BAS courses

Education is at the heart of the package of membership benefits offered by the British Alpaca Society. The aim is to provide all members with the right opportunities to learn more about alpacas wherever they are in their alpaca journey, writes BAS CEO Duncan Pullar.

BAS offers many different types of educational events tailored to different levels of experience. Affiliate training

The first rung on the educational ladder is the training offered by BAS affiliates. This consists of 11 modules generally delivered over two days on the affiliate’s farm. They are a mixture of practical and classroom work covering: catching your alpaca, fitting a head collar, halter training, feeding and basic management, vaccination, worming and supplements, alpaca breeding, mating, birthing, shearing, what do to with fleece, and marketing your alpaca business

Most delegates on the affiliate course are in the early stages of alpaca ownership and prospective owners often take part to ensure they are ready for their alpacas when they arrive. In the past year six affiliates have delivered more than 50 days of training across the UK.

Introduction to Alpaca Assessment

The second rung on the ladder is the introduction to alpaca assessment. This is either a one day face to face course or a four session Zoom course on alpaca conformation and fibre. The course is suitable for owners who are interested in breeding and it covers basic conformation including teeth, stature, genitalia, legs, gait and body scoring.

The fleece element includes how to recognise the different qualities and traits of fibre including weight and value, fineness, density, crimp, uniformity, length, colour, amplitude and frequency and an introduction to analysis histograms. There are practical opportunities to assess fleeces and discuss the merits of different qualities and styles.

Over the past 18 months we have run this course four times as four two hour webinar sessions with samples posted to each delegate. The four sessions are delivered in the evening at weekly intervals. Previously the course would be put on about six times a year at various venues around the country with about 12 delegates attending each meeting. Often these courses will be organised by local regional groups offering an opportunity for local breeders to meet their alpaca owning neighbours.

Intermediate and Advanced Alpaca Assessment

Intermediate Alpaca Assessment is where training starts to get serious. This is a three day course assessing alpaca conformation and fleece. The course is a comprehensive package in basic alpaca assessment and applicable to all, as well as being a prerequisite for those wishing to enter BAS judge training. The advanced course builds on the knowledge gained on the intermediate course and includes a great deal of practical work examining and assessing conformation and fleece with an exam at the end of each course.

We have run two intermediate courses and one advanced course this year despite Covid-19 restrictions and there is now a good pool of BAS members ready for the next step on the ladder if they wish.

Judge training

BAS offers judge training to ensure a continued supply of judges and to keep judging standards high and consistent. There are two stages to training; Stage 1 concentrates on training in the assessment of alpacas using the comparative method for halter and the absolute method for fleece and is essentially a practical course. Candidates must have successfully completed the Advanced Alpaca Assessment Course to attend.

Stage 2 is only open to those who have passed Alpaca Judge Stage 1 within the previous three years. It is a largely practical course, building on the skills achieved at Stage 1. Candidates who pass stage 2 can then do apprenticeships with a BAS qualified judge at four BAS approved shows. Apprenticeships are a combination of shadowing a qualified judge and putting assessment skills into practice at shows. After successfully completing apprenticeships the final stage is certification.

Ongoing training

Over the past two years BAS and regional BAS groups have presented Zoom Webinars on a range of subjects. The format has worked very well with 50 to 80 members in attendance during the livestream. Most webinars are recorded and some have had more than 100 views on YouTube. As webinars are a member benefit the videos are not searchable on YouTube but any member can ask for the link or find it in the members area of the website. Topics we have covered include birthing, Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs), business diversification, fleece analysis, show ring preparation, parasites and many more and it is a format that is set to continue this year.