Alpaca Everything you need to know about alpacas
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Alpaca
CONTENTS
The British Alpaca Society c/o Grassroots Systems Ltd, PO Box 251, Exeter EX2 8WX. Tel (within UK): 0845 3312468 Tel (overseas): +44(0)1392 437788 Fax: +44(0)1392 437788 Email: info@bas-uk.com Website: www.bas-uk.com
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The British Alpaca Society What are alpacas? Frequently asked questions Keeping and caring for alpacas Show calendar Celebrating the BAS National Show A journey into judging An ethical brand Sheer hard work Success with fibre A relationship of trust and respect A leap forward for Suris
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Alpaca magazine is published by Evegate Publishing Ltd Address: PO Box 229, HYTHE, CT21 4WY Tel: 01303 233880 Calls may be monitored or recorded Web: www.evegatepublishing.co.uk The publisher does not accept any responsibility for the content of advertisements or contributed editorial in this magazine. Opinions expressed editorially are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher and no responsibility is accepted for loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of opinions, advice or comment. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission. © 1994-2020 BAS
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elcome to the Alpaca Yearbook 2020. It’s been another great year for UK alpacas. Interest in these attractive animals as pets and alternative livestock enterprises continues with no signs of a slowdown. The outstanding quality of alpacas exhibited at the BAS National Show, as well as the many regional shows throughout the year, is testament to the hard work by breeders throughout the year to produce top quality UK alpacas which are the best in Europe. In her feature BAS judge Mary-Jo Smith, from Bozedown Alpacas, one of the UK’s oldest herds, outlines how breeders have improved the quality of Suri alpacas since they were first imported from Peru. Selective breeding has produced animals with the characteristic long, wavy locks and high lustre fleece seen in these eye catching alpacas. Gary Sanders from Popham Alpacas shares his breeding expertise with a feature on breeding spotted Appaloosa alpacas and BAS qualified judge Roger Clarke from Amberly Alpacas offers an insight into judging. As well as breeding and showing there are many other reasons why keeping alpacas is so rewarding and the stories in this issue of the BAS Yearbook show that owning these fascinating animals can be potentially life changing. In their feature Tom and Wendy Scott explain how they came to swop the bright lights of the
city for Cornwall’s dark skies, college leaver George Morgan explains how he became a full time breeder at Usk Valley Alpacas after work experience in Australia and Drew Thomas, author and former circus ringmaster, reveals how keeping alpacas has fulfilled a long held dream and given life a purpose. For former paramedic and trained counsellor Victoria Barrett keeping alpacas has allowed her to help others turn around their lives through camelid assisted therapy. Alpaca health and welfare also feature in the Yearbook with a guide to raising calm, confident alpacas from Linda Mackintosh, Redens Alpacas and management advice from our dedicated alpaca owner. Allen Muriel shares his own route into shearing and Libby Henson explains how she set up Grassroots – the company that manages the BAS pedigree registry. There is of course fibre, a reason for many people, including BAS Board member Val Fullerlove to start a life long learning journey or business venture. Catherine Price Williams from Ted and Bessie outlines the ethical advantages of alpaca fibre and Doug Steen, Teesdale Alpacas takes a look at successful marketing. I hope there is something of interest in the Yearbook wherever you are on your alpaca journey and if you are thinking about keeping alpacas who knows maybe this time next year a decision to own alpacas may have changed your life.
COVER PHOTO: Redens Vogue ISSN 1462-3242
Alpaca Yearbook 2020
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THE BRITISH ALPACA SOCIETY Dedicated to the welfare of alpacas and the education of their owners in the UK.
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he British Alpaca Society (BAS) currently has 1,500 members representing almost 35,000 alpacas spread in various densities all the way from Lands End to John O’Groats. As well as providing information and support to its members, one of the organisation’s most important functions is maintaining a pedigree registry for all alpacas in the UK national herd and a European directory for all BAS registered alpacas domiciled in Europe. The alpaca industry is at an exciting stage of development and the BAS is working hard to support its members in their initiatives – both in the UK and Europe. By joining the Society you become part of a national community, dedicated to all things alpaca. Membership offers knowledge, networking and support to help you protect your investment and work towards your own alpaca aspiration.
Regional groups The British Alpaca Society supports a national network of regional alpaca groups who meet on a regular basis to share experiences and knowledge, organise events and talk about the alpaca. The autonomous groups provide an invaluable forum for sharing expertise through workshops, lectures at shows and related alpaca events, with the emphasis on self-help, accessibility and local initiative. Whether you are an owner, a prospective owner, or just interested in these fascinating animals, then your regional group will always make you welcome.
Website The BAS website is a one stop educational resource containing detailed information on the alpaca, the membership and the Society. The BAS also has its own Facebook page which it uses to keep members updated on news and the latest information on events and shows.
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Alpaca Yearbook 2020
Alpaca magazine
Alpaca Everything you need to know a bout alpacas
The BAS provides its membership with an informative quarterly magazine dealing with all aspects of alpaca ownership. The editorial content is applicable to the aspirant, beginner and established breeder within the UK and Europe. The BAS also provides its members with regular electronic information updates.
2019
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British Alpaca Society The fibre breed
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Education and training
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The BAS, through its regional representatives on the national Education Committee, provides members with a range of educational courses on alpaca assessment, advanced alpaca assessment, alpaca fibre and processing for breeders. Through its comprehensive BAS judge training scheme, it provides the UK industry with certified qualified judges to support the show circuits and through its training and Recertification programme, it maintains the standard and consistency of alpaca judging in the UK. Its National Fibre Committee provides members with information on shearing, skirting, sorting and processing alpaca fibre, keeping them up to date with all developments within the alpaca fibre marketplace.
Alpaca welfare The BAS is dedicated to the welfare of alpacas. It facilitates training and education dvd’s and documents to aid husbandry and care of alpacas and is involved in all facets of government liaison regarding disease monitoring and exports. The BAS have emergency contacts for welfare issues and support members who have husbandry related questions or need help.
Showing The BAS’ national Show Committee supports a programme of BAS accredited halter and fleece shows throughout the length and breadth of the British Isles. Not only do these shows provide a showcase and learning experience for the general public, they also play a major part in educating and informing alpaca breeders throughout the UK.
Membership fees Single membership – £74 per annum Joint membership – £95 per annum Herd registration fee – £25
www.bas-uk.com
WHAT ARE ALPACAS? › Alpacas in Andes Mountains, Peru, South America
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lpacas originate from the Altiplano (Spanish for high plain) in west-central South America. Spanning the borders of Peru, Chile and Bolivia, this area of the Andes averages an altitude of nearly 4000m. Alpacas are one of the camelid species, closely related to the llama. There are four species of South American camelid – Llamas (Lama glama) and alpacas (Vicugna pacos) are domesticated and vicuna (Vicugna vicugna) and guanaco (Lama guanicoe) remain wild and are protected species. All four are found mainly in Peru in the Andes, with smaller numbers in Chile and Bolivia. It is believed that the alpaca and the llama were domesticated from the wild species vicuna and guanaco over 6000 years ago. The alpaca was developed primarily as a fleece producing animal with meat as a secondary product.
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Alpaca Yearbook 2020
The llama was developed primarily as a pack animal and has the ability to carry about 25kg of weight on its back and travel 10-12 miles per day, up and down the mountains of the Andes. There are two types of alpaca: • Huacaya (pronounced wa-ky-ya); • Suri. A huacaya’s fibre grows vertically out of the skin in small bundles with a tight crimped wave, giving it a ‘Teddy Bear’ look. Huacaya fibre lends itself to the woollen process of manufacture. A suri’s fibre grows out of the skin in bundles/locks without any crimped wave. The locks twist and hang down along the flank, giving an appearance much like a Wensleydale sheep. At its best, suri fibre is akin to silk and lends itself to the worsted process of manufacture. It is seeing increasing use in men’s suiting and coats.
History of the industry Information gleaned from the mummified remains of ritually sacrificed alpacas and humans in the high Andes indicate that by the time of the European conquest of Peru, the alpaca produced some of the finest fibre and textiles ever known to man. When the Spanish invaded Peru in 1532, there were 10 million indigenous people living in the Andes. Fifty years later there were one million. The Spanish Conquistadors did not understand the alpaca and after eating what they needed, they pushed it higher into the Andes and moved their cattle and sheep onto the grazing land. This, coupled with the displacement and loss of so many people to work the mountains, quickly destroyed the sophisticated breeding programmes of the Inca. The alpaca herds were decimated in numbers and quality in favour and became a subsistence livestock animal for the indigenous peoples of the Andes.
Exporting alpacas Around 1945 English spinning mills were established in Arequipa and began working closely with the fibre that was being produced in the Andes. The Peruvian government started to support programmes to get the alpaca back to its pre-Conquest quality, however, progress was impeded until quite recently by successive and continuous political upheaval in Peru. The exports of alpacas from South America to the USA and Australia began around 1990. Exports to the UK began in approximately 1996 when some large shipments were imported from Chile. Subsequent shipments were exported from Peru and nowadays small select shipments of alpaca genetics are imported from several sources around the globe. There are currently thought to be more than three million alpacas in South America and they are also being successfully bred in North America, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, South Africa, China, as well as all the European countries.
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Why keep alpacas? In the UK alpacas are currently filling a niche market. For the majority they are giving owners with small acreages the ability to trade and earn income from their land and be part of a thriving community of people with similar interests. There are a number of ways of making money from alpacas but one that is increasing in popularity is fibre production. Attracted by the softness of the fine yarns and the abundance of shades in natural undyed colours, the modern world is embracing alpaca with a passion. As breeders worldwide return the alpaca to its pre-Conquest quality, the potential for this fledgling industry becomes more apparent with each breeding season. Excitingly in the UK, alongside a very sophisticated breeding industry, a vibrant marketplace for alpaca fibre is emerging. British Alpaca Society (BAS) members are making and selling all kinds of alpaca products, ranging from insoles for boots and wellingtons with coarser fibre, to babywear and exclusive luxury fashion items at the other extreme. The BAS, through its National Fibre Committee, provides a national focus through which the membership can advance their initiatives towards the creation of a viable commercial market for alpaca fibre and products in the UK.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS › Alpaca Evolution
How can you make money from alpacas? Fibre Attracted by the softness of the fine yarns and the abundance of shades in natural undyed colours, the modern world is embracing alpaca with a passion. As breeders worldwide return the alpaca to its pre-Conquest quality, the potential for this fledgling industry becomes more apparent with each breeding season. Excitingly in the UK, alongside a very sophisticated breeding industry, a vibrant marketplace for alpaca fibre is emerging. British Alpaca Society (BAS) members are making and selling all kinds of alpaca products, ranging from duvets and pillows to insoles for boots and wellingtons with coarser fibre, to babywear and exclusive luxury fashion items at the other extreme using the finest fibre. The BAS, through its National Fibre Committee, provides a national focus through which the membership can advance their initiatives towards the creation of a viable commercial market for alpaca fibre and products in the UK.
Breeding stock The UK is a stud stock industry and breeders can make money from selling stock in the UK and abroad for some time before we have enough alpacas to satisfy commercial demand for fibre. This is in contrast to some alternative farming enterprises that had not focused on the end product until they had gone through boom and bust cycles. The alpaca industry is very aware that for its long term success alpaca must produce a viable and profitable end product. We are committed to becoming a fibre industry. Additional sources of income for alpaca owners include stud servicing, the sale of raw and value added fibre, tourism, training and craft courses.
Meeting the public Many owners invite members of the public on to their properties to meet their alpacas and increasing numbers have introduced trekking experiences so visitors can take an alpaca for a stroll on a halter from 30 minutes to a couple of hours.
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Alpaca Yearbook 2020
How long do alpacas live? Alpacas have a lifespan of about 20 years.
How big are they? Alpacas stand about one metre tall at the withers (the highest part of the animal’s back). Cria, the young, weigh between 6-10kg at birth. Adult females weigh between 60-80kg, some males can be slightly larger.
Do they get many illnesses? Alpacas are hardy and relatively problem free. However, like all livestock they can suffer from various diseases and may at times require veterinary treatment. They require vaccinations yearly and also regular worming.
Are alpacas difficult to breed? Alpacas are induced ovulators and therefore can be bred at any time, although planning for spring births is preferable. The females are generally remated two to six weeks after the birth. Males become fertile at about 18 months to three years. To ensure successful breeding programmes, only the most outstanding males, in terms of soundness and fleece quality should be kept back for stud work.
How long is their gestation and when do you wean? Alpacas have a gestation of about 11 months, but this can vary. They give birth to a cria (young animal) that weighs about 6-8kg. Female alpacas tend to give birth in the morning. They rarely have twins but, if they do, it is unusual for the cria to survive. The cria is weaned at about six months of age.
Do they need special shelter or fencing? Alpacas do benefit from a field shelter, large enough to house all of the alpacas in the field, to allow them to get out of the rain or hot sun. Alpacas do not challenge fences and so a 1.2m high barrier is adequate. Barbed wire should be removed because their fibre can get tangled in it and they can become trapped.
Do they affect the pasture? Alpacas are very gentle on the land because they have padded feet and therefore do not churn up the ground. They deposit their droppings in piles in only a few sites and cleaning up is easier than for other animals.
What do they eat? Alpacas are semi-ruminants, surviving happily on grass throughout the year. Hay must be provided on an ad-lib basis all year round – particularly in the winter. Most owners provide a low protein supplementary feed which usually includes additional minerals and nutrients. A grazing regime of between three to five per acre is usual, but will depend on your conditions, the season and soil type. The ideal stocking rate is one that keeps average grass height at 6-8cm without areas going to seed.
other. Some will kick when being touched on their back legs but, if handled when young, they can be desensitised in this area. Alpacas only have lower teeth which meet on a hard upper pad. They don’t tend to bite, but sometimes pull at clothing to attract attention!
How often do they need shearing? Alpacas need shearing once a year, although suris (a particular type) are sometimes sheared every other year. On average, a fleece will weigh between 2.5kg but some alpacas have the potential to produce up to 5kg.
What colours can alpacas be? There are 22 recognised fleece colours ranging from white to fawns to browns to black, there are also greys and rose greys. They generally stay the colour they are at birth throughout life.
How are alpacas transported?
Do alpacas make good pets?
Alpacas are easy to transport in any covered trailer or horse box. They tend to sit down on the journey and don’t need to be restrained.
Alpacas make excellent pets. They are intelligent, easily trained and are usually very gentle with children. They are inquisitive, approaching people who stand and watch them. They will eat out of the hand if time is spent and training to lead by a halter is straightforward.
Can alpacas be kept on their own? No, alpacas are a herd animal and will become stressed if kept alone even for short periods. They should be kept in groups of three or more. Alpacas can be run with other animals such as goats and sheep and provide good protection from foxes.
Are alpacas easy to handle? Alpacas are gentle and easy to handle. They can be halter trained very easily, especially if you start when they are young. They occasionally spit but only when provoked and then usually at each
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KEEPING AND CARING FOR ALPACAS
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lpacas are well suited to being kept in the UK. Their inquisitive nature and lack of shyness towards humans make them a delightful addition to any smallholding, and they can be kept alongside sheep, goats, cattle and horses. They can also form the basis of successful larger-scale farming enterprises. This article will give an overview of the care and management of alpacas. Overall, it is straightforward to keep alpacas. However, responsible ownership means doing your homework, honestly assessing whether alpacas are for you, and continuing to learn as much as you can about these lovely creatures. You will find the alpaca community very supportive of new owners or those considering ownership – so never hesitate to ask for advice.
Housing and feeding alpacas Alpacas are herd animals, and always require at least two other alpacas as companions. They are grazing animals and, therefore, need pasture. As a rule of thumb, one acre of good quality pasture will support four alpacas. Pasture care includes periodic fertilising, weed control, and carefully checking for, and removing, any poisonous plants. In addition to the grass available on the pasture, your alpacas will require some additional feeds: A daily mineral and vitamin supplement, such as Camelibra. Dark coloured alpacas also benefit from additional Vitamin D during the winter months. Hay or haylage should always be on offer during the times of year when grass quality is poor. This includes the period from late autumn to spring (roughly September to April), and during other very wet or dry periods. Some owners prefer to offer hay or haylage all year round. Female alpacas that are in late pregnancy or nursing a cria, and
10 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
› Photo: Alpaca Evolution
An introduction by Karin Mueller MRCVS.
growing youngsters, will require some concentrate or ‘hard’ feed to give them additional protein and energy. There is a good choice of feeds specially formulated for them. Never give alpacas horse, pig or cattle feed, as it contains too much copper. Alpacas are hardy and, in the UK, are typically grazed all year round without housing in winter. They do, however, struggle with the combination of rain, cold and wind, and always should have shelter from inclement weather. Dense hedges, stone walls, field shelters and windbreak netting are beneficial. For shelters, allow at least 1.5 square metres per adult alpaca, and 1 square metre per cria. A shelter or small barn also comes in very handy for nursing the occasional sick patient or, in a breeding herd, for providing protection for newborns. Some bedding (straw, paper or similar) comes in handy for these situations. The pasture needs adequate fencing, and it is worthwhile to put some thought into the fencing itself and the general lay-out of the paddocks. Visit other herds to get ideas and tips. Although capable of jumping over considerable heights, alpacas typically respect a 4-foot (1.2 metre) high fence. Entire males and females should always be kept a good distance apart. This will prevent fighting amongst
About the author
Karin Mueller is a large animal veterinary surgeon with years of experience in alpaca and llama medicine. She runs the Camelidworkshop (www.camelidworkshop.com) and can be contacted on: karin@camelidworkshop.com
males or males trying to jump fences to join females. Fencing can be made from closely spaced post-and-rail or tension wires, as well as sheep wire netting (NOT barbed) with an additional wire or rail to add some height. Electrified fences are not suitable for alpacas: they may become entangled in the tape or netting, and they often do not respond to the electric jolt because of their thick fleeces. Also give some thought to the perimeter fence, whose main function is to keep predators (including dogs) and wild animals away from your fields. Some breeders do use an electrified perimeter fence to deter badgers – which are hosts for TB and therefore best kept apart from alpacas. Lastly, consider how you will provide water for your alpacas. They will each drink around 3 litres (6 pints) every day under normal circumstances, but this can rise to 8-10 litres (16-20 pints) on very warm days. Connecting a water trough to a mains supply is the neatest option, but many owners successfully manage with a reservoir and bucket system. Always keep the water and the troughs or buckets very clean to encourage your alpacas to drink sufficiently.
Handling alpacas A group of alpacas in the pasture can be rounded up readily by two people, walking behind them with outstretched arms or a lunging rein or similar stretched between them. To catch an individual animal, a few animals are guided into a catch-pen made from hurdles (side length of 1.8 to 2.4 metres or 6-8 feet). Alpacas get used to a halter quite happily with a little patience. Many owners are achieving excellent results with training techniques such as Cameliddynamics, Tellington Touch, or Clicker Training. The main defence mechanisms that they may use against humans are kicking (a sharp backward kick with their back legs) and spitting. However, it is uncommon to encounter these if they are handled calmly and quietly.
Routine husbandry tasks Shearing is carried out in May or early June. Huacayas are shorn every year, and Suris every one to two years. Alpacas are commonly tied-out for shearing, ensuring a speedy process with minimum risk of injury. There is a good network of shearers with alpaca experience, but early booking is recommended. Alpacas require periodical trimming of their toe nails (usually two to four times a year). This task can be readily learned from an experienced breeder and with some practice, or you can utilise the services offered by many fellow alpaca owners. Learning how to assess the body condition of your alpacas is invaluable. It allows you to check every few weeks whether the nutrition is on track, with no animal getting either too fat or too thin. While the alpaca is being handled, it is useful to have a quick feel along the jaw line for any swellings. Alpacas should always be vaccinated against the clostridial diseases, such as tetanus and blackleg. After an initial course of two injections a few weeks apart, boosters are given every six to twelve months. Your veterinary surgeon will be able to advise on the best product to use and can administer the vaccine, but you can equally learn how to give injections yourself. Finally, you need to consider controlling worms in your animals. Every herd is different with regard to types and numbers of parasites present. Based on dung samples, your vet will be able to devise the best control regime with you.
Health and disease aspects In general, alpacas are hardy animals and appear to be resilient to several diseases common in horses or farm animals. However, they are stoic, which is not always to their advantage, as an alpaca can Continued on the next page ď„
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 11
be quite ill before it will show any signs. As an astute owner, you will get to know your animals well, and should always seek prompt veterinary advice if you think one of them is behaving somewhat abnormally. Internal parasites do affect alpacas, but a good worming programme as discussed previously will control the problem. Some animals may suffer from skin parasites, in particular mange. Drugs are available to treat this condition. In some years, fly-strike may be a problem, especially in animals not yet shorn. Warning signs include staining of the fleece and an animal trying to nibble its flank. Drugs are available both for preventing fly-strike during risk periods and for treating affected alpacas. Occasionally, jaw or tooth abscesses are seen. Prompt detection and treatment ensure reasonable cure rates. Disease conditions of feet are very rare in alpacas, even when grazing muddy pastures. While individual animals may occasionally be affected by conditions such as enteritis, it is rare to see ‘disease storms’ in alpacas (where several animals in a group are affected over a short period of time). Because of their stoic nature, finding the cause of a problem is not always straightforward. Further diagnostic aids, such as a blood sample or ultrasound examination, may be used by your vet to pinpoint the problem and are immensely valuable.
Breeding alpacas Alpacas are fertile all year round, although most breeders prefer to time birthings for the warmer months, ie, Easter to September. The female is pregnant for 11.5 months, on average. She usually gives birth to a single young, with live twins being rare. Birthing is unproblematic in the majority of females, but should always be supervised in case of a complication. The most important aspect of ensuring the newborn cria has a good start into life is to make sure it receives enough ‘colostrum’. This is the first milk, rich with nutrients and, importantly, antibodies to boost the cria’s immune-system. It’s good practice to regularly weigh cria in their first weeks of life to check that they are receiving sufficient milk. In the UK, most breeders hand-mate, ie, the male is introduced to the female one to one in a small enclosure. If the female is receptive, she will sit down (or ‘cush’) and mating takes place in the cushed position. When starting out, it is not necessary to purchase a stud male, as
12 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
many fellow breeders offer mating services. For this, either the male travels to your female, or your female visits the male’s farm for mating. Biosecurity is important to reduce the risk of disease transfer during these get-togethers of alpacas from different herds, and advice on this is readily available from BAS or your vet.
Equipment starter-kit • Pasture with a suitable fence; • Water trough or buckets; • Feed trough or buckets; • Hay and bags, nets or racks to feed from; • Halters and lead ropes; • A lunging rein or similar to round up a group in the field; • A set of hurdles to make a catch-pen; • Toe-nail clippers; • Coat /rug (not absolutely essential, but nice to have for an animal feeling unwell). If you are planning a breeding herd, some other items will become vital. If you do not have your own animal transport, do consider how to arrange transport if ever needed (for example, make arrangements with a neighbouring farm, or a horse or livestock haulier).
Further information • Llamas and Alpacas: A Guide to Management, by Gina Bromage (Crowood Press, 2006). A good introductory read, written by a British vet. • Alpacapedia pages on the webpage of the British Alpaca Society (www.bas-uk.com). • Good information on safeguarding welfare can be found on the webpages of DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; www.gov.uk/topic/keeping-farmed-animals/ animal-welfare). The 5-Freedoms are explained here, as well as your obligations as an animal owner. With good tips on special situations, like cold winters or transporting your animals. There is a welfare guide specifically for alpacas, published by BAS (www.bas-uk.com), and reading through the one for sheep, for example, will also give you ideas and tips (www.gov.uk/guidance/sheep-and-goat-welfare). • Hands-on introduction days offered by many breeders across the country. A day well worth spending to get up close and personal with alpacas and decide whether they are right for you.
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Premier Camelid Drench,Premier Mineral Supplement Premier Mineral Bucket & Premier Vitamin A,D3,E paste + used by Premier Breeders and Premier Judges Contact Jonathan Guy T : 01886 880482 M : 07866 607466 E : jganimalhealth@aol.com W : www.jganimalhealth.com Alpaca Yearbook 2020 13
SHOW CALENDAR MARCH
3 May
28-30 August
North Somerset Show Bathing Pond Fields, Wraxall BS48 1NE
Australian National Alpaca Show Melbourne Showground
21-23 May
13-15 March American Alpaca Owners Association National Show Fort Wayne, Indiana
27-29 March BAS National Show The International Centre, Telford, TF3 4JH
27-28 March BAS National Fleece The International Centre, Telford, TF3 4JH
Devon County Show Clyst St Mary, Exeter, Devon, EX5 1DJ
25 May Northumberland County Show Bywell Hall, Stocksfield NE43 7AB
28-30 May SWAG Show at the Royal Bath and West Show The Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 6AQ
SEPT 14 September Westmorland Show Lane Farm, Milnthorpe, Cumbria LA7 7NH
19-20 September SWAG at Sommerset Halter
OCT JUNE
APRIL
4 October Heart of England Autumn Fleece Show
12-14 June
3-14 April Sydney Royal Alpaca Show Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
4 April NWAG Alpaca Championships
Royal Three Counties Show incl Halter Fleece and craft show The Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire WR13 6NW
10 October Welsh Show
18 October Eastern Region Halter
24 October Yorkshire Group Show
17-19 April Heart of England Spring Alpaca Fiesta Bury Farm Equestrian Centre, Slapton, Buckinghamshire LU7 9BT
25 April Scottish Alpaca Championships
AUG
NOV
5 August North Devon County Show Umberleigh Barton Farm, EX37 9DX
8 August
MAY
Ellingham & Ringwood Show Somerley Park, Hampshire BH24 3PL
2-3 May
Eastern Alpaca Group Fleece Show
South of England Spring Show South of England Showground, Ardingly, West Sussex RH17 6TL
North Devon County Show Umberleigh Barton Farm, EX37 9DX
15-16 August 5 August
7 November West Shires Halter
DEC 6 December Northern Fleece Show
CEO NOTES... Duncan Pullar
How was 2019 for you? I had a look at the Met Office statistics and interestingly for most of the country the summer (June, July and August) rainfall and sunshine were very close to the 30-year average. Temperature was the main difference with an all-round 1 to 1.5°C higher temperature compared to the long-term average. Within that generally warmer situation there were some high temperature records broken, with 38.7°C recorded near Cambridge. But how things changed in the autumn with very wet conditions across northern England leading to flooding but significantly drier weather in the west of Scotland.
14 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
The point of discussing weather is that it has an impact on alpacas and alpaca owners. So, it might be a good time to have a review of what worked on your holding and what didn’t in case we get a repeat performance next year. The kind of thing I am thinking about is the provision of shade, shelter from rain, plan if a field is going to flood, feeding arrangements if grass runs out, shearing time and probably many more. Planning ahead and thinking about what you might do if extreme weather events happen can help take the stress out of a situation if, or when, it arrives for you and your alpacas. Here’s to a predictable weather year with nothing too extreme!
Champion Black Alpacas Worldwide MARQUEZ NICHOLAS OF BLACKBERRY
Australian AAA National Champion Black Male and Supreme Black 2018 and 2019. Nicholas who is the son of Windsong Valley Firedragon, of EP Cambridge, has been tipped as one of the most important and influential black males currently in Australia.
BLACKBERRY JACKKNIFE
8 times UK Champion as well as BAS National Black Champion Male 2018.
HAYLILLA INTUITION OF BLACKBERRY
AAA National Champion Fawn Male, Supreme Fawn and Champion Intermediate 2018. To add to his accolades he has also won Supreme Fawn and Grand Champion at the Melbourne Royal Show. Intuition is out of a prestigious line of Blue Blacks.
Canchones fine black alpaca
The Canchones herd, jointly owned by Blackberry Alpacas and EP Cambridge, are offering pregnant females to select breeders worldwide, mated to Nicholas, Intuition as well as EP Cambridge and Canchones Champion males.
Stunning Canchones males also available to select breeders worldwide.
For more details: Tel Harvey : +44 (0) 7980 948831 Email : harvey@blackberryalpacas.co.uk
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THE BAS NATIONAL SHOW
CELEBRATING THE BAS NATIONAL SHOW T he BAS National show is a celebration of all things alpaca and is a genuine annual highlight for many BAS members, writes Duncan Pullar, BAS chief executive officer. The energy and buzz that fills the halls at the Telford International Centre (TIC) for two days each March is great to experience as an exhibitor and an observer. The audience includes visitors who have been involved with alpacas for years, people thinking about starting and everywhere in between. There is always a good number of visitors from Europe. Exhibitors are always keen to chat about their animals and explain
what is going on to any and all who visit. The climax in the show rings happens on Sunday afternoon when the Supreme Champion Suri and Huacaya are selected. For those two animals to be considered “the best” for the year from more than 600 animals presented is truly an achievement for the owner and breeders involved. The 600 entries are judged by four judges working as two teams of two in twin rings. In recent years the judges have been paired as one from the BAS team and one from overseas usually Continued on the next page
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 19
Australia/New Zealand and the US/ Canada. Its quite an undertaking for the judges to work through 300 animals a day but they always seem to enjoy assessing some of the UK’s best alpacas from the country’s top breeders. The Halter Show is the main attraction for most, but the supporting cast includes the National Fleece show, a fibre zone, and village of trade stands. The National Fleece show in 2020 is billed as the “champion of champions” because all fleeces entered must have won champion or reserve in a BAS fleece show in the year before. These champion fleeces will be judged by the international judge team at the Show on the Friday morning. The fibre zone has grown in recent years and includes home crafted products as well as commercial items. The quality, inventiveness and appeal of the products on display never ceases to amaze. The trade stands cover the full range of products and services needed to keep an alpaca healthy and comfortable. At one end
2019 SUPREME HUACAYA CHAMPION: Popham Gabine, Amberly Alpacas
20 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
www.basnationalshow.co.uk
The latest information is always available on the National Show website.
of the scale you will find field shelters and machinery for paddock maintenance. In the middle there are equipment, feed and vet supply businesses and finally garments and even jewellery made from alpaca fibre. The event is an exciting weekend of interest to all alpaca enthusiasts with socialising and dinner on Saturday a focus for fun and meeting old friends. So, if you haven’t been before then make 2020 the year you come and share the excitement. Get yourself to the TIC Telford on Friday 27th, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March 2020.
2019 SUPREME SURI CHAMPION: Houghton Hot Toddy, Houghton Hall Alpacas
2020 THE BAS NATIONAL SHOW www.basnationalshow.co.uk
British Alpaca Society
27-29 MARCH 2020
FRIDAY 5PM-8PM, 9AM-5PM SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
The premier alpaca event of the year • • •
Live judging of 600 alpacas from 100 exhibitors in two rings Champion of Champions Fleece show Fibre Zone competition offering classes for yarn, garments, homeware, toy and crafts
•
• •
Dozens of trade stands offering alpaca related fashion, homewares, gifts and alpaca related items Regular displays and talks on alpaca fibre Café
£2 per adult or £5 per family
donated to SEVERN HOSPICE
BAS judges: Tim Hey and Mary-Jo Smith International judges: Ken Hibbits (USA) and Natasha Clark (AUS)
St Quentin Gate, Telford, Shropshire, TF3 4JH Less than an hour from Birmingham Airport
The one stop shop for learning all about alpacas, the lifestyle and the financial opportunities they offer. Please come along and meet over 100 exhibitors and over 600 live alpacas. The show is open to all members of the public and overseas alpaca owners are very welcome.
A JOURNEY INTO JUDGING
› Roger and Elaine Clarke
A
mberly Alpacas was established in 2006 by BAS judge Roger Clarke and his wife Elaine in Northern Ireland’s picturesque Clogher Valley. One of the very first breeders in Ireland, the couple have worked tirelessly to continually develop and improve their herd and now pride themselves on being one of the most successful, experienced and influential herds on the island of Ireland. What started as a hobby very quickly became a passion, writes Roger, one that has seen us achieve many firsts for the country’s developing alpaca industry. We were one of the founder herds of the Northern Ireland Alpaca Group back in 2013 and served as committee members. Members of the British Alpaca Society and the Alpaca Association of Ireland we have also worked through various stages of alpaca related training to become Ireland’s first BAS affiliate training couple. In 2019, we established the Alpaca Education Centre of Ireland from which we deliver and host a wide range of training and educational events. As we manage farm life with busy day jobs; I am a school principal and Elaine is a chiropractor, teamwork is the key. We keep a mixed herd of both Huacaya and Suris and are very proud to
22 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
have been the first owners to import and breed Suris in Ireland. My particular interest in genetic advancement culminated in 2019 when I became the first person on the island of Ireland to qualify as a BAS certified judge for both halter and fleece. Since qualifying, I have enjoyed the honour of judging in both the UK and Europe and consider it a true privilege to have the opportunity to appraise people’s animals.
From pastime to profession My journey from hobby farmer to judge has been a long but enjoyable one but how did it begin? Following the acquisition of our first animals and after a few years of experience, alpacas soon became a deep rooted passion for us and an actual lifestyle we loved and enjoyed. As a result, we developed an ever growing preoccupation with not only developing and improving our herd, but also improving our own knowledge, understanding and expertise. As a consequence, we researched the BAS training schedule and embarked on the beginning of our educational adventure, by signing up for the Alpaca Evaluation course. Continued on the next page
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 23
› Halter judging
Following on from this and having thoroughly enjoyed the first leg of training, the two of us completed both the BAS Foundation and Advanced Alpaca Assessment training and it was at this stage that my direction began to change. Up until this point, our participation and attendance at courses was solely focused on developing our own learning and expertise with the ultimate aim of raising the standard of the Amberly herd. As time went on however, I became more certain that I would like to further progress my learning and proceed onto the judge’s training programme and so, the journey began. Judge training brought a whole new perspective to how I viewed alpacas and as I progressed through each stage, I invested as much time as possible in visiting other farms and gaining as much hands on experience as possible. Putting in the foot work was a bit of a challenge for me, as it involved a lot of time spent travelling. That being said, it was the hands on experience that really allowed me to put my learning into practice something I would describe as an invaluable part of the whole process. This experience not only involved visiting individual farms, but also included visiting and helping out at as many different shows as I possibly could, including the 2018 Alpaca Fiesta in Peru. What was also nice was the fact that whilst Elaine didn’t wish to participate in the judge training, she always volunteered as a handler and so was effectively with me every part of the way. As time went on the hard work and dedication paid off and following a series of successful apprenticeships, a rigorous certification and period of co-judge testing I qualified as a BAS judge in both halter and fleece in June 2019. Entering the judging world was a true privilege for me and I can honestly say, that whilst it has been an all consuming process and journey, it has definitely been worthwhile.
Defining judging The judging process is the ability to identify, give value to and weigh up a series of traits presented by each alpaca while
› Fleece judging at Amberly – one of the females
› Suri judging
24 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
comparing them to the other animals in the class. As judges it’s our job to identify the positive and negative traits presented by each animal and weigh them up in terms of how close or far away they are to the ideal. In the case of a halter show the process begins with a visual appraisal of the overall phenotype. This includes observing the animal’s gait from various angles and its overall conformation. Following this, a hands on assessment ensues, including an assessment of the fleece. While this is going on, I am constantly weighing up and prioritising each animal’s characteristics, so that I am consistent in my placings based on the sum of their strengths. For me it’s not only about having the skills to identify the best alpacas, but also having the ability to use oral reasoning as a tool to effectively communicate and engage with the exhibitors; helping them to understand their placings and to develop their wider knowledge. Regardless of the context a better understanding of positive traits, in terms of both conformation and fleece attributes, will naturally result in more informed breeding decisions, sensible ongoing investment and the overall improvement of the national herd in general. My vocation as an educator blends very naturally with the art of judging. Elaine and I have a real passion for delivering training and hosting seminars at our on site facility – The Alpaca Education Centre of Ireland. At all levels education and hands on experience are the key to success; be it knowledge of basic husbandry when you’re just starting out or a more advanced understanding of the hierarchy of desirable traits when it comes to breeding and selection.
Future ambition My hopes for the future encapsulate my passion and drive. I look forward to furthering my experience and expertise and to working alongside judging colleagues both within the show circuit and through ongoing professional development and collaboration opportunities.
› Elaine and Roger in Peru
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Alpaca Yearbook 2020 25
AN ETHICAL BRAND T ed & Bessie have been in business since September 2015 starting with the purchase of four white Huacayas. I hoped one day these four could pay their way by producing good enough fibre to create knitwear, writes the company’s owner and founder Catherine Price Williams. When I emerged from the University of Derby with a fashion degree, I was keen to use my newfound skillsets for good and play my part in turning the tide (or at least a small wave!) on fast fashion. Combining my fashion focus with my love of the great outdoors and animal welfare, I wanted to create a beautiful British brand that focused on ethically produced, sustainable clothing and homeware. The Ted & Bessie ethos is to encourage customers to buy less; I want you to buy one high quality hat that lasts a decade – not a new one every time autumn rolls around. Outdoor wear as a market, however, has a historical association with using unsustainable or unethical materials. While there are brands, including Patagonia, who are doing well at increasing the transparency of their supply chain, wool and natural fibre can be incredibly difficult to trace, and merino wool has been associated with the cruel practice of mulesing which involves removing skin to prevent fly strike. As farmers, runners, walkers and climbers, my friends and I
26 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
spend a lot of time outside, and it was frustrating having to choose between a synthetic, non biodegradable material, or a natural fibre from a questionable source. I wanted to fill that gap with a 100% sustainable, traceable and ethical alpaca outdoor wear. Also, with growing consumer interest in the sourcing of materials and recyclable packaging – to name just a few environmental concerns – the pressure is also on both large and small businesses to respond. Some are only responding on a surface level rather than actually making changes at the core of their business; it takes more work, and costs a lot more, to run an organisation from an ethical, sustainable, and environmental perspective.
Environment and welfare first Ted & Bessie was created with the environment and the welfare of our animals as the foundation of the brand. I wanted my company to be an example of a business that could make beautiful products, and yet lead with these issues. I knew how easy it is for consumers to feel overwhelmed or, even worse, distrusting of companies who claim to be sustainable because they’ve been misled in the past. So, I wanted to ensure transparency was at the root of everything I do. Continued on the next page
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With every purchase, I invite customers to visit the alpacas to see exactly where their product comes from and to learn more about alpaca fibre. Not only does it mean that I get to meet more of you, but it also means that you get to meet me and see first hand how important my animals, and the impact the company has on the world, are to me. Naturally, alpaca fibre is the backbone of the entire company. Merino sheep’s wool tends to be the “go to” when it comes to keeping warm and producing a beautifully soft product. But aside from the ethical considerations alpaca fibres are completely hollow throughout, which means they are more effective at keeping you warm without drowning you in sweat. Alpaca fibre also has superior moisture wicking qualities; if it rains, your hat will get wet (we’re not magicians, unfortunately!), but the hollow structure of the fibre will prevent most of the water from seeping in and soaking both you and your hat. Ted & Bessie is not simply about growing alpaca fibre; I am a farmer and parent to the alpaca herd. Every alpaca is happy, healthy, and known as an individual and I only choose to work with other alpaca fibre suppliers who have the same values. Alpaca
28 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
farming is a relatively new industry to the UK, and it’s important that the people who are caring for their animals and the environment are supported to flourish as we build the alpaca fibre industry in the right way. Plus, all that love and attention shows in the products; each collection seems to become the softest collection we’ve created yet, so the fibre the animals (and suppliers we work with) are producing is just getting better and better and this just goes to show the industry is improving on quality each year. There is a myriad of choices involved in creating a new knitwear collection, and it can be all too easy to either get stuck on a detail that doesn’t really matter, or overlook something altogether. Alongside the knitwear collection, I decided to experiment with a much finer yarn to create a range of woven products. I decided to take the process to Bristol and worked closely with the design team there to create a unique and modern twist on a woven alpaca product. As I don’t use dyes in any Ted & Bessie products (which means no harmful chemicals end up in the waterways that may damage and harm the environment), the colour palettes are neutral; the greys, white and black lent themselves perfectly to a modern bed throw, shawl and scarf woven in the same design.
This new collection can be viewed at: www.tedandbessie.co.uk
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 29
SHEER HARD WORK
Pardon the pun, but shearing is sheer hard work, no ifs or buts writes Allen (Arthur) Muriel of Alpacas of Cornwall.
A
lpacas of Cornwall welcomed our first four girls in April 2014 which was thrilling for us all and for the first few months it never occurred to me that I would be an alpaca shearer. I recall being asked if I would I’ve to go on a course and I admit to being keen to learn so I attended one of the courses at Classical Mile End Alpacas, for what turned out to be a really informative day – theory in the morning, practical in the afternoon and a warning about shearing footwear. I was soon averaging below 15 minutes per alpaca.
› Allen from Alpacas of Cornwall shearing with Tom Scott of Dark Sky alpacas
30 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
A box of ropes, a hand set and blades and a pair of dagging shears and I was ready to start on our herd in May. That was my start up kit in 2015 and we had no intention of doing any more than our own herd. I remember clearly the first alpaca I ever sheared on farm with a handler and my mother present. We selected our most even tempered older male to go first. Frank was bomb proof, he did not mind going in the ropes and was very calm... for the first fifteen minutes. What seems simple under tuition, always manifests as quite difficult going solo but my first alpaca was sheared, the
fleece bagged correctly, toe nails trimmed and I have to admit, he looked quite smart. It was immensely satisfying to shear our own alpacas – slowly, steadily but the job was getting done. I do not know how the transition happened, but we were approached by other owners around Cornwall to shear. It was a warm summer and they wanted their alpacas shorn as soon as possible. This was the start of my outside shearing experience, which has grown year on year - as has my equipment. Three handsets and I have lost count of my blades and combs, ropes, tooth-a-matic, blade sharpener, generator, shears (not for the alpacas, but to clear out areas to actually start work), mats, kneepads, boxes of bags, collection of skin creams for the surprise dry patches we find once those fleeces are off, medical kit (hopefully not needed). When the shearing season is in full swing, it is an hour’s work at the end of each working day, to disinfect equipment, sharpen blades and be ready for the next day. I was invited to shear in Sweden for 10 days, which was an amazing experience – they are so ready for the shearers. My route took me through some stunning scenery and overnight Continued on the next page
› Allen from Alpacas of Cornwall
Ian Horner & team
Shorn by Alpaca Shearing UK: champion alpacas Beauty and Splendour, with owners Ken and Liz Freivokh, Artwork Alpacas
Experienced shearers available for the 2020 season Small and large herds catered for Injections, foot and dental care
Friendly, reliable service across Southern England and South Wales Calls, emails and texts answered daily
hornerian@icloud.com admin@alpacashearing.co.uk 07585 482844 / 07974 314211 www.alpacashearing.co.uk
Mobile apps from AlpacaSeller for Android and iPhone Are you connected to the market place? Tel 01730 823256 l chris@alpacaseller.com l www.alpacaller.com
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 31
accommodation was kindly found on farms, with all help given
Cups of tea welcome
to turn me around for the next day. It was not just alpacas to shear, llamas were lined up as well. I was interested to learn how they use all of the fleece because there did not appear to be waste bags, every piece of fleece was utilised. Each year, new clients approach us during the winter. As I am normally abroad for the winters, I return to a list of clients and postcodes with explanations of how many alpacas, where, pregnant or not, electric supply on farm or not, so I can start planning my routes. In 2016 and 2017, I aimed to be finished by the end of June so I can focus on my main job as a chef for the summer season in Cornwall. The very long, dry spell in 2018 was challenging. It was too hot sometimes and we worked into the dark to ensure the alpacas were out of those fleeces in the heat and I was able to go and help further afield. 2019 presented a different problem, rain in June meant endless delays which was frustrating; it is simply impossible to shear wet or even damp fleeces. Wet weather brings the concern that shorn alpacas need shelter once they are out of those fleeces and I had to prioritise our clients who could provide shelter. Thankfully I was able to find help from another shearer who assisted in July, staying overnight with us to ensure that all our clients were finished before the end of July.
I enjoy visiting all my clients and seeing their alpacas healthy. In between shearing I do outside husbandry, visiting clients who for whatever reasons prefer someone else to trim toe nails, check their teeth and administer wormer or vitamins and when required, will attend if they call out their vet and need a handler to assist. I have met some lovely people and hope to meet more, to chat to them about their alpacas and share a common interest. One of my favourite clients, who has over 30 mainly females, makes my husbandry visits such a great time – everything is prepped ready. The herd is penned, a stockman is available and the lady knows each and every alpaca by name as they go through, she is able to tell me their life history – cups of tea are in good supply. It is fair to say I prioritise our own Crewenna herd. I like to have our pregnant females sheared first and, as we fleece show, I am under maternal pressure to shear the “special” ones so the skirting and preparation can begin. Our success in fleece showing has grown and is a shared success – real team work from shearing to seeing the rosettes. I am informed that we gain good marks for uniformity of length on the fleeces. I take pride in shearing those selected for showing and taking that extra bit of care during the shearing process. The Crewenna herd is proud of its success in halter shows as well, notably when our own Amadeus won National Black Male Champion in 2017. It was satisfying that I had sheared Amadeus the previous summer and helped with his show preparations as he was unbeaten that year. We now work regularly in Devon; we attend Devon County Show and I use that opportunity to shear in the area on those days. In 2020 I plan to have another shearer to help cover the growing number of clients in Devon so they can all be shorn by mid-July. A logo has been designed, and there is a Facebook page that helps keep clients up to date and we continue to strive to return calls to all clients, so they do not feel abandoned. Does the industry need more shearers? Yes definitely. As the national herd grows year on year, more people are buying small groups of alpacas which are spread across the countryside separated by miles of lanes and tracks hence the shearers are spending a lot of their days on the road travelling to and from clients. In Cornwall, it can take an hour or more to find a client to shear three alpacas so careful planning ahead is essential. I would recommend anyone considering taking up shearing to go on a course – watching shearing and actually doing it is a world apart. If you would be interested in joining me to learn, I am planning a teaching half day in April. Technique is everything. Having a good handler/s makes a massive difference; whilst some owners do not wish to assist at all, some owners are great and (I quote one new client) “immerse” themselves in it. I treat all my clients as I do our own herd of 45 alpacas which include pregnant females, cria and stud males. Tending to their husbandry and care throughout the year, I have gained experience on the job and feel able to assist with clients when asked.
Anyone in Cornwall and Devon like to join my clients list for 2020? Please email alpacasofcornwallsm@gmail.com or text ‘shearing’ with your contact details to 07870 612559. Alternatively have a look at my page on our website www.alpacasofcornwall.co.uk where there is a contact link.
32 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
e
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ALPACAS
Be CON
Mid-Cornwall’s premier alpaca herd Our breeding aim is to maximise fibre production and improve fibre quality generation upon generation, with a view to providing the ultimate fibre for yarn production.
Quality breeding females for sale. Huacaya Alpaca breeder established in 2009 offering show winning stud services and starter herds of pregnant and yearling females. BAS afďŹ liate training courses run by Jacki Barlow at Suncliffe Beacon Farm, Husthwaite, YO61 4PD We offer alpaca walks and experiences all year round in the stunning Hambleton Hills of North Yorkshire. Gift Vouchers and wonderfully soft and warm winter woolies available for sale. Tel: 01347 868879 Mob: 07716917315 Email: jacki@beaconalpacas.co.uk
Higher Carpalla Farm Foxhole St Austell 01726 338580 07974 796792 nigel@nigelretallack.co.uk www.carpallaalpacas.co.uk
A PACAS Nigel and Margaret Retallack
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 33
SUCCESS WITH FIBRE
Doug Steen, Teesdale Alpacas takes a look at the challenges facing producers planning to sell high quality UK fibre products and offers some thoughts on how to avoid costly mistakes.
U
K alpaca probably has it all – an environmentally friendly, low impact, highly efficient animal producing fibre with softness and strength to compete favourably with the best of the rest and exceedingly cute to boot! On the face of it alpaca products ought to fly off the shelves. So why don’t they? Unfortunately unlike the other noble fibres (mohair, cashmere, silk) alpaca has a bit of a recognition issue. Other noble fibres have a very good level of public recognition built up over many years. Mohair, cashmere and silk are widely recognised as high quality luxury and expensive products. People may be a bit hazy about what animal they come from but they know it’s a superior product to wool. Alpaca still tends to get confused looks and is often placed on a par with your basic sheep wool product and as such there is often surprise at the cost and a lack of appreciation of its undoubted qualities. Common comments include: “Oh no! I’m allergic to wool” or “it’s just wool isn’t it?” There isn’t a connection between the alpaca animal and a high end product and there wouldn’t need to be if there was the same level of understanding of quality as with the other noble fibres. Generally there isn’t the link back to the animal with mohair or
34 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
cashmere but they know they are fine fibres. Mohair, cashmere and silk have somehow risen above the animals they come from and have in effect achieved a recognition of quality through marketing over many years – something alpaca has yet to accomplish to the same degree or even close – except in Peru the cultural home of alpaca. If we wish to compete with these other fine fibres we need to find a way to market and actively promote and build awareness of UK alpaca. While working towards that end the market and demand for alpaca will be limited to the relatively few who do understand what a superb fibre alpaca really is – and what a fantastic range of fine products can be produced right here in the UK from our own home grown stock. Selling to that small market and expanding beyond means we are competing directly with these other fibres and our alpaca products must achieve the same high production quality, fitness for purpose and high design standards. The small scale of UK production capabilities, high processing costs and a general lack of knowledge in achieving the high quality commercial quantities of alpaca products, and consequently the high level of financial commitment, time and risk means relatively few individuals are Continued on the next page
Chilla Valley Alpacas is a family run business based in Devon where we have a small herd of breeding alpacas We are a small family run alpaca breeder based in Devon where we specialise in quality genetics over quantity. We produce selectively bred strong healthy animals with desirable fleece characteristics. All of our animals are BAS registered and microchipped. We have a small number of alpacas in a variety of colours for sale this year and would be pleased to receive your enquiries. Also available is our range of yarns, knitting kits, duvets and socks.
Happy, Healthy Alpacas with Quality Aftercare from Beautiful Teesdale in County Durham
www.chillavalleyalpacas.co.uk
no: 01409 221699 All animals Telephone BAS registered and microchipped Potential stud males and pregnant females for sale See our range of yarns, kits, and socks
01409 221699 sales@chillavalleyalpacas.co.uk www.chillavalleyalpacas.co.uk
Tai Wind Alpacas Somerset/Wiltshire Border
Alpaca Trekking & Farm Visits by appointment Event Hire and Alpaca Sales Stud Services available Friendly advice Local County Durham stockist for Camelid Complete Food
THINKING ABOUT COLOURED ALPACAS? o We specialise in advising new breeders in choosing their starter herd with showing, breeding advice and after sales support. o Discounts on multiple purchases, to suit all budgets. o Day course for beginners in animal husbandry. . o BAS reg, vacs, halter trained, friendly, happy and healthy. o Prize-winning UK and imported stud males. o Pregnant females, young and stud males for sale. o Farm biosecurity. Import and export. 01373 830204 07790 674334 www.taiwindalpacas.co.uk info@taiwindalpacas.co.uk
Hats, Caps & Headbands Throws, Wraps/Scarves **Alpaca Bedding** and our unique
Teddy Bears email: enquiries@teesdale-alpacas.co.uk or visit www.teesdale-alpacas.co.uk Alpacas Sales | Products | Event Hire | Trekking | Welfare Advice | Stud Services
oak view alpacas
Garry and Andrea Naish, Wickwar, South Glos. Tel: 01454-227124 Mob. 07785-116211 Small selection of alpacas for sale, full backup given to clients, including pre-movement TB test. Call for details
drum carders for ,ibre preparation
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Tel: 01746 714130 paulbri9ain@mac.com Alpaca Yearbook 2020 35
prepared to attempt it – with a few notable brave folk who have managed to build up a decent business over the years pretty much all by themselves. However, producing fine quality cloth for example is arguably far easier now than any time in the last 25 years partly thanks to the resurgence interest in British wool, the natural fibre movement and the numbers of mills and contract weavers. There are more people doing this, and have the knowledge to do it well, since the 19th century heyday of Titus Salt & Co? The hard part is getting the product under the nose of the right people. Those people who do “get” it. Craft fairs can be pretty hit and miss as the level of quality you are trading alongside can vary enormously and you are fighting through all those who just think it is expensive wool to grab the attention of the few. Attempting to target an audience who already understand is perhaps a better way to maximise your return without wasting a lot of time and effort.
Here’s the rub The challenge facing most producers is that you need to be a master of all and mistakes can be very costly. You can learn about the alpaca and you can learn about the fibre but you also need to learn about processing, about spinning, weaving, finishing etc. You need to understand what makes good fibre, how it needs to be spun for your finished articles so it performs appropriately for whatever you intend to produce; yarn spun for knitting is unlikely to work for weaving, likewise yarn spun for scarves is probably not going to work for jackets. Perhaps our biggest challenge in the industry is how to build our own brand recognition whilst also helping those who want to create fine alpaca products to understand the process. As an
industry we should seek to help our members access the right markets through better education and marketing and enable access to mentors and businesses who can help. One area to give reassurance and confidence to those venturing into production would be to transfer the skills for identifying and specifying a product and importantly how to check the finished item performs to your expectation. This would help avoid some expensive errors. Quality cloth production is more than just producing something which looks and feels right. If you want to make items from it you need to be able to quantify how it will perform – will it work in suits, will it work for upholstery. There are an array of tests which can be performed, the results of which can help inform what products you may create; some of these tests are yarn tests for strength/breakage, abrasion resistance, pilling, tensile strength, tear resistance for fabrics, colour fastness (if using dyes) & shrinkage just to name a few key tests. For example a Martindale test can be carried out which will tell you what abrasion a piece of fabric will endure before thread breakage and when pilling of the fabric will occur – usually expressed as a rub count. The system utilises an oscillating set of discs of a specific force which runs through cycles and is inspected to see when pilling or thread breakages occur. If you are producing upholstery materials this can tell you for example whether that stool should be classed as light domestic/occasional use (typically 10-15,000 rubs) or everyday use (15-25,000 rubs) A cushion or decorative items may be fine under 10,000 as they are not typically subjected to much direct wear. Suiting on the other hand may require a fabric rated to 30,000+ perhaps. Create products fit for purpose, educate your audience and build a market. How hard can it be?
› Results on alpaca cloth
36 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
two rivers mill We are a small-scale family run mill specialising in worsted processing of alpaca fibre with production capacity for 10kg to 100+kg orders.
Luxurious alpaca clothing, soft toys, home accessories, bedding, yarns, crafts & gifts
Our services include top-making and yarn spinning at competitive prices with efficient turn-around. Our high quality yarns in pure or blended alpaca are ideal for hand or machine knitting and weaving. We can also create unique yarns in colours and weights designed for your individual projects.
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Thesourced renownedand place for all styles of Peru alpacaand socks. Ethically made in the UK, Beyond. Ethically sourced andenquiries made in the UK, Peru and Beyond. Trade welcome. We also buyTrade alpaca products that you create. enquiries welcome. Visit our to view viewour ourproduct product range Visit ouronline onlineshop shop to range Contactus usto todiscuss discuss your and ideas Contact yourneeds needs and ideas
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Ur…cu… what!?
For over 10 years we have bred multiple-champion alpacas carefully selecting the best genetics whilst working to very high ethical standards. Our reputation and many, many awards are testament to our passion, commitment, knowledge and experience. • BAS registered and halter trained alpacas for sale in a range of colours, ages and quality • Champion studs in a range of colours with a variety of sought-after genetics • Genetics from New Zealand, Australia, America and the UK
• Strict biosecurity measures in place • Alpaca walks, experiences, events and parties available • An onsite and online shop selling all things alpaca
“Ur-cu-chill-ay” It’s easy! Find out what it means on our website.
• Visits welcome – by appointment only
carla@urcuchillay.co.uk
07570 511299
If you get our answer phone please leave a message and we will call you back.
www.urcuchillay.co.uk For more about us, our ethics and our alpacas
www.fibreofthegods.co.uk For gift vouchers, events and products
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 37
A RELATIONSHIP OF TRUST AND RESPECT I love my alpacas and want them to trust and respect me so that I can take them to shows and sell them to new homes knowing they will be easy to handle, writes Linda Mackintosh, Redens Alpacas. My husband and I have about 150 black Alpacas with around 30 to 40 cria born each year. Our aim being to develop a herd of some of the best black Huacaya’s in the UK. I get great pleasure from training alpacas who respect and trust me, that are easy to handle and trained to walk on the halter. I start building this relationship shortly after birth and continue to work with them until they are 12 to 18 months old. During the first few months I make regular husbandry fun and move on to serious training shortly after weaning aiming to have them well trained by the time they are eight to nine months old. Then I continue in a less intensive way to help them develop their confidence and respect for people. This is the method that works for me; I appreciate others will have their own techniques, I just want to share my ideas and my approach to rearing calm, confident alpacas. We start with regular contact with the cria during their weekly weighing so they get used to people, but not too much so they don’t become over friendly and lose respect for humans. I enjoy watching them run into the barn full of excitement and curiosity each with their own characters, some brave, some shy, some naughty. Persuading them to stand on the scales makes handling so much easier as they get older and gives us a weekly check
38 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
on how they are gaining weight or if they may be developing any health issues. We have spotted and corrected quite a few problems through this weekly routine and we put any we are concerned about on the watch list. For example if a cria is not gaining weight we check the mother for any signs of milk problems such as mastitis or take faecal samples to check for any signs of coccidiosis. We log all the weight data in our herd management system AlpacaEase and track cria progress weekly for the first six months. For any on the watch list we keep a close eye on that mother/cria pair until they are back on track. By the time they are ready to be weaned they know us well and are used to this regular routine which makes halter training so much easier.
First steps I start halter training around two weeks after weaning by introducing the halters gently and just leaving the halter on the cria for around five minutes for the first of my daily sessions. On the second day I increase the time to around 10 minutes making sure I am very gentle in the way I place the halter on, just letting them get used to the feel of it. On the third day I add the lead rope and let them feel the gentle pressure of me lightly holding it and then leave them for a few minutes with the lead rope placed safely on their backs so they get used to this new feeling. I make sure every training session ends on a high note and after three days I am ready to get the first two to venture out of the barn Continued on the next page
accompanied by a halter trained alpaca with myself and another handler. Then the walking begins, if possible and I have enough handlers, I try to walk two or three at once. For some getting them to move away from their friends is the hardest part. I use a pressure and release method to encourage them and I use my voice in a reassuring tone which also helps me breathe slowly and seems to calm them. Some will sit down or lie down playing dead, when they do I give them time to relax and think before gently persuading them back to their feet using pressure and release. This gently rewards them through release of pressure and they soon begin to walk for a few steps. I end the session as soon as they respond and find that by the third walking session they are moving freely. I try to give lots of variety once they are confident enough to walk; sometimes they look worried and surprised but as they trust us they are willing to try a new experience going through our woods and on other short walks away from their friends. I think they enjoy being out of the paddocks and seeing something new. When they get back to the barn they look so confident and seem to say to their friends look at us we are big boys and girls now. For those that I am going to show I train them to walk across plastic turf laid out in the barn to give them the feel of the show ring. After this basic training I find I can walk an alpaca on the halter sometime later when they have not been walked for months or
40 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
years. Their memories are incredible and they will walk as if they do it every day – so long as it has been a good experience they will never forget. Halter training to walk on a lead is different from training for trekking or training for the show ring. Alpacas who trek need to become familiar with strangers walking them and for the show ring they need to get used to judges handling them and standing still for long periods. This just takes more training and practice. We don’t take our alpacas trekking but rather want our alpacas to be easy to handle – for us or their new owners. Quite often when people visit us to buy alpacas they are surprised they are so willing to walk on the halter and they are so well behaved. It is so sad to hear stories from some people who say they can’t get near their alpacas and how difficult they can be. It’s a joy to see the pleasure on visitors faces walking our alpacas which makes the time spent training so worth while. Of course there will be a few who are harder to train, I find they are either more intelligent or stubborn and once they work out what is happening, and providing it is a good experience, they end up being superb to handle. It just takes a bit longer. I get so much satisfaction and pleasure from watching an alpaca enjoy walking on a halter with curiosity in his/her eyes not fear, happy to be with their human partner. It’s a privilege to share our lives with them.
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Tony & Hilary Monkcom 07957 689 002 info@pinnaclealpacas.com www.pinnaclealpacas.co.uk
A LEAP FORWARD FOR SURIS
I was asked to write about the development of Suris over the last 20 years at which point I thought yes I can do this, writes Mary-Jo Smith, Bozedown Alpacas.
42 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
T
he Suris have made great leaps and bounds but when I first sat down to write I had to think when did the first Suris arrive in the UK? Timelines that you think you would never forget have taken a little bit to recall. After a FaceTime chat with my aunt Joy Whitehead to ask just when did Bozedown get our first Suris, there was a pause while we tried to remember if Suris were among the first 115 Peruvian alpacas that were selected in 1998? We both started naming alpacas and wondering when they arrived? This is where our BAS database came in handy. I started looking up years of birth and filtering for Suris. The answer was yes – our first Suris were selected in Peru in 1998. It was quite good fun looking back through the names and remembering the alpacas very clearly once prompted. I believe these were the first Suris in the UK. However, there could have been a few Chilean Suris before this. Joy selected around 10 Suris, of which three were males, including Bozedown Caruso. A bit of a mix of colour, mainly light and one black female. This was the beginning of Suris. Conformationally they were quite sound but without the substance of bone we see today, or even a remote suggestion of élite fleeces. With the early selections we were very restricted on the animals we were allowed to export from Peru. Coloured alpacas were only a small percentage of the total allowed to leave the country so we had to take mostly white. Also, we could not export any alpaca with less than 18 micron (µ) fleece diameter. Out of 150 selected (including 35 for Switzerland) we were allowed only five alpacas between 18-20 microns, about 20% under 22µ, another 40% under 24µ and the rest we had to have between 24-26µ. And we were shown mostly young alpacas. The main advantage of the Peruvian alpacas in general was that we were able to get greater density than we were seeing in the UK Chileans at the time and as we discovered later through our breeding programme the fineness gene is dominant, so we were able to add fineness later. Bozedown imported about 10 Suris, with the rest being Huacayas, in our first selection. The next group of Suris we brought in were from Bolivia. Pat Viceconte of Jolimont Alpacas in Australia sold Joy a group of coloured Suris. This small group was in Canada at the time on a farm in Southern Alberta run by Hans Buhrmann and arrived here in the spring of 2000. There was one white, a few fawns, some browns and a few multis. Dorina sticks vividly in my mind as she was a lovely black and white female who we affectionately called Collie dog; she had great personality! Also among this group was one male – Bozedown Nero who was black and fortunately possessed fleece fineness which he maintained throughout his life – our first black Suri male. This group brought great colour genetics for our Suris and amazingly did not produce many multis at all. It was not long before the demand for Suris grew and other breeders started importing larger numbers of Suris in 2000, 2003 and beyond. Nowadays the import of Suris has decreased again to small numbers of new genetics to continue the improvement of the genetic base already in the UK.
Scotfield www.ScotfieldAlpaca.co.uk
Family run Berkshire farm breeding high quality Suri and Huacaya alpacas Alpacas sold, with full after-sales support and husbandry training
Visit our online shop for hats, gloves & scarves, designed and made right here on our farm. Totally natural, hypo-allergenic , no dyes, no blends purely 100% alpaca yarn.
Improving fleece quality When I arrived at Bozedown in the summer of 2000 this was the basis of our Suri breeding. I have to say that like a lot of breeders I was more interested in the Huacayas than the Suris but my love for Suris grew quite quickly. I also think that this love developed with the improvement of the Suris themselves. Poor quality Suris are not very appealing with their moppy, flat, fly away, dull fleeces. Continued on the next page
Sue Hipkin 01344 486969 Lisa Batup 01344 486969
07770 455533 07770 455534
Scotlands Farm, Warfield, Berkshire RG42 6AJ Alpaca Yearbook 2020 43
Suris make up only 3-5% of the world alpaca numbers and are a true niche market. Due to this small population the numbers increase very slowly and so in the early days breeders used to cross Suris with Huacayas to produce more Suris. The desired outcome of achieving a Suri is dependent on the dominant Suri gene. If the stud male is homozygous, which means they carry two alleles of the Suri gene, making it dominant, then they will produce a Suri phenotype every time. However, the
44 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
offspring would be heterozygous Suri which means it looks like a Suri but they will carry both the Suri and the Huacaya alleles on this particular gene. In the early days this helped increase the Suris in the country. However it also produced more heterozygous suris. Some of the offspring produced under these conditions were fluffy alpacas that were neither Suris nor Huacayas, but something in between. Now with more Suris around the majority of Suri breeders only breed
Suris to Suris. The first Suris certainly had silky soft fleeces but neither the density nor the lustre we see in top Suris today. As in all development you go through stages. Although the first Suri fleeces were light in weight, there were a lot of Suris around that had a light wave or lock to their fleece. Then as time went along breeders were able to become more selective in their breeding decisions simply due to having more choice for the pairings, the first big development being the tight twisting lock, which was commonly referred to as independence of lock. These animals were a big step up and when they were in a two year fleece the fleece flowed as they ran about and looked magnificent. They were denser than what we had been seeing but, as you can imagine, with a tight twist you can only pack so many fibres together to twist. Nonetheless this was an important step in the development. Breeders were still focusing on improving density, as the more high quality fleece you can produce from one animal increases productivity without having to have huge numbers of alpacas. Along with increasing the density, we also found that the fleece style itself was becoming more interesting. To get true density the fleece needs to layer, which is displayed in various types of a wave and twist. This cannot be seen overly well from the outside but when you open the fleece up each lock is laying flatter against the body in a wave before it starts to twist. In the densest fleeces you will see this twisting breaking down into very small locks and when you pull them apart you can see a concertina effect in the fleece. Alongside the development of density we have seen the fineness improve and the uniformity of fineness across the whole fleece. This is because, in order for the fleece to layer and pack close together the fleece needs to be fine and uniform. When the uniformity is not there it is more difficult for the fleece to align and therefore you don’t get the density. It’s something of a “chicken and egg”’ situation. In all the Suris the silky softness has a lovely feel but we have also seen this improve in leaps and bounds and the Suris these days can absolutely glow from the outside as well as being magnificently lustrous on the inside, giving the wonderful “handle” of today. Looking back from the early days to now, the development of the Suris has been truly impressive, bearing in mind a minimum of three years for each generation, giving a maximum of only seven generations in the past 20 years.
Sn o l
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Snowshill Hill Barn, Temple Guiting, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL54 5XX
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Snowshill Alpacas c
i
l Contact Roger p a on 01386 853 841 or 07711044106 AMount lEmail: snowshillalpacas@btinternet.com Web: www.snowshillalpacas.com
We have a large selection of potential Stud Males, Pet Males and Breeding Females available in a variety of colours. Stud Services – we have several proven/championship winning Huacaya and Suri boys to choose from. Pre-arranged visits are very welcome. We adhere to good biosecurity practices and badger deterrent fencing has been in place since 2009.
Specialising in breeding coloured suri Breeding to maintain the suri breed...
www.farawayalpacas.co.uk
• Breeding Supreme Champions & Show Champions
• Show quality suri for sale
• Stud Sires available for stud servicing
• Advice for established & new breeders
Faraway Suri Alpacas Contact: Nikki Hayton Mobile: 07971 342975 Email: nikki@farawayalpacas.co.uk
Faraway Suri Alpacas Godshill near Fordingbridge Hampshire SP6 2LP Alpaca Yearbook 2020 45
› Camouflage with Harlequin and Shadow 46 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
A SPOTTY TALE W
hen we first saw an appaloosa alpaca in Australia in 2007, Felicia and I became very excited realising it would add another dimension to our breeding programme in the UK writes Gary Sanders, Popham Alpacas. Rather than purchase a fawn or white male, which was our initial intention we imported an appaloosa male. We were at the time staying with Chris and Adrienne at Ambersun Alpacas, we were intrigued by their appaloosa line all with delightful names like Confetti, Jag, Leopard and Cheetah. Their appaloosas were historically related back to a single female called RCA Safari. She was marked with different sized dark fawn spots and patches. She was not an appaloosa but more aptly described as a fancy. Two females were born to Safari, neither of which were appaloosas. The leopard appaloosa markings began to show in the next generation. Looking through their herd we came across Camouflage, who though still very young at 15 months old looked fantastic and was covered in spots. His sire was the now late but very famous Jolimont Warrior. His dam, Sprinkles was a dark fawn/light fawn appaloosa female out of ILR PPPeruvian Auzengate and she was one of the first appaloosas to be born at Ambersun. Camouflage’s first fleece was the finest from the Ambersun herd of over 1000 in 2007, coming in at 14.7 micron. His latest sample taken in 2015 comes in at 24.4 micron at the age of nine years. Camouflage arrived in the UK in early March 2009. We realised that some, probably many would wonder why we had set out to breed something with spots, when surely the industry is all about the uniformity of colour. In the early days we did come across quite a bit of opposition but to counter this the interest shown was tenfold. We believe there is a place for appaloosas in our world of alpacas and their fleeces are adored by hand spinners as they make a natural heathered yarn. After all the appaloosa horse has become all the rage in the equestrian world and in the last few years the profile of the leopard spotted alpaca has increased tremendously. There are now appaloosa breeders in the US, Australia and New Zealand with wonderful herd names like Rainbows End Alpacas, Painted Pine Alpacas, NZ Summerhill Alpacas and Wild Rose Suri Alpacas to name but a few. Initially it was the European breeders that took the most interest in Camouflage. Popham Appaloosa Serengeti was Camouflage’s first son. His mother was a white female with one brown spot behind her ear. He was sold to Alpakas vom Nieplitzhof in Germany and has been successfully standing at stud ever since. The same year Camouflage sired another boy called Popham Appaloosa Amboseli, also from a white female with a brown spot. He was very quickly snatched up and now stands at stud in Holland at Original of the Andes. Over the following few years the enquiries kept coming in from Europe with Appaloosa Harlequin going to Jabe Alpaca in Switzerland and Appaloosa Shadow to Ringwood Alpacas in Belgium. Continued on the next page
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 47
› Our favourite cria of 2019
› Grey evident especially in the top line
During this time the UK market remained intrigued but would not commit. By now we were showing appaloosas in the show multi classes in the showring and, depending on which judge was in the ring, the animal would either do very well and be given a very encouraging reasoning which would include the word appaloosa and how popular they were abroad or the appy would be pushed to the bottom of the class with the reason given that there was no place for them in the industry! Finally, the UK market caught up and we started selling males in the UK. Connaught, Subterfuge to the north, Mardis Gras to Summerhaze Alpacas, Carnival and Busby to Amberly in Northern Ireland, Paintsplash to Mullacott Alpacas, and the latest is Appaloosa Helios to Sandshill Alpacas in Yorkshire.
What is an appaloosa alpaca?
› Camouflage at Ambersun in 2007 at 15 months
Little study has been done on appaloosa genetics in alpacas and I don’t think anyone really knows. It is thought that the appaloosa markings are the result of not one single gene but rather a complex string of genes. This string includes what is often referred to as the “leopard gene”, which is responsible for the dark spotting and can be passed on in part or in full to any offspring. In horses it is known that modifying genes form part of this string and must be present if the pattern is to be visible and it is likely that something similar occurs in alpacas. These modifying genes are responsible for the extent and amount of spotting that is seen - from a few spots to so many small spots that the animal has an almost roan appearance. My personal feeling, though not proven is that they are a rose grey with a spotting gene. This comes from the fact that most of Camouflage’s offspring display a varying amount of grey, normally in their top line and this increases as they age. This one characteristic, that is the evidence of the colour grey was also reported at the Alpaca 2012 Conference by US genetics expert Dr Andy Merriwether
› Grey spots!
48 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
who feels they are a variation of the harlequin grey. A quick glance at the BAS registry will show that Camouflage has thrown 29 appys out of 59 progeny. This is a 49% success rate but I feel it flatters Camouflage somewhat. I know of four other progeny that are not appaloosas which would reflect a success rate more like 45%. The majority of his appy progeny have been brown/fawn spots on a white background with the grey top line but 2012 saw our first black spots on a brown background. This alpaca was mothered by a solid white female. I have been asked on numerous occasions about a separate appaloosa class at shows. When asked this I always hesitate for two main reasons. How do we class them and I don’t want empty appaloosa classes due to a lack of numbers? The latter will evolve itself as the numbers increase. The former is more of a problem so I’m going to stick my neck out here and venture forward with a possible classification to qualify an alpaca for the appaloosa class.
Minimal Appaloosa Spots apparent only on the blanket. The spots must be at least two colours apart on the colour chart from the base colour. This is measured against the skin. There must be a minimum of six spots which must be of at least one inch in diameter.
Classic Appaloosa Spots spread across the body. The spots must be at least two colours apart on the colour chart from the base colour. This is measured against the skin. At least six of these spots must appear on the blanket and be of at least one inch in diameter.
Leopard Appaloosa The spot/colour requirements are the same as the classic but are more plentiful and will even merge especially on the neck and be extensively distributed in the blanket.
› Camouflage yarn
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ALPACAS The Home of Fine Alpacas
We have been breeding alpacas since 2002. Running a mixed herd of 120 huacaya and suri alpacas allows us to combine our love for the animals with a focused approach towards breeding improvement. We are striving to create a high quality alpaca with advanced fibre characteristics and sound conformation. Our recent results show the proof is in the progeny: 2015 Popham Havengore Supreme Champion Huacaya BAS Nationals 2016 Popham Suri Carlos Supreme Champion Suri BAS Nationals 2019 Popham Gabine Supreme Champion Huacaya BAS Nationals
Gary & Felicia Sanders Popham Farm, Hatt, www.pophamalpacas.co.uk Cornwall PL12 6RB tel: 07977 047221 / 07812 145902 e: gary@pophamalpacas.co.uk Alpaca Yearbook 2020 49
ASSISTED THERAPY BRINGS REWARDS
Former paramedic Victoria Barrett is a qualified counsellor who uses her specialist knowledge to offer alpaca assisted therapy through Camelid Connection at SimplyAlpaca in Worcestershire.
V
ictoria manages the business, which also offers walks, weddings, training, experiences and visits, with husband Roger and until two years ago both were working full time. They bought their first three alpacas 10 years ago with no plan to develop an alpaca business that would see Victoria give up her job as a paramedic. “We had no idea it was going to turn into this venture. It’s still quite small but it is massive to us,” says Victoria. Both Victoria and Roger, who is now retired, are qualified Camelidynamics practitioners after taking part in courses in the UK and US with the method’s founder Marty McGee Bennett. Victoria describes the method, which is an integral part of her therapeutic work with clients, as “handling with respect”. “We base it on the science of behaviour which means we are actually looking at the science behind what they (the alpacas) do. Why do they do what they do? As soon as you understand that you stop teaching them things you don’t want them to know.” Camelidynamics provides an understanding of the animals’ motivation enabling handlers to work co-operatively with them. It uses some handling equipment, including wands for herding and catch ropes. But it is not a corner and grab approach. “You are making an attempt to understand their culture, their language and responding to that rather than going in with your agenda and
50 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
saying we are going to get this done in this particular way and it doesn’t matter what you (the animal) say.” This “no fear/no restraint” approach means handling for routine husbandry, including toe nail clipping and vaccination, becomes less problematic– and alpacas are quick learners, says Victoria. “I can walk into the paddocks and they know when I am walking in with my wands that I want them to come in. They just walk down because if you do anything three or four times with an alpaca, they will know what you want them to do.” Victoria came across Camelidynamics soon after buying her first alpacas and has updated her knowledge almost every year since taking part in courses in the UK and US. She offers Camelidynamics courses at Camelid Connection, the training and therapy arm of SimplyAlpaca, and other venues, and is now the only practitioner offering accredited workshops in the UK. Victoria uses this specialist knowledge of alpaca behaviour and handling together with her experience as a counsellor to offer camelid assisted therapy at Camelid Connection. Clients, including adults and children with special needs, work with selected alpacas from the herd to achieve particular health outcomes. “I just see a lot of parallels between working with animals and working with people because you are looking at needs and Continued on the next page
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motivations and what applies to animals applies to people in just
› Victoria Barrett
52 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
the same way. That’s when I started looking at combining the two into the therapy side of our work,” Victoria said. Victoria has more than 25 years’ experience as a counsellor after training while working as a paramedic. She set up in service counselling support for paramedic colleagues and has worked with clients suffering from depression, anxiety, abuse and trauma. Most of the camelid or animal assisted therapy (AAT) work is based around the Camelidynamics handling course and clients work with the animals to improve particular physical, social or emotional skills. Victoria also offers non-therapeutic camelid assisted activities which she explains aims to improve quality of life simply through contact with animals. Activities are something she says pretty much everybody can do because it is non-therapeutic and there are no treatment goals. That includes nursing home visits, meet and greet sessions with specials needs children for example, whereas therapy has to have a clinical basis and predetermined therapeutic aims. “You are working in a particular way to achieve certain outcomes.” Victoria also has a strong personal understanding of the challenges faced by people living with mental and physical conditions. She and Roger have an adopted daughter called Tilly with complex health issues. “Tilly is a vulnerable adult with many health problems and mental health issues. She is a double amputee and she lost her second leg while she was here. We both naively thought I could cope if I worked three days a week on 12 hour shifts, which is what I was doing. But it very quickly became clear that I couldn’t, so I became her full time carer.” To illustrate the hugely positive impact an encounter with alpacas can bring Victoria mentions a family that came to visit with their young daughter who liked animals but found it difficult to interact with people. Her older sister was in a wheelchair as she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME). “We got the wheelchair into the barn and we set up an alpaca encounter. It was foul weather but we had prepared a pen so the youngest daughter could do some weighing and we could do some husbandry tasks with her. Then my daughter Tilly came in and went into the studio with the older daughter and they did some crafting together while we went off with the little one for a walk. “Afterwards we all joined in with the crafting and mum left us with tears in her eyes… she said that’s my children I haven’t seen them in so long.” Being with the alpacas had given the youngest daughter the confidence to speak. “She chatted and chatted, “says Victoria. “She felt safe with the animals and by working with an animal you are automatically breaking down barriers - when an animal is safe with you then it suggests to the child or adult that I can be safe with you too.” Victoria recently launched a two day course for people interested in animal assisted activity work with alpacas called “working with alpacas in animal assisted activity and therapy”. Victoria says she wished the course was available to her when she started out. She is working on a third day for therapists as well as managing the Simply Alpaca herd of 49 alpacas and five llamas - with Roger’s help – caring for Tilly and fitting in open days, walks and visits to hospices and care homes and making use of fibre to offer craft workshops. Victoria says she never imagined when she took her first Camelidynamics course where it would lead. At each stage, as she moved up the ladder, she thought another course would be “just too much work.” But each time she got on with it and built on her knowledge. She didn’t have a business plan or an end goal in mind. “It just has a life of its own,” she says.
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ALPACAS SAVED MY LIFE
Arkadia Alpacas at Great Ground Farm is more than a herd. They’re a business, a family and a reason for existence, writes Drew Thomas.
I
get asked almost every day by people coming to visit the alpacas why I decided to become a breeder of these gentle and fascinating creatures and the answer is always “why not?” The same people quite often tell me I have a dream job and enviable lifestyle. Having lived a colourful and varied existence over the years – driven by an innate case of “mundanophobia” or crippling fear of the ordinary – I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that living and working with alpacas has ticked any boxes that remained empty. I’ve got little doubt that becoming an alpaca breeder was written in my stars from the very beginning. More than thirty years ago, in my dim and distant youth, I became the proud guardian of two guanacos and a Bactrian camel. Thus could have begun my camelid adventure, but life got in the way in the years that
followed. Always destined to be an author, a research mission for a novel led to seven years spent living the nomadic life of a circus ringmaster. Several years in London followed before my wanderlust took me to Malta for ten sweltering years, during which time – between writing novels – I built up a lucrative sideline furnishing ex-pats’ houses with fine furnishings from Morocco. Writing is a lonely business and, while I had parrots to keep my company, I always felt there were larger enigmatic creatures waiting for me somewhere beyond the horizon. Five years ago, family tragedy and financial disaster brought me back to the UK; the silver lining to this very dark cloud was the chance to take over a small farm, which immediately became the opportunity to realise my dream of building a business around alpacas.
› American three-ring circus in 1989
54 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
A husbandry day with Rob and Shirley Bettinson at Toft Alpacas confirmed that my plans were realistic. Spurred on by the impressive environmental credentials of the alpaca, the extensive possibilities of its fleece and, not least, its enigmatic and head-turning properties that firmly assuaged my dread of the mundane. So began the preparations to make the place ready for its new residents. The first pregnant female alpacas arrived here at Great Ground Farm in early 2015. Orpheus was the first cria born here, a solid black male, followed by Octavia, a rose grey female. They’re both still cherished members of my herd, which consists primarily of black and grey animals. Getting to grips with keeping alpacas involved a quite steep learning curve, but a fascination (if not obsession) with genetics led to a few more judicious purchases to build up solid breeding lines from, among others, Cedar House Long John, Cambridge Warlock and Alpaca Stud Nyetimber. Memories of the first years should probably be dominated by building fences, which by now must measure several miles, not to mention the establishing of rigorous biosecurity measures (involving reams of electrified wires), planting carefully selected varieties of meadow grass on former arable land and encouraging it to grow organically, creating a fleece workshop built around an old shipping container, digging sewer trenches for customer toilets and, of course, the daily picking up of alpaca poo that must now amount to numerous tons. But the back-breaking toil gets almost forgotten when I look at the herd around me – more than a herd, they’re my business, my family, the reason for my existence. The plan from the beginning was to make keeping alpacas a business rather than a hobby, so for the last four years Great Ground Farm has been a hive of activity. Life revolves around daily feeding, poo picking and husbandry routines, which are undertaken with the help of a succession of willing volunteers. Visitors come for alpaca walks either four of five days a week and two days are taken up with craft workshops – people come to learn how to spin, make pom poms, create willow birds nest feeders, felted soap and braided bracelets. Several of my boys are also seasoned therapy alpacas, delighting in their work and always seeming to know what’s expected of them on their trips to care and residential homes. In fact, I have a waiting list of people wanting to buy any of the walking and therapy boys I might be persuaded to part with. I also manage to get to a couple of country shows a year, taking alpacas to meet the public and demonstrating how the fibre is processed and spun.
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Spinning a yarn I learned to spin early on in the process of setting up the herd. Looking back, I’m not sure how I found the time, but I’m very glad I did. So much effort and sheer hard work goes in to breeding animals with finer, denser and brighter fleeces that it could be easy to lose sight of the intended end purpose. While we are all aware that the whole purpose of improving fleece is for it to be suitable for processing into end products, I feel that being involved in the process gives greater insight into the desired properties of that same fibre. Hand spinning is, in my opinion, also one of the most therapeutic processes in the world. As Mahatma Gandhi said: “The music of the spinning wheel will be as balm to your soul.” Washed and carded fleece from the Arkadia herd has found its way to hand spinners countrywide and hand spun yarn is very much in demand, one significant order this year being shipped to the US. I’m also now collaborating with an environmental consultant on an exciting project to develop yarns made from alpaca blended with sustainable fibres. Continued on the next page
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www.marshwood-alpacas.co.uk Tel: 01297 678181 Geoff Bugler Alpaca Yearbook 2020 55
A big attraction for customers buying fibre or yarn is knowing which animal the product has come from, enhanced by the fact that the names of my alpacas reflect my penchant for the unusual. Arkadia Persephone Platinum, Arkadia Phineas Potts and Arkadia Pagan Prophecy are three particular favourites, but I knew from the beginning that a fancy name is not enough in itself – the animal has to have some substance and pedigree behind it. But that is rarely enough without an understanding of breeding traits and the courage to go with informed gut instinct when making mating decisions. Less than two years from embarking on my alpaca adventure, it was with more than a little trepidation that I ventured into the world of showing at the 2017 Heart of England Spring Alpaca Fiesta. Looking back, I’m really grateful for all the help and advice received from other breeders while I found my feet. More shows followed and results, pleasingly, began to improve – a highlight being the Royal Three Counties Show in 2018, for which I was being filmed for the BBC’s Farmers Country Showdown. Arkadia Alpacas got not only their first red rosette, but also a Reserve Champion sash for new stud male Herts Alpacas Raven. It really has been a massive learning experience, but four years on from the arrival of the first alpacas here I’m now very proud to have two home bred champion males, one grey and one black, and three reserve champions among the males brought in to develop the genetic lines. Shows are, of course, only a small part of the bigger picture, but I do look forward to them as a welcome break from the relentless work of setting up and running a successful farm. I also can’t deny that the odd win here and there is an affirmation of my breeding choices and decisions. It will be exciting to see how the first second generation Arkadia crias fare in the show ring in the future, not to mention those in other herds sired by my studs. There’s no doubt about the fact that alpacas are a big draw, so developing new lines of income to finance and justify the herd’s existence is a constant work in progress. Along with the alpaca walking, craft workshops and fleece processing, a mini eco village where glampers can enjoy a view of alpaca paddocks and partake in craft workshops should be operational in part by next year and a small café for walking and workshop visitors will be up and running soon.
Writer’s block cured I do sometimes ponder on the fact that my full-time occupation is meant to be writing books. While I still write, with two novels underway at present, it’s in snatched minutes when there’s a lull. A huge advantage of this is that I don’t get time for the luxury of every writer’s curse: writer’s block. When I get time, I have no choice but to knuckle down and write. Alpacas have, quite simply, cured my writers block! Which leads me on to the question asked by visitors if they discover I’m an author: when are alpacas going to feature in one of my novels? Funnily enough, the third book in a new crime series I’m working on might possibly involve a judge being murdered at an alpaca show of national importance… If forced to find a drawback to this new life of mine, I would say it’s that I haven’t yet finished the house I’m trying to build because the alpacas take up too much time. Even if it was finished, though, there wouldn’t be a great deal of time to spend in it. Problem solved and drawback eliminated! Yes, alpacas have taken over my life, but I am definitely not complaining. I can put my hand on my heart and say that they have restored my will to live and added a new dimension to my existence.
56 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
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Alpaca Yearbook 2020 57
FROM THE CITY TO THE DARK SKY
58 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
› Tom in Iraq (2003) vs Tom in Cornwall (2019)
W
hen we hit the big 50, we promised ourselves we’d move on from the frenetic corporate world of meetings and travelling and spend the next phase of our lives creating a business of our own, based on being outside enjoying nature and fresh air, and in a place we’d love to go on holiday, write Tom and Wendy Scott, Dark Sky Alpacas. In 2017 we took the leap and haven’t looked back. Two years on, we have moved from London to North Cornwall and established Dark Sky Alpacas with our herd now approaching thirty. We have played midwife to five births and made our inaugural sales. Next year we offer our first outside matings from our stud males, three of whom bring outstanding new genetics to the UK. We met at Sky where we both did a variety of roles, culminating in Tom being the managing director of the customer service group (think engineers, call centres and digital service channels) and I was director of mobile products (think Sky Go, Sky Kids app – watching tv on your phone, tablet or computer). Prior to his 11 years at Sky, Tom was a Royal Engineer for the previous 19, retiring in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel having served around the world, including operational tours in the Balkans and the Middle East. Tom also served with the US Army in the Pentagon for two years which included being on duty on 9/11. I had, rather less adventurously, spent 20 years in banking – although that did include the very interesting rise and fall of Egg, the first internet bank. So it’s fair to say that alpacas and farming were not so much our background (not withstanding having an ex-Sapper on the Dark Sky team has proved extremely handy for laying water supplies, fencing and erecting field shelters, to name just a few of the more rural trades we now partake in). In our imagined ‘Escape to the Country’, crafted from the sofa whilst watching that series rather obsessively, there were a number of contenders for the enterprise that we would create. Cider or wine were both toyed with alongside various holiday cottage or glamping experiences. But when we found our dream house on the edge of Bodmin Moor, with 20 acres attached, we felt we needed animals on the land. Sheep or cows just weren’t exciting enough and perhaps Continued on the next page
› Wendy in London vs Wendy in Cornwall Alpaca Yearbook 2020 59
2018
2018
2018
2018
2018
2018
More alpacas…
The beginning
A taste of the show ring
Our first shelter
Our first three alpacas
Badger fencing…
MARCH
APRIL
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER
just too tempting for our border terrier, Claud. Somehow alpacas had crept into our consciousness, so we booked on a husbandry course at Popham Alpacas and that, as they say was that – decision made. We bought our initial herd there and then.
Fencing the farm And then the work began in earnest. Our fields were all ‘open’ with tumble down stone walls and old hedgerows but no decent fencing so we had to think about how many paddocks we wanted to create, how they would link to one another and how we would ensure biosecurity. There was a lovely old stone field shelter but unfortunately it had long since lost its roof, so we needed both field shelters and a more substantial barn for equipment and for the alpacas in the event of bad weather. We also needed to supply water and get the fields under control. All of which called for equipment! We chose a tractor with attachments for fencing (post basher), digging (backhoe) and grass cutting (flail mower). Plus, a quad bike with trailer and a towable paddock cleaner
› The first three alpacas
60 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
(affectionately known as the ‘Poover’). All of which have proved essential and most of which involved somewhat of a learning curve. An incident with the flail mower (running on the wrong power setting) in which it fired one of its own nuts and bolts into my leg at short range, taught me the valuable lesson of never standing near a tractor and mower when in operation. Speaking of health and safety, it was essential to create a badger proof perimeter to the farm for biosecurity. We duly ordered the specialist fencing, which is buried into the ground, to supplement the electric fencing we had initially installed. Ours is a couple of metres inside our old stone walling and hedgerows and ensures our alpacas cannot make contact with any neighbouring farm animals. It provides a wonderful wildlife corridor and maintains the natural biodiversity outside of the paddocks. We won’t go on about it, but we have done all our own fencing, of which we are proud and about which we are able to be terrible bores! To complete the set up in the fields, we ran water up to every paddock and put a mobile
› Badger fencing
2019
Snow in Cornwall
JANUARY
field shelter in each. We bought kits for the first three but have since moved on to Tom’s own design and construction which is both more rewarding and economic (if you’ve got the time and inclination). We received planning permission for our main barn ‘headquarters’ and the build for this started in September 2018 and finished just when winter was coming to an end! This is now our day to day hub for all alpaca management – it’s also been known for the cricket or rugby to be on the ‘essential’ tv. We also used the opportunity to get our main house off oil by installing a biomass boiler in the barn and putting solar panels on the roof, which means we can now run the Aga with less guilt.
The alpacas arrive Not everything was complete when our first, founding alpacas arrived in August 2018, but they had secure paddocks with water, and they watched with interest as we put up their shelters and made various improvements – they really are very inquisitive! Of course, our most essential learning
2019
2019
2019
2019
2019
2019
2019
2019 Nationals
Barn building
Shearing
Birthing
Matings
Importing from NZ
Phew!
MARCH
MARCH
APRIL
JUNE
JULY
OCTOBER
DECEMBER
started when we became responsible for them – we remember well, worrying about our little team outside in all the winter weather when we took the dogs and went off, safe and warm, to bed. Our husbandry course had given us all the basics and some practice in the regular tasks such as toenail clipping, administering injections, checking teeth, eyes, ears and body scores. As with all things, however, you really learn when you are doing it for yourselves, knowing that their health and wellbeing is in your hands. Injections were quite a trauma for a while – we realised our technique needed some improvement when we were looking at the girls in the field and wondering what the “damp patches” on the fleece near the armpits were!
Mites though are our pet hate. We were really upset when one of our pregnant mums had a bad infestation under her tail and around the udder – after weeks of hard work and medication, she cleared up beautifully and went on to have a lovely, healthy cria. Lesson learned – get hands on, check everyone regularly and take action immediately if there is so much as a rough patch of skin – mites are always out there waiting to strike! On a lighter note, we spent a worried afternoon wondering what was wrong with our herd matriarch, Goldie when she appeared with a droopy bottom lip. Had she had a fight or a stroke? No, she had simply got cross with one of the others and spat at them, leaving a hideous taste in her
own mouth. Birthing season is the most wonderful and also the most nerve-wracking time. Our first cria was born prematurely and after the initial excitement of a textbook birth, we realised that we had to work hard and fast to help him pull through. It was an unusual late afternoon birth to a maiden mum who didn’t know what to do and her milk hadn’t come in. Her baby got cold and exhausted and it was imperative to get some colostrum inside him. After talking to the vet, picture us at 10:30pm on the floor in the barn putting in a stomach tube to deliver enough to give him a chance – thankfully YouTube really does have a video for every eventuality and our gorgeous boy pulled through. Continued on the next page
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Alpaca Yearbook 2020 61
Success in the showring We have found that spending time on our farm with the alpacas and dogs is so absorbing that we hardly ever make the effort to go anywhere! However, we’d been introduced to showing at the Cornwall show, before we owned our alpacas, and loved it, so we seized the opportunity to enter the first show on the calendar – which happened to be the 2019 BAS Nationals. We decided to go for it as we knew we had bought some really good animals from Popham and later, from Faraway Suri and Urcuchillay, and we figured that it would be a brilliant opportunity to meet people and learn first-hand what it takes to succeed in the ring. It certainly lived up to expectations, a great event with all the best breeders from across the country plus the fleece show and trade stands with ideas for even more equipment and inspiration for what we could do with our fleece. It was an absolute bonus to leave with our first rosettes too. After a really enjoyable show season, we were very proud to be awarded Most Successful Small Breeder at the Somerset County Show in September 2019. All in all, reflecting on our first full year of alpaca ownership, we are really pleased – we are thankful to everyone who has helped us and are hungry to do more. Our experience of meeting other breeders and their wonderful alpacas has made us want to be able to compete with the best and breed alpacas that will help make a difference to the UK herd.
62 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
On that basis, we formed a plan to ‘go bigger’! We’ve chosen to focus on breeding greys for both Huacaya and Suri, alongside white and light Suri that will build on our initial, fantastic pedigrees. To play bigger we need more quality breeding females and some new stud males with unrivalled genetics. In the UK, our search has led us to Springfarm with two wonderful breeding females for our grey Suri breeding programme and to Faraway Suri for a young grey stud ready to start working this season. Inspired by Nikki Hayton, from Faraway Alpacas, who was in the process of importing from New Zealand, we jumped at the opportunity of joining the shipment and managed to secure two more breeding females and a modern grey stud from Molly Gardner’s Thistledown Suri, and two outstanding light Suri studs from Sue Richards’ world famous Surico herd. Our team of five (the “All Blacks”) arrived safe and sound at the end of October 2019 and put the icing on the cake for Dark Sky Alpacas and the year ahead. As we look forward, we are very excited to see the first progeny from our grey Huacaya stud, Urcuchillay Ghost, and Suri cria from Faraway’s Rebel on the Run and Va Va Voom. As mating season kicks off again in 2020, it will be time to get the Surico and Thistledown studs working and add our grey Suri Faraway Inspector Maigret to the mix. We already have some great matches lined up with our own females and are
looking forward to offering outside matings to some of the finest from other herds. For drive-by matings we may seem to be some way South, but our “USP”’ (unique selling point) is of course wonderful Cornwall – which is always worth the trip, and the fact that each drive-by mating includes overnight (human) accommodation in our traditional Cornish granite Annexe. For our part, we will continue to work to improve the farm and learn more about breeding and nurturing alpacas. We’ve previously travelled in Peru and would love to go back and be even more inspired, including figuring out something truly luxurious to do with our fleece.
Come & visit us Our visitors love to see the alpacas on the fields while they browse in our shop for: Faerie–Tale Alpacas is a small family run farm based in Kenilworth in Warwickshire J15 of M40. We focus on breeding sound, healthy, friendly, elite alpacas with gorgeous fleeces and top class genetics at very reasonable prices. We know each alpaca and have most colours available from blue black to dazzling white. Whether you are new to alpacas or wish to expand your herd we have an alpaca to suit you! Prices to suit all budgets and with full after sales support given.
We offer: • Quality breeding stock • Starter herds • Stud services • Luxury range of hand knitted alpaca garments and accessories using our own fleeces • 2 hour alpaca experiences • Alpacas for weddings and events
• Alpaca socks • Luxurious Alpaca Duvets and pillows • Exclusive knitted and felted alpaca items traceable to our alpacas • Exclusive Alpaca Yarn produced from our herd. Our Farm Shop is open every Saturday from 10.00 until 4.00 or by appointment at other times - just call us. Groups of up to 16 are welcome - please contact us for details. We also sell good quality alpacas as: • Pets • Guard animals • Starter herds Please contact us for details Mulberry Grange, Red Hall Lane, Higher Penley, Wrexham, LL13 ONA Tel: 07713 639 447 Email: mulberryalpacas@btconnect.com We’re 4 miles north of Ellesmere
Web: www.faerietalealpacas.co.uk Email: info@faerietalealpacas.co.uk Tel: 07950 671 672
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Faerie Tale Alpacas
www.mulberryalpacas.co.uk
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AUSTRALIAN SUMMERS INSPIRE YOUNG BREEDER
› EP Cambridge Black Male at a show in Australia
W
hen you leave sixth form at seventeen the expectation is that you go on to university and further education. But what if the prospect of more academic study isn’t for you? That was the challenge facing George Morgan in 2016 as his father Miles Morgan explains. George had no idea what career to pursue but had ruled out university as his next step after school. Travelling is a popular alternative but George still had to decide where to go. For some reason, and he is unsure why, he chose Australia. After this big decision, particularly for a teenager who had never
64 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
been away from the family home for any length of time, he still had to decide where to travel in what is a huge, wide open, country. While at a football match, by chance, I met the daughter of Australian alpaca breeders, Matthew and Cathy Lloyd of EP Cambridge (EPC) Alpacas who had already been a big part of my family’s life for six years, first with wethers, and then a breeding herd of 40 animals. George had always taken a keen interest in the herd and I decided to follow up my chance meeting. George was invited to the Lloyd’s Wiltshire farm and bravely, they gave a thumbs up to him spending his summer break at their Australian farm. Continued on the next page
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› Inca Grey Limelight at the › Fairfax Kylie
› Inca Grey Limelight arriving on the farm
Work experience down under
George Morgan takes up the story talking of his experience on an Australian alpaca farm. Having touched down in Adelaide, I was met by farm manager Lawrence and made the short journey out into the Adelaide Hills. New country, new scenery and lots and lots of alpacas. The first challenge was simply to understand the names of the fields and know which ones to check when asked. Then the names of the animals – when you are very much on first names with forty, 3000 animals become a bit more of a challenge. Luckily, only a small percentage of the alpacas are known by name! Over time I acquired a deep respect for Lawrence’s knowledge of the stock and photographic memory of breeding lines – a real challenge when dealing with that many animals. After my initial shock at the scale of the operation I got down to work and the jobs were similar to home but on a grander scale. The four weeks of shearing were the standout tough event of the
66 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
North Somerset Show – Champion Grey Male
visit with shearers finishing more than 200 animals a day – some going as any breeder will know. The most fascinating lesson was seeing the attention to detail put into the breeding programme at the farm both with the mating choices selected by Lawrence and the rigorous grading of stock by Matt – I was impressed. The team’s expertise clearly shows in the resulting award winning alpacas. With so many alpacas birthing I experienced happy, easy births, unfortunate deaths and a small number of bottle-fed babies – an amazing learning opportunity. After returning to the UK for winter and spring, I returned to Australia for another EPC summer, but this time with more confidence and an ability to offer more as an alpaca farmworker. Taking full charge of the farm on peoples’ days off gave me more confidence and I was pleased to be given the responsibility. The second visit allowed more time to recognise and understand more about the operation in Australia. Continued on the next page
“Realising the Dream” Looking for Quality Genetics, choice of colour, well-trained alpacas? Look no further...
• Alpacas for sale • Agistment services • Adopt an alpaca • Alpaca experiences • Alpaca walks • Hand knitted alpaca products
www.csalpacas.co.uk Julia Corrigan-Stuart
Yeat Wood Farm, Wootton Underwood, Bucks HP18 0RL Mobile: 07803 726464 Email: julia@csalpacas.co.uk Alpaca Yearbook 2020 67
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Full time work My return to the UK coincided with my parents buying a larger 50 acre farm, not as large as I was used to in Australia, but certainly offering more scope for growth. I decided alpacas were for me and I was going to go into alpaca breeding full-time with the passion I had seen at EPC. Our current stock was reviewed and graded, new stock with excellent breeding lines was added and Usk Valley Alpacas was born. Our focus is on black and grey Huacayas – my favourite colours.
Winning start to showing At our first show we won a first prize – a cracking start and motivation to go further. Next up was the BAS National Show – an ambitious step up, but it’s all about learning. The “nationals” were my second show as full time herd manager. The icing on the cake at the show was our grey female, Kylie,
Breeding high quality grey and black huacayas in the stunning Usk Valley, South Wales
coming first in her class as adult grey female. Usk Valley Alpacas were also very proud of their junior grey male, Usk Valley Fine Design, who came second in an extremely competitive class. Everything considered, coming home with a first, second, third and fifth was a great experience. Picking the matings in 2019 has been the next exciting part of the journey which will be eclipsed when the cria are safely on the ground in 2020 – hopefully with some show winners! What has become clear from my experience in Australia is that my future is not to work in an office. The field is my office and I love it, it’s me. I must thank the EPC team for the opportunity to learn. I could not be more grateful to them all, they were so welcoming. I learnt so much and they have set the benchmark for me to aspire to. Usk Valley Alpacas is on a journey, but I am determined to breed the best I can.
Office: 01600 473 222 Mobile: 07785 116 016
E: info@uskvalleyalpacas.co.uk W: www.uskvalleyalpacas.co.uk
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Alpaca Yearbook 2020 69
GRASSROOTS REGISTRY BUILT ON BREEDING EXPERTISE T alking to animal breeding specialist Libby Henson, founder of pedigree software company Grassroots, about her work is a joy. It is also a privilege to learn how Libby, who manages the pedigree registry for the British Alpaca Society, is contributing to the work started by her father Joe Henson to save Britain’s rare livestock breeds from extinction, writes Liz Mason. Her company, Grassroots Pedigree Software Solutions, works with 130 breed societies, including sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, horses and alpacas to manage pedigree records – the essential building blocks of every quality pedigree flock or herd. Libby has a wealth of experience – as an Oxford student, breed society secretary, chairman, chief executive and grassroots farmer. She is also committed to delivering the best available software for pedigree livestock breeders. That commitment will see Grassroots
› Libby and Adam Henson 70 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
launch its first mobile phone App for breeders to manage their pedigree alpaca records at the BAS National Show 2020. Her interest in livestock breeding began on the farm where her father Joe, the founder chairman of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST), opened the Cotswold Farm Park in 1971. The farm is now managed by her brother Adam Henson the BBC TV presenter. As a passionate advocate for rare native breeds Joe was prepared to go against the traditional farming grain – a character trait that saw him start out in farming. “My dad was the son of a London actor and my mum was a school teacher. Dad had always been interested in farming – that’s all he ever wanted to do and he used to describe how he ran away from the theatre to be a farmer, the opposite of the normal idea,” Libby says. Joe went to the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester and later
took on the tenancy of the Cotswold farm, together with an old school friend. Libby was four years old when they moved to the farm which then amounted to about 300 acres with “a very grotty farmhouse”. “That first winter was the winter of 1962/3 and we were snowed in for three months,” Libby says. “Mum didn’t get out for three months with two little children and they really struggled. “We are right on top of the Cotswolds with thin Cotswold brash and it was basically an arable farm. But dad loved animals – that was his passion and he was really interested in old, historical breeds.” Her father started a local rare breed collection including Cotswold sheep, Gloucester cattle, Gloucester Old Spot pigs and Shire horses. Other breeders, interested in livestock conservation, invited him to join a working party and Joe became the founder chairman of the RBST. They recognised that British agriculture risked losing its diverse population of native breeds. It had already lost 30 livestock breeds in the first 50 years of the twentieth century but since the RBST was formed none have become extinct. Local farmers believed Joe’s decision to open Britain’s first “farm park” to help pay for his collection in 1971 was “mad”. They never thought the public would pay to look at sheep and cattle. Joe proved them wrong and the family have welcomed around 125,000 visitors to the rare breed visitor centre each year ever since
Breed Champion The Cotswold sheep still belong to Libby who bought her first ewes when she was eleven years old. Her small flock was funded by the sale of her pony. At the time there were just six flocks left in the country – a steep decline for a breed that had given its name to the surrounding Cotswold Hills. “There was only one show left that had classes for Cotswolds and that was at Moreton in Marsh,” Libby recalls. “I had to take my best three to exhibit a pen of three. I still don’t know to this day whether they were best sheep in the show, but they gave me first prize and then Breed Champion and I was hooked.” Libby became committed to the Cotswold breed, later becoming the breed society’s secretary and then chairman in its centenary year. Her biggest achievement, as a breeder, was taking the Interbreed Sheep Champion title, at the Royal Three Counties Show in 2003 – a trophy that had eluded the breed for 50 years. She was also secretary of the Longhorn Cattle Breed Society for 25 years and secretary of the Gloucester Cattle Society for 18 years. She was secretary to all three breed societies in her early twenties after reading zoology at Oxford University where she specialised in animal behaviour and genetics. She followed her first degree with a Masters in domestic animal breeding and conservation at Edinburgh University. Back home after her studies Libby ran the public side of the farm park while her mother was treated successfully for breast cancer. Her next big career move was to accept an invitation to become chief executive of the US equivalent of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust which was “an amazing experience” and involved visiting farmers in every state in the Union with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii. Project work for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation followed including travel to visit sustainable agriculture projects in India, Africa and South America. “And then I decided it was time to get married settle down and have children,” she says. While at Oxford Libby had bought a computer, which at the time had cost “a fortune”. But it enabled her to write a programme to store databases and produce extended pedigrees for her three breed societies.
› Joe and Libby Henson Back in the UK, and fitting work around child care, Libby turned on the computer one evening and found that the motherboard had melted. “I had no back up,” she says. In an attempt to salvage her data Libby went to her local computer shop and was put in touch with Margaret Hargreaves, a real life ‘computer wizard’, who managed to salvage everything. “Over lunch I described to her what I was doing and the fact that all the breeds were inventing different systems. We got on very well and that was the beginning of Grassroots.” She set up the company in partnership with Margaret in 1998. It started with half a dozen breed societies, including Libby’s original three. “Now we have got 130 breeds and are the largest provider of software in the pedigree industry,” Libby says The aim was to provide a standard software package that could store information for all species and breeds, including names, addresses and contact details for people, linked to all the pedigree information, coat colour, horns, styles and production records, which could be tailored where necessary to fit individual breed requirements. The British Alpaca Society was added to the Grassroots client list in 2003, and Grassroots managed the merger of the two pedigree registries run by BAS and British Camelids in 2006. There is now a single registry, run strictly according to agreed rules with 1,400 breeder herds and 40,000 registered animals. Breeders can access the registry through the BAS website or through Grassroots. A rewrite of the entire Grassroots database ‘in the cloud’ means the company is ready to launch a new mobile phone app for breed society members in 2020, Libby says. The plan is to launch the alpaca app at the BAS National. It will work in a similar way to the Manage Your Herd part of the existing Grassroots registry. Breeders will be able to download the app on their mobile phones, enter their BAS password and access their herd’s pedigree information. Owners will be able to find and update an animal, register births, report deaths, link photos and notes, manage mating dates and show dates and information will sync with the Grassroots database. The app ensures Grassroots meets the needs of modern breeders – and that the livestock breed societies at the heart of the company an make best use of modern technology to preserve the historic breeds of the past and develop the breeds of the future.
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 71
MEET A BOARD MEMBER
Val Fullerlove, winner of a BAS lifetime achievement award in 2018, brings a wealth of experience to her role as Fibre Zone judge at the BAS National Show 2020.
A
s a founder member of the BAS, and qualified international judge, Val has played a leading role in the evolution of the UK alpaca world since the first imports arrived from South America in the early
1990s. She founded one of the first breeding herds in the UK at Hanley Hall Alpacas and went on to train as a judge at the International Alpaca Judging School (IAJS) in Peru with leading alpaca judge Dr Julio Sumar and fibre expert Maggie Krieger. Val’s love for alpaca fibre has seen her work with one of the best mill owners and weavers in Yorkshire to produce exquisite pashmina scarves and woven throws from her own Worcestershire herd. She is now bringing her experience to the BAS Board, and the BAS National Show, as it looks to develop the future of UK alpaca breeding. It was her ambition to make beautiful, high quality alpaca products, that drove Val to develop her herd which she has since sold. “I wanted to make lovely things. I wasn’t happy with knitting a tea cosy. I wanted to make beautiful, fine pashminas,” she says. She aimed to keep fine white alpacas and vowed to “breed them not buy them.” She used her own stud males as well as outside matings to build a herd of seventy alpacas starting out with some of the first alpacas to arrive in the UK. “My aim was to breed good white animals and I did it. I had lots of champions and supreme champions,” she says. Val grew up on a dairy farm but after she married and moved to a house with 20 acres she was “certainly not going to keep cattle.” “I lived there for almost a year and the first ever auction of camelids was at the Three Counties Showground which was two miles away. “We went and because I knew absolutely nothing about alpacas I bought one male to go with my three pet sheep. He was called Gideon. I think there were probably only five people in the country with alpacas at the time,” Val says. She quickly recognised that Gideon needed herd mates and found more alpacas for sale at Twycross Zoo. She bought several females from the zoo’s co founder Molly Badham but learning to manage them involved trial and error from the start. “After my first shearing I ended up in accident and emergency with a broken finger because a local sheep shearer came and thought he could do it. And then when I came to spin the yarn it was awful,” Val says. “I thought I was going to spin it and have something beautiful because I had seen alpaca yarn and I thought it was going to be like cashmere. But mine was like a Brillo pad – it was awful.” As a member of her local Guild of Weavers, Dyers and Spinners
72 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
Val had learnt to hand spin and weave. “Spinning is something you do like weeding – your hands do it and your head does something else,” she says. The first woven rug she made using Gideon’s fibre is still a reminder of those early days. She also has a selection of the high quality fibre and silk pashminas in wonderful pastel colours that proved to be a highly desirable accessory for local fashionistas. “When I was making pashminas each one would use 25g of alpaca and 25g of silk and they would be extremely fine. I would sell them for £75 each and I was making £1,200 a kilo from my baby alpaca. They were just beautiful.”
Knowing worsted from woollen All Val’s alpaca fibre was spun extremely fine. With the knowledge acquired from her Guild work she was able to work with a professional weaver to make the pashminas and throws to her own specification. At the time few UK owners made their own professionally produced alpaca products – most sold items bought from Peru. “The biggest difficulty then, and it is now, is to have the yarn spun. Once you have the yarn spun and you know what weight it is, you can then find a weaver to work with,” Val says. Education is key to the whole process and knowing the difference between worsted and woollen yarn is a basic requirement. For example Val says it is possible to make quality yarn with coarse fibre of about 30 micron using the worsted process. But using the woollen process with the same fibre will produce a prickly product, with short fibres that stick out and irritate the skin. Time spent at the Arequipa factories in Peru owned by the Michell Group, the biggest textile manufacturers in the country, gave her invaluable commercial experience and an insight into how the factories work with top designers, including Armani and Bulgari. “As part of international judge training you had to spend a week in the Michell factory. The women who worked there would teach you to grade fibre but they didn’t speak Spanish they spoke Quechan and they would slap your hand if you got it wrong. “They had one fleece and it would go into four or five different piles depending on the micron. They would just go through the fleece and they could tell by hand if it was 17 or 22 micron,” Val says. International judge training included a month on the Peruvian Altiplano studying anatomy in the classroom and assessing alpacas from the renowned Rural Alianza and Accoyo herds. Apprentice judging in the US followed the rigorous Peruvian adventure. “We would start at seven and not finish until eight or
› Val Fullerlove with Hanley Hall Tiberius – a champion and supreme champion
nine at night. It was freezing and I can remember one night the window falling out of our hut and snow coming in,” Val says. But at the end each trainee in the group could accurately assess conformation and fibre quality. “The last day when we had finished they brought out fifteen white males and they said put them in order. We just looked at each other but we did it.” Val says the alpacas in Rural Alianza were the best she had ever seen – until a Snowmass alpaca walked into a US showring when she was a co-judge. “It was a light fawn male about six years old
and it was just stunning.” Now twenty years later it is a different story. “UK animals are as good as any in the world. I judge all over the world and I have done for years and I know ours are as good as anyone’s - they really are. We have got some stunning animals,” Val says. Every judge has an image of their own ideal alpaca and the closest Val has come to her ideal was the several times supreme champion male Hanley Hall Tiberius (pictured). “He is as good as I got – he was amazing.”
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 73
RURAL RAMBLINGS
Husbandry notes from a dedicated alpaca owner with a mission to make sure alpacas are properly cared for.
› This is a lovely airy horse shelter on skids. It has four metal plates to fix a gate to the front entrance when required. Tacked onto the side is a make shift shed anchored down with railways sleepers, reclaimed wood and roof. It is screwed to the large horse shelter and can be dismantled when moving the larger horse shelter. These two shelters – one cheap and the other much dearer – are ideal together and will encourage the shyer, more nervous alpacas to use one or the other
I
t is very cold outside, damp, freezing fog, wet alpacas and mud. It all helps to put you in a bad mood and it doesn’t make it any better when a customer arrives to view some alpacas she thought she would like to buy. I asked her if she had done any field preparation for the alpacas she wanted? Eh what do you mean she said?! Before you buy any alpacas make sure you have sorted out your fencing especially around the perimeter of your land. It will also need dividing into paddocks; you can’t have too many gates and water troughs with field shelters in each paddock. Then the money
ALPACA
PODS
74 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
you have left is the amount to, spend on buying your alpacas. “Oooh no! We haven’t done any of those things,” came the reply. “Field shelters they sound expensive. Gates... oh…” With the seasons becoming more extreme a field shelter /barn is your biggest asset for your alpacas. It will protect your alpacas from the wind and rain and also in the summer months from the sun and flies. In barns you can keep your hay, straw and machinery safe and dry. But if it is a permanent fixture you will need planning check with the local authority as it will save you money in the long run.
Weather: Protecting against adverse weather Ventilation: Provide good air flow Flies: Shelter against summer heat and flies Adaptability: Water drinkers, troughs and deep bedding can all be added Husbandry: A great place to complete feet-trimming, vitamin drenches or as a quarantine area Appearance: Practical and attractive Size: Various options and sizes available. Please visit our website for more details.
Being an Alpaca breeder the welfare of our animals is paramount so the pods are designed and manufactured by ourselves taking this into account. We designed the Alpaca pods for our own herd and are now pleased to offer these for sale. UK Design Numbers 6031339, 6031340, 6031342
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sandhillsalpacas@aol.com Sandhills Alpacas, Sandhills Farm Cottage, Ness Lane, Tockwith YO26 7QL
› Ideal gate to use with a field shelter as it will stop any alpaca getting caught or falling through First decide where you would like to erect your field shelter. This has to be in a dry area of the field where water does not run off, so not the lowest part. Not too close to the hedge or ditch because this could get muddy and can entice rats and mice. You don’t want to face your shelter into the prevailing wind either. I always put mine in the middle of the field which makes it accessible for even the shyest alpaca and it will give shade wherever the sun is. Make sure you have the necessary planning for a permanent building and the correct site before you get the JCB in. You need the position dead right before you prepare the ground with hardcore and concrete. A mobile field shelter on skids that can be towed by a car may not need planning permission. But again check first. These don’t need a base so they are easy to position; whichever you choose make sure it has an overhang to protect the open side from driving rain. You can buy horse field shelters anywhere, either pre-made or DIY which are a cheaper option. Sandhills Alpacas make pods which look great and are especially designed for alpacas. Shelters don’t have to be “ top of the range” and cost thousands; they just have to be safe, and do the job of keeping your alpacas dry. We now have lots of various alpaca hard feeds on the market. There are no hard and fast rules as everyone has their own feed regime but again with the weather being so extreme consider some hard food along with vitamin and mineral supplements. I also use a handful of chaff to bulk the feed out and it stops greedy alpacas bolting their food. (Molly chaff herbal is soft, palatable and moist and the cria love it. It starts them eating solids.) Feel along the withers of the alpaca to determine their condition and feed
accordingly. Good hay should also be fed ad-lib 24/7. Some breeders feed soaked sugar beet which is a palatable way to add fibre to the diet but it adds little else in food value. Haylage is conserved cut grass, baled and wrapped. It is less dusty and has a higher water and energy content than hay. Pelleted grass nuts are produced the same way as haylage. Chopped dried grass is cut earlier than hay and dried artificially, it is also usually higher in protein and energy. This is a great feed for poor doers or fussy eaters and older animals. Short chop/chaff fibre includes chopped straw, alfalfa, grass and often added extra minerals and vitamins. Straw is a great partial replacement chop, oat and barley are most common but it should be clean and dust free. Quality is more important than type and alpacas will happily munch on it. Apart from the alpacas my house seems to be a free for all for various visitors, what with the stray cat who gave birth and had kittens in my loft – we couldn’t get to them because of low beams and they were there six weeks. Happy to say the kittens are now rehomed. I also have a hedgehog who comes in via the catflap and brings a mate to eat the cat food – they are now hibernating – and a robin that stalks me around the farm, in the food room, in the yard while I sweep up. When I open a house door he flies in before me and starts hoovering up crumbs from the carpet – yes I know I should hoover more. I don’t mind but he does perch on the back of my chair… more mess. So what can we do about the wet weather? Nothing... it will dry up eventually and before we know it will be spring.
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Alpaca Yearbook 2020 75
ALPACA EDUCATION The BAS is committed to providing education and training on all aspects of alpaca ownership and management.
T
he British Alpaca Society is a membership society dedicated to the welfare of alpacas in the UK. One of the key objectives is to provide education and training for its members and the general public in all aspects of alpaca ownership and management. The Education Committee provides members with a range of education courses on basic alpaca ownership, alpaca assessment, advanced alpaca assessment and judge Training. At present the BAS runs a number of training courses through a network of breeders trained to train: l Basic alpaca ownership, a course that will be run by several affiliated breeders throughout the country consisting of 10
l l
l
l
To find out more about the range of BAS training courses, visit www.bas-uk.com 76 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
modules on all aspects of basic alpaca ownership. Alpaca evaluation, A one day course on alpaca fibre. Intermediate alpaca assessment. A two-day course on assessing alpaca conformation and fleece (both Suri and Huacaya). This course is a comprehensive package in basic alpaca assessment and applicable to all, as welł as being a prerequisite for those wishing to enter the BAS judge training scheme or advanced alpaca assessment course Advanced alpaca assessment. This course builds on the intermediate alpaca assessment course and focuses on breeding. It is designed for owners and breeders rather than those wanting to become a judge. Alpaca judge training stage 1 and 2. (Both are two days). For those who have passed the advanced alpaca assessment course and want to learn more about assessment and judging. The main difference between the advanced alpaca assessment and the judging courses is oral reasoning and the breeding element.
Training in Alpaca Husbandry from BAS affiliates Sign up for some training by going to the BAS website: www.bas-uk.com/alpaca-education-and-training
Course offered by affiliates across the UK as full day courses. Module 1: Catching your alpaca Module 2: Fitting a head collar Module 3: Halter training Module 4: Feeding and basic management Module 5: Vaccination, worming and supplements Module 6: Alpaca breeding Module 7: Alpaca mating Module 8: Birthing Module 9: Shearing Module 10: What do to with fleece Module 11: Marketing your alpaca business
REGISTRATION IS WHAT YOU NEED Libby Henson from Grassroots Systems Ltd explains why the BAS pedigree database is so important to the industry.
An essential tool From the point of view of the whole alpaca community, a strong easily accessed pedigree database gives us the opportunity to look at trends within the national population and produce statistics for the BAS Board, the marketing committee, Alpaca magazine, and potential new members. This is important for marketing, for planning and in negotiations with the government. We can look at age distribution, we can map geographical distribution, particularly useful when planning shows or events, and we can look at the structure of our industry. Three quarters of our members have herds of fewer than 20 animals but a quarter of all alpacas living in the UK are owned by just 2% of our members. We can look at our quality fibre production and see there will be over 2000 first and second clip white fleeces produced next summer. We also have an idea of the numbers of fleeces for all the other colours and for suris. A strong database is an essential tool in the future development of our industry and a key to the development of a successful breeding strategy. In the UK we have just such a registry, accessible to our members via the BAS website. It holds a wealth of information on over 40,000 animal records. Ensure that your alpacas are part of that future – check your papers and get your herd registered!
If you need help or advice please contact the Grassroots Office on 01392 270421 or email registry@grassroots.co.uk Or write to: BAS Registry, PO Box 251, Exeter, EX2 8WX 78 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
T
here are currently almost 40,000 alpacas registered as living in the UK, in 1260 BAS herds ranging in size from two or three animals to several hundred. The majority of herds consist of 10 to 20 registered animals. It is really important that all UK-born alpacas are logged with the BAS even if they are kept as pets or for fibre production.
Identification All alpacas should carry a microchip which is the primary form of identification and is the quickest way to positively identify a lost or stolen animal. Registered animals are also allocated with an ear tag which indicates the herd in which they were born and a unique number. Tags do not have to be worn in the ear, but they are an effective way of identifying animals in larger groups.
Registration All cria should be logged with the BAS registry as soon as possible, and before their first birthday. There are three sections of the registry – Registered, Notified and Listed. Females and males destined for breeding should be ‘Registered’ (£15 +VAT). All pet males which will not be used for breeding or have been castrated should be ‘Listed’ (free of charge). All other males, whose destiny is not yet decided, should be ‘Notified’ (free of charge). Certificates are automatically provided for all fully registered animals and are available for ‘Listed’ or ‘Notified’ males for a small fee (£5 +VAT). Late fees apply to all cria applications which are not reported to the registry until after their first birthday. Full Register late fee £30 +VAT, Notification late fee (£15 +VAT). Listing remains free of charge.
Transfer Animals which have been sold should be transferred on the registry to the new owners. The transfer fee (£18 + VAT) applies to ‘Registered’ females, ‘Registered’ and ‘Notified’ males and is normally paid by the vendor. Transfer of ‘Listed’ non-breeding males is free of charge.
Registry available online The details of all ‘Registered’, ‘Notified’ and ‘Listed’ animals is available for members, on line, via the members areas of the BAS website (www.bas-uk.com). Please log into the members’ area (top right hand corner of the screen) using your herd letters and password. Then click on registry (top right hand corner of the screen) Type in some information about an animal in order to find it, or type the herd letters for the owner or breeder for a full list. The more information you provide the smaller the list offered. If you are having problems locating an animal, please contact the Grassroots office. To view more details on any one animal click on it in the list. Click on pedigree, progeny or show results for these details. Anything in blue is a link, for example to ancestors, breeder or owner. Manage your herd records – online. The online herd book can also be used to apply to make changes to the registry. • You can let us know about the birth of cria and apply to register, notify or list. • You can let us know about transfer of ownership on the animals you have sold so that we can transfer the animals and contact the new owner to invite them to join the BAS. • You can let us know about deaths and record the reasons for death. This information is held confidentially, but is used to produce annual summaries of reasons for death, which may help to identify trends and areas where research is needed. • You can apply for DNA testing and DNA parentage tests to assist with the identification of your animals and confirm their pedigrees. • You can do show entries for the majority of BAS shows.
Before you buy Please do check that the animals are on the BAS database or contact the Grassroots office for assistance. 01392 270421 or registry@bas-uk.com. It is very important that animals are registered before you buy because cria can only be registered by the person who was the registered owner of their mother on the day they were born. If you purchase unregistered animals you will not be able to register them yourself, and any cria they subsequently produce will not be eligible for registration. It could be compared to the difference between a black dog and a pedigree Labrador – both might make nice pets but if you are planning to show, or to breed animals you may wish to sell in the future, you must begin with pedigree registered stock. Registration is also important because the pedigree of an animal, its offspring, siblings and other relations are a good indicator of its breeding potential and that of its descendants. If you want to breed to improve your stock, you need to know as much as possible about what you are buying. An animal with no pedigree, and no breeding history really is a ‘pig in a poke’.
Grading-up scheme If you do already own unregistered stock, please contact the BAS registry for advice. It may be possible to trace their registered parents and arrange for late registration and transfer. Failing that,
there is a ‘grading-up scheme’ which enables unregistered stock to be brought back into the fold, over three generations. The scheme is a mechanism by which any alpaca of unknown origin can be included into the BAS database. The animals for whom no pedigree is known go into the ‘Listed’ section. All the males remain in the listed non-breeding section, but daughters by a registered sire can be registered into the ‘Listed C’ section. Their daughters by a registered sire go into the ‘Listed B’ section, and their daughters by a registered sire go into the ‘Listed A’ section. Finally the daughters of ‘Listed A’ section females by a registered sire are eligible for full pedigree registration. This obviously takes time but is a mechanism for currently unregistered herds to be brought back into the full pedigree registry, and is in line with grading-up schemes used by many pedigree breed societies in other species.
Three ways to log your cria with the registry There are now three ways you can apply to notify, list or register your cria with the BAS. 1. You can send a paper application form. These can be downloaded from the website or contact the Grassroots Office and they’ll pop one in the post. 2. You can make application via PedeWeb, the online registry. You will need your member number/herd letters and password, if you have forgotten them please contact the Grassroots office. • Go to the BAS website www.bas-uk.com; • Log into the members’ area, (top right) and then click on registry; • Select ‘Manage your herd’; • Select the first option – ‘Births’; • Complete a form for each cria and click on ‘Add to list’; • When you have finished click on ‘submit’; • Finally go to the shopping basket and either pay on line via PayPal or print off the remittance slip to clear the basket, and send the cheque payable to BAS to the Grassroots office. 3. You can email your application as an excel spreadsheet. This is particularly useful for members who already have an on-farm computer system because the report can be exported direct from that system. The excel spreadsheet must include your herd letters and name in the title of the file. The whole batch in that file must be destined for one registration type (eg, notified males, listed males or full register). The columns must include: • The date of birth; • Sex (unless the whole batch are one sex in which case that information can be in the email message); • Ear tag – this will be made up of your three letter herd code, the letters BASUK and an individual number; • EID chip number – this is the primary form of identification; • Name – herd prefix plus individual name; • Colour; • Sire number – either the full registration number as it appears on PedeWeb, or the full tag number as it appears on PedeWeb; • Sire name – for cross reference; • Dam number – either the full registration number as it appears on PedeWeb, or the full tag number as it appears on PedeWeb; • Dam name – for cross reference.
Alpaca Yearbook 2020 79
Alpacas for sale
A list of BAS members who are breeders and advertising their alpacas for sale
SOUTHERN ENGLAND
ALPACA EVOLUTION
Herts AlpAcAs
We are committed to the success of the British Alpaca industry and realising the potential and possibilities this offers. We are passionate about the Alpaca, and continuing to progress the quality of our herd of 700 plus alpacas, both Huacaya and Suri, without compromising our high standards in ensuring excellent herd welfare. Offering unrivalled experience and support to our clients, and helping them achieve success is core to our business ethos.
15 years of selective breeding and dedication has successfully proven our genetics both in and outside the show ring, winning multiple Herts Alpacas championships and of course one of the British Alpaca Futurity’s major Best Breeder awards.
We offer a full range of alpacas for sale, stud males, breeding females and pets as well as learning opportunities for all levels of experience. We welcome visitors by appointment. Located in Buckinghamshire.
We offer a range of courses including: ‘Introduction to alpacas’, ‘Birthing’, ‘Husbandry’, and a day long ‘Advanced’ course. Alpacas for sale in all colours, at prices to suit all pockets, but more importantly from elite herd sires and proven bloodlines. Our farm in Hertfordshire offers: feed, supplies, coats, halters etc. Importantly we deliver total customer care. See website for customer reviews and details of our award-winning herd sires.
TEL: Nick 07979 651742 & Alexandra 07795 843790 EMAIL: enquiries@alpacaevolution.com WEB: www.alpacaevolution.com
tel: 01763 271301 or 07802 433155 emAil: beckwith904@aol.com Web: www.hertsalpacas.co.uk
SCOTFIELD ALPACAS
SNOWSHILL ALPACAS
We are a family run farm in Warfield, Berkshire, breeding high quality Huacaya and Suri alpacas from show winning sires. We would like to welcome you to Scotlands Farm to see our wonderful herd of both white and coloured animals. We are happy to discuss your requirements, be it for pet males, stock guards, or breeding females to suit your budget but with no obligation to purchase. We have over ten years of experience with these adorable animals. Give us a call and let us see if we can help you. TEL: WEB:
Sue Hipkin 07770 455533 Lisa Batup 07770 455534 www.scotfieldalpacas.co.uk
PENNYBRIDGE ALPACAS The PennyBridge Herd and Stud. One of the first alpaca farms set up in the South of England, still producing show winners from champion stock. Good quality starter herds, proven and potential stud males, stud services, fancy grazers and sheep guards available. Please phone to book a viewing with no obligation to purchase. Situated in North Hampshire, close to the Surrey and Berkshire borders with good access to ports and airports, less than five minutes drive from both J5 and 6 of the M3. TEL: 01256 764824 or 07801 132757 EMAIL: joy@pennybridgealpacas.co.uk WEB: www.pennybridgealpacas.co.uk
ADVERTISE HERE
Established in 2002 and situated on the North Cotswold hills close to the picturesque village of Snowshill, the current herd numbers over 300. We breed both Huacaya and Suri alpacas (approximately 85% are Huacaya). Although our breeding programme is biased towards the darker colours, we do also have superb quality whites and beige alpacas. Full range of alpacas for sale, attractive pets to top show quality breeding girls and stud boys. Large choice of stunning stud males available to service your girls. Also offering natural alpaca fabrics made in the UK from the fleece of our own herd. TEL: 01386 853841 or 07711 044106 EMAIL: roger.mount@snowshillalpacas.com WEB: www.snowshillalpacas.com
For only £280 +VAT for the year which includes an online listing, you can advertise in the Alpacas for Sale classifieds. TEL: 01303 233885 EMAIL: sales@alpacamagazine.co.uk
SOUTH EAST
LIGHTFOOT ALPACAS Lightfoot Alpacas are situated in Hawkhurst in the Weald of Kent. We have been breeding alpacas since 1997 and have over 450 Huacaya and Suri. Lightfoot is a closed herd, we believe that the bio security and health of our animals is paramount to their breeding and care. We always have for the full range of colours and ages, mainly Huacaya with some Suris. Our animals are known for being friendly as we spend time with them and know them individually. We provide after sales advice and back up services when we sell our animals. Whether you are looking to improve or expand your herd or just thinking of alpacas as pets, why not contact us to arrange a visit. TEL: 07802 263589 WEB: www.alpacabreeder.co.uk EMAIL: graham@alpacabreeder.co.uk
PINNACLE ALPACAS
ALPACA ANNIE
Situated in the beautiful Surrey hills, the Pinnacle Huacaya herd can be found grazing in badger fenced, lush pastures. We are passionate about alpacas and committed to maintaining the highest standards in our breeding programme.
Breeding quality, friendly alpacas on the Romney Marsh, we pride ourselves on the relationship we have with our animals and our high welfare standards.
Whether you are just starting out or wish to enhance your breeding programme from our outstanding, world renowned genetics, we would be delighted to help you. Every Pinnacle alpaca carries an exceptional pedigree and is halter trained from an early age. We have a selection of quality animals for sale from pet males, through to breeding females and herd sires. As BAS Affiliate Trainers we provide learning opportunities at all levels and always give full support with ongoing aftersales care. TEL: Hilary 07957 689002 WEB: www.pinnaclealpacas.com EMAIL: info@pinnaclealpacas.com
EAST MIDLANDS
JANDJ ALPACAS
JandJ Alpacas WE SPECIALISE IN COLOURED ALPACAS
The family run JandJ Alpaca herd was established in 2005 with four pregnant females, today we have over 90 beautiful animals. We are located in Lincolnshire on the Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leiceistershire border just off the A1. With years of experience our aim is to help you choose the best alpacas to start you journey, whether it be pregnant females, stud males, pet boys or girls. Please feel free to get in touch. TEL:
Martin or Clare 01636 626990
EMAIL: jandj.alpacas@zen.co.uk WEB:
www.jandjalpacas.co.uk
80 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
Many of the herd have been halter trained and are great walking companions. We can help you find anything from a fleecy friend to a show winning fleece. For new keepers we have well bonded starter herds available with a full support package including – training with our head herdsperson, home visits, shearing, ongoing phone/ face-to-face support and a ‘Home for Life’ guarantee as standard. So please come on down and meet the herd! TEL: 01303 870527 EMAIL: becca@alpacaannie.com WEB: www.alpacaannie.com
WEST MIDLANDS
TOFT ALPACAS We offer over 150 pedigree alpacas in all colours, ages and price ranges and are confident that our prize-winning herd will live up to all your alpaca expectations. We will be delighted to share our extensive experience to guide you towards your alpaca aspiration, whatever that might be. Through the TOFT studio we run an extensive programme of practical husbandry and textile, crochet and knitting workshops throughout the year. The TOFT studio retails exclusive luxury yarn from throughout the world. Come and see for yourself – the complete alpaca experience. TEL: 01788 810626 or 07970 626245 EMAIL: shirley@toft-alpacas.co.uk WEB: www.toftalpacastud.com
WILDWOOD ALPACAS We are breeders of Huacaya Alpacas in a variety of colours with exceptional Genetics from top bloodlines. Breeding for both fantastic fleece and temperaments. Located on the Shropshire /Staffordshire border just off Jct 3 of the M54. We are committed to the health and wellbeing of our Alpacas and offer a full back up after sales service. Come and visit us or give us a call to discuss your needs. TEL:
07779 667798
EMAIL: sarah@wildwoodanimalhealth.co.uk WEB:
www.wildwoodalpacas.co.uk
SOUTH WEST
CENTRAL ENGLAND
URCUCHILLAY ALPACAS
Now in
FAERIE TALE ALPACAS
For over 10 years we have bred multiple-champion alpacas, selecting the best genetics while working to very high ethical standards. Our reputation and many awards are testament to our passion, commitment, knowledge and experience. We have BAS registered and halter trained alpacas for sale in a range of colours, ages and quality, champion studs in a range of colours with a variety of sought-after genetics from New Zealand, Australia, America and the UK. We offer alpaca walks, experiences, events and parties as well as a shop. Visits are welcome by appointment. TEL: 01458 860052 or 07570 511299 EMAIL: carla@urcuchillay.co.uk or carla@fibreofthegods.co.uk WEB: www.urcuchillay.co.uk or www.fibreofthegods.co.uk
Faerie–Tale Alpacas is a small family run farm based in Kenilworth in Warwickshire J15 of M40. We focus on breeding sound, healthy, friendly, elite alpacas with gorgeous fleeces and top class genetics at very reasonable prices. We know each alpaca and have most colours available from blue black to dazzling white. Whether you are new to alpacas or wish to expand your herd we have an alpaca to suit you! Prices to suit all budgets and with full after sales support given. We offer: • Quality breeding stock • Starter herds • Stud services • 2 hour alpaca experiences • Alpacas for weddings and events • Luxury range of hand knitted alpaca garments and accessories using our own fleeces TEL: 07950 671672 FACEBOOK: Faerie Tale Alpacas EMAIL: info@faerietalealpacas.co.uk WEB: www.faerietalealpacas.co.uk
Advertise
in the ONLY magazine mailed direct to ALL members of the British Alpaca Society and will be available bi-monthly in WHSmith stores
Alpaca Everything
Fibre Processors and Retailers
ut alpacas o know abo you need t
YEARBOOK
RETAILERS/WHOLESALERS IN BRITISH ALPACA PRODUCTS
ANIMAL HEALTH
JG ANIMAL HEALTH
HOMESTEAD FARM SUPPLIES
Nutritional Supplements for all Alpacas. Premier Camelid Drench, Premier Mineral Supplement, Bucket and now available A,D3 & E Paste “plus”. We only use raw materials of known quality. Forage analysis service available. TEL: 01886 880482 EMAIL: jganimalhealth@aol.com WEB: www.jganimalhealth.co.uk
Alpaca
Everything you need for your alpacas delivered to your door! We are a one-stop-shop for alpaca supplies, including headcollars and leads, vitamins and nutritional supplements, healthcare and welfare supplies, colostrum, coats for cria and adults and microchipping equipment. We also have a good selection for your other animals, including dogs, chickens and horses, as well as a range of farmhouse items and gifts, including our famous home cheese-making kits. We are alpaca owners ourselves and we are always happy to help with your questions and enquiries. Order direct from our website or by phone. You can expect fast, friendly service and advice. TEL: 01295 713188 EMAIL: homesteadfarms@btinternet.com WEB: www.homesteadfarmsupplies.co.uk
Everythin
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PROCESSORS OF FIBRE – MINI MILLS AND OTHER
M.R.HARNESS
CLASSIC CARDER Classic Carder produce a full range of British, handmade drum carders for fibre preparation. Featuring our unique interchangeable drum system which allows quick and easy drum change for carding different fibres. TEL: 01746 714130
£7.95/€10
M.R.Harness was founded in 1995 after existing part time for a number of years. Mary herself is a qualified engineer and is well placed to assess materials and their useage.
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Company policy is to test as many of the webbing designs as possible before release, as each item is unique to the animal it is designed for. This has led M.R.Harness to become the supplier of choice for headcollars, leads, coats and harness for all the various smallholding animals, but specialising in alpacas and llamas, and working ponies. All items are hand crafted ‘in house’, in England, so you can be assured of good workmanship and quality products that last. So please come and try the ‘Choice of Champions’. British Alpaca Society The fibre breed
TEL: 01299 896827 EMAIL: mary@mrharness.co.uk
www.bas-uk.com
£7.95/€10
EMAIL: paulbrittain@mac.com
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WEB: www.classiccarder.co.uk
Become a BAS member Single membership £74 per annum Joint membership £95 per annum Herd registration fee £25
www.bas-uk.com
To sell your Alpaca products/services contact advert sales
British Alpaca Society The fibre breed
01303 233885
sales@alpacamagazine.co.uk 81
BAS MEMBERS EXCLUSIVE
BAS Members get free membership to My Society and can benefit from a number of exclusive offers. Here are a few: Medisave
The Professional Solution
Checkout these and many other offers on The My Society page on the BAS website by going to the moving carousel on the home page and clicking on the My Society link www.bas-uk.com The British Alpaca Society cannot be held responsible for any issues regarding products, offers or services offered under the My Society scheme. All offers can be withdrawn or changed without notice. The British Alpaca Society does not endorse or recommend any of the companies listed under the My Society Scheme. * Full terms and conditions of the My Society offers can be seen on the BAS website.
5% OFF
25% OFF
Safe4disinfectant
ALL products www.medisave.co.uk
Terms and conditions apply
Terms and conditions apply
Discounted Prices on Microchips*
10% OFF Alpaca Transport at LOC Ltd*
Terms and conditions apply
www.locltd.com and www.localpacatransport.com Terms and conditions apply
2 FREE worm counts worth £40 for NEW BAS members then 25% OFF Worm Counts after that*
Wildwood Animal Health www.wildwoodanimalhealth.co.uk
Terms and conditions apply
www.bas-uk.com 82 Alpaca Yearbook 2020
10% OFF
AGRI Shelter® www.ellipsefabrications.co.uk Terms and conditions apply
Free bag of Camelibra NG2 (worth £28 & free delivery)
Terms and conditions apply
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The UK’s favourite alpaca feeds. As a key supplier to many of the UK’s most established alpaca herds since 2003, we’d like to think we know a thing or two about camelid nutrition. From our acclaimed ‘Camelibra NG-2'; designed to provide the correct nutritional balance to maintain healthy digestion from natural forage/fibre based diets, our unique ‘Hembra & Cria’ to maximise the growth and fibre development of the newborn from birth to post weaning and ‘Fibregest’; our high quality soluble fibre feed, we have the perfect answer for optimum nutrition whatever your situation. In addition, no minimum order quantities, nationwide sales support and full nutritional backup all come as standard too. www.gwfnutrition.com
For further information, stockist details and to order, please visit gwfnutrition.com or call: +44 (0)1225 708482
Beck Brow Jimmy Choos & Inca Kenzy
Inca Memphis & Inca Incognito Inca Alpaca is a family owned farm that breed black and grey huacaya alpacas and have 25 years experience. We are focused on the long term viability of our industry and invite you to join this incredible journey.
incaalpaca.co.uk
Tim Hey +44 (0) 7875 532827