Summer 2013

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE SUMMER 2013 £7.00 WHERE SOLD

ALPACA NUTRITION SUPPLEMENTING CRIAS

NET GAINS

GETTING MORE FROM YOUR ALPACA WEBSITE

ALPACA FLEECE CLASSING

NEW CODE OF PRACTICE REVIEWED

SICKNESS IN NEONATAL CRIAS A VETERINARY INVESTIGATION

2 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

Classical Publishing Ltd Š 2013 Issue 46 Summer 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 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.

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.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THE LONGEST DAY HAS BEEN AND GONE AND I AM STILL WEARING TWO JUMPERS, HEY HO THAT'S BRITAIN FOR YOU. THIS ISSUE HAS SOME WORDS OF WISDOM FROM CAMERON HOLT ON FLEECE CLASSING THAT YOU MAY FIND USEFUL IF YOU ARE PREPARING YOUR FLEECE FOR SALE OR FOR PROCESSING. Many of you use the Natural Fibre Company in Launceston who are featured in the magazine as are Ruth & Belinda who started their business three years ago and now are amongst the great and good in the woolly world and are converting to British alpaca yarns.

And how far up the Google ladder is your website? You will find tips on how to raise your profile from the USA and a reminder about how AlpacaSeller began and its reach throughout Europe today.

Inside Alpaca World Magazine Summer 2013 NEWS

16

Front cover: Patou Alpacas

Alpaca Classic

6

Show news

8

Alpaca 2013 World Conference & Expo

8 Woolfest

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.

4

10 2013 collections suspended 10 This is Coco

SPECIAL FEATURES 28 9 ways to get more from your alpaca website 32 Alpaca Seller 52 Alpaca fleece classing 42 Ruth & Belinda

FEATURES 24 Nero Black Alpaca 48 Natural Fibre Company

48

56 Letter from Belgium

HEALTH & WELFARE 12 Jaw abscesses 16 Alpaca nutrition: supplementing crias 34 Ask the vet

42

6

REGULAR FEATURES 65 Breeders directory

www.alpacaworldmagazine.com ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 3

NEWS NEWS

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

A CLASSIC WEEKEND WITH A TWIST Alpaca Classic, 7th and 8th September 2013 THE ALPACA STUD AND BOZEDOWN ALPACAS are to host the Alpaca Classic on the 7th and 8th September, 2013.

Attendees at the first Classic Event in 2012 saw it as a real boost to the industry and demonstrated that the British Alpaca industry is alive and well, and still willing to commit time and finances to understand and buy the best of British genetics. The healthy and unquenchable thirst for knowledge was amply demonstrated when nearly two days of seminars were fully attended.

The guest speakers will make their expertise available, this year in the form of both lectures and practical workshops spread across the weekend; and once again that are relevant to the promotion of the industry.

The speakers this year are: • Brett Kaysen – USA – Back by popular demand.

• Cheryl Gehly – USA – Fleece Guru and instructor extraordinaire.

• Claire Whitehead – UK – Camelid Specialist Veterinarian Cheryl Gehly is an AOBA certified

4 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

Fleece Judge and Judge Trainer and will give a seminar on 'Crimp and Lock Style in Perspective' that promises to elucidate on some of those areas often talked about, but whose relative importance is not always fully understood. Her second talk will be on 'The Meaning of Micron' and the third 'Evaluating Fleece - A Full Perspective' Brett Kaysen teaches Oral Reasons and Conformation on the AOBA Judge Training programme and will lecture on 'Alpacas Worldwide - A Global Perspective' and 'Auctions - Getting the Most out of them as a Buyer'.

Claire Whitehead's seminars will be 'The Practicalities and Implications of ET and AI in Alpacas'

and 'The Top Four Causes of Cria Mortality'.

As in the first Classic, this will be a fun event, with a free “all day” bar, along with plenty of food for lunch and supper. Bozedown Alpacas and The Alpaca Stud will again be offering the very best alpacas from their own breeding

Even if you are not buying you can enjoy a unique learning experience

programmes in a select auction.

Last year saw the introduction of a new style in the auctioneering of alpacas. The same team will be presenting this year so even if you are not buying you can enjoy a unique learning experience. A judge and auctioneer in his own right, Brett thoroughly inspects each lot himself in advance, and displays his enthusiasm for them, knowing exactly what is on offer. Put this with David Tomlinson’s dry laconic manner, makes them make quite a team.

Once again there will be some lots with interesting twists, including Breeders choice, an opportunity for the successful bidder to visit the farms and choose from an entire production. Both Bozedown and The Alpaca Stud will be offering the chance to bid for and buy at auction your 1st choice of all their females born in 2012 and still owned by them, which includes all those females on their show teams this year If you haven’t received your brochure by 13th August please email info@alpacaevent.co.uk for an invitation and brochure.

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 5

NEWS

SHOWS...PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE THE SOUTH WEST ALPACA GROUP show has moved this year from the spring to late autumn and will take place on the weekend of November 16 and 17 at the Hand

Equestrian Centre at Clevedon, near Bristol. The show will be a colour championship and the judges are Liz Barlow and Val Fullerlove.

Other shows still to come

include Honiton, North Devon and Ellingham and Ringwood in August, Westmorland and Romsey in September and Yorkshire in October.

Royal Bath & West Show

Waiting to go into the ring...

ONE OF THE newly qualified British Alpaca Society judges Dominic Lane judged the huacaya and suri at the Royal Bath & West Show where

the Supreme Champion Huacaya was Eringa Park Lawbreaker and the Supreme Champion Suri Houighton Maliha.

Supreme Champion Huacaya Eringa Park Lawbreaker

Still waiting...

6 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

Supreme Champion Suri Houghton Maliha

NEWS

SOMETHING IN THE AIR Devon County Show DEVON COUNTY SHOW was well supported as usual and miraculously the big electrical thunderstorm that took out loads of power lines in the South West skirted round the show ground.

The judge was Jay Holland and the

Spot the champion - CME Priam ll Huacaya Show Champion - well hidden by the cup

Suri Show Champion Popham Suri Symphony

Huacaya Show Champion was Classical MileEnd Priam ll and the Suri Show Champion Popham Suri Symphony. The fleece Show Champions were Classical MileEnd Nimrod (huacaya) and Rosewyn Mocha (suri).

All the judging had to stop at Devon County when the pipe bands marched past

Judge Jay Holland interrogating the young handlers Young handler negotiating the course

Handing out the rosettes

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 7

NEWS

IT'S ALL GO AT THE EXPO 20th-24th September 2013, Hamilton, New Zealand

ALPACA 2013, the World Alpaca Conference and Expo, takes place in Hamilton, New Zealand in September. The five day event will feature an International Fleece Show, the New Zealand National Show and the World Alpaca Conference.

The AANZ National Show, where 500 alpacas are expected to be judged in the halter classes, runs from Friday September 20 to Sunday September 22 and culminates in an Alpaca Auction that evening followed by a Gala dinner.

There are plenty of other opportunities for eating at Alpaca 2013 with a BBQ on the Friday, a Show dinner on the Saturday and a Conference dinner on the Monday evening.

The World Alpaca Conference runs on the Monday and Tuesday with a long list of speakers to hear and workshops to attend.

Throughout both events there will be trade stands, displays and the International Fleece Show all housed in the same venue - the Claudelands Event Centre.

Claudelands is a five minute drive from the agricultural city of Hamilton. There are quite a few tourist attractions nearby including the Waitomo Caves, the Rotorua thermal springs and Hobbiton, made famous by the film of The Lord of the Rings.

The speakers at the World Alpaca Conference are grouped under various headings. On Alpaca Breeding and Genetics, Dr John Hickford will be speaking about selecting for positive traits in

WOOLFEST UK ALPACA WAS once again at Woolfest 2013, one of the biggest natural fibre shows in Britain which takes place in the Livestock Centre in Cockermouth, Cumbria.

The show attracts thousands of

8 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

fibre enthusiasts from all over Britain and Europe who come to buy yarns and see the animals.

UK Alpaca buys fleece from British breeders and manufactures wholesale and

retail alpaca yarns.

A number of other alpaca stands were at Woolfest including Purl Alpaca Designs, Toft Alpaca Shop and Whynot Alpacas.

breeding programmes, Dr Juan Carlos Marin is coming over from Chile, whilst genetics researchers Dr Belinda Appleton and Dr Kylie Munyard work at Curtin University and Melbourne University respectively.

Paul Vallely of Australian Alpaca Fibre Testing, Chris Stewart from the Escorial Group, Phillipa Gardner of the Rumpelstiltskin Project and Andy Naillard will talk about alpaca fibre. And Alpaca Health, there is the very well known expert on reproduction and nutrition Dr Jane Vaughan,Dr Chris Cebra from the USA who specialises in digestive disorders, veterinarian Ben Davidson, surgeon Andrew Jackson, Christina Dart who specialises in anaesthesia and Alison Quagliani.

More information is available on the Alpaca 2013 website www.alpaca2013.co.nz

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 9

NEWS

2013 COLLECTIONS SUSPENDED! TO ALL ACKROYD AND DAWSON ALPACA FIBRE CONTRIBUTORS, We know that many of you will now be starting your shearing for this year. We wish to give you the sad facts.

When we collect from you we depend on our onwards sales since we are actually cloth producers we do not use a huge amount and only make bespoke cloth runs - we do not mass produce. Certainly in alpaca there is not any commercial weights. Our primary notified us that their stocks of fibre in hand had not sold due to the increases in prices and therefore could not purchase any further fibre until this had sold. If we can not sell excess on, we can not buy any more.

When we started buying we set the raw fibre price for the market, so that when the "value added" costs were added in the commercial price was competitive. Although the breeders did not see this as fair, the fibre would be bought and

THIS IS COCO, an alpaca with an appetite, snapped by his owner Judy Ainley of Ivy Dene Alpacas rummaging in her tack room for food as usual. Coco has talent too and appeared on Granada Reports as he is known for 'doing tricks'.

10 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

sold and it would not sit in people's barns. Once we got started other people started to push the prices up competing for the fibre and for us to take in enough to get the commercial weights for processing we had to change our pricing structure. The result of which is that at the end of the day the fibre has become commercially non-viable for the market. If we were retailers this would be alright, but by and large we are not.

In order to get a return for the effort we have put out the pricing structure was not realistic. The plain truth is that British alpaca is, over all, a heavier fibre due to the weather and geography. It is luxury fibre and one considered a niche fibre due to the limited quantity available. The problem is the lack of quantity, fibre has to be stored to build quantity, the micron is inconsistent as it the staple length.

The colour range in alpaca is wide and the micron and staple length in

each colour varies greatly and per breed, Huacaya and Suri. Quantities per year cannot be guaranteed and breeders have a "when I get around to it" attitude for getting their fibre to the depots for collections, so if a processor is depending on the fibre for orders, it plays havoc with the dependability.

We are fully sympathetic with the costs to the breeders in producing the fibre but it comes down to selling it or not. Other countries may show interest in purchasing British fibre for one or two seasons but eventually the value added

costs and the lack of consistency in supply catches up.

All is not lost. We are and will continue to be in talks with people in the industry and sadly restructuring the raw fibre pricing.

We will only take fibre from breeders who supply us with whole fleece in future.

Let us all hope that 2014 will press the reset button and we can re-interest onward buyers once again in British Alpaca.

Patricia Ackroyd Managing Director, Ackroyd and Dawson Limited

The plain truth is that British alpaca is, over all, a heavier fibre due to the weather and geography. It is luxury fibre and one considered a niche fibre due to the limited quantity available.

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www.alpacaworldmagazine.com | Summer | Winter 2013 | 11 ALPACA ALPACA WORLD WORLD MAGAZINE MAGAZINE

JAW ABSCESSES IN ALPACAS

JAW ABSCESSES IN ALPACAS:

OCCURRENCE, MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT.

A condensed version of a dissertation

by Marie Junck, written during her final year as a student at the Royal Agricultural College.

12 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

JAW ABSCESSES IN ALPACAS

T

he study focuses on providing preventative measures regarding jaw abscesses and to advise owners and breeders on a condition that affects a significant part of the alpaca population. The particular anatomy of alpaca teeth predisposes them to dental problems, including tooth root abscesses and jaw bone infections (osteomyelitis).The most common factor believed to cause jaw abscesses in alpacas is feed, which can puncture the gum and lead to infection1. The main difference between tooth root abscesses and osteomyelitis is that tooth root abscesses affect a specific tooth, while osteomyelitis is present in the jaw bone and is detected radiographically by sclerosis and periosteal bone formation2. The dense maxillary bones of herbivore appear to provide adequate protection against the potential spreading of the disease, but the height of the crowns of herbivore teeth, with a large part under gum level, seems to suggest an easily accessible path for infection to spread from the tooth to the bone3. This study looks at 17 affected animals along with their management and treatment after diagnosis. The data used in this study was obtained from owners and breeders from various countries (United States, New Zealand, Canada and United Kingdom) via email communication.

Females were more often diagnosed with jaw abscesses than males (12F vs. 5M ), while the age of the animal did not seem to affect the occurrence of the condition: the median age of the studied alpacas was 3.6 years, with an age range of four months to 11 years. The majority of abscesses were discovered in spring, which could be due to the lack of vitamin D available during the winter months (less sunlight, shorter days), making the jaw bone more fragile in osteomyelitis cases; or the presence of grass seeds in the spring, increasing the chance of gum lesions when ingested by alpacas. Over half of the studied alpacas -ten animals (59%) - suffered from abscesses located on the lower jaw. Six abscesses (35%) were located on the left side of the animal’s face. One alpaca suffered from bilateral abscesses. The average herd size was 47 alpacas and eight of 17 animals (47%) presented signs of pain (when the abscess was touched or noticed in their chewing). Medical treatment included 15 different drugs, the most popular

The particular anatomy of alpaca teeth predisposes them to dental problems, including tooth root abscesses.

Fig. 1: Alpaca Teeth Diagram

being florfenicol, sodium/potassium iodide, penicillin, Excenel which contains ceftiofur and isoniazid. Surgical treatment was not popular, with only four out of 17 animals (24%) undergoing surgery. Ten animals (59%) presented complications, three were eventually euthanized and nine of 17 alpacas (53%) suffered from recurrences at an average of six months intervals.

• An English owner discovered that after giving young cria additional ADE monthly until they reach two years of age and during winter months, she has not had any further problems as the bones and teeth seem to develop better.

• Multiple owners based in New Zealand have discovered the bacteria for bovine wooden tongue in their grazing pastures.

Superphosphate was also reported to be used as pasture fertilizer in New Zealand, three alpacas presented jaw abscesses while superphosphate was in use and the condition has not been reported after the fertilizer was replaced.

The particular anatomy of alpaca teeth predisposes them to dental problems, including tooth root abscesses which can originate from misaligned teeth or foreign objects perforating the gum, jaw bone infections, incisor and molar overgrowth restricting the animal’s feeding, and sharp fighting teeth which can injure the alpaca as well as other animals. Alpacas have a full set of adult teeth by the age of 6, the total number of teeth changing according to gender, with females having 30 and males 32. The additional pair of teeth in males are fighting teeth, females seldom have visible fighting teeth and these are not

Good quality, longstemmed forage is essential in the prevention of oral lesions and gum perforations, which usually lead to jaw infections.

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 13

JAW ABSCESSES IN ALPACAS

present at birth but emerge around 2 years of age.

Alpacas have six lower incisors and a hard upper palate replacing incisors and facilitating chewing of grass and plants. There are six molars on each jaw used to crush food before it is swallowed and chew the cud; they are the hardest teeth to work on as they are located at the back on the animal’s mouth which does not open wide. Alpacas usually have no or very little enamel on the inside part of their teeth and experience tooth growth continually into adulthood, their incisors are deciduous and replaced by permanent teeth at regular intervals. An alpaca with correctly aligned dentition will wear down its incisors by chewing, long lower jaws are common in alpacas and if the lower incisors do not meet 3 .

Untreated tooth root abscesses can develop into osteomyelitis and early diagnosis is crucial in order to prevent the spread of infection. Surgical treatment is not a guaranteed cure and the risks associated with surgery should be assessed beforehand. Multiple treatments are available to combat this condition but their success rate depends on the individual alpaca and testing the abscess fluid is crucial in order to determine which drug will work best for the animal. Routine examination of teeth is advised as the facial 14 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

fleece of alpacas along with cud chewing makes it more difficult to diagnose a jaw abscess. Good quality, long-stemmed forage is essential in the prevention of oral lesions and gum perforations, which usually lead to jaw infections. Overall, jaw abscesses – whether dental or osseous – can be efficiently treated with the appropriate treatment and care. However, healing time can be lengthy and recurrences are frequent.

Alpaca owners need to be aware that untreated tooth abscesses can develop into osteomyelitis and that early diagnosis is crucial in order to prevent this. Alpacas as young as 4 months old have been diagnosed with jaw abscesses, emphasizing the need for regular dental and facial examination. Surgical treatment should be used as a last resort if the alpaca does not respond to medical treatments, dental surgery can be uncertain in camelids, post-operative complications are common and the weak structure of alpaca jaw bones can lead to fractures during tooth removal. Multiple treatments are available to combat this condition but their success rate depends on the individual alpaca and testing the abscess fluid is crucial in order to determine which drug will work best for the animal. Intravenous administration of potassium

or sodium iodide seems to be fairly efficient but its possible side effects need to be considered beforehand. Excenel and Nuflor were also successful treatments with the least amount of subsequent complications. Good quality, longstemmed forage is essential in the prevention of oral lesions and gum perforations, which usually lead to jaw infections. Overall, jaw abscesses – whether dental or osseous – can be efficiently treated with the appropriate treatment and care. However, healing time can be lengthy and recurrences are frequent.

The majority of abscesses were discovered in spring, which could be due to the lack of vitamin D available during the winter months.

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ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 15

ALPACA NUTRITION: SUPPLEMENTING CRIAS

ALPACA NUTRITION

RULES OF THUMB FOR SUPPLEMENTING CRIAS Jane Vaughan BVSc PhD MACVSc www.criagenesis.cc

Give your crias the best start in life with these helpful feeding tips.

16 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

ALPACA NUTRITION: SUPPLEMENTING CRIAS

Crias naturally jump on their mothers and other crias, and will try to do it to you when they get bigger.

• Crias should stand and begin nursing within 1-2 hours of birth. Give the cria time to bond and suckle.

• If the dam has no milk or the cria too weak to nurse, feed colostrum (frozen and stored from another disease-free alpaca/cow/goat or powdered colostrum) via teat (preferably) or stomach tube for the first 3 days of life to maximise antibody uptake into blood (first 12 hours of life) and to provide local gut protection from microbes.

• If no colostrum available, use milk replacer and strongly consider intravenous plasma transfusion for antibody transfer (speak to your vet about plasma use). Use milk in preference to oral glucose/honey and water.

CHOICE AND USE OF MILK REPLACER • It does not matter which brand or type of milk replacer you use but do not vary the brand of milk replacer once you have made your selection. The way it is fed determines success or failure of bottle-rearing.

• Store milk powder below 30° C and protect from moisture.

• Use clean bottles/teats/feeders, thoroughly clean afterwards.

• Warm milk to 35° C before feeding.

FREQUENCY OF FEEDING • Aim to feed 10-15 % of body weight as milk per day, to demand, over 6 feeds initially, decreasing to 4 feeds/d.

– E.g. 10 kg cria requires 1-1.5 L/day, equivalent to 250-375 mL per each of 4 feeds.

– Feed first thing in the morning, midmorning, mid-afternoon, last thing at night.

Wait-times in between feeds encourage the cria to develop an appetite to: - Nurse from dam as much as possible.

- Start picking at grass/hay/supplements and develop 1st compartment of stomach.

- Drink enthusiastically from teat when offered.

• Crias should double birth weight by 4 weeks of age, then gain 200-300 g/d from 4-12 weeks of age.

– Weigh cria regularly to monitor weight gain.

Keep good records of weight gain and milk intake.

• Reduce frequency of bottle-feeding from 4 weeks of age.

• Aim to wean from milk replacer at 12-16 weeks of age when the cria is eating substantial amounts of forage.

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 17

ALPACA NUTRITION: SUPPLEMENTING CRIAS

Do not humanise alpacas: Do not pat cria.

Bottle feed and walk away so cria bonds with alpaca herd.

18 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

ALPACA NUTRITION: SUPPLEMENTING CRIAS

METHOD OF FEEDING • Tube-feed cria (in consultation with your vet) if animal is moribund.

• Bottle-feed cria with teat, holding bottle vertical and ensuring nose of cria pointing skywards to simulate cria suckling from udder. This posture elicits a reflex in the gut, which allows passage of milk along a groove from the oesophagus directly to the 3rd stomach compartment, by-passing C1&2. In C3, the milk is converted into curds and whey under the effects of acid and enzymes. The whey fraction (sugars and soluble proteins) is then rapidly digested, while the curds (fats and insoluble proteins) are digested slowly over the next few hours.

• Teat feeding is preferred over bucket feeding to ensure milk enters C3 and does not ferment in C1 (appear as pot-bellied, illthrifty crias). Teat feeding stimulates saliva secretion to enhance milk digestion.

TIPS TO PREVENT DIARRHOEA • Keep concentration of milk consistent, do not

fortify by adding more milk powder per litre of water as diarrhoea can develop secondary to higher sugar content of milk.

• If a cria develops diarrhoea, offer oral electrolytes by teat between milk feeds (3 hr apart) and seek vet advice.

– Do not dilute milk by adding electrolytes to the milk as this prevents curds and whey formation and exacerbates diarrhoea.

OTHER HINTS ON REARING CRIAS • Always have clean, cool, fresh water available to allow normal C1 development.

• Offer high quality, highly digestible creep feed and hay to develop C1 from 7-10 days of age.

• Aim to wean from milk replacer by 3-4 months provided cria eating good quality forage and weighs ≈ 25 kg.

• Do not humanise alpacas: Do not pat cria.

Bottle feed and walk away so cria bonds with alpaca herd. Crias naturally jump on their mothers and other crias, and will try to do it to you when they get bigger.

Crias should double birth weight by 4 weeks of age, then gain 200-300 g/d from 4-12 weeks of age.

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 19

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05.02.13 15:40

Osmonds Alpaca Colostrum now available in SACHETS, as requested by our customers!

6 x 10g Sachets (1 feed) £10.90RRP 60g Bottle (1 feed) £6.90RRP 120g Tub (2 feeds) £13.90RRP 600g Tub (10 feeds) £58.00RRP 1.2kg Tub (20 feeds) £104.50RRP Visit your local stockist or order online:

www.osmonds.co.uk T: 01948 668100 F: 01948 668101 E: info@osmonds.co.uk Bradeley Green, Tarporley Road, Whitchurch, Shropshire. SY13 4HD 20 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 21

ADVERTORIAL: ARMITAGE LIVESTOCK INSURANCE AGENCY

A

rmitage Livestock Insurance Agency specialises in arranging insurance on livestock, mainly on alpacas, pedigree cattle and other pedigree farm animals.

Jacinta Nastali, of Armitage Insurance, explains the benefits and security that insuring your alpacas can bring.

Our company has been arranging alpaca insurance since 1998 and provides insurance to cover Mortality and Theft, Veterinary Fees, Worldwide Transits, Public Liability risks and Economic Slaughter/Loss of Use for stud males.

To the owner, having to pay an insurance premium is ‘lost’ money. You pay out and get nothing in return, only a piece of paper. However, a good business depends on proper planning and budgeting. By incorporating the annual insurance premium into your business plan, you know the exact amount livestock losses are costing you, and you have cushioned yourself against unexpected subsequent losses of animals that could ruin your business.

Generally, alpacas are considered quite hardy animals, however, where there is livestock, there will always be dead stock too. Deaths occur due to several causes which include worm/parasite burden, liver problems, heart failure etc. And, of course, there is always the unexpected accident.

If you have a large schedule of alpacas you should look at the possibility of a deductible policy, where you can save money on the premium, but carry an excess, in the event of a claim.

When enquiring about insurance, the first decision to be made concerns the Insurer or Broker to be used. Although the maxim ‘My Word is My Bond’ may be a little rusty these days, at least make sure that when you want a word there is somebody at the other end of the telephone who knows what you’re talking about,

especially if the word is going to be ‘claim’.

As Armitage Livestock Insurance has been established for over 25 years, and has a wealth of experience in arranging insurances and settling claims, we would welcome the chance to discuss your insurance needs with you.

Major Sponsor for Alpaca Events since 1998 16 years experience arranging specialised insurance for alpacas and llamas

22 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 23

NERO BLACK ALPACA

BRIEF ENCO

24 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

OUNTER

NERO BLACK ALPACA

Paul Shrimpton, on behalf of Paul and Kathryn, Nero Black Alpaca, found 'love at first sight' when they came across alpacas

T

he most common question around the table as I serve breakfast at our 5* B&B is “How did you get into the alpacas”?

My stock answer is “It’s not my fault ”– but I can remember how it all started so clearly – despite it being eleven years ago. We were at the Northumberland County Show, Kathryn came running down the busy aisle exclaiming – Paul!

Paul! You’ve got to come and look at these”! The rest, as they say, is history.

If the gathered diners still look interested I expand further. “A chap had a small pen of white alpacas and for Kathryn it was love at first sight.

We had always had an acre and a half of land attached to the house with no particular desire to fill it - but this suddenly changed. I was not against the idea so we immediately sought to start a small herd. However I found the market to be pretty immature at that stage, there were very few other herds in the area and our local vets had little or no experience of camelids.

Undeterred Kathryn continued to research keeping alpacas and four years later all my “objections” had been answered. Not only that but Kathryn had now bought into to the idea of starting a small breeding herd not just pet. In October 2006 we took delivery of three pregnant females and two companion males and Nero Black Alpaca was born.

Without doubt that brief encounter in 2002 has changed our lives – for the better of course – and the alpacas are central to most of what we do. For 3 ½ years Kathryn was fully responsible for the animals as I worked in a national sales management role, based 150 miles away, so I wasn’t always even around. However in the spring of 2010 we took a big decision for me to give up the “rat race”, to convert part of our house into a three bedroom B&B, and for us both to run the businesses together. Now the alpacas are a fabulous attraction to our guests and, as Kathryn works most on the housekeeping and food preparation, I spend more time with the herd ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 25

NERO BLACK ALPACA

than she does – though she, of course, remains the boss!

That is probably quite right too as so many of the decisions Kathryn made over the four years of research have stood us in good stead today.

The only one I can take any credit in was to breed rather than just have pets. That has led to us showing and making so many great friends in the UK alpaca world. With showing come the highs and lows of successful and less successful days – both Kathryn and I are very competitive – but shows are always great fun regardless.

BACK TO BLACK Kathryn chose to breed black huacayas – not just because she thought they looked best – but fundamentally they had most scope for improvement in breeding quality. The numbers of blacks at shows are increasing but we’ve had a good share of winners and champions – feeding our competitive tendencies of course! Also the value of darker coloured alpacas seems to be holding up better than the more common lighter colours in these tough economic times.

26 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

Despite our change in life style and consequent tighter purse strings Kathryn has always insisted that we continue to source the top stud genetics to develop our herd. We continue to breed some very nice animals and in the past year have sold as many animals as we have in the previous six years added together. Last year, for the first time, we believed we had a home bred stud good enough to cover some of our girls and as I write we are eagerly awaiting the first progeny.

We currently have just 14 alpacas with 4 maybe 5 “in the oven”. We have no ambition to grow any bigger, preferring to find new homes for several animals each year, keeping manageable numbers for the two of us to care for, at the same time as running our other businesses.

WEAR ALPACA That brings me nicely to the other inspired idea Kathryn had – it occurred as we sheared for the first time in 2007. Kathryn decided she had to take alpaca ownership to its ultimate extent and produce knitwear from their fibre. She obtained a grant towards commissioning exclusive designs from a Hexham based lady and then set about recruiting knitters from the local area. In short order “Wear Alpaca” was created and it has since gone from strength to strength.

We buy white fleeces from other top breeders and produce yarn in natural ivory, black and a range of greys (by blending the white and black in differing proportions). The yarn itself sells really well and we have a few stockists for our wide range of ladies accessories. In the autumn and towards Christmas, we also sell via various local and not so local markets.

So as you can see, that chance meeting with

a pen full of alpacas back in 2002 has gradually transformed, if not taken over, our lives. Our three children have all played their part in looking after the herd and have grown to enjoy them as much as we do. We love nothing more than talking to people about our alpacas, particularly to guests at Fairshaw Rigg B&B, normally around the breakfast table. Most end up meeting the herd as soon as breakfast is over and maybe even buying a Wear Alpaca accessory or two. www.neroblackalpaca.co.uk www.fairshawrigg.co.uk www.wear-alpaca.co.uk

The Syke House Herd

Here is the opportunity to acquire a balanced herd of Huacaya alpacas carefully bred over the years since 1985 to be strong, healthy and fertile; of good size with commercial quality fleece.

The herd comprises: 24 Breeding Females 14 Fibre Males 4 Immature Entire Males 4 Stud Males (individual sales may be considered) Offers in the region of ÂŁ60,000 (no VAT)

To find out more or arrange a viewing please contact Pat Bentley on 01931 714373 or email: bill.bentley@btinternet.com ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 27

ALPACA WEBSITES

It’s common knowledge that a website plays a major role in an alpaca farm’s marketing strategy. But the question alpaca owners are now asking is "How do I get more from my website?"

With advances in Internet technology, alpaca website owners can take advantage of more options for building exposure and generating leads online.

So if you’ve wondered whether you should start a blog, run a newsletter, distribute press releases, and what other choices are out there, read on…

It may be easier than you think to take advantage of these and more ideas.

Nine more your

ways

to get from

alpaca website

Lisa Banks is Marketing Director of SEO Advantage, an SEO firm serving the Ideal Alpaca Community in the USA with alpaca SEO and web design services since 2000.

28 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

ALPACA WEBSITES

1. AN ALPACA BLOG Why not keep an online journal about life on your farm as an alpaca farmer? A blog, short for “weblog”, lets you post entries online easily.

Blogs are a great way to reach people as they search online for information on alpaca farming. Because they take on a more personal tone, they can often carry more credibility than other forms of marketing, and they can develop a devoted following.

A blog can help contribute to SEO by providing you with more content and links that support your Alpaca website’s ranking in the search engines. Your alpaca blog entries remain online and accumulate over time, giving you highly relevant content that is of interest to others looking for a ranch like yours.

New customers can get to know you online through your blog. You may find that people researching the alpaca industry as well as fellow farmers may post comments for you, too. What a great way to network and become known in the alpaca community!

2. ALPACA FARM NEWSLETTER Think of how long it takes you to answer a couple questions in a detailed email to one person.

Now imagine how easy it would be if you could duplicate that effort automatically, so you can send a personalized email to hundreds, even thousands, of your potential customers and friends of your farm.

Writing a newsletter gives you an easy way to stay in touch with people who have expressed an interest in learning more about your farm and alpacas. Your alpaca farm newsletter functions best as a soft-sell, providing information that your audience will find useful.

4.

AUTOMATED FOLLOWUP WITH EMAIL AUTORESPONDERS One of the easiest ways to follow up with website visitors is through a series of preset emails that deploy automatically when someone signs up to hear from you.

Autoresponders are a little different from email newsletters. They are usually briefer and more frequent, each building on the last one to lead the prospect toward an action. The great part is that you can prepare your emails upfront and set them to go out in a series at predetermined times, so the recipient feels they are actually receiving personal messages following up from you.

You’ll need to offer your prospect something of value, so they’ll want to sign up to receive it by email. Once they indicate their interest by giving you their email address, your preset series will do the rest.

Some ideas you can use for content of an autoresponder includes: • A series of FAQs on alpaca farming – send one question/answer per week.

• Articles in a series – give your series a name, like “An Introduction to Alpacas by Email”.

• One article, delivered section by section each day for a week.

• A one-time special report, profile of your farm, or other valuable resource – then follow up to ask if they require more information and remind them that you’re there to answer their questions.

Writing and setting up a series of emails saves you time and ensures that each prospect is followed up properly.

Just be sure to write your emails carefully, including your full contact information and a call to action.

3. WRITING AND SUBMITTING ARTICLES ABOUT ALPACAS Writing articles helps you develop a reputation as an authority or expert in your field. One reason you may know Mike Safley of the Ideal Alpaca Community is because he writes so many articles on alpacas. Over the years, his articles have appeared in various alpaca publications, on nearly almost every website of members of the Ideal Alpaca Community, and all across the Internet. In fact, if you search on

just about any topic related to alpacas, you’re likely to see one of Mike Safley’s articles pop up.

When you write articles on alpacas, you position yourself as an authority. This helps boost your farm’s credibility. And the content also can boost your search engine rankings.

5. MEDIA EXPOSURE WITH PRESS RELEASES A press release is a specially written and formatted document that is intended to provide information to editors and journalists in the hopes that they will carry your newsworthy information in their publication.

Alpaca farmers can generate coverage by local news media by submitting press releases to local newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations. And now press release can be submitted online to help with developing links and gaining exposure on news portals.

So, what topics can be used in a press release? The general rule is that it should be newsworthy. A few examples could be announcements of an event or seminar at your farm, participation in an alpaca industry show, or purchase of new livestock.

Don’t forget to also post your press release in the Farm News section of your website. By publishing press releases regularly, you’ll be able to add fresh content to your website to assist in your SEO performance.

By publishing press releases regularly, you’ll be able to add fresh content to your website to assist in your SEO performance.

6. PAYPER-CLICK ADVERTISING Advertising in paid search results is another way to get your web site high in the search engines, especially while you’re still building your natural search rankings.

These are the short text ads you see down the right hand side or top of search engine results on Google and other search engines.

These ads provide a quick way to show up high in search results. And you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad.

This discipline can become quite involved and increasingly expensive as the industry becomes more competitive, but you may find that clicks coming from your ads provide access to a quick stream of interested buyers.

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 29

ALPACA WEBSITES

7. RSS STRAIGHT TO THE DESKTOP RSS is a technology that allows people to receive information in a feed type of format right to their computer desktop, with a summary of content and a link to the full web content.

RSS stands for “Real Simple Syndication”.

RSS is great for keeping people up to date on your blog entries or farm announcements (including newsletters and press releases). When people sign up to receive your communications through RSS, they’re indicating a high level of interest in your alpaca farm. It’s an easy way to offer more choices to your audience, as some will prefer RSS to email.

Most blogs will also include this feature for your customers to choose.

8. SAY IT WITH PODCASTING Different people like to receive their information in different ways. Podcasts have become popular among people who prefer to receive information audibly rather than reading it. Essentially a podcast is a recording that people can either listen to online or download and listen to at their leisure on an MP3 player.

The content of a podcast can be anything that’s communicated verbally. You’re limited only by your imagination. Why not try these ideas?

• An interview - Why not make your website’s FAQ section also available as an interview in a podcast? Just get someone to ask you the questions and you can discuss the answers in greater detail.

• A lecture – When you give talks at your alpaca farm events, record them for posting on your website in podcasts – and reach even more people!

• Your opinion – If you’re not much for writing articles, you can “speak” your ideas in a podcast.

Another thing to keep in mind, you can always have transcripts produced of your podcast for posting on your website, too.

That way any people who prefer to read the content can just click to see it. Plus the added bonus of additional written content for your website will assist with your search engine performance.

9. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION FOR YOUR ALPACA WEBSITE I’ve saved the biggie for last. Search engine optimization, or SEO, makes it possible for your website to show up when someone searches for information about alpacas online.

Right there on the first page or two of Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc.

Let’s say you are selling Peruvian Huacaya alpacas – you’ll want your website to show up in the first page or two of results when someone

The content of a podcast can be anything that’s communicated verbally. You’re limited only by your imagination.

30 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

types in Google the keyword phrase “Peruvian huacaya for sale”.

Your link on those pages gives you more potential exposure than any of the above methods. In fact, most of the above tactics support your search engine performance.

If your website is not properly optimized for the search engines, there is a great chance that it will not show up in online searches, even after

you’ve paid thousands of dollars to design a greatlooking website. SEO is a basic requirement, and it’s becoming even more important as the industry becomes more competitive. www.seoalpaca.com Copyright 2007 SEO Advantage.

0

Unidentified Itching & Baldness?

Who’s the Likely Culprit?

STOP it Naturally

Many alpacas experience unexplained itching and hair loss and the culprit is frequently a visible or invisible mite. Mites ‘eat’ alpaca flesh, many have adapted to ‘global warming’ and, therefore, can be active all year. Most cause intense itching and at worst, serious skin damage and infection.

Millennium mites are relatively new to the UK. They thrive yearround, especially in the cold. They are invisible, breed in the armpits, the base of belly and around the insides of the top of the back legs, but can infest every area of skin. Many are resistant to traditional treatments.

Chorioptic mites are surface dwelling on the limbs, in armpits, between the toes and where the fleece is thick. They can attack year-round.

Sarcoptic mites burrow into the skin and generally prefer short haired areas on the face, ears, neck and armpits but can spread all over including the tail/bum area. Tell-tale signs are crusty areas.

Psortoptes (mange) mites are often along the back, shoulders and tail regions causing extreme itching, hair loss, crusting and if in the ears, watch out for head-shaking and discharge.

Next Step. Have you tried Ruggle-it? Although natural, it is not only highly successful for all types of flesh-eating critters, but also against the seemingly indestructible Millennium Mite. Many Vets recommend it.

Ruggle-it comes as a 100% natural vegetable oil blend which can be used neat or diluted with tap water and a dash of either their soap-free shampoo or emulsifier. Apply with a sponge, paintbrush or sprayer. You can also use it for head lice, midges, pet fleas, sore skin, as a hair promoter and an itch-soother. 18 issues – just 1 product!

.Ruggle-it...

Buy a pack shop online or for information, visit www.karenruggles.co.uk or call 01823 259952

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• “Ruggle-it is the best product we've found for Alpaca mites” • “Saves me a fortune & 100% versatile” • ”Pet itching & fleas gone + horses without flies – very clever!” • “Extreme scabs on rescued Alpaca – my Vet's impressed with Ruggle-it & your Protexin probiotics” • “Great for Alpacas crusty scabs, baldness, mites, flies on animals & buildings” Recommended by Vets

Beat HEALTH issues naturally... farm ● pet ● human ● equine Stress • Digestion • Probiotics (Alfalfa based) • Vit D • Skin issues • Immune System • Weight Loss • Joint care • Maxavita Green Lipped Mussel • Omega 3 • 'Superfood' Green Barley Grass • Natural Skincare..

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INTERNATIONAL

ALPACA EVENT 20th - 24th September Hamilton, New Zealand

• Alpaca Expo • International Fleece Show • AANZ Alpaca Show • World Alpaca Conference • Trade Stands • Gala Dinner • Alpaca Auction

www.alpaca2013.co.nz

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 31

ALPACA WEBSITES

NET GAINS The web based sales site for alpacas AlpacaSeller has become a fixture of the British alpaca scene. Chris Moor explains why he set it up.

A

lpacaSeller was launched in April 2003, now just over ten years ago. It was in 2002 when I was first looking for alpacas to purchase that I realised that there was no centralised database to look for sale alpacas and alpaca stud services in the UK and Europe. Many individual breeder web sites at that time either had no specific sales lists, or their sales list was hopelessly out of date. I wanted to create a web site which was easy for users to manage their alpaca sales lists without needing to understand anything about web development. All users needed to worry about was entering data into simple to use forms. An account can be set up in minutes and users can logon from anywhere in the world to manage their data and give a strong internet presence for their alpaca business.

Adding information is easy and fast, just a matter of completing online forms and uploading photos.

All additions, amendments, deletions and photo submissions are immediate. AlpacaSeller shows the number of times each animal has been viewed by searches on the site, thus giving some feedback as to the exposure the animal is getting.

To search on AlpacaSeller is free for everyone.

Users are able to search for alpacas under a very wide range of criteria, including type, age, colour, price, fibre statistics, blood lineage and sires.

These very powerful search tools include animals for sale and stud services. These searches can be registered and new matches are automatically emailed to the users. Breeders can view the registered searches and enquiries left by site visitors which can provide potential sales leads.

Users can also search for breeders under a number of different criteria, with location being the most obvious one.

One of the early improvements of the site was the addition of the package functionality, which enhances the marketing strategy for the breeder.

32 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

Any alpaca listed for sale can also be included in a package. To give greater flexibility an alpaca can be listed in multiple packages. The discount the buyer gets from purchasing the package is automatically calculated and displayed.

WEB DEVELOPING In 2005 AlpacaSeller moved on with further developments and created links which allowed the users to insert their sales lists and stud service lists into their own web site. These links could also, if required, be tailored to match the exact look and style of the users own web site, and thus blend in as part of their own site. This addition to AlpacaSeller allowed users to use AlpacaSeller as a content management system for their own web site with one set of data being used in both the AlpacaSeller web site and their own web site.

Web sites which are fully built by AlpacaSeller have enhanced this content management system further by integrating photo galleries and other data which are managed in the AlpacaSeller account thus providing quite a sophisticated content management system. At this same time, AlpacaSeller forged partnerships with the developers of popular alpaca herd management software packages. This allowed data from herd management software to be uploaded to the user’s AlpacaSeller account, thus eliminating the tedious task of re-entering all the data.

In 2006 the first European language was added to AlpacaSeller. This was German and AlpacaSeller Germany, Austria and Switzerland were created. German use of AlpacaSeller now boasts over 140 registered breeders. The sites can run in both English and German. Shortly after this French and Dutch were added and AlpacaSeller Netherlands, Belgium and France were created. A little later Spanish was added and AlpacaSeller Spain was launched. Users of the

site then complained that sometimes they would like to search more than one country in Europe at the same time, particularly those who live near the border of another country. AlpacaSeller EU was then developed. This was simply a search portal which searches all the European countries at the same time providing results across all of Europe in one go. AlpacaSeller Norway and Sweden are currently under development and AlpacaSeller will be available in Norwegian and Swedish. This should hopefully be available later in this year. AlpacaSeller will then be available in seven European languages.

THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT The latest developments in AlpacaSeller were released this year in 2013. An app was created for both the iPhone and also Android phones, as these are two most popular smart phone platforms. The apps allow a simple search of the AlpacaSeller database for sales animals. The results can be sorted by price and location. When the individual animals are displayed the user can contact the breeder by email or just phone directly using the smart phone. The large photos of the alpacas can be expanded and moved by using the pinching gestures on the smart phone screen. The app supports all the AlpacaSeller European languages. The app detects the language the phone is running in and uses that language automatically if it is supported. As more and more traffic accessing web site databases is now going through smart phones, these apps provide useful tools for AlpacaSeller customers to get more exposure and also keep AlpacaSeller upto-date with the constantly evolving technology.

It is possible in the future that a Windows phone app will also be developed, depending on how popular these phones become.

Search or Advertise Alpacas for Sale Alpaca Stud Services Alpaca Breeders Alpaca Auctions Web Development Services for Alpaca Breeders

www.AlpacaSeller.co.uk

United States: www.alpacaseller.com Canada: www.alpacaseller.ca Australia: www.alpacaseller.com.au New Zealand: www.alpacaseller.co.nz South Africa: www.alpacaseller.co.za Germany: www.alpacaseller.de Austria: www.alpacaseller.at Switzerland: www.alpacaseller.ch Republic of Ireland: www.alpacaseller.com The Netherlands: www.alpacaseller.nl Belgium: www.alpacaseller.be

Online Alpaca Advertising at Affordable Prices

Alpaca Feeds Mole Valley Feed Solutions produce two high quality Alpaca compound feeds in 3mm pellet form. Both diets have shown continuing success and now contain high levels of selenium.

The Alpaca Winter Pellets are formulated for balancing winter forage situations and are available from October to April.

Our high quality Alpaca feeds contain:

The Alpaca Grazer Pellets

• Cereals for high energy.

• Sugar beet for quality fibre and palatability.

• Fully mineralised to balance forages.

• High levels of vitamins and trace elements for health and fertility.

Alpaca Winter Pellets

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

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 33

ASK THE VET

ASK the VET CLAIRE E. WHITEHEAD

BVM&S MS MRCVS Diplomate ACVIM (Large Animal) Camelid Veterinary Services www.ukalpacavet.com

WHEN NEONATAL CRIAS GET SICK...?

34 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

ASK THE VET

In 1998, there was an article written in the Veterinary Record regarding population statistics and mortality rates in South American Camelids in the UK (Vet Rec 1998;142(7):162-6). This article discussed the findings of a postal questionnaire that had been sent to owners. The highest mortality rates (17-33% of total alpaca deaths) were found in animals aged less than 6 months with the highest proportion of those occurring in the first week of life.

Yesterday I ran a Neonatal Clinic for owners and reported these statistics: we all hoped that this situation had improved due to increasing knowledge and better education… Perhaps it’s time for another survey to find out?

However, I still have many communications with owners who tell me about a cria that died at 3 or 4 days old and they didn’t know why…

This concerns me. There is always a reason for that cria to have died and in most cases it should be fairly obvious on veterinary clinical examination or post-mortem examination.

T

here are 4 main reasons for a neonatal cria to be struggling (a neonate is a cria that is less than 2 weeks of age): 1 Hypothermia 2 Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) 3 Failure of passive transfer of immunity (FPT) leading onto sepsis 4 A defect that the cria has been born with (eg heart defect).

Any combination of these problems is also possible. The good thing is that these problems are pretty easy to diagnose. There are also some less serious ones such as meconium impaction but these will not be discussed here.

HYPOTHERMIA You can easily check whether a cria is hypothermic by checking its rectal body temperature. Normal temperature should be 3838.9°C, less than this and the cria is hypothermic.

You can rectify this situation by warming the cria. Bring the cria indoors and warm it up using blankets, heat lamps, heat mats, hot water bottles

etc. Latex gloves filled with warm water work quite well and can be placed under the back legs to help warm the large blood vessels passing through there. If you place any warm items next to the cria be careful to cover it with a cloth or towel so that it doesn’t scald the skin. Never use a warm water bath as this just draws the blood supply to the skin away from the core and this may cause cardiovascular collapse.

HYPOGLYCAEMIA Hypoglycaemia is most common in newborns that have failed to suckle. They are born with a normal blood glucose level but they need to suckle milk from their dams in order to maintain blood sugar. If they don’t nurse, blood sugar levels fall off and they’ll subsequently collapse. If you find a collapsed cria, first check its body temperature and warm up if necessary. Secondly, smear a little sugary solution inside the mouth of the cria from where it will be readily absorbed and may be lifesaving while awaiting a visit from the vet. You can use anything that is concentrated sugar such

If you place any warm items next to the cria be careful to cover it with a cloth or towel so that it doesn’t scald the skin.

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 35

ASK THE VET

This photograph demonstrates a premature cria exhibiting weakness. It is being assisted to stand. Note also that it is down on its pasterns due to ligament laxity and has floppy ears - these are hallmarks of prematurity. Premature crias are at risk from hypothermia, hypoglycaemia and failure of passive transfer as described in this article but also may have some other challenges depending on how premature they are.

36 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

as syrup or runny honey. This should not do any harm. Slightly older crias may have normal, high or low blood sugar and there is likely something else going on as well…

FPT AND SEPTICAEMIA Ensuring adequate colostrum intake is vital in order to protect newborn crias from infections during the first few months of life (this is called passive immunity). There is only a narrow window of opportunity: after about 8 hours of life, the gut will start to lose its ability to absorb antibodies from the colostrum and after 24 hours, virtually nothing will be absorbed. Failure to ensure colostrum intake may result in failure of passive transfer of immunity (FPT) and, unless this is addressed, may result in potentially fatal infections.

If you are unsure whether a cria has taken in enough colostrum, perhaps because it didn’t get going early enough, or because you are concerned about the mother’s milk availability or it may be exhibiting signs of prematurity, you can check for FPT in one of several ways. The first couple of methods involve measurement of total protein

or globulins in the blood – your vet should easily be able to do this for you. However, total protein measurement is heavily dependent on hydration status (globulin not so much) so may not be as useful in a sick cria where other tests may be more useful such as evaluation of a blood smear and chemistry tests. There is also a camelidspecific immunoglobulin (IgG) test available that measures adequacy of passive transfer, but this takes 12-24 hours to run so is not so useful in an emergency situation if the cria is already showing signs of illness. It is great for screening for FPT though. The only place currently offering this test commercially in the UK is Camelid Veterinary Services. An alternative IgG test has become available in recent years and has potential since the results are available more readily.

If the cria fails to gain weight or actually loses weight, this can be an early sign that something is wrong, most likely that the cria has FPT and is developing septicaemia (where bacteria enter the bloodstream and start to produce toxins that result in organ failure). However, there may be other reasons for this (eg defects) and the cria should be evaluated by your vet.

Once FPT has been diagnosed, the only way to remedy the situation is by plasma transfusion since the cria can no longer absorb antibodies out of the intestines, along with antibiotic and supportive therapy where necessary if sepsis is developing. Plasma (usually 150-300ml volume) should be given intravenously through an IV catheter and results in very few complications when proper aseptic preparations are made and the transfusion is given slowly (usually 20-40 minutes). The intravenous catheter may also be used to administer antibiotics and further fluids if necessary if the cria has already become sick.

Intraperitoneal transfusion has been advocated by some but is not recommended by this author – it is an archaic standard of medicine to practice and can have many more complications than transfusions given intravenously: it can not only be painful resulting in loss of appetite and growth, but may cause potentially fatal problems such as peritonitis and adhesions between loops of intestines.

A DEFECT There are a number of defects that can cause crias to be failing in the first week or so of life: examples appear below. These problems should be identified as early as possible by veterinary examination: the ones that cause clinical signs of illness are often not correctable and these crias should be euthanased on welfare grounds. Those that are easily correctable should be identified and treated early before secondary complications develop: bear in mind that these animals should never be bred from.

HEART DEFECTS. Crias suffer from a number of heart defects, the most common of which is a Ventricular Septal Defect (or “hole in the heart”). These defects do not always cause clinical signs but when they do, we have a limited ability to deal with these problems medically.

If a defect is suspected by your vet on the basis

ASK THE VET

This photograph shows the heart from a cria that had a ventricular septal defect (or "hole in the heart"). The large hole between the two muscular ventricles is marked with an arrow. This hole results in blood being pumped from the left to the right side of the heart directly, such that it is not pumped around the body to keep the body supplied with oxygen. Crias affected with these defects will understandably be very weak.

This defect will be audible on listening with a stethoscope. of listening with a stethoscope, this should be evaluated by use of an echocardiogram (cardiac ultrasound) performed by a cardiologist who will be able to diagnose the problem – this is important for making breeding decisions later.

Not all heart murmurs (abnormal sounds) are due to defects: generally, the louder ones are. Quieter ones may also be due to illness – dehydration, electrolyte disturbances and sepsis can all result in murmurs and need to be differentiated from those caused by defects…

CHOANAL ATRESIA. This causes respiratory difficulty. The defect is caused by a failure of the back of the nostrils to open during embryologic development such that a membranous or sometimes bony defect prevents air from passing through the nostrils – in short, they cannot breathe normally and have to mouthbreathe. Some crias compensate for this relatively well while the majority show respiratory difficulty fairly shortly after birth. Often crias will puff out cheeks while breathing and may struggle to nurse because they get out of breath. Making the diagnosis is fairly simple: a red rubber catheter or other soft-ended tube should be passed up the

nostril – there will be a blockage at the level of the eye. Surgery is possible but the prognosis is not great since most affected crias already have FPT and sepsis by the time of diagnosis and hypoxaemia (low blood oxygen concentrations) causes them to be further compromised. In addition, other defects are often present in crias with this defect. Surgery should only be considered in animals that are stable clinically.

Otherwise, they should be euthanased.

IMPERFORATE VULVA. The cria strains to urinate. The vulva pouches out below the anus and appears to be fluid-filled: this develops as urine builds up behind the vulva since the cria cannot pee. Therefore it is not obvious at birth unless you look carefully at the vulva. This is an easy problem to correct by the vet by making an incision in the midline to make a normal sized vulva opening (local anaesthetic gel can be used to anaesthetise the area – sedation is not necessary). No suturing is required.

ANAL ATRESIA. These crias have no anus and therefore cannot pass faeces. As long as the defect only affects the anus, your vet can correct this problem surgically.

Crias suffer from a number of heart defects, the most common of which is a Ventricular Septal Defect (or “hole in the heart”) ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 37

ASK THE VET

NOTES ON PLASMA There is currently no commercial source of plasma in the UK. There is a commercial plasma bank in the US but plasma would need to remain frozen in transit and pass by customs quickly! Permissions would also have to be checked before placing any orders! In the UK, your vet can collect blood from donor alpacas in your herd and process into plasma for you to store for an anticipated clinical need.

Vets cannot legally sell plasma without a license from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate – this is a license to run a blood bank essentially. There are many quality control steps that have to be taken in order to earn the license (which also carries a hefty annual fee) but this is in order to maintain quality of the product and safety for the intended use.

However, blood can be sent by courier to the Pet Blood Bank at Loughborough: it will be processed there and sent back by overnight courier frozen. Blood needs to be centrifuged as soon as possible after collection (and kept cool or ideally refrigerated in the meantime).

Plasma is best used within a year of collection: after this it starts to deteriorate.

HOW DO YOU “MAKE PLASMA”?

Over the last few years, I have heard of a number of suboptimal practices from various sources. It is essential that blood and plasma products are collected, stored and administered in a sterile manner. If this is not done correctly, administration of these products could be potentially very detrimental to the recipient. Examples include aspiration of collected blood into small blood tubes for spinning, followed by separation of plasma into other containers such as bags; and storage of plasma in syringes which is completely inappropriate as it cannot remain sterile.

Ideally this should be organised prior to the start of the birthing season. Basically, the vet has to place an IV catheter in a suitable adult donor animal for collection to take place.

Donors should ideally be males over 3 years old, preferably vaccinated every 3-4 months or 3 weeks prior to collection in order to ensure good antibody levels. Castrated males make perfect donors.

Blood is collected into 450ml bags and a special (large) centrifuge is required to centrifuge the blood (in the bags) and separate off the plasma into separate sterile packs that are stored in the freezer until use. Very few vets have their own centrifuges as they are quite large and can be expensive – they are not the regular centrifuges that they will use on a day to day basis.

Plasma is best used within a year of collection: after this it starts to deteriorate.

HOW SHOULD PLASMA BE GIVEN?

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If you or your vet have any questions about plasma supply or administration, or would like to consult on any sick crias, I would be delighted to hear from you. I am available for consultation on 01707 666297, or by email: claire@ukalpacavet.com

The most effective means for administration of plasma to crias is by intravenous infusion.

Administration of plasma by intraperitoneal

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IDENTIFY PROBLEMS EARLY AND GIVE YOUR CRIA THE BEST CHANCE AT LIFE?

Appropriate management in the first few weeks of a cria’s life is essential to ensure that it makes it through the high risk neonatal period, grows well and survives into adulthood.

(IP) infusion is about 1/3 less effective and leads to many more potential complications observed by this author following referral for these complications, particularly if either the site of injection or the plasma is not 100% sterile. Additionally, if the cria is already starting to develop sepsis, an adverse reaction to IP plasma is more likely.

I have also heard of owners recommending plasma to be given by mouth to crias. It is important to bear in mind that colostrum is massively more concentrated in antibodies (among other important components) than plasma: since antibodies from either will only be absorbed in the first 24 hours, when colostrum is available in the mother’s milk, there seems to be little point wasting space in the cria’s stomach with an inferior product that is far more costly to produce when colostrum is on tap nearby…

The cria only has 24 hours to take on board that colostrum so it is pointless to make life harder for it. If you are going to go to all the effort of collecting blood and making plasma, use that valuable product wisely and give it directly into the bloodstream where it needs to get to and where it will have the optimum effect.

Appropriate management in the first few weeks of a cria’s life is essential to ensure that it makes it through the high risk neonatal period, grows well and survives into adulthood. Fortunately there are some really basic and easy things that you can do.

1 Ensure adequate colostrum intake in the first 24 hours (see separate box) 2 Weigh newborn crias on the day of birth.

Alpaca crias normally weigh an average of 7.5kg. If they weigh less than 7kg, they may be more at risk of not getting sufficient colostrum and warrant closer observation.

3 Weigh crias daily for the first 2 weeks of life. During the first 24 hours, crias may lose weight as they dry off and pass their meconium (first faeces). After the first 24 hours, they should consistently gain weight at the rate of 0.25-0.5kg daily. This reflects

adequate intake of milk. If they fail to gain weight, or lose weight, this is the very first indication that something is not right and the cria may have FPT. Action at this point, including diagnostics and possible plasma administration, rather than waiting until the cria collapses, will result in the best outcome for your cria and the least impact on your finances in terms of veterinary care.

4 Screen crias for FPT. You may choose to do this for all crias, or just those of high risk (including low birth weight, known difficulties nursing or getting going) or high potential value. This decision is up to you.

Screening allows early identification of FPT: if found, plasma transfusions can prevent further illness from developing and reduce subsequent costs.

5 Do not delay seeking veterinary attention for any sick crias. If your vet doesn’t know much about alpacas specifically, suggest that they call me for advice and help.

ASK THE VET

WHAT IS COLOSTRUM? Colostrum is the first milk produced by the mother: among other goodies, it contains the allimportant antibodies from the mother to protect the newborn cria from infections. Unlike humans, crias are born without antibodies and need this protection before they start making their own.

HOW CAN YOU ENSURE ADEQUATE COLOSTRUM INTAKE? If a cria is not particularly active soon after birth and is not getting up to nurse within the first 4 hours, it is likely that the cria will need assistance.

Initially this can just be making sure that the cria gets up to nurse frequently, or help with getting the cria into the right place to nurse and making sure it latches onto a teat. Otherwise, bottlefeeding with the dam’s own colostrum or stored colostrum will be necessary.

If a dam has insufficient milk, then frozen

camelid colostrum can be used, or goat, cow or sheep colostrum as alternatives – goat is best since it is the closest to camelid milk in composition, but cow is usually easier to acquire. If acquiring colostrum from elsewhere, always make sure that it is from a BVD, Johnes and TB free herd.

Colostrum can be either fresh or frozen. Frozen colostrum keeps for up to 1 year in the freezer and is best stored in 75-100ml portions. [NB Don’t microwave-thaw!!] Avoid powdered colostrum supplements which are not designed to be substitutes for colostrum. These really only provide energy. Aim to feed 10-15% of the cria’s bodyweight over 24 hours, divided into feedings every 2-4 hours. Preferably feed by bottle, though tube-feeding may be necessary initially.

If you have to tube-feed more than twice, there is probably a reason why the cria is not getting up and nursing for itself and you should seek veterinary attention.

The author demonstrating one method to try and bottle-feed a newborn cria.

Having the cria in a cushed position with the feeder kneeling astride the cria allows immobilisation: crias can be very wriggly!

Note that you are NOT sitting on the cria!

Crias always need to be able to hold their heads up to be bottle or tube fed. A typical feed volume for a neonate is only 60-90ml, fed every 2 hours.

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 39

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40 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

For further information, pricing or advice, contact Claire on +44 (0)7769 271506 or email claire@ukalpacavet.com

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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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support.More information can be found on our website or please get in touch if you would like to arrange to visit our stud farm.

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ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 41

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RUTH & BELINDA

ALPACA IN MY HANDS, FLYING THE BRITISH FLAG, HAND-KNIT DESIGN , AND MORE… Belinda Harris-Reid

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RUTH & BELINDA

Let me begin at the beginning.

We are ‘Ruth and Belinda,’ recently named ‘the dynamic duo’ (March Issue of The Knitter) and also the ‘glitterati of the knitting world’ (Simply Knitting – January 2013). We design with thought and grace and instinct and with a meld of the knowledges and ideas that have been learned, given, watched and absorbed. We also put on shows.

I

believe that knitting is a craft/art that should be celebrated and promoted – but with that all important essential ingredient: quality. Ruth and I joined forces three years ago realising that our fundamental belief harmonized beautifully with each other; we wanted to promote good design and use quality products in the process. What I mean by this is designs that have good structure and form and materials (yarn) having provenance and excellence.

We have been developing hand-knit designs in Peruvian alpaca, Australian and British wool for the last two years but six months ago we came across the fabulous Chas and Rachel who are the directors of the mighty fine establishment: UK Alpaca Ltd. We were thrilled to have found them.

As of then we had not found a UK alpaca source that met with my exacting and rather over sensitive need for ‘softer than soft yarn’; commonly known as the ‘Belinda ooooo phenomena’ - it had become so important that softness and luxury were essential to our business ethos; the unique selling point of the Ruth and Belinda branding. We rather prided ourselves on the fact that our yarn was truly luxurious.

Finding a source of British alpaca was just what was needed to complete the picture. We had found excellent British alpaca and it was just so

super super soft (mixed with a teeny tiny bit of Bluefaced Leicester to keep the material robust).

And so on to the needles and in to my hands the yarn began to work its way into magical shapes that drape and clothe and sway and envelop.

Having the 'British' tag on our yarn gives me a deep feeling of satisfaction; home grown. It has all the eco-credentials that are so important to me and to the consumer; alpaca is soft, natural, biodegradable and sustainable (and of course no squeak, no scratch). The naturally renewable and environmental benefits of using this wonderful, warm and user-friendly commodity are selfapparent.

SO WHO ARE WE? Practically - We are designers in our own right and we have our own yarn range. We are branding partners for the Campaign for Wool. We were invited to knit a Union Flag on a train ride from King’s Cross to Edinburgh last year for Wool Week 2012 and also commissioned to design and knit the cushions for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations on the Thames.

We host national knitting events that send a call-out to the British public to knit - either for art or for charity events. And in real-time: we invite people to decorate a tree with knitted spaghetti, in honour of the great BBC 'spaghetti ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 43

RUTH & BELINDA

grows on trees' spoof of 1957, we invite people to write what they are thinking while they are knitting; ostensibly capturing the voice of the knitter, we host the big KNIT show, a trade and exchange of skills, fibre show, full of noise and bustle, music, cake and much camaraderie and selling, we invite people to knit a heart bag as an offering to a small child in need of support and care; a small gift of hope.

We are currently hosting ‘heartsease’ in collaboration with the UK Hand Knitting Association and Kids Company. We chatted to the infamous Camila Batmanghelidjh , hugged and drank tea – we dreamed of a way that knitters in the UK can extend love to the small children in the UK that are not cared for probably by knitting small heart bags. Heartsease continues until 2014 – we will present the 1000s of heart bags to Camila and her team on Valentine’s Day 2014.

Ethos - ‘Ruth and Belinda’ is a market place for knitters, not in the present ‘commerce only’ sense but as an exchange of ideas platform, a place in time where knitting past meets knitting future, a people place; full of sound, colour, melody, movement and the fertilization of good

We were commissioned to design and knit the cushions for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations on the Thames.

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ideas, knitting and otherwise. It grew out of our belief and practice that hand-knitting is not about experts, graphs, spreadsheets, or fashion houses, or hard/softwear, but is about dreams and hushed achievement, of nothing between the imagination and the needle-tips.

For this we need knowledge, freedom, conviction, yarn and bravery. Einstein said “imagination is more important than knowledge” – the juxtaposition of these concepts, imagination and knowledge, encapsulates the qualities required in a field such as hand-knit design. What can we make if we do not have the techniques and skills? And, what can we make if we cannot imagine it first?

WHERE CAN YOU FIND US, OUR DESIGNS AND OUR ALPACA YARN RANGE? On my needles; work in progress in every room of my house, strewn over my office desk... in magazines, on blogs, at trade/fibre shows, soon to be as a ready-to-wear collection entitled Just Belinda and of course on our website: www.ruthandbelinda.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 | Summer 2013 | 45

RUTH & BELINDA

THE ALPACA AND THE KNITTER

Ruth Morris

In the end, this story is all about the ancestors.

T

his is the conversation that all knitters should have with the yarn that they hold; to ask how this animal lived, who were its parents, grand parents and ancient antecedents, who looked after this herd, who thought about the minerals and the grass, who chose, in 1833, on the high steppes of somewhere, the animal with the most lustrous coat.

For me it is the fibre that sings first. Before the yarn, was the fibre, and the quality and qualities of this fibre are the beginning of every story we choose to tell as knitters. Each final garment is the final chapter of an epic that starts with the first animals that gave us fibres to work, the generations of husbandmen and women who bred, cared for and most all, noticed those characteristics of hardiness, healthiness and good coats.

As I design, the feel of the fibres in the yarn that is in my hand starts the narrative. Wool (from sheep) has body, resistance and depth; it is wool, and I love it as a 30% of the wonderful yarn from UK Alpaca that I am currently using.

Understanding the hair fibres, especially Alpaca, needs some translation from the old English.

Historically, in Britain, knitters have known and used all grades of wool, silk, cotton and linen, blended or singly. We know, and have in our textile vocabulary, the words and uses for the soft and lustre that is silk, the many forms of glowing linen, the crisp mercerised shine of cotton, and that literal staple wool, in all its forms from perky to lissom. Alpaca is a new and noble fibre to us as European knitters, and we have tended to treat it as if it were an extra special wool, doubly confused by our habit of calling all yarn ‘wool’. In the hands of a knitter, alpaca fibre is not, technically or behaviourally, woolly. In its pure form, unblended, we expect alpaca yarns for hand knitting to be soft, but this isn’t, to me, the defining quality for the knitter.

46 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

The structure of the knitted fabric is made up of deep loops, fixed by a corrugated weft construction, it has more unfixed points than woven fabric and therefore more depth, and movement. In yarn made from wool, hand knitting has the familiar ‘knitted woolly’ fabric feel; its tendency to felt or ‘meld’ and bounce back, feels familiar and comfortable. Hand knitted wool will hold cables proudly and needs persuasion in the form of stitch patterns to help it drape and fall. It maybe one of the reasons that Alpaca has been used for many years in woven cloth in Britain, but hardly at all in yarns for hand knitters, (it may also be that part of the exploding hand knitting market is now able and willing to pay for it).

If we, as hand knitting designers expect a straight translation from wool to alpaca, the garment will not tell a true story. We have always, as British textile designers, taken that classic format left to us by our knitting forbears, the cable, the lace and the ribbed and smooth, and added the exigencies of wear ability for each decade. So for me, and the fabric I make with Alpaca, the difference is the fall, the drape, the silkiness, and the ability to drop rather than pull up after washing. I like a blend of Alpaca and wool for this reason, the distance from my knitting ancestry in wool, and the high plateau of haughty Alpaca is bridged, and beautifully too.

Mary Thomas, In her Book of Knitting Patterns (1943) says that “ The best periods of Knitting have always occurred when yarn has been scarce or expensive, as the desire for better knowledge of the work is stimulated in order that the yarn need not be unduly wasted”.

As I write, a new consignment of the fine and airy yarn made from alpaca and wool that we call Stratus has arrived at the door, hank after hank nestling in the box, waiting for translation into glorious people coverings. Our knitting forbears are watching to see what we will make….

Each final garment is the final chapter of an epic that starts with the first animals that gave us fibres to work.

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ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 47

NATURAL FIBRE COMPANY

Douglas Bence writes about the re-birth of the Natural Fibre Company that he and Sue Blacker bought eight years ago and moved to Launceston in Cornwall.

it's only

NATURAL A

ll businesses follow the opportunities that arise in their markets, from the largest multinational to the smallest breeder.

When we took over the Natural Fibre Company in 2005, the business was largely driven by small sheep breeders who wanted their wool processed. While some customers might have thought the delivery times eccentric, the Wales-based business was fully professional and operated from an industrial unit.

It paid no rent and so was not encumbered with the full commercial pressures faced by its new owners who applied for Objective One funding and relocated the business in Cornwall.

Some people took a dimly pessimistic view and thought the incoming team would soldier on until the grants ran out and then quietly go bust.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH...

Although the new Natural Fibre Company was fiercely competitive from day one, industry experts thought it would also have difficulty attracting the qualified staff a high quality output would demand. Some potential shareholders sneered at it as a lifestyle business.

Neither view was correct, but the critics aired their prejudices again when worsted spinning was added to the available services in 2007.

They said much the same the year after when the dye plant went in. All those services under one roof – impossible, no one else does that.

Given that this last installation soared way over budget, we were inclined to agree!

But both additions to the Launceston mill allowed NFC first to follow the opportunities as they arose, and now to lead them. The

48 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

worsted spinning side operation is working flat out, while the dye plant, which for the first 18 months of its life seemed like a liability, has now reached the point where we are looking to increase its capacity.

Eight years from what was admittedly a shaky start NFC is just like any other business.

It needs to recognise change, accept it and move with the times to meet the new demands customers create.

Failure to do so means decline; look at the newspaper and magazine publishing industry today or the rust-bucket manufacturing operations that atrophied and disappeared through the 1980s. Many blame Margaret Thatcher, greedy trades unions or both.

While each of these played their part, lack of investment and bad management meant those industries were doomed anyway. The only imponderable was not if they would go, but when.

...THE TOUGH GET GOING At first we had no alpaca to process. Our opening customer base was inherited from the previous Welsh owners who were hampered as they had no facility for de-hairing. There had been insufficient demand for the processing of alpaca and no will or interest to increase it.

Another factor, of course, is that eight years ago there weren’t as many alpacas in the UK as there are now.

The results of our first alpaca production can only be described as ‘pretty average’, for both customer and processor. While we lacked the experience, the quality of the fibre we had was often poor, some of it so bad that it wouldn’t

go through the carding machine without the addition of a good portion of wool.

Our perseverance and customers’ patience paid off. We soon learned to spot potentially problematic fibre, saw how to get the best results from carding, experimented with de-hairing, made more use of the worsted plant and worked closely both with customers and prospective customers.

Our first spectacular success came with a 50-50 alpaca-Shetland blend, which produced a wonderful yarn. But people were suspicious of it as a hybrid and sales were desperately slow. Those that did buy it loved it and kept coming back asking for more. Unfortunately, commercial pressures mean we don’t produce it anymore.

Another success came from a blend of Castlemilk Moorit, silk and alpaca, but we no longer make this either, largely because we are able to source a higher quality Castlemilk fibre, which eliminates the need for alpaca.

While huacaya never proved to be too difficult, some of our competitors cannot manage suri at all – it’s just too smooth for satisfactory processing on small-scale equipment.

Sometimes we use alpaca to colour natural wool, particularly for organic yarns where up to 30% of non-organic fibre can be added without violating the Soil Association or GOTS guidelines.

Alpaca is not the perfect fibre, though, so our customers are learning to appreciate that it may not dye as well as wool. It is a source of irritation to them that lustrous woollen fibre, from sheep breeds like Cotswold, Teeswater or

NATURAL FIBRE COMPANY

Coloured alpaca fibre is more intense in colour than coloured wool because the fibre is smooth and reflects the light better than wool

Wensleydale, take dye better than alpaca.

The explanation is simple. Coloured alpaca fibre is more intense in colour than coloured wool because the fibre is smooth and reflects the light better than wool which, when seen under a microscope, far from being smooth is more like a crocodile skin – the antithesis of smooth. But lustre wools have greater light reflectivity than alpaca so dye colour brightness is increased After all the work and some meaningful input from customers, alpaca fibre now accounts for 25% of our monthly production run, and in some months is up to a third.

THE NEW BREED An industry that doesn’t change is one in decline, so the demands of the new young knitters who are making their presence felt in the market need to be heeded as well as welcomed.

We watch the market carefully and try to stay ahead by attending shows in the United States, H & H in Cologne and by tapping into the valuable thoughts of our ever-growing list of international stockists.

In the eight years since we took over the Natural Fibre Company, we have experimented with over 50 of the 65 breeds of sheep that thrive in the United Kingdom. One of our greatest successes, but not for knitting yarn, was with the threatened breed Devon & Cornwall Longwool whose lambs’ wool we use for garden twine. Very tough it is, too!

Another success was the small part we played in helping with the survival of the virtually extinct Boreray breed, which does produce a splendid yarn.

Experimentation continues as we blend various breeds or mixtures of breeds with alpaca, mohair, silk and vegetable fibre. At times the results are subtle and affect the way a garment sits on the wearer. Increased use of mohair has opened the potential for a mass of new colours because it takes up dye brilliantly; some breeds of sheep do not.

While there are exceptions, coarse, scratchy wool is a thing of the past; wonderfully soft worsted spun yarns are in. While new, inexperienced knitters like the psychological boost given by thicker wools that produce results faster, lighter weight yarns are selling in vast quantities. Buyers get so much more yarn in terms of length per ball or hank that these also appear to be better value.

Knitting yarn colours need to change not by year, but by season. The days of churning out the same old shades from one year to the next are long gone, thank goodness. A cynic might say that it isn’t the colours that are different, but the names. ‘Autumn dawn’ might well be yesterday’s bilous yellow, but it will be a different yellow, richer with a greater depth of colour.

DITCH THE DIRT While the environmental jury remains out on superwash, which might prove to be a passing fad, its existence in the market has had a positive effect, because it has addressed the prejudice of those who believed woollen or alpaca products shouldn’t be allowed near a washing machine.

Although some yarns are more inclined to felt than others, most woollen garments are fine in washing machines provided they are run on the

wool hand wash cycle. Garments can be washed repeatedly, and if they are knitted from quality yarn, they will last for years.

The ability of protein fibres to resist dirt and staining also means these items need washing less frequently, which has economic and environmental benefits.

The planet is now much smaller than it was in the days when Yorkshire ruled the world’s wool industry. China is a huge influence, not just as the world’s largest producer of wool, but also as a buyer, largely of Merino from Australia.

Many people in the industry take issue with Australia’s husbandry. In Germany, for example, Munich-based Rosie Green Yarns, whose products are spun by the Natural Fibre Company, source their Merino in the international market and get it largely from South America where its organic provenance is guaranteed.

For a long time Australia produced perhaps the most reliable alpaca breeding stock, but now as readers will know, most major breeders have a mixture of bloodlines that can be traced back to the United States and South America as well.

But the key to a successful future for alpaca yarns and higher prices is the quality of the fibre sent for processing. If we load crap into one end of the carding machine, it will still be crap when the slubbing rolls off at the other. Or to borrow a Yorkshire phrase: you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

We believe we getting higher quality and more cost effective production all the time, but the silk purse requires a bit more work, from us, our fibre producing customers and partners.

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 49

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.

50 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

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

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contact Mary-Jo +44 (0)118-984-3827 +44(0)771-875-0303 info@bozedown-alpacas.co.uk www.bozedown-alpacas.co.uk ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 51

FLEECE CLASSING

A CLASS ACT The Australian Alpaca Association has produced a new publication the Alpaca Fleece Classing Code of Practice which sets out to establish an industry standard for the preparation of fleece.

52 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

T

he purpose of the Code of Practice is to prepare alpaca fibre with a high degree of consistency to meet the diverse needs of processors so that it is a fibre that processors can use with confidence. It is hoped that it will maximise competition at sales in the international arena so as to increase the net return to Australian alpaca producers.

The Australian national herd is considerably larger than ours but this booklet makes interesting reading for breeders who want to skirt and class their own fleece.

FLEECE CLASSING

It also sets out the responsibilities of the alpaca breeder and refers to another document available on the AAA website - the Shearing Shed and PreClassing Code of Practice.

Cameron Holt writes in his introduction 'At the present stage of the industry, there still remains a sector of breeders whose herds display variety in colour and quality within their fibre harvest.

Quality variation is a primary factor adding to the difficulty of preparation of fibre, particularly where numbers within herds are small (alpaca fleece has considerable variation between animals, differing parts of the fleece and within a single staple). To become successful suppliers of alpaca fibre to the craft and textile industry, breeders must take the initiative to learn how to properly harvest and prepare their fibre on the farm.

Fibre characteristics that are important in processing alpaca are: • Huacaya: Uniformity in fibre type, Fineness/handle, Colour integrity, Length of staple, Tensile Strength, Lack of guard hair, Crimp structure, Brightness, Yield.

• Suri: Lustre, Fineness/handle, Colour integrity, Length of staple, Tensile strength, Lack of guard hair, Uniformity in fibre type, Yield.'

He points out that all these characteristics can be manipulated through husbandry, breeding and management procedures.

• 'Fibre type is determined by breed classification and genetic makeup.

• Fibre fineness (and uniformity) Handle (diameter/micron) is primarily determined by genetic makeup but is also influenced by

nutrition and health of the alpaca i.e. illness, stress etc.

• Colour is determined genetically. It is important to maintain colour consistency, particularly in pure colours such as white and black.

• Length is determined by genetics, nutrition and duration of fibre growth.

• Tensile strength is influenced by health, nutrition and environmental factors such as climate.

• Guard hair is determined genetically.

• Crimp/Lock style is determined by breed (Huacaya/Suri) and correct selection for breeding/genetics.

• Brightness/Lustre is determined genetically and correct selection for breeding/genetics.

• Yield is influenced by genetics, nutrition/ health, climate and duration of fibre growth.'

Breeders should reflect on the fact that shearing is the culmination of a year's work and that it is their responsibility to provide a clean shearing shed, good lighting, adequate labour and to present the animals in a shearable condition.

Cutting the grass in their fields just before you shear is not a good idea! Alpacas should be shorn light to dark and the quality of the clean up between animals and colours should ensure there is no contamination of the fleeces from other colours - an absolute no-no for the processor.

The aim of fibre preparation is to make lines of uniform grades of fibre or prepare a fleece for classing and the most efficient way to do this is at the time of shearing.

Snowmass Shearing.

Photo courtesy of Snowmass Alpacas

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 53

FLEECE CLASSING

Lustre for life

Cameron Holt describes the various areas of the fleece: 1. Lower leg - coarse, mostly hair-like fibre.

2. Belly - if similar may blend with good pieces, but if coarse in appearance and with guard hair should be placed in the next line (hairy pieces).

3. Apron - mostly highly medullated and coarse fibred. Always keep separate. Area may vary in size from animal to animal.

4. Neck - the fleece on the neck is normally similar to the saddle but is short in length. It is the shortness of length which requires it to be separated. In some cases some increases in coarse guard hair fibres may be found in this area.

5. Middle leg - usually good, slightly stronger fibre but in some animals may be very strong with guard hair in the britch area. Generally stronger in micron compared to the saddle/ blanket. In good fleece animals may be shorn with the saddle area.

6. Saddle or Prime blanket - this should be the balance of the fleece. May represent approximately 60% of the fleece but this figure is highly dependent to the overall evenness of the fleece. Some saddle/blanket areas may be 80% and some 40% of the total fleece cut.

7. Stains - all urine, dung, water stains, mud.

8. Vegetable matter - excessive vegetable matter contamination.

The Alpaca Fleece Classing Code of Practice is available on the AAA website and costs 33 Australian dollars, about ÂŁ22 plus postage.

54 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 55

LETTER FROM BELGIUM

LETTER FROM BELGIUM

Belinda White, our Belgian correspondent, describes her Spring diet of snowstorms, shearing and circuses.

T

his is wonderful; I am sitting here writing this at the beginning of June wearing a T shirt. I had given up hope of ever seeing a beautiful sunny day again and had the ominous feeling that we were going to finally come out of winter in time to slope off into autumn. On the 25th May just 30 km from here, there was a layer of snow that was sticking, granted it was on slightly higher ground, we only got the freezing sleet!

One of the knock on effects of the long winters over the last two years has been a change in our breeding policy. We normally start our matings on the 1st May so as to start birthing in theory at the beginning of April. In the past the grass has usually started growing by then and, even if it is not particularly warm the weather has not constantly been wet. This year we have put the start date back two weeks to try and increase the chances of clement weather. It has led to a bit of frustration on the part of the stud males who we had already moved into the big barn so as to start work. It has not been uncommon to have six of them standing in the manger so that they could get a better look at the girls as they came in and 56 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

out for feeding. Our line up of studs has been added to by the arrival of CJ Russian River from Emily Brown's farm in Switzerland.

Besides being a lovely male, I had the added bonus of the week before I collected him, three of his offspring won the Progeny class at the Swiss show. I don’t know which of us was more delighted, Emily or me. The journey to collect him was interesting to say the least. I left Belgium and travelled through France in good driving conditions. I arrived at the Swiss border as night fell, bought my motorway pass (obligatory) and crossed the border. Five minutes into Switzerland it started to snow, well actually it was a blizzard. It was pitch black by this stage, the very large snow flakes were lit up by the head lights and hitting the windscreen horizontally, the whole thing was very disorientating. I was tempted to pull over a few times but driving slowly in an ever increasing layer of snow I kept going. With a trailer on the back I was slower than the few cars that were out but most passed carefully with no fuss. Unfortunately not all did. There was a gentleman in a Porsche who thought that I was too slow, whizzes passed gesticulating at me and steamed off into the

The sound from the circus ring was in competition with that of the horse show and the public address and the alpacas, rabbits and cats were trapped in the middle.

LETTER FROM BELGIUM

night. Imagine my satisfaction when, two miles up the road I found the same car facing the wrong direction with one back wheel in a small ditch and the driver now gesticulating frantically at someone on the other end of the phone. There is a God! He wasn’t hurt by the way – well may be his pride. The rest of the trip was quite uneventful.

I arrived at Emily’s safely and the next day was bright sunshine and all clear roads. We made the return journey safely with the only complication being Swiss Customs. We had completed all the paper work and handed it to an agent the week before. This included route plans. What I didn’t know was that there are two border posts in Switzerland, the French and the German. It seems obvious now. Of course I went to the French one, walked around for ages before someone pointed out my mistake, directed me back on to the motorway and to the correct crossing. Very frustrating and I lost about two hours. Never mind, we made it back safely and Russian River travelled beautifully. He was very laid back about it all. He is now working enthusiastically so we are looking forwards to what he produces next year.

We had a happy two days at the Alpaca

Development show in Salbris, France at Easter.

The event was sadly missing one of its leading lights Marie-Geneviève Lion, who had been ill for some time and sadly died a few weeks before the event. I hope that she would have been pleased with the turn out and the way the show went. We certainly enjoyed it despite having battled the appalling traffic around Paris. Every time I go that direction in France I promise that the next time I will find an alternative route.

After the French show we went straight into shearing. Colin Ottery came over and we went right through the herd except for the animals that were intending to go to Brittany. Just as he was packing his bag Robin Hodge phoned to tell me that Brittany was off and he hoped that he had told me before Colin had finished. Alas no, but he tried. The rest of the herd were finished seven weeks later by Alain, an up and coming Belgian shearer. They got to keep their warm coats on a bit longer. Lucky them! Alain also sheared most of my client’s animals. As the weather was so bad most came to us and stayed in the barn for a week after as it was so cold and very, very wet. Needless to say, bio security measures in place. One of ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 57

LETTER FROM BELGIUM

these clients has a most unusual set up. He has a very large lorry/warehouse/office depot on an industrial estate near to us. Around the buildings and car park area there are six hectares of grass land plus the manicured lawns around the offices.

Over this terrain runs his small herd of nine adults, eight females, one male and two cria. They are very well looked after and in great condition.

They are also very secure. There is a three metre high razor wire topped fence around the whole site and security cameras and a night watchman.

It’s a pretty good life for the animals, the staff seem to enjoy having them around (except when they were sheared last year by someone else and everyone who works there is roped in – I don’t know if it’s in their contract) but, there has been a down side to it. Last year they held a board meeting for all the European business leaders.

It was apparently going very well when the discussion on a new multi million euro contract was disturbed by a strange noise. Looking out of the very large windows over the manicured lawns they saw the male mating with a female and orgling away to his hearts content. Forty minutes later he had finished but the meeting had been adjourned early for coffee and biscuits as no one could concentrate. The global world of business brought to a halt by the love life of an alpaca!

We regularly attend expos and presentations and usually they are a pleasant experience. This 58 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

year has been no different. One in our local town was particularly nice. Lots of people but not too many at one time so you were able to talk to them, other things to look at and a horse spectacular which, although it had lots of music, it was not too loud. A journalist was particularly interested in the animals and interviewed me. It was not an in depth article that she wanted so I explained the usual things, where they come from and why the fleece is so good. Monday evening I received my first phone call from a sheep breeding friend; “what’s this about alpacas pushing sheep out of the market”. I had no idea what he was talking about but another friend turned up soon after with the article.

HEADLINES: “BELINDA WHITE SAYS ALPACAS WILL TAKE OVER FROM SHEEP”.

Talk about being misquoted! The moral of the story, I think the term is reserve editorial rights.

While there we had an invitation to another expo being held in May. It was supposedly along the same lines, we were free that weekend so we said yes. What a difference. It was a purely money making venture for the organiser. Advertise lots of cuddly animals and get the punters in at eight euros a head. First, on arrival we found a circus caravan blocking the way. That was moved and we went into the hall. Our pen, which was a very good size, had no carpet on the floor as had been

The global world of business brought to a halt by the love life of an alpaca!

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Use Worksheets to perform multiple animal husbandry tasks at the same time and the Mating feature to define your own mating procedure and monitor mating progress.

You can also import data (such as shearing statistics or weight

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The trial does not expire; it simply limits you to five animals. Register at any time to remove this restriction for $USD250.00. Updates are provided free-of-charge 2-3 times per year.

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 59

LETTER FROM BELGIUM

Off I went to the car closely followed by my Ring Master friend. One last ditch attempt “I’ll swap you that llama for the little fawn alpaca.”

promised. The floor was smooth concrete so not safe for the animals. Fortunately we had a carpet in the van so that was put down with the straw on top. We brought the boys (we only ever take males) in and as we were settling them in the “Ring Master” came over. I want to buy two alpacas – wherever we go there is a circus! By the smell of his breath there had been a party the night before and he was still somewhat the worse for wear.

No, no, no, no we haven’t got any to sell.

But he was like a character from Little Britain “I want that one”. All day he was hovering around in the back ground. He was very pleasant BUT always there. Meanwhile the expo got underway.

As I said, our pen was a good size however its situation in the hall was not so good. We were sitting with the circus ring to our left , the horse spectacle directly in front of us, to our right was a lady with her cats and behind a breeder with his rabbits and pigeons. When the shows got underway the loudspeakers proved to be right next to us. I had them move them but the noise was terrible. The sound from the circus ring was in competition with that of the horse show and the public address and the alpacas, rabbits and cats were trapped in the middle. We did get them to reduce it a bit but not much. I sent my son off to find the organiser but he was nowhere to be seen. As I have said we only take males and only 60 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

animals that are used to people and strange places.

They were not happy but, safety in numbers and I think a trust in me they coped with the day. At the end I loaded them up, found the organiser in the bar with the Ring Master and told him that I would not be back next day. He was furious but I was insistent that the stress levels were too high for the animals, some of the rabbits had had to be put in the car to calm them down and I thought that the cats might not be back the next day either.

Even the fire eater from the circus said that it had been too noisy for him to concentrate properly – a worrying thought! The organiser had no say in the matter so off I went to the car closely followed by my Ring Master friend. One last ditch attempt “I’ll swap you that llama for the little fawn alpaca”.

The llama was in a cage rocking from side to side not looking happy. What a swap! No thanks and off I went.

When we got back it was if the alpacas breathed a sigh of relief, Home Sweet Home.

Has it put me off expos? no, but I will want to know a lot more about who is running them and how they are being run next time.

To finish with, one bit of exciting news here is that we have finally, after two years work got a Belgian design house interested in Belgian produced alpaca fibre. It’s early days yet but wouldn’t it be fantastic if it works out?

It’s a mobile home?

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ALPACA SHOW

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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

Following the success of previous shows the Yorkshire Alpaca Show, organised by enthusiastic members of YAG (Yorkshire Alpaca Group), returns to Thirsk Auction Mart on Saturday 12th October.

This Short Fleece Colour Championship show comprises of halter classes for both Huacaya and Suri alpacas and will be scrutinised by international judge Mary Jo Smith.

The YAG members welcome both breeders and public alike to this hugely popular show which commences at 9.30 a.m. Over 100 alpacas will compete under cover for rosettes and sashes in an event run under the rules and guidance of the BAS. There will be trade stands selling a wide range of alpaca goods and exhibitors will include the York & District Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. The BAS trailer will provide information and helpful advice for new and established alpaca owners and breeders.

NEW for 2013 is an Alpaca Photo competition and an Alpaca Agility Course!

For more details please contact the Show Organiser Christina Metcalfe on 01302 700880 / cmetcalfe06@hotmail.com or visit www.bas-uk.com

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 61

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UK Alpaca Ltd High quality fully worsted yarns made from the fleeces of alpacas bred in Britain and processed in the traditional way in the North of England.

Very competitive wholesale pricing for re-sellers and growers who sell their fleeces to UK Alpaca.

Machine knitting, weaving and hand knitting yarns available in various counts and colours.

All natural coloured yarns can be purchased on cone. Fleeces, tops, spinning waste and noil for stuffing for sale.

We buy fleece top price paid ÂŁ12 a kilo.

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 62 | Summer 2013 | ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 2013 | 63

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BREEDERS DIRECTORY

Alpaca World Magazine’s

BREEDERS DIRECTORY FRANCE

DERBYSHIRE

DORSET

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.

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.

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.

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.

ITALY

DEVON

Zarza Alpacas Hilary Shenton, Via Spunta 2, 06019 Umbertide (PG), Italy.

Tel: 00 39 320 822 7068 Email: hilary@zarza-alpacas.com Web: www.zarza-alpacas.com Premier alpaca breeders in Italy. All BAS registered pedigree stock. Alpacas for sale, stud services, full training and support.

Located Umbria with Associate breeders in Tuscany, San Marino, Marche, Trentino and Belluno.

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.

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.

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.

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.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 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. 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 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 | Summer 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.

SOMERSET 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.

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.

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STAFFORDSHIRE

WILTSHIRE

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.

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.

SUSSEX WEST 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.

WARWICKSHIRE 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.

YORKSHIRE 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.

PURE ALPACAS in conjunction with UNIQUE ALPACAS are proud to present

TWO FARMS – TWO STUDS – ONE VISION in

Shades Grey of

AWARD WINNING SURI MALE

AWARD WINNING HUACAYA MALE

PHOENIX’S DOBBY

WOLF STRIDER

FIBRE STATISTICS MICRON: 20.9, SD 4.4, CV 20.9, CF 96.8

FIBRE STATISTICS MICRON: 20.5, SD 4.1, CV 19.9, CF 97.0

ENQUIRE TODAY & INVEST IN THE FUTURE To discuss your requirements please contact

PURE ALPACAS

Telephone: 01452 780327 Mobile: 07789 257222 email: jay@purealpacas.co.uk

PURE ALPACAS Torsend House, Main Road, Tirley, Gloucestershire. GL19 4EU +44 (0) 1452 780327

www. purealpacas.co.uk

ALPACA WORLD MAGAZINE | Summer 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