Setting and achieving breeding goals

Amberly Alpacas was established in 2006 by BAS judge Roger Clarke and his wife Elaine, in Northern Ireland’s picturesque Clogher Valley. One of the core elements of the couple’s management practice is a dedicated and systematic approach to breeding for ongoing improvement and advancement, as Roger explains.

As we all know, there is no such thing as ‘the perfect alpaca’ and so, when talking about advancement, we are referring to the production of animals that reliably present themselves with and pass on desirable traits and characteristics. Characteristics that are representative of the alpaca breed standard and therefore, moving towards the ‘ideal’.

Whilst I appreciate that environmental and other factors can play a role; it is important to note that those aside, the physical expression of traits and characteristics (phenotype) displayed by an individual alpaca are strongly influenced and directed by the animal’s genetic make-up (genotype).

Therefore, as is the case with most things in life, successful alpaca breeding doesn’t just happen by chance. The best results are achieved when astute planning is involved. But how do you know what to plan for?

Planning

In answering this question, you need to have a clear idea of what your ‘end game’ is: what is it that you want to achieve? If breeding for advancement is your goal, then one of the main starting points is that of establishing a baseline. This involves the identification of where you are in terms of both a personal level of knowledge and experience, as well as an assessment of the level of quality conveyed by both your individual animals and your herd, as a whole.

In most cases, baselining through assessment will involve a study of the phenotypical traits (those traits that can be observed and/or measured) expressed by each alpaca, as well as any given knowledge based on heritability and/or the use of additional tools which may help to identify further aspects of their genetic potential. Depending on the objective, available tools may include: fibre testing, genetic colour testing and the use of estimated breeding values (EBVs).

It is therefore, the outcome of such assessments, that helps to identify the relevant strengths and areas for development within a herd and ultimately, the selection criteria necessary for setting and achieving your breeding goals.

Next steps

Whilst those of us who are breeding for advancement are all striving towards the production of the ideal alpaca, the reality is that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ and so; ongoing advances are best achieved when layers of improvement are attained and built upon year on year.

These layers are best achieved by prioritising your goals and by identifying a structured approach towards improvement. In essence, as we are all at different stages in our journey, the breeding goal that you set will depend greatly on what you want to improve first. Once this improvement has been reliably realised, then a further goal can be set and another layer of improvement achieved.

How to realise your goals?

Whilst we first set our goals in the abstract, there comes the time to make them a reality. This is where mating decisions come into play. It is important for us to use all of the information at our disposal in order to make mating decisions that will offer the greatest potential for achieving our goals.

In essence, we are utilising genetics to try and make the desired improvements in the phenotype and therefore, it is the phenotypic expression of desired traits (or those which we desire to improve upon), that should be used as selection criteria.

Put simply and as an example: if improving uniformity of micron is our goal, then we must identify and select unions using alpacas that have the genetic ability and reliability to pass this trait on and allow its expression in the phenotype.

With this in mind, mating plans are best approached on an individual basis. With males being selected for particular females and females selected for particular males, all based on the knowledge gleaned from your ongoing assessments.

Let’s illustrate with an example: Just because a male has done particularly well in the show ring, doesn’t mean that using him over your females will result in you achieving your set goals. The chances are that some level of improvement will be made but will it be in the areas that you had identified and set as a goal?

As with other livestock, there is no ‘one size fits all’ and so, it is really important to take a considered and individualised approach to all matings. It is also important to remember that the potential input from both the dam and the sire should be given equal weighting when it comes to planning.

Assessing outcomes

Whilst we can make all the best plans on paper, it isn’t until we put them into practice that we can really know whether or not they have been fruitful. As the old adage says; ‘the proof is in the progeny’ and for me, never a truer word has been spoken.

With that in mind, I firmly believe that the practice of self-reflection is another key element to achieving improvement and so, assessing the outcomes of your mating decisions is the natural next step in deciding your future direction and associated goals.

Did the outcomes work? Are improvements evident? If the answer to questions like these is yes, then you know that you’re on the right track. A layer of improvement has been achieved and you’re one step closer to achieving your ultimate goal.

In addition to this, whilst we are all guilty of wishing our lives away from one birthing season to the next, assessing the outcomes of our matings , i.e. the progeny, gives us an invaluable insight into the true genetic potential and level of heritability, presented by the parents. Information that should play an instrumental role in the planning of future unions.

Despite all of this and in the face of the very best planning and use of all the tools at our disposal, there will be times when the outcomes are not quite as we’d hoped or expected. Such occurrences happen to us all and are a reminder that nature itself will always have the last say.

In situations like this, I would always tend to take things back to the drawing board. What was the outcome? How did it fall short of the desired expectations? Remember…all knowledge is key and it is just as important to learn about what didn’t or doesn’t work as it is to establish what does.

The Holy grail

Regardless of your approach or what your aims or goals are, breeding alpacas is an incredibly addictive affair. For me there is nothing more exciting than the anticipation of what is to come. Every year that passes brings another layer of improvement and progress and as the layers stack up, we hope that we are that little bit closer towards our quest for the ideal.

Similarly, as breeding for improvement is an approach towards reliably producing animals that are conformationally sound and therefore, ‘fit to function’, as well as displaying all of the commercially desirable fibre traits, it’s important to note that this approach is just as pertinent for the fibre sector as it is to any other aspect of the industry, including showing and agri-tourism.

As we look to the year ahead, I wish each and every one of you a very successful birthing season and hope that your plans and future goals pan out as you’d hoped.