jinks A practical guide for the new alpaca owner written by an experienced alpaca owner and their vet. £20 + £1.50 p&p w 12 Ne 20 r fo
The Alpaca Colour Key; Rickets: The Silent Killer; Handbook of Alpaca Health Elizabeth Paul of Erehwon Alpacas Australia This trio of books are a welcome addition to the library and cover some fascinating and essential areas of animal health and inheritance not easily found elsewhere. Over 90 pages in each, plenty of supportive colour pictures and biology degrees not needed! £22 ea or £60 for all three +£1.50 p&p ea or +£4 p&p for all three
Alpaca Field Manual C. Norman Evans, DVM Down to earth, comprehensive, and simple to navigate. Its pictures and recommended drug tables will help breeders keep their alpacas healthy. £105 + £5.85 p&p Neonatal Care for Camelids David E Anderson, Toni A Cotton, Claire E Whitehead Highly recommended book from three well respected veterinarians. Covers male and female reproduction, birthing, neonatal care and weaning. A practical ring bound manual based on clinical experiences with over 50,000 alpacas and llamas. A must for all breeders and veterinarians. £85 + £3.50 p&p
Cheques payable to Classical MileEnd Alpacas. Credit/Debit card payments accepted.
Calamity’s Bear Elaine Reeman Illustrated by Wendy Holloway Charming children’s book with lovely illustrations. £8 + £2.50 p&p The Art & Science of Alpaca Judging AOBA with Anderson, Gehly, Safley & VandenBosch Five years in the making this book will become the bible for developing breeding strategies and explaining what goes on in the show judging ring. Essential reading for both new and experienced owners. Highly recommended. £72 plus £6 p&p UK or £10 p&p Europe Orgling CD Alpaca World Magazine Fifty minutes of pure testosterone orgling courtesy of Classical Ikon. Ideal for those young males needing encouragement. £7 + £1.50 p&p Introduction to Alpacas DVD Rachel Hebditch of Classical Mile End Alpacas A 14 minute insight into these lovely animals for those thinking of owning alpacas. £10 + £1.75 p&p
Vulscombe Farm, Pennymoor, Tiverton, Devon, EX16 8NB Telephone 01884 243579 or Fax 01884 243514 Email enquiries@alpaca-uk.co.uk
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08456 076 559
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ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 35
TACKLING SCHMALLENBERG
TACKLING SCHMALLENBERG As a vet working in a mixed practice in mid-Devon, Claire Brooks reviews the emergence and clinical signs of Schmallenberg Virus, and offers an insight into how her practice has investigated the spread of this disease, and the implications this has for prevention in the future.
C
laire Brooks qualified from the University of Bristol in 2007 and has worked in predominantly large animal practice ever since. Although the majority of her time is spent in dairy cattle health and production, she retains a keen interest in camelid medicine stemming from her time at Langford Farm Animal Hospital where she worked after qualifying. Schmallenberg virus hit the livestock in the South West of England hard in the second half of 2012, and the effects of this new virus are still evident in the farming community today. With the launch of a new vaccine against this emerging and damaging disease, we are faced with many questions - “will this be another scare like Bluetongue? Is vaccination necessary for my herd/flock?” The simple answer is “we don’t know”, but as a practice we decided to try and find rational, scientifically based answers to these questions in order to be able to advise our clients on the best course of action. Schmallenberg virus (SBV) first emerged in Germany during the autumn of 2011, when groups of cattle were presenting with non-specific signs of illness that could not be attributed to any of the other common causes of these symptoms.
36 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
The virus causing these symptoms was eventually identified in November 2011 and named after the village where it was first discovered Schmallenberg. Nothing was known about this virus, but extensive research at the time found that it was similar in structure to some known viruses circulating in Africa, and the majority of our early knowledge of this disease was extrapolated from the behaviour of these similar viruses. The virus is spread from animal to animal using an intermediate host, in the UK the Culicoides midge, the same one responsible for the transmission of Bluetongue virus. At present, no other routes of transmission have been confirmed, and investigations are continuing into whether virus can be spread via semen and embryo transfer, or whether it can be directly transmitted between individuals without passing through the midge. When the midge bites an infected animal with the virus circulating in its bloodstream, it takes up the virus through its mouthparts, and then into its salivary glands where the virus multiplies. The virus is then transmitted to another host species (a ruminant or camelid) the next time the midge feeds. Once the animal becomes
TACKLING SCHMALLENBERG
In all species, early abortions have been documented, and a higher than normal percentage of barren animals has been observed.
infected, it remains viraemic (has active virus circulating in its blood) for 3-5 days before the host’s immune system manages to clear the virus. During this time period, the clinical signs of SBV are observed. In cattle, clinical signs include pyrexia (raised body temperature), milk drop and scour. These signs are more obvious in dairy cattle, and may go unnoticed in beef breeds out at grass. Acute signs of SBV in sheep remain undocumented. Similarly acute symptoms in alpacas have not been recorded. In all species, early abortions have been documented, and a higher than normal percentage of barren animals has been observed. The most common syndrome associated with SBV infection in all species is the birth of deformed offspring. If a dam is infected with the virus at a certain stage of pregnancy during which the embryo is developing its nervous system, the result is a calf or lamb born with rigid flexed joints, a twisted neck or spine, a domed skull and a short jaw. These symptoms are a result of the virus invading the nerves at a crucial stage in development and causing damage to the nerve cells. In the normal developing foetus, the nerves signal to the muscle fibres to contract and extend, but in a foetus affected by SBV this muscle movement does not occur because the nerves are not transmitting the signals to stimulate contraction. This subsequently results in the birth of neonates with rigid joints. The recognised time for infection of the dam with the virus in order to cause this syndrome is 25-50 days into pregnancy for sheep, and 70-120 days for cattle. Unfortunately, no data is currently available regarding the stage of gestation at which alpacas might suffer this syndrome. One might postulate that given the average gestation period in the alpaca is 11 months, the crucial window for infection resulting in birth deformities might be slightly further into pregnancy than for cattle. However, until further reports and investigations are undertaken in camelids, then the author would like to note that this is purely conjecture. In our region of mid-Devon, we have experienced SBV first-hand in our own herds and flocks. It is likely that it has been so widespread due to our geographical location being one of the first to be affected with the virus, and also due to the high stocking density of cattle, sheep and camelids in the region. Our first sign that Schmallenberg virus was circulating came last summer when some of our dairy herds started to experience sick cows with high temperatures and diarrhoea lasting for 2-5 days, accompanied by a significant milk drop in these individual animals. We also observed an increase in early embryonic resorptions and abortions within these herds. At this time, we began investigating these cases, and using blood and milk tests managed to identify SBV as the cause of the symptoms we were observing. Bulk milk tests showed an increase in antibody to the virus, and individual animals also showed increasing levels of Schmallenberg antibody, indicating recent exposure to the virus. As we moved into the autumn, these cows regained some of their milk yield, but production ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 37
TACKLING SCHMALLENBERG
In June this year MSD Animal Health launched the world’s first vaccine for Schmallenberg virus – Bovilis SBV.
remained significantly below the predicted level for the stage of lactation, which in combination with fetal losses resulted in large financial deficits for our farmers. By the end of November, our sheep clients started reporting the births of multiple deformed lambs, all displaying the classic signs of SBV. These births were occurring across the whole flock, and were witnessed in single, double and triplet births. Interestingly, whilst a lot of the twin births resulted in two deformed lambs as would be expected following infection, a reasonable proportion resulted in one live ‘normal’ lamb and one deformed neonate, often born dead, although some were born alive and had to be immediately euthanased. Throughout December this pattern continued, to the point where some of our early lambing flocks were struggling to produce one lamb per ewe. Fortunately once 2013 arrived, there appeared to be an upturn in production with our spring lambing flocks enjoying a good lambing percentage, and virtually no reports of multiple deformities in the lambs. For our beef and alpaca clients, there have been very few reports of any SBV related problems. The only significant sign that SBV has been present in our beef and alpaca herds is a slightly higher percentage of barren animals, although this has not been consistently recognised by our clients. However, the author knows of one beef herd in a neighbouring practice who suffered multiple deformed calves born with the classic fused joints, indicating the infection of the herd with the virus 4-5 months previously. In June this year MSD Animal Health launched the world’s first vaccine for Schmallenberg virus – Bovilis SBV. The vaccine is made using an inactivated form of the virus, in combination with two adjuvants to boost 38 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
immune response to vaccination, and is licensed for use in non-pregnant sheep and cows only. So with the costs involved, and the practicalities required for achieving successful vaccination before service, do we recommend vaccination to our clients? The decision was taken by the practice to investigate further the spread of virus in the area and within a herd/flock by selective use of blood testing. In our study, we enrolled over 30 farms encompassing dairy, beef, sheep and alpaca units spread over a wide geographical area. Each farm was offered 30 individual animal blood tests to look for the presence of antibodies to SBV indicating previous exposure to the virus. The individuals were specified as follows: • 10 yearling animals/shearlings born spring/ summer 2012 • 10 two year old animals born during 2011 • 10 older animals born prior to 31st Dec 2010 Due to the practicalities of blood sampling stock at this time of year when they are all out to grass, some farms enrolled in the study were unable to provide us with all 30, but on every farm we tested, we achieved the spread of ages we were interested in. Individual blood samples were taken, and individual animal identities were recorded, along with their date of birth in order for us to track each animal once the results were received. The blood samples taken were sent to an external laboratory for testing. An ELISA test was run on each sample to determine whether there are antibodies to SBV present in the blood, and if so, how much antibody is there. Antibodies are produced by the body’s immune system, and are a specific form of defence against infection. In order for an individual to have these protective antibodies, it either needs to acquire them from its dam’s colostrum (short term only, usually
6-9 months) or it needs to meet the virus, either via vaccination (limited duration of immunity, variable amongst different vaccines/diseases) or by natural exposure (usually longer term protection, sometimes lifelong). The first time an animal meets SBV, it will be naïve i.e. have no antibodies against Schmallenberg infection. When the individual becomes infected, the host’s immune system will start to produce specific antibodies to SBV, which will help to rid the body of the infection. Once these antibodies have been generated, a certain proportion of them will stay in the blood stream ‘patrolling’, waiting for another potential challenge. If the virus strikes again, these antibodies act immediately and clear the infection before it has chance to cause any clinical signs, and therefore we class the animal as immune to the virus. The results from our study were interesting. In our sheep flocks, virtually all the ewes and shearlings we tested had seroconverted (i.e. had antibodies in their blood) indicating that they had been exposed to the virus at some point in the past. Of the 436 sheep blood tested, only 27 animals tested negative for antibody to the virus. Some of these animals were purchased animals that had been brought down late 2012 from the north of England, whilst the majority of the remainder were shearlings that had not been exposed during the 2012 grazing season. In the beef herds, all 191 cattle tested positive for antibody, with the exception of a couple of purchased cattle brought in from other areas of the UK. For the dairy cattle, 28 animals out of 226 sampled tested negative for SBV antibody. Of the 28 negative animals, two were adult cows in a herd that had otherwise demonstrated seroconversion, but the remainder were all heifers born in the summer of 2012. These heifers were
TACKLING SCHMALLENBERG
The most common syndrome associated with SBV infection in all species is the birth of deformed offspring.
A deformed lamb Sample target areas
likely to have been protected from infection during the risk period by maternally derived antibody from their dam’s colostrum, and had therefore not mounted their own immune response to the presence of virus. The results confirmed what we had experienced clinically – that Schmallenberg virus had swept through our herds and flocks during the summer of 2012 and conferred a good immune response in the majority of the stock we tested. The implication of this is that with high levels of antibody in the blood, should any of these animals meet the virus again during the midge season of 2013, they will hopefully be protected from re-infection. Therefore, we would expect these herds and flocks not to display the clinical signs we observed in 2012 and have a dramatically lower rate of birth deformities than experienced late last year. One alpaca breeder heard of the surveillance work we were carrying out in the area, and volunteered their herd of 150 alpacas in mid-Devon as part of the study. They had not experienced any signs of acute infection amongst the herd last summer, and had had no crias born displaying any deformities. However, they were interested to know whether their herd had been exposed, and whether they needed to consider vaccination. The same criteria as used for the cattle and sheep were applied to the selection of the animals, and individual blood samples were taken by jugular venepuncture from 30 alpacas. Although the laboratory tests used for the detection of Schmallenberg antibody have not been validated for use in alpacas or other camelids, we can draw conclusions with reasonable confidence by extrapolating from our knowledge of the test reference ranges for sheep and cattle. The
results of the blood tests from the 30 alpacas showed only one genuinely negative result in the youngest animal tested, a male born in August 2012. Some of the older females had low levels of antibody, indicating that they had been exposed to the virus, but that they had simply not mounted a strong immune response at the time. The reason for their poorer immune response is unknown, but could be due to immunosuppression as a result of pregnancy, or other undetermined ‘stress’ factors occurring at the time of infection. The remainder of the animals tested showed high levels of antibody in circulation in their blood. Therefore we can conclude that these animals have been exposed to SBV, mounted a good immune response and are subsequently now protected against reinfection by this virus. This follows a very similar pattern to that which we have found amongst the cattle and sheep herds/ flocks in our area. So, are we recommending vaccination to our clients? The answer remains that we will only offer advice on a farm-to-farm basis as to whether vaccination is beneficial for a specific herd or flock. The options available are: • Blanket vaccination of all stock • Test and vaccinate based on seroprevalence • Targeted vaccination of high-risk individuals • No vaccination What we have to help our clients decide, and what you as owners of potentially susceptible animals have to decide, is which option they/you want to take. We will continue to offer our clients individual farm risk assessments and surveillance planning, in order to give them the best advice we can. I would encourage you to contact your own vets to discover how Schmallenberg virus has affected your area, and to decide whether vaccination is right for you.
Culicoides midge
Deformed calf
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 39
ADVERTORIAL: ALPACA ARC
Living Outside the Box – Alpaca Style A practical, yet stylish mobile shelter proves a hit with alpacas in the UK Forget the traditional, box shaped mobile shelters, you and your alpacas can now bask in the glory of the fabulous Alpaca Arcs, a beautiful piece of architecture and a shelter loved by alpacas. The patented design of the Alpaca Arc was developed by engineer and designer, Mark Panton of Pan Products Ltd in Lincolnshire. Mark says “We build Arcs for all sorts of uses and shelter all kind of animals, but alpacas seem to appreciate them most of all. They take to them very quickly and love to congregate and chill out under the arcs.” The open design of Alpaca Arcs give easy access to groups of alpacas and prevent individual animals being excluded from the shelter by dominant members. It also allows light to flood
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the shelter and provides a healthy air flow, which is stark contrast to the dark and dusty alternatives. The Arcs provide a much needed environment where Alpacas can escape severe weather in winter and enjoy cool shade in the summer. The arcs do not require planning permission as they can be moved in one piece very easily. Nikki Hayton from Faraway Alpacas recently had an Alpaca Arc installed on her stud farm in the New Forest. She said “"My alpacas simply love the Arc! It meets all the criteria for an alpaca shelter. The unique shape fits so beautifully into the surroundings too. Being open-ended, alpacas don't hesitate to go in because they don't feel trapped. Within minutes of letting the boys into the paddock after the Arc was erected, they were settled inside happily cuddling!" Nikki is already planning where her second Alpaca Arc will go. See AlpacaArc.co.uk for more details.
Halter and Fleece SHow
29th - 30th March 2014 Houghton Hall Equestrian & Alpaca Centre New Manor Farm • Sawtry Way • Houghton • Cambs • PE28 2DY www.alpacashowtime.co.uk Organised by:
H OUGHTON HALL alpacas
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 41
WEST WIGHT ALPACAS
It was the autumn of 2010, Michelle and I were sat down at a party at a local yacht club in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight when Michelle announced that, having just sold her residential lettings business, she was going to buy four alpacas and walk them with the public. I was a little surprised to say the least but did not think much more about it at the time...
A WEST WIGHT ALPACA
TREKKING
ADVENTURE
42 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
WEST WIGHT ALPACAS
The Isle of Wight is full of beautiful trails and by-ways and I had thought it would be something to keep Michelle out of trouble.
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hen Michelle made her original comment I knew nothing about alpacas and was not even sure what they were other than Michelle’s description to me that they were like small fluffy llamas. She had apparently seen some at a local agricultural show some years before and had decided there and then that she would like to keep some but had kept it to herself until this point. I was dragged off to look at some in early 2011. I am still to this day wondering how we ended up with eleven alpacas including five pregnant females after that first visit and not the original four that were discussed and I was hooked. I became fascinated with these amazing creatures and that started many nights of late night reading and a new obsession. In just three short years from Michelle’s original announcement we have specialised in the suri breed and imported five stud males from the USA with Chris and Vicki Agar of Spring Farm. Things moved quickly and in early 2011 we bought our own seven acre small holding in a village called Wellow, not far from Yarmouth in the West Wight. This was just in time as our first cria named Surprise arrived the day we moved the girls here. She was born right on 315 days but appeared absolutely fine. We have since realised that this particular girl gives birth early every year but she was a worry at the time. Not much more had been mentioned about the walking by Michelle and I had not thought much more about it either. However the Isle of Wight is full of beautiful trails and by-ways and I had thought it would be something to keep Michelle out of trouble. We had decided at this point that we wanted to concentrate on breeding suri alpacas and were on the hunt for some good animals, we had also asked some advice from Nick Harrington Smith who kindly came over for the day and did a herd appraisal for us. In conversation I mentioned to him that Michelle was thinking of walking alpacas “ha ha” to which he replied that he had been to an alpaca breeders just outside Chichester called Dunreyth Alpacas and said he was surprised at how successful it appeared to be. I phoned Peta and Bruce the ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 43
WEST WIGHT ALPACAS
following day to explain we were thinking of doing a similar thing to them but we were on the Isle of Wight so not in competition and could we come and see them? They were brilliant showing us exactly what they did and offering us all sorts of help which has been invaluable. Following our visit we came back to the Island and started planning. Firstly we started walking a small group of boys ourselves to see how things would go. It became obvious to us that a group of wethers do not like leading but are happy followers. You need an entire male with a bit of confidence but he does not want to be over eager either. In the autumn of 2011 Michelle advertised for local people to come and help train our boys up and we started walking them off farm. We targeted areas where we were likely to see few dogs, we asked the local council where we could walk which caused some confusion but the consensus of opinion was that we could walk any highways or by-ways or open access public land. We kept swapping people around with the alpacas to get them used to walking with different people and we got through a lot of tea, coffee and biscuits that winter. We also became good friends with our volunteers. I was still very sceptical and had a lot else to do in 2012 besides walking alpacas. We produced a leaflet and distributed it in a small way without going mad, I had also rebuilt an old barn on the farm both for use as a barn and part of it as a shop to sell our own alpaca products. At Easter people started to appear and the phone started ringing. I found myself enjoying meeting different people and sharing our alpacas with them. It was only at this point that I started to realise just how mesmerised and interested people are in alpacas as my own interest in them had grown over time. More and more came and I started to do more and more walks with people and at the end of the 2012 summer I had done just over 100 walks with the public without really trying. One of the common themes from people after their alpaca walk was “if only you had a café we would spend half a day here”. Michelle and I 44 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
decided in the autumn of 2012 that having heard this now over and over again it was something we should try and do. We had originally had grant help from LEADER to refurbish our barn to create our alpaca shop so it was back to LEADER to see if they would give us more support which thankfully they did. Back to planning which was a rocky road but that’s another story and we finally converted the shop into a shop cum café. We decided that we would do a little more promotion for our 2013 season having built our café although not to go mad as the alpacas come first and we wanted to ensure that everyone that visited us had a good time. We opened the Alpaca Chatter café at Easter and following this my words to Michelle were 'we have created a monster'. In fact we have not stopped all summer long and even now in the autumn we are surprised at the numbers of visitors we are getting. This year I stopped counting in early June when we had done over 100 walks. We have been turning people away all through the summer holidays and I would guess we have probably done 300 walks either around the farm here or at Headon Warren, our favourite off-farm walk. Many people that come to us to walk alpacas want to walk again (one lady five times). These are mostly people that are holidaying on the Isle of Wight from all over the country and we are regularly asked 'Do you know anywhere we can do this near home?' We are thinking that we would be keen to have some form of national association of alpaca walking farms where we can promote one another if anyone else is interested? When we started we could only find one other farm alpaca walking which was Dunreyth yet now there seem to be a few more appearing. We are happy to share our experiences and help as others have with us. If you would like to know more please get in touch and come and see us to experience it yourselves. So where are we now? We have forty eight alpacas, almost exclusively suris and have started to have show success, this year for the first time with our own breeding decisions. We have just
One of the common themes from people after their alpaca walk was “if only you had a café we would spend half a day here." ...we finally converted the shop in to shop cum café. purchased a further 21 acres alongside our smallholding. Land next door to you only comes available rarely so we could not turn it down despite the fact that it was expensive. This will allow us to do longer walks on the farm next year and offer more options with picnic walks etc. We are even going to try alpaca speed dating walks! The biggest problem at the moment is remembering why we did this, it would be easy to be taken over by the café and walking and just become a tourist attraction, this is not however what Michelle and I want. Our goal is to become the very best suri alpaca breeder we can, specialising in colour, and as long as we remember that and keep things in perspective we are sure we can keep going in the right direction. If you want to know more about alpaca walking have a look at our website: www.westwightalpacas.co.uk
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ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 45
ASK THE VET
Continuing Education… What is the point…?
46 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
ASK THE VET
Many things change, especially in the world of veterinary medicine... ...we are constantly refining what we do and the advice that we give.
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here are many potential educational opportunities available for those breeding or owning alpacas. These provide valuable information in a variety of different topic areas: they can help you learn how to keep your alpacas in terms of husbandry and feeding, how to handle your alpacas, how to keep them healthy and what to do when things go wrong, how to manage and sort fleece and what to do with it and then there are the judging courses. Each of the regional groups also offer numerous meetings with speakers talking on a variety of topics. All of these courses provide varied and useful information to help you get the most out of your alpacas, whatever your goals happen to be. Clearly, each type of course provider is best suited to provide training in certain areas but not necessarily in others: for example, I can teach all you would like to know about health and reproduction matters but am not at all qualified to wax lyrical about fleece quality – even though I may have picked up a little bit about this along the way! Those at the Alpaca Classic in September will have learned loads from a true fleece guru in Cheryl Gehly. As a vet here in the UK, I am required to complete a minimum number of hours per year in terms of ongoing or continuing education. This amounts to around 5 days a year. Most vets are given an allowance of around £500-800 for this by their practices, but given that a typical two day course costs £600-800, this allowance doesn’t go very far and vets need to pay for the remainder out of their own pockets in addition to any accommodation or travel expenses
associated with the training. However, the point is that the education needs to be ongoing. Many things change, especially in the world of veterinary medicine. Specifically for camelids, as our knowledge advances and more research is done along with the publication and presentation of more clinical experience, we are constantly refining what we do and the advice that we give. Therefore, some advice that was offered 10 years ago may be well out of date by now. So, who is education aimed at? Well, pretty much everybody. Experienced and new breeders alike can benefit from continuing education. While there may be much information that is familiar to experienced breeders, there may well be new information that they have not heard before and that can be incorporated into their own farm’s practices. Sometimes they may find that things that they’ve been doing are no longer recommended or at odds with current best practice. Since experienced breeders are often giving advice to new ones at the time of sale, it is a good idea for them to be up to date too. At the other end of the scale, new breeders may leave a course feeling quite overwhelmed with the amount they have learned in one sitting. Many new breeders attending my own courses tell me that they have learnt an awful lot and are glad that they attended, but worried that there is so much to take on board. I prefer to pack my course days full because I know that people often travel to attend and I want to provide value for money: I also provide comprehensive notes for my courses with the aim that my attendees have a useful reference for the future that they can refer to when they
need it, or that can be re-read at their leisure. In addition to the consideration of knowledge acquisition, one has to consider how much you may be willing to spend in order to keep up to date and the relative savings to be had for knowing the information that may be gleaned in attending the course. In the Spring, a small breeder told me that my course fee was “far more” than she could pay as a small owner. I was quite surprised to hear this and I thought that it might be worth considering a cost-benefit analysis. While it may be easy to look at the one-off cost of a course and think it might be expensive, one has to consider how much one might save because knowing something helped prevent you from making a silly error, or even allowed you to help guide your vet. As I have mentioned before in previous articles, vets do not all have a good working knowledge of camelidspecific problems and diseases: knowing where to direct them for help with sick alpacas can be extremely helpful. The author teaching course attendees on the care of neonatal alpacas
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 47
ASK THE VET
TYPICAL COURSE COST (eg PROVIDER CAMELID VETERINARY SERVICES): £200 for one day, £330 for two days TYPICAL COST FOR BREEDING SOUND FEMALE ALPACA USED FOR BREEDING: £3000-8000 For example, on a two day Health & Reproduction Course offered by Camelid Veterinary Services, attendees will be instructed in a wide variety of topics with learning objectives that include the following: n In depth knowledge of reproductive anatomy and physiology 9 BENEFIT: a good understanding of how to instigate effective breeding programmes and not continue to endlessly breed females that never get pregnant! Learn when things might not be quite normal. n Understanding of the sort of reproductive problems that might be experienced 9 BENEFIT: less wasted time • One year breeding lost = potential £3-8K value of female cria + lost value of any offspring that she might have had. [Worst case she might have produced a gelding quality male worth £300-500.] I have lost count of the number of owners that come to me with females who have wasted an entire year (or more) of breeding seasons when there was a relatively simple problem that could have been easily solved early on with a little knowledge. n Understanding of parasite issues and biosecurity 9 BENEFIT: aids in herd health planning; directs expenditure to where it’s needed rather than blanket use of drugs. 9 BENEFIT: reduced chance of alpaca losses due to inadequate parasite control strategies • Each alpaca lost = £300 - 8000 depending on value • Cost of vet bills for visiting a single sick alpaca: £100-500 • Cost of post-mortem examination for a single alpaca: £140-166 depending on age (current AHVLA prices) • Cost of poor growth rates: may downgrade value of animal if it impacts on ability to reach full growth potential (chronic ill-thrift animals are difficult to sell at normal prices) 9 BENEFIT: considerable savings in time/effort needed to resolve skin problems
While the cost of an individual animal varies widely, from £300-500 for a gelding male up to £10,000 or more for a top quality breeding female (higher for the best stud males), the total loss of even the cheapest of these animals equates to about the cost of a two day course. In addition to this there are often emotional costs as many breeders and owners, even those with large numbers of alpacas, are quite attached to their animals. Personally, I would consider the money spent on a course that saves the life of even one alpaca well spent… But the choice is yours! If you are interested in attending a course offered by Camelid Veterinary Services, please email me at claire@ukalpacavet.com: I am planning the next Health & Reproduction Course (including Neonatal Clinic) for next Spring. Please also contact me if you are interested in hosting your own course (or a course for your regular vets!) as courses can be tailored to suit individual interests. I am soon going to be populating the Information section of my website to provide an additional resource so do check this periodically.
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• Cost of vet visits: £50-100 per visit • Cost of inappropriate medications used: £50-100 per animal • Impact of further animals affected if inappropriate treatment used increased costs per animal affected and added stress to animals affected • Time costs of inappropriate treatment application to owner • Potential clients like to see alpacas that don’t have skin problems: having healthy parasite-free alpacas improves client confidence in you as a breeder • Happy stress-free owner: priceless! (The number 1 concern of owners is skin problems…) n Knowledge of dental problems and how they are best dealt with 9 BENEFIT: reduced time and effort wasted in wrong approach n Understanding of the problems associated with birthing alpacas and how they should be dealt with 9 BENEFIT: being able to identify when there is a problem and how quickly you need to act • Potential cost of lost dam and cria where wrong decision is made due to lack of knowledge: £300-8000 • Potential savings in calling out vet once confident in basic obstetrical care n Understanding of when neonates are in trouble and need assistance and what sort of assistance is likely to be necessary 9 BENEFIT: savings in terms of reduced cria mortality • £3-8K for a female cria: if a contagious problem, possibly considerably more • Reduced losses as a result of chronic ill-thrift.
A happy course participant learning how to palpate and correct basic abnormal presentations of crias at birthing
www.alpacas-of-switzerland.com www.lama1.ch alpacas_of_switzerland_a5.indd 1
05.02.13 15:40
Offered by Claire E Whitehead BVM&S MS DACVIM MRCVS
The 1st Exclusively Camelid Vet Service in the UK
Reproduction Services
Diagnostic Services
Education
• Breeding Soundness Evaluations • Infertility Workups (male and female) • Embryo Transfer
• Faecal testing using the Modified Stoll’s test, the optimum test for camelids (prices from £16/sample) • Cria IgG testing • Same day bloodwork on clinical consultations
• Courses for owners/breeders, vets and vet students • Neonatal clinics, health and reproduction courses, workshops • Courses designed to suit requirements - just ask!
Consultation • On medical, reproductive and herd health issues affecting alpacas and llamas • 11 years experience at referral level • Herd health planning service • Farm visits possible • Advice packages available
Based in Oxfordshire
For further information, pricing or advice, contact Claire on +44 (0)7769 271506 or email claire@ukalpacavet.com
www.ukalpacavet.com ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 49
PENROSE PRODUCTS
Paul Whitty writes on Penrose Products: the journey so far.
The birth of a bedding company... how did this happen? 50 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
PENROSE PRODUCTS
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orking in the food industry, as a turn around contract manager, day in and day out, having to step into the world of mayhem and disorganization, no matter how much it pays, after a while it does start to drag you down. After five years of this and a further ten years of heading up businesses as a general manager, that had narrowing margins and short term visions, I decided I needed a change. I needed to escape the world of doom, gloom, pressure, cutbacks and constant working away from home. I made the decision that I either had to use all those manufacturing and supply chain skills or it had to be something completely different. Then I read an article about alpaca farming. Like most people there is the romanticism of “The Good Life”. The first thing I did was to spend many hours on the internet and spare time researching what this world of alpacas was about with regard to breeding for fibre and how products could be produced from this amazing resource. Then I embarked on a series of visits to some very welcoming and informative breeders and processors who were always keen to offer advice. What I very quickly worked out was how expensive this project could be and the scale of both investment and time that would be required to get a return on results. Although I wanted a change of pace of life it had to give a return on investment other wise there was just no point. I quickly discounted becoming a breeder because that just did not float my boat. So moving on to the fibre, I was taken through all the processes and again I thought although this had the manufacturing side of my experience I would have a very steep learning curve to go through and knew you had to have a good eye for both fashion and retailing and this was an area where I would not cut the mustard.
COUNTING THE COST I then found myself looking at all the Fibre Profiles and the use; until this moment I had not really paid much attention to bedding, this
was primarily because to make commercially viable products it tended to require heavy plant machinery, so I then went and spoke with people who made the products. I went to those small companies who made them who showed me how the processes worked but again the process just did not flow efficiently enough to be cost effective. What I mean is to make this type of bedding at a cost base to be effective in retail. Whilst I admire small batch manufacturing businesses, and it is something I am now in myself, I knew this could only work if I had a blend of effective batch processing at a smaller level, and balanced it with utilizing some of the large-scale capacity of the big mills. So, the making of a duvet by an individual alpaca fleece had to be discounted. So sitting at home one evening with a glass of wine I said to Denise what are your sewing skills like and thinking I wanted my trousers hemming she replied innocently “quite good why what do you want sewing” to which I replied well I would like to start with making a pillow. I had done some test runs of fibre through scouring and carding as I found some very willing alpaca farmers who knew what I was trying to do and donated some unwanted fibre, seconds, guard hair and mixed colours because I was sure this had to be the direction of travel. These products did not warrant prime white saddle as this conflicted too much with other markets for the fibre and there was not enough of it about. The process worked and I had linked up with Val Grainger of the Woolley Shepherd who had a small carding machine and as long as I could get it scoured, Val would card the fibre for me. I did my first run with 500kg as this was just enough fibre to do all the trialing myself. Denise and I spent most of 2010 in Devon and Cornwall touring breeders, textile mills and processors then we toured I think the remainder of England talking to breeders and listening to the stories of how you start with three alpacas and eighteen months later many had about 12 or 16. But this did not really get me anywhere.
MEETING OF MINDS At this point it was October 2010 and I had just started to work in the heart of Bradford for a manufacturing business. One day we arrived at the subject of what would you do if you could do anything you wanted? It was at this point I told the guys around the table what I was trying to do and to my amazement the Engineering Manager Martin piped up with “I have spent 20 years in the mill industry and it has virtually disappeared so I came into Food”. Finally I could talk through a process with somebody who might actually give me some direction so I asked could you take me through the process of scouring, carding etc and could I see it working? Martin, said “I can do much better than that, meet me in the car park at 4pm.” I followed Martin keeping my eyes peeled for that elusive textile mill. I have to say that what I had just walked into was like a trip back in time, there were all these huge carding machines in the basement of this large building in rooms with loose fitting doors and boarded up windows. We met a guy called Steve who took me though the full history of processing wool and then showed me in detail all the machines
What I had just walked into was like a trip back in time, there were all these huge carding machines in the basement of this large building in rooms with loose fitting doors and boarded up windows ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 51
PENROSE PRODUCTS
working. At the end I said to Steve could you point me in the direction of somebody you think might be able to help and he conveniently pointed me in the direction of a large mill owner. From this point on we started to work on design and how to brand this product. So in 2011 I took some stands at agricultural shows to test the price points and how difficult it was going to be to sell these products. We found was there was great interest in the products but when we talked price the customers just moved on. We had met up with a designer who said could you make anything other than duvets and pillows, so we made her some Japanese Seating mats and some oddly shaped cushions. We thought that was the last we had heard of that, then the call came in would we allow the products to be taken to be shown in a couple of international design shows. We had gone from mills, to agricultural shows and now our products were on show in the 100% Design show in Japan and the North American home design show. Next we were at the East of England Show and the object here was price pointing, no matter if we could make a million pillows we had to be able to sell them. The exercise gave several insights for me. Shows are really painful on the feet and back and group this with lots of outlay and potentially no sales this felt nervy to say the least, so we started a three day show with nothing but pillows.
THE PRICE IS RIGHT People in the industry believed ÂŁ79 was the right price for this product, however for three days we went through a process which clearly demonstrated that the price point these products sell at is actually ÂŁ49. We get asked many times why are you so much cheaper and the reason is that this is the price
52 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
point where these pillows sell. Although the fibre is amazing there is a point where your product has to be priced to sell and not what you think the price should be. The market place will always give you this feedback by just not buying the product, or by giving you the constant headache of rationalizing the price to the customer, which never works in the end. By the end of 2011 we knew where we were going with the products and we now needed a brand so 2012 was all about marketing, test selling and trying to look at how the next three years might pan out. It was very timely that we took the opportunity to sponsor the 2012 World Alpaca Conference for two reasons: firstly, we felt we wanted to demonstrate that we were committed to creating solutions to what could be done with alpaca fibre
of all variations of colour and grade. Secondly, we could create additional revenue streams for alpaca breeders and along with this we thought we could get an opportunity to speak to breeders from all around the world. To date the progress has been fantastic. Our products are now being shown at the Best of Britannia 2013, the Penrose Alpaca Pillow is the current 2013 gift of the year for the Luxury Premium Category and we now have over a dozen Alpaca Breeders actively selling our products in the UK. We have been recognized and supported by Theo Paphitis through his #SBS initiative on Twitter. We are retailing in several small departments stores in Britain and the Channel Islands, in addition our products are available in Europe and are now receiving recognition from sleep experts on the benefits of our alpaca bedding products and how they help in getting people to get great nights sleep. All this in one of the biggest recessions of recent years, I believe that was key to the opportunity plus I have always loved a challenge. There are lots of people who have helped along the way and I would like to thank everybody who has helped with their support from fibre, advice and plain good friendship, for those who just wanted to give feedback whether it be supportive or challenging, it has all been well received and may it continue as without this progress is always slow. Most importantly Denise who has sacrificed everything and without her support we would just not be where we are today, so from all of the team at Penrose Products we would like to wish you and your families all a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2014. www.penroseproducts.com
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The Alpaca Winter Pellets are formulated for balancing winter forage situations and are available from October to April.
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The Alpaca Grazer Pellets are available for the main grazing season.
Packed in 25kg plastic bags, these feeds are available for delivery direct to the farm in minimum 1 tonne lots or for collection from branch by prior arrangement.
For further information or to place an order call the feedline on 01278 444829
UK Alpaca Ltd New Yarns for 2013/2014
Our luxurious baby alpaca and silk yarns come in four gorgeous, dyed colours and a natural parchment. This is the softest of yarns made from British grown baby alpaca fleece and Tussah silk. Our baby alpaca and merino yarns are aran or double knit weight. The bright and beautiful dyed colours, cobalt blue, cherry red, grass green and lunar grey, are complemented by a natural ivory and butterscotch. Our 4-ply yarns are available on cone or in skeins in the natural and some dyed shades. Our original range of double knit superfine alpaca and bluefaced leicester that has thirteen dyed colours and four naturals continues to delight. We offer very competitive wholesale pricing for re-sellers and growers who sell their fleece to UK Alpaca. UK Alpaca yarns are manufactured in Britain and made from the fleeces of alpacas farmed in Britain.
For more information contact Chas Brooke or Rachel Hebditch on 01884 243579 or rachel@alpaca-uk.co.uk UK Alpaca Ltd, Vulscombe Farm, Pennymoor, Tiverton, Devon EX16 8NB
www.ukalpaca.com
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 53
MOOR VIEW ALPACAS
LIVING the
DREAM Emma Collison describes her journey from anti-incinerator protestor in Plymouth to full-time smallholder with Moor View Alpacas in Cornwall.
54 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
MOOR VIEW ALPACAS
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hen Stuart and I signed the papers for the farm most of our friends and family thought we were mad and most of them also thought a farm was the last place they would find me, especially as I had done Theatre and Performance at University not Agricultural studies. However we were living in Plymouth and the council decided to put an incinerator opposite our house. After campaigning against it for two years, we put the house on the market and started working on finding some land. We had done a lot of research on what animals we would like to have on the farm and it was always a given we would have some pigs and some tame lambs to provide ourselves with meat, and that we would grow our own veg. However that hasn’t been so successful as I can only grow stinging nettles, so I'm glad that our parents can help on that front. We had been looking at a great book called field to farm and it is often said to be the bible for small holders and farms who are starting out. After reading this we decided we wanted to go for either ostriches or alpacas, not being able to find any ostrich parks around to visit and after discovering that we needed a dangerous animals licence and very high fences, we thought ostriches probably weren’t for us. In August 2011 we found a lovely couple who were selling their alpaca herd, Adrian and Sajla Armstrong from Thistledown Alpacas. They invited us into their lives and after meeting the
alpacas for the first time I was in love... I am sure all people who have animals remember the first time they saw them and fell in love with them. Stuart was also very keen on them and having spent some time with the animals we were really lucky that Sajla and Adrian agreed to sell us their animals so we put down a deposit pretty much straight away and then spent most of our summer at their house. So we had a herd of sixteen alpacas and nowhere to live with them. After spending a long time searching the Cornish countryside for an affordable piece of land that we could also live on, eventually we found some land, 10.5 acres with a small barn and a lovely Park home on it, which meant we had somewhere to live. We moved into the farm on Bodmin Moor on the 28th October 2011, well actually our four pigs moved in first then we moved in. On the 22nd of
After discovering that we needed a dangerous animals licence and very high fences, we thought ostriches probably weren’t for us.
November the alpacas moved on to the site. This was amongst a lot of drama as Stuart's mum fell over and broke her hip first thing in the morning. However we got all of the animals on site and managed to get Stuart's mum to the hospital. Moor View Alpacas was born. After moving in we applied for temporary planning permission so that we could build our business, this meant we had three years to make a financially stable business which would be able to support one of us working full time. We spent most of the first six months putting up fences and shelters and quickly discovered we needed more space so put in an application for a new barn, that we could fit the alpacas in on those horrible winter days. Our intention when we brought the alpacas was to sell them for thousands of pounds and make some nice money. However we quickly discovered that this probably wasn’t going to happen, the price has dropped in alpacas, although some breeders may disagree, we have found that mostly people want alpacas only as pets and for not a huge amount of money. In October of 2012 I went full time on the farm and started to work hard on new products and new animals. We invested in our own flock of sheep so that we could produce our own lamb rather than buying in tame lambs. If we were able to breed our own sheep and pigs we could lower our costs whilst still being able to sell our meat. However we knew that a lot of farmers' markets already had people who could sell lamb and pork ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 55
MOOR VIEW ALPACAS
Alpaca meat is very lean and low in cholesterol, and has a similar taste to venison.
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so we thought alpaca meat would give us a unique opportunity to break into the markets. We needed to diversify. We had the pigs for pork and we had our tame lambs which we sold very quickly so we started to investigate alpaca meat. We found an abattoir nearby that already had a licence for alpaca so we decided to get one done and turn it in to sausages. The meat is very lean and low in cholesterol and has a similar taste to venison. The sausages flew off the farm and we very quickly found ourselves putting another animal into the abattoir. We found a couple of markets and started doing those on a regular basis and then we did our summer events and agricultural shows as well. We found ourselves doing an animal a month and realised we would need to find a supply of animals to help us out whilst we built up our own herd. We added a kitchen into the design of our barn as well as a workshop/ shop area where we
could display the knitwear, bringing the whole enterprise together. Things really came through for us when we ended up with our sausages on the BBC Country File show, we were very lucky to win 3rd prize in their food competition. Since then we have been very busy selling our products and sales have been great, we have been approached to do some more TV appearances and are hoping to expand our range of food products as well as our knitwear. The most important thing is our animals are well looked after and have plenty of space. We enjoy spending time with our animals and watching them run around the field. We have been given a great opportunity here and we hope we can continue to expand our business and our lifestyle to achieve what we have always wanted, self sufficiency and a happy life. www.moorviewalpacas.com
Major Sponsor for Alpaca Events since 1998 16 years experience arranging specialised insurance for alpacas and llamas
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 57
LETTER FROM FRANCE
LETTER from
FRANCE Pluie, Eau de Vie, Romanie... and a curious cria. Andrew Spillane can hardly believe what he's seeing.
Don’t you make my brown eyes BLUE W
hen we purchased our first house in France, 25 years ago now, we discovered that the French were highly amused by what they described as the “English obsession with weather”. Since the turn of the century the weather patterns in France have changed completely, each year bringing new and strange weather phenomena. In consequence the French are if anything more obsessed by the weather than we are, these days it is a source of endless conversation and speculation whenever they meet, be it post office, shop or restaurant. The year so far has not helped restore their sang froid, we had no spring. The rain and cool humidity continued from January until the end of June, houses still needing log fires to reduce the chill
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damp feel until late June. Then, as though a switch had been thrown, high heat and drought for the whole of July and August. The only exception being a truly violent storm in mid July, I have never seen the like outside the tropics, both our house and a large pear tree were struck by lightning but luckily without serious damage. Haymaking was touch and go but we managed to get enough to top up our barns. The pear tree is something of a phenomenon itself. From a distance one can easily mistake it for a mature oak, it is huge. It produces a staggering quantity of pears each year, so much so that the sheer weight of the crop caused a huge bough to break off last year. This year we have collected 800 litres of pears from this tree. These are now
stored in barrels and will be left to ferment and rot down until February. The barrels are then taken to a local travelling alambic. These “Heath Robinson” like machines are sadly becoming increasingly rare. The licence passes through inheritance but some years ago the law changed stopping this practice, so as the ageing owners die so to do the alambics. The alambic is parked in a field and people bring their various fruits to have them distilled into “eau de vie”. A customs officer sits close by to collect the tax on the produce, the resulting liquor being split 50/50 between the alambic owner and the farmer. The resulting delicious liquor often needs to be treated with care and diluted as it can sometimes be as high as 60% proof !
LETTER FROM FRANCE
BLUE, BLUE, ELECTRIC BLUE In the middle of our birthing season one of our cria was born two weeks premature. We spotted her within minutes of her birth and brought her and mum up to a paddock by the house. Nicky treated the umbilical and cleared the orifices and we then left her to bond with mum. Later I carried her into the barn followed by mum and left them there for the night because of the very hot weather. Early the following morning I went round to the barn, to check all was well, and let them out into the paddock. At this point I suffered a huge shock. The cria’s eyes were blue, not pale blue but a brilliant fluorescent blue unlike anything I had ever seen on an animal before. I could not understand how I could have missed this the day before, neither could Nicky. Fortunately she was not deaf and appeared to be able to see a little. I called our vets and Dr de Weer came straight over. Koen is in fact the leading vet for horses in south west France and this experience proved telling. He reassured me that I had not missed the blue eyes, they had changed colour overnight. This was not something I would have believed possible, yes, I have seen an injured eye cloud over and become bluish but nothing like this. Koen explained that the cria, in all other respects appearing normal, had suffered a breakdown in its auto immune system and the very high temperatures had exaggerated this. For some reason the red blood cells in the eye were attacking the white and on looking closely it was possible to see a red ring around the outside of the blue eye, if left untreated blindness would result. Koen injected both eyes and twenty four hours later they were back to brown again. Koen explained that this problem not infrequently occurred in premature foals and he had recognised it instantly but that once treated there would be no recurrent problems and this has proved to be the case.
WAGON REAL A friend recently introduced me to his son who had temporarily moved into the northern edge of the forest here, about 12 kilometres north of us. Sandy and his girlfriend Maaike had moved into their cottage in late June 2012 having left Amsterdam in October 2011. The missing 11 months are accounted for by the fact that they had
Often they would get up in the morning to find someone had left them some bread and eggs during the night travelled in a homemade miniature gypsy wagon. Inspiration had came through the internet, whilst watching some clips on mules in the USA, Sandy conceived the idea of a mule drawn caravan as a basis for exploring France. Sandy’s sole equestrian experience concerned horseshoes, undeterred they did some research and decided that the project was feasible. They searched the local scrap yards and found two sets of axles and wheels together with a fifth wheel. With the exception of the canvas roof they built the entire wagon from scrap. The whole cabin is less than two metres long and one and a half wide. Sandy built a tiny stove for cooking and baking unleavened bread on the journey. Next came the motor, they found Stanzi, a Poitevin donkey / Belgian heavy horse cross, in Belgium and set about learning how to handle her and teach her to pull their little caravan. Sandy explained that he soon discovered that when working with mules everything had to done by mutual consent, if Stanzi said” no” you were not going to budge her. Eventually an understanding and mutual respect was achieved. As a couple they are hugely optimistic about life and the inherent kindness and goodwill of people so, with only 7€ and a kilo of pasta, they decided to set off in October 2011 rather than wait. Sandy summed up their attitude as “if it is meant to be you will get there to find the door open and the kettle on the hob”.
KINDNESS OF STRANGERS Holland is crisscrossed by a network of cycle only by ways, these are protected from cars by lockable gates. Before setting out a friendly local official gave them a key and they used these tranquil lanes to reach Belgium. Their faith in people’s kindness proved correct. Along the way people would come out of their houses and cottages to talk to them and ask about their route, destination and general plans. Many times these same people would go back to their houses and then later overtake them in their car and give them presents of wine or food, often they would get up in the morning to find someone had left them some bread and eggs during the night. In Belgium they stayed for the winter at a farm, living in their caravan inside an old barn , Maaike lambed 250 ewes whilst Sandy looked after the farm's herd of breeding horses to earn their keep. Spring found them on the road again averaging about 20 kilometres a day Sandy walking beside Stanzi while Maaike sat on a small demountable chair in the front of the wagon. No cycle tracks now so they stuck to B roads taking 5 days to pass around Rouen for example. Truck and car drivers treated them with the utmost courtesy and patience, neither could think of a single instance of intolerance. Again people en route proved highly curious often walking along side chatting for several kilometres at a time, often returning later with gifts of wine, a jambon or homemade paté and bread. They finally arrived to visit Sandy’s father in late June after nearly 2000 kilometres. I asked what next? They tell me they are off again, this time to Roussillon and the Pyrenees where they hope to eventually settle. Sandy will go back to being a smith and hopefully train Stanzi to pull a plough whilst Maaike, more twenty first century, will continue her work as a designer and illustrator through the internet. I hope when they get there the door will be open and the kettle on the hob! ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 59
CASA CHAPI
LIFE AT
CASA
CHAPI 60 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
Point and click, kids are pumping their legs in swings to see who can rise the highest, the soccer ball emerges from a cloud of dust and 10 sets of arms reach for the skies as the ball rockets through the goal. Click and the lens captures the strain of concentration as a little girl solves a math problem. These photos could find their way into almost any family album almost anywhere. Mike Safley reports.
CASA CHAPI
T
he kids of Casa Chapi would not have been in these pictures a year ago. Back then their smiles were likely harder to find. The hugs were non existent. Children often arrive at Casa Chapi from shattered homes, the fear plainly on their faces as they seek to avoid contact. It takes a month, maybe two before the smiles blossom and the exuberance born of innocence and trust begins to emerge. There are two values at the heart of Casa Chapi’s philosophy: love and discipline. The children are taught the value of honesty and sympathy with their broader community and friendship and respect for each other. These messages are communicated in group sessions and during individual counselling. A different value is studied each week. The parents visit Casa Chapi once a month where the message is expanded in the adult classes. Karen and Wendy are the co managers of the children’s village. One of them is present on site at all times. Together they set the schedules, programme activities, lead group sessions and supervise the staff. Both are in their early 20’s.
Karen is a social worker, who studied for five years at the University of San Augustine and then spent a year working with juvenile delinquents. She is from Achoma which is just down the road from Casa Chapi. She currently lives in Arequipa with her family during her three days off each week. Her room over the Snowmass clinic is neat and clean and her office desk is organized with folders for the bills she is paying and the kids she will see that day. As she sits in the community dining hall kids are constantly landing in her lap or hugging her arm.
Wendy is a psychologist who also studied for five years at San Augustine. In addition to her other duties she works with the kids who are having problems. She works hard with the Madrinas or house mothers to teach values using group sessions and videos. Wendy is proud of the work she does with the extended families of the children. The Casa Chapi team works diligently to keep them involved. Mothers help with the hand washed laundry on Saturdays and family violence clinics are held monthly. About 95% of the kids have a relative that participates in life at Casa Chapi.
Elvis is not his real name but he is a star. His family raises alpacas in a remote area far from Casa Chapi. Elvis is tiny for his six years. He has eight brothers and sisters and they have never seen the inside of a school room. The family spoke Quechua as their primary language but Elvis spoke Spanish well enough to go to school when he arrived at the children’s village 11 months ago. He loves to attend the remedial homework sessions after school each day, he is reading Spanish at his grade level and his marks from the teachers are steadily rising. Elvis’s mile wide smile flashes at the mere mention of school.
Children often arrive at Casa Chapi from shattered homes, the fear plainly on their faces as they seek to avoid contact.
CASA CHAPI
The four cottages, each with their own Madrina operate as an individual family unit. They are organized by age group from four to six, seven to eight and nine through twelve. The daily schedule with, meal times, chores, study hall and free time is detailed for each hour and day of the week. Kids who act up are given three opportunities to correct their behaviour before the dreaded time out is prescribed. Persistent violators might miss the opportunity to watch children’s programmes on the flat screen TV in the dinning hall that evening; something that rarely happens. It is easy to wish an idyllic life for the kids at Casa Chapi. Everyone wants to see success and the perfect ending. But as in each of our lives that is not always a realistic expectation. Love is the best remedy for the long odds which are laid against these kids. Selena is not her real name and her agony is hard to see behind the vivacious smile and classic beauty that forms her five year old face. When she first came to Casa Chapi she would sneak out of bed at night and run down the road to town. She left school and wandered the streets. She learned this behaviour at home where she desperately wanted to escape the family violence and abuse. Her single mother had a series of men in the house. Not all were a good influence. The gynaecologist who regularly checks the girls at Casa Chapi told the staff to watch her closely. That was 11 months ago. Selena hasn’t run away for some time and her school work has been outstanding. She loves to tend the chickens and cuy in the animal house and is a whirling dervish of pigtails and smiles on the soccer field. Hopefully she will remain at the children’s village and continue her healing. An art paper sign is draped across the living room of the Miller cottage, the multicoloured letters spell out: Ama Llulla - Ama Sua - Ama Quella Translated from Quechua they mean; don’t lie, don’t steal and don’t be lazy. The Madrinas are given the latitude to manage their own family in their particular parenting style. Maria Louisa at the Brewster cottage is an ex-nun who trained as a school teacher. She 62 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
conducts Bible studies and is working on a Sunday school class that will teach parables from the Bible. Seraphina at the Miller cottage is a trained nurse technician, 38 years old and lives in Chivay. Rosa at the Suri Company cottage is the mother of three kids and also lives in Chivay. Margot at the Finbow cottage is 41 years old, holds morning and evening prayers and is choirmaster for the Casa Chapi Choir. Isabelle and Gustina are “aunts’ and relieve the Madrinas who live 24 hours a day for ten days at a time in their respective cottages. There is a weekly competition amongst the four cottages to see who gets the gold star for cleanliness. Each cottage has a rotating responsibility for kitchen duty, work in the greenhouses or the animal house and general grounds pick up. The kids clean the dining hall after each meal. Paulo is not his real name, his mother is dead and his father is a schizophrenic. He is a little quiet and recedes to the back of the choir but when he begins his solo the whole room falls silent. His voice is a pure and clear joy that tends to the higher notes that reflect his age of 12 years. Paulo loves maths and spends an hour after the tutor leaves pouring over his study guide. He excels at school and seems to be coming out of his shell. The evening meal is heaping plates of alpaca, rice, beans, onions and tomatoes from the green house. Before the meal begins I ask the kids to raise their hands if their families own alpacas and hands shot up from every table. Everyone giggled when I said I was an alpaca cowboy. A young girl led the room in prayer and the food soon disappeared.
Before the meal begins I ask the kids to raise their hands if their families own alpacas and hands shot up from every table. Everyone giggled when I said I was an alpaca cowboy. A lot of dedicated people labour to create the safe haven at Casa Chapi, a handy man, two cooks, a night watchman, Alejandro who is the executive administrator, two school teachers who help with home work and the doctors who monitor the kids. Not to mention the single parents who stay involved even though they cannot provide for their children. Sandra and Carla supervise the Arequipa office and a Quechua Benefit board committee made up of Ursula Munro, Rhonda Deschner and Chuck Gulotta helps set policy. But most of all it is the love that holds Casa Chapi together, helps us find the ever scarce dollars to stay open and leads us to so many generous hearts that care about our precious kids that live so far away.
CAMROSA OINTMENT “We have been using Camrosa Ointment on our alpacas for over 4 years with great success and highly recommend it.” G. & B. Reed, Lightfoot Alpacas, Kent.
THE SOOTHING MULTI-PURPOSE OINTMENT FOR ANIMALS Resolves sore, raw, itchy, dry skin & cracks, sores, calluses, scabs & superficial injuries Promotes natural healing & hair growth Barrier to midges, mites, mud
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www.camrosa.co.uk
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 63
It’s a mobile home? You’re Kidding!
REAL SOLID LOG HOMES
Rarest of breeds • Ultimate natural fibre Beautiful, friendly, laid-back Suris. Get top genetics from the USA into your herd. At Stud in 2012: GLR The Synergist and Pucara Sur-Real Rapper son Springfarm Krug. Mobile Stud Services available. Full After Sales Support and Husbandry Training. See our sales list on-line and visit our on-line store for original handwoven and knitted accessories. Fleece and Yarn also available.
01425 656748 or 07971 342975 nikki@farawayalpacas.co.uk www.farawayalpacas.co.uk
drum carders for The Perfect Carder ,ibre For Alpaca and All Fine Fibres preparation
www.classiccarder.co.uk Tel: 01746 714130 Email: info@classiccarder.co.uk 64 | Autumn 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE
It’s true. Norwegian Log transportable homes are treated as mobile homes for Planning purposes. If you thought you’d have to settle for a caravan on your smallholding, it’s time you looked at our transportable homes. These are real homes. Real assets, not something that has to be replaced every few years. They meet all the requirements of the new National Planning Policy Framework, paragraph 55, for rural development and your Certificate of Lawful Development or other permission specifying a mobile home or timber structure. And our range includes homes up to 20 x 6.8m fully compliant with the Caravan Act. Contact us today about a real home for your smallholding.
Telephone: 0118 966 9236 www.norwegianlog.co.uk
BREEDERS DIRECTORY
Alpaca World Magazine’s
BREEDERS DIRECTORY FRANCE
DEVON
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
HAMPSHIRE
Alpacas de la Grange Mynas Gillian Howard-Evieux, La Grange Mynas, La Glacière, Saint Chamond, France, 42400. Tel: +33 (0) 4 77 22 85 69. Email: howard-evieux@orange.fr. Web: www.alpaga-alpaca.com. In the heart of France (30 mins Lyon). Prize-winning alpacas for sale. On-farm and fly-by matings possible with top-class AlpacaStud males – all colours. Initiation and full after-sales support. English/French spoken. B&Bs, holiday flats available for your visit.
Classical MileEnd Alpacas Rachel Hebditch & Chas Brooke, Vulscombe Farm, Pennymoor, Tiverton, Devon, EX16 8NB. Tel: 01884 243579. Mob: 07970 415638. Email: rachel@alpaca-uk.co.uk Website: www.alpaca-uk.co.uk Professional stud farm with 15 years alpaca experience. Show winning herd sires with pedigrees containing Australian, British and American genetics available for stud work. Wide selection of quality alpacas for sale as pets or as breeding stock. We pride ourselves on excellent customer support and training. Visitors welcome by appointment.
Kensmyth Alpacas Helen Kendall Smith, Kensmyth Stud, Clay Meadow, Cirencester Road, Cirencester, Glocs. GL7 6HU. Tel: 01285 862020 / 07799 700587. Email: helen@kensmyth.com Web: www.kensmyth.com Family farm, central Cotswolds. A warm welcome, friendly advice. Free husbandry courses to clients new and existing. Elite bloodlines, fantastic fleeces, range of colours. Alpaca purchased here can be agisted.
Watership Alpacas Keith Taylor, Cole Henley Farm, Cole Henley, Whitchurch, Hants, RG28 7QD Tel: 01256 892154 or 07889 864269 Email: info@watershipalpacas.co.uk Web: www.watershipalpacas.co.uk Watership Alpacas invites you to visit and discover alpacas. We have all colours of BAS registered huacaya breeding females, young and pet alpacas for sale, and stud services. Ladies pure alpaca winter coats and jackets made to order locally.
Pure Alpacas Jay Holland, Torsend House, Main Road, Tirley, Glocs. GL19 4EU. Tel: 01452 780327 / 07789 257222. Email: jay@purealpacas.co.uk Web: www.purealpacas.co.uk A family-run herd of both huacaya and suri with a range for sale from pets and poultry guards to elite breeding stock, all backed by professional, unrivalled support and advice. Our herd sires, from renowned bloodlines, are all proven and available for outside services. We run a variety of courses which cater for all levels of experience.
HERTFORDSHIRE
UNITED KINGDOM CORNWALL Home Manor Farm Alpacas Anne & Mike Higgins, Home Manor Farm, Trevellas, St Agnes, Cornwall, TR5 0XU. Tel/Fax: 01872 571310. Email: homemanoralpacas@hotmail.co.uk Web: www.homemanoralpacas.co.uk Select Peruvian and Chilean breeding herd. Stud services available. Stock for sale with after sales support and advice. Enquiries and visitors always welcome. Come and see our wonderful animals. DERBYSHIRE Whistling Duck Alpacas Leigh Woods, Whistling Trees, Shardlow Road, Aston-on-Trent, DE72 2AN. Tel: 07812 103518. Email: leigh@whistlingduckalpacas.co.uk Web: www.whistlingduckalpacas.co.uk Sensational award winning Suri Alpacas. We offer everything an owner needs to keep and care for alpacas with our practical life-time support. If you are seeking adorable pets, livestock guardians or starter herds for breeding please contact us.
Hayne Alpacas Paul and Teresa Cullen, Hayne Barton, Burrington, Umberleigh, Devon, EX37 9JW. Tel: 01769 520384. Email: teresa.cullen@btinternet.com Web: www.hayne-alpacas.co.uk Established breeder offering a wide selection of excellent Huacaya and Suri alpacas for sale. On-farm or mobile mating service with a comprehensive range of support services including husbandry assistance and advice. DORSET Alpha Alpacas Di Davies, Woodstock, Mapperton Lane, Melplash, Bridport, Dorset, DT6 3UF. Tel: 01308 488661 or 07739 382483. Email: didavies@alpaca.fsnet.co.uk Web: www.alphaalpacas.com A small elite herd with an excellent selection of proven Australian and Peruvian genetics and a great Show record. Sales, stud services and friendly after sales service provided. Visitors welcome. Marshwood Vale Alpacas Geoff & Brenda Bugler, Payne’s Down Cottage, Marshwood, Bridport, Dorset, DT6 5QG. Tel: 01297 678181. Email: b.bugler611@btinternet.com Web: www.marshwood-alpacas.co.uk ALPACA HERD FOR SALE, individually, in groups or as a whole. Due to increased demand for our Alpaca Easy-pens and Handling Equipment, we need to sell or reduce the herd.
Snowshill Alpacas Roger Mount, Snowshill Hill Barn, Temple Guiting, Cheltenham, GL54 5XX. Tel: 01386 853841 / 07711 044106. Fax: 01386 854791. Email: roger.mount@btinternet.com Web: www.snowshillalpacas.com Breeders of prize winning Huacaya and Suri alpacas in Gloucestershire. We usually have alpacas for sale, from pet to show quality. Stud services available from a wide selection of proven sires. After sales support and advice. We also have fabrics for sale, all made from our own alpacas and spun, woven and finished in the UK.
Herts Alpacas Nigel and Katie Beckwith, Fairview Farm, Wyddial Road, Buntingford, Hertfordshire, SG9 9BS. Tel: 01763 271301. Email: beckwith904@aol.com Web: www.hertsalpacas.co.uk 2009 award winning British Alpaca Futurity breeder. Over 80 quality alpacas for sale in all colours from world famous bloodlines. All our pregnant females are mated to the finest recognised and proven championship winning males. Stud services available, friendly halter trained pets and unbeatable after sales care. NORFOLK AzSu Alpacas Nikki Lenk, The Low Farm, Letton, Thetford, Norfolk, IP25 7TB. Tel: 01362 820097. Mob: 07798 522178 Fax: 01362 821333 Email: nikki.lenk@azsualpacas.com Web: www.azsualpacas.com Norfolk’s largest breeder offers potential and existing owners a friendly and complete service. High quality studs; breeding females and wethers for sale; practical training; caring agistment; fleece conversion; sound advice on all aspects of these magical animals.
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 65
BREEDERS DIRECTORY
Book your space in the Alpaca World Breeders Directory now by telephoning Heidi Hardy on 01598 752799. An entry is priced at just ÂŁ35 to cover FOUR issues
Burnt Fen Alpacas Ann Nickerson, Garden Cottage, Burnt Fen, Horning, Norfolk, NR12 8LA. Tel: 01692 630553. Email: annnickerson@burntfen.plus.com Web: www.burntfen.co.uk We have been breeding alpacas for 12 years and have a fantastic friendly herd bred from excellent pedigree stock. Quality breeding females and gorgeous wethers are available, with genuine after sales support. NORTH YORKSHIRE Fowberry Alpacas Graham and Jenny MacHarg, Crambe Grange, Barton Le Willows, York YO60 7PQ. Tel 01653 619520. Email: info@fowberry-alpacas.com Web: www.fowberry-alpacas.com Supreme Championship winning herd, including the overall Championship winning Huacaya Sire of the biggest show in Europe (2012). We offer super-fine genetics; correct conformation and happy healthy alpacas; knowledgeable advice and after-sales assistance; regular introductory and advanced courses; on-line shop and as importantly, our support to achieve your alpaca goals.
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SOMERSET
SUSSEX WEST
WILTSHIRE
Tai Wind Alpaca Stud Lynn Pepper, Staffords-Mead Stables, Lower Rudge, Frome, Somerset, BA11 2QE. Tel: 07790 674334. Email: info@taiwindalpacas.co.uk Web: www.taiwindalpacas.co.uk Show quality black alpacas. Fast forward your genetics with our stud males. We have a selection of pregnant females and young stock for sale from our show herd. Import, export.
The Alpaca Stud Nick Harrington Smith and John Potts, Bowford Farm, Goose Green, Thakeham, West Sussex, RH20 2LP. Tel. 01903 891425, 07770 586014 or 07979 651742. Fax: 01903 891425. Email:info@alpacastuduk.com Web: www.alpacastuduk.com 600 huacayas and suris in all colours. 25 top stud males. Starter Packages. Shares in stud males. Free support. Courses. New Snowmass males.
Ashton Lane Alpacas Peter & Carol Watt, 2 Mudmead Lane, Steeple Ashton, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 6FY Tel: 01380 870603. Email: p.watt@homecall.co.uk Web: www.ashtonlanealpacas.co.uk Ashton Lane Alpacas specialise in coloured Suris and Huacayas. We offer Suri stud services, breeding females (both Suri & Huacaya) and some pet boys. All with free practical help and advice. Starter packages always available.
WARWICKSHIRE
YORKSHIRE
Toft Alpacas Rob & Shirley Bettinson, Toft Manor, Toft Lane, Dunchurch, Warwickshire, CV22 6NR. Tel: 01788 810626. Email: shirley@toft-alpacas.co.uk Web: www.toft-alpacas.co.uk Alpaca Stud Farm, est 1997. Pedigree stock for sale in all colours. Superior stud services. Stud males for sale or lease. Pets for sale. Introductory and advanced husbandry workshops. Fleece and fibre workshops. 24/7 advice and support. Holiday cottage on farm. Luxury alpaca products online and on-farm shop.
Beacon Alpacas Jacki Barlow, Suncliffe Beacon Farm, Husthwaite, Yorks YO61 4PD. Tel: 01347 868879 or 07716 917315. Email: beacon.alpacas@yahoo.co.uk Web: www.beaconalpacas.com Beacon Alpacas has now bought the Livanti Alpaca herd including their prizewinning sires and breeding females. Now available in North Yorkshire excellent Huacaya alpacas for sale and stud services.
West Dorset Alpacas Mrs Carol Eyre, Sadborow House, Thorncombe, Chard, Somerset TA20 4PW. Tel: 01297 678407. Fax: 01297 678429 Email: caewda@yahoo.co.uk From our prize winning herd of long standing we have alpacas to suit your every requirement, be it show stock, predator protection or pets. All colours, ages and prices available. STAFFORDSHIRE Trent Bridge Alpacas Debbie and Steve Clayton, Trent Bridge Farm, Bond End, Yoxall, DE13 8NJ. Tel. 01543 474920 or 07967 667551. Fax: 01543 473625. Email:debbie@ctstonersupplies.co.uk Web: www.trentbridgealpacas.co.uk We run a herd of 60 alpacas all solid colours. We have had lots of show success. Herd packages, pregnant females, potential studs, pet males, raw fleece all for sale.
WI
N
NER
ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Autumn 2013 | 67
H OUGHTON HALL alpacas
Here at Houghton Hall Alpacas in Cambridgeshire, a friendly welcome awaits newcomers and established breeders who wish to visit our Farm to view and have a friendly chat about Alpacas. Established in 2002, Houghton Hall Alpacas is a premium independent farm set in beautiful orchards with over 700 Alpacas roaming through our many paddocks. We take great pride in our herd and are always striving to produce excellent quality cria. We have gained recognition through selective breeding with our prize winning stock. We travel far and wide visiting the best breeders in Australia, New Zealand and of course the UK to ensure we source the best alpacas.
Just look at our Stud Males One single purchase from Houghton Hall Alpacas gives you access to all of our Stud Males. Visit our website for more information.
Navigator
Neptune
Centurion
Storm
Balboa
We welcome anyone interested in starting up a small herd or looking to bring quality genetics into their existing herd to contact us. We offer for sale: 4 Pet Males 4 Superior Huacaya and Suri alpacas available in a variety of colours, sex and ages 4 Top quality pregnant females some with adorable cria at foot 4 First class young males – stud quality 4 Recipient girls, carrying elite embryos at very competitive prices. We are confident you will be delighted with the results, maybe a future champion in the making.
We offer full support with every aspect of alpaca ownership. Whatever your budget we feel sure to have an AlpackageŠ to suit you. If you are new to the alpaca business or looking to enhance your herd with outstanding genetics, contact Mick or Liz today! Mick and Liz look forward to welcoming you to their farm. Please phone in advance to arrange a visit. Office: 01480 461510 Home: 01480 492959 Liz: 07791 887986 Mick: 07860 430280 Houghton Hall Alpacas, Houghton Hall, St Ives Road, Houghton, Cambridgeshire PE28 2BL Email: info@houghton-alpacas.co.uk www.houghtonhallalpacas.co.uk
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Take a look at the other sides of Mick George:
www.mickgeorge.co.uk & www.houghtonhallec.co.uk