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August 2015
AANZ National Show September 18th – 20th, 2015 Mystery Creek Events Centre HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND
Come and join us at our National Show This is a great opportunity to catch up with friends and see what’s happening in the New Zealand industry. Enjoy the range of events happening around the show.
Events include: Breed Show; Fleece Show; Gala Dinner; Online Stud Services Auction; Trade Stands and Displays; 'Alpaca Farm' Experience for the Public This is the premier event in the AANZ show calendar. Contact the organising committee if you have any specific questions.
The website alpacaexpo.co.nz is the best place to find out all the info. Updates will be made frequently. Contact: alpaca2015@alpaca.org.nz
MAGAZI NE IAL IC OF
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Inside this issue…
Message from the President
03
News Flash
04
Alpaca – The Fibre with a Future
06
On the European Show Circuit 2015
10
Parsifal – Tribute to a Truly Great Male
12
The Rare Yarns Company
14
‘Paua’ – AANZ Award, Creative Fibre Festival 2015
17
A ‘Surious’ Journey for SuperSuri Yarn
18
Amano by Lorena Laing
21
MAG Shearing System
24
Cooking With Alpaca
27
What Are Processors Looking For?
29
Field Days 2015
30
2015 North Island Colourbration
31
National Alpaca Day
34
Facial Eczema – Experience & Case Study
37
Photography with Tara
42
Advertiser Profile
46
New Member Profile
48
Wrapping Fleeces for Show Entry
49
2015 Herd Sire Directory
50
Greg Charteris
Frank & Anya Walkington COVER PHOTO: Courtesy of Frank & Anya Walkington Shamarra Alpacas, Akaroa
Martin Bennett Sue Richards
Ruth & Matthew Benge Dianne Dudfield Robyn Betts
Lorena Laing Mike Banks
Bruce & Wendy Johnstone Mark Buckley
Susan Ryder
Tara Sutherland Sue Vanner
Kevin & Sarah Tyler
06
14
21
24
34
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Editor Frith Latham magazine@alpaca.org.nz
Website www.alpaca.org.nz AANZ – All Enquiries Toni Soppet – AANZ Office Manager PO Box 6348, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch 8442 Phone (03) 341 5242. Mobile 021 368 994 tonisoppet@alpaca.org.nz or aanz@clear.net.nz
Advertising AANZ Office advertising@alpaca.org.nz Phone (03) 341 5242 Deadlines New Zealand Alpaca is produced three times per year. Deadlines for all advertising & articles for the next issue is 28th October, 2015.
AANZ Council President Greg Charteris 128 Stan Wright Road Karaka, Auckland president@alpaca.org.nz
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Treasurer Wayne Allison treasurer@alpaca.org.nz Southern Region Rep. Andy Nailard southernrep@alpaca.org.nz Central Region Rep. Neil Watson centralrep@alpaca.org.nz Northern Region Rep. Sarah Busby northernrep1@alpaca.org.nz Northern Region Rep. Jackee Peters northernrep2@alpaca.org.nz Liability Whilst all efforts have been made to ensure accuracy of information this Association accepts no responsibility for any errors contained in advertisements or text. Views expressed by advertisements and contributors are not necessarily endorsed by this association. Copyright All material appearing in NZ Alpaca is copyright. Reproduction in whole or part is not permitted without the written permission of AANZ.
…so I would recommend that (if you are showing or not) you take this opportunity to get your hands on animals being shown and just see what quality is sitting right in our own back yard – you may be very surprised.
Message from the President Greetings to you all, by the time this publication reaches you we will have had our AGM, we will have a new National Council, winter will have mostly passed and our National Show will be almost upon us. I trust we will have the maximum attendance at the National Show as this is really the showcase event of the year for our breed and a huge amount of work goes into this event on an annual basis. For those of you who have not entered animals into the show, I would encourage you to at least attend and meet as many fellow breeders as possible. One of the things I have noted from Australian shows is their willingness to get into other breeders pens and look at their animals. This is not discouraged at all by the Australian owners and it is a great opportunity to see what people are breeding. In NZ we don’t do this enough and sometimes I think we are all a bit too precious about our show animals, so I would recommend that (if you are showing or not) you take this opportunity to get your hands on animals being shown and just see what quality is sitting right in our own back yard – you may be very surprised. We have had quite a challenging time during the first half of 2015 with the loss of some of our older contributing members from active service as judges and subcommittee members. There are a variety of reasons for these resignations but the majority are generally due to long service and the need for a break. It is understandable that we will always see a changing of the guard in critical areas and as a breed society (which is run by volunteers) we must continue to encourage members to step up and be involved in the organisation, so if you get tapped on the shoulder to help, please give it due consideration. As in all volunteer run organisations, it is so much easier to do little and simply criticise those doing the work. Fortunately we have a huge number of fantastic willing people who put in a massive amount of effort to achieve an operational AANZ during the year. Our whole showing circuit during the year is a classic example with SJSC, judges, convenors, stewards and helpers, all often unrewarded in thanks, for their efforts. Bruce Johnson did an interesting exercise at the North Island Colourbration show when he asked all the helpers involved in the show to stand out the front, just to demonstrate to attendees the level of commitment involved in a show. I for one was quite shocked (as I think most were) at the sheer number of people who worked to get the show operational. The moral of this story is next time you complain about the cost of entry, the position of your pens or whatever else you think is not to your liking, just remember the weeks of work that have gone into organising the show that we all can simply drive up to and enter. Well done all you hard workers!!.
National Council (in addition to continual improvement in the general showing and breed standards area) are endeavouring to implement a number of commercial initiatives that will enhance alpaca as a serious rural livestock alternative. We are getting increasing interest from the commercial farming sector about the viability of alpacas as a commercial farming choice. We must give this serious consideration and (as discussed in previous articles) move into a structured business environment for alpaca products, namely fleece, meat and hides. There is a need to provide viable outlets for culling animals so create income and improved replacement mechanisms for all alpaca breeders. There will always be lifestyle breeders who don’t want to take advantage of a serious culling mechanism but the future of alpacas in NZ is not to continue to do what we have always done, as it will only result in getting what we have always got and that has resulted in a relative few small breeders with too many stock and the resultant cessation of breeding. I believe we are now close to seeing alpacas develop (like other established breeds in NZ have done) into having a smaller group of serious stud breeders who take advantage of systems such as the recently introduced parent verification system plus other stud registry recording data, just as our sheep and cattle stud breeders employ and secondly, a growing number of commercial alpaca breeders who will focus on breeding for the maximum commercial returns. I believe this will have some interesting development patterns as we will see that the commercial world of fleece and meat may change the target qualities we currently breed for. I believe we are poised for very exciting times for alpacas and this commercial opportunity development will definitely be the catalyst for these changes. I wish you all a great spring, warmer weather coming, grass growing and cria being born. Showing is starting again which is great as we all get to see each other on a regular basis. Greg Charteris President, AANZ
3
NEWSFLASH! CHINA UPDATE
Suri fibre takes the next step! There are exciting developments following on from the Rumpelstiltskin suri fibre project with the opportunity to sell suri yarn to a business developing a line of products made from high quality natural New Zealand fibres.
I am pleased to advise our members that as a result of numerous communications with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), spanning a period of twenty months, we are finally making some progress.
This is a big step towards our goal to develop a profitable sustainable suri industry and we need suri breeders and farmers to get on board – together we can produce a commercial quantity of quality fibre in all colours.
Following on from a meeting in China held in March of this year, the Ministry for Primary Industries has received a draft protocol from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China. This is excellent news and shows a willingness on the part of the Chinese to try and reach an agreement that will have important ramifications for our industry in the years to come.
We will be organising classing and collection days around the country so if you are interested in contributing contact alpacas@surico.co.nz
The terms and conditions of the protocol still have to be finalized and ratified by the Chinese but once completed, New Zealand will have an ongoing export protocol with China. Once ratified, the export protocol becomes a public document that can be used by anyone – there is no ownership to the AANZ.
Rumpelstiltskin has been set up to further the suri industry and all income is reinvested in producing the best quality suri yarns. Prices paid for raw suri fibre are available on request.
At this stage there has been minimal expenses incurred and we are more hopeful that the money raised by participating members, will be more than enough to meet the costs of gaining this export protocol. Finally I wish to stress that what we have at the moment is a draft export protocol and whilst we are always hopeful of a quick and successful conclusion, it may take some time yet before the protocol is ratified. I will continue to work with MPI to secure an agreement as best I can. Kit Johnson AANZ
Breeders Workshop – South Island Mystery Creek Events Centre 18-20 September 2015 Come and join us at our National Show Entries close on 25 August so if you haven’t completed yours yet, do so now.
The Gala Dinner and Auction is to be held on Friday 18 September at Coopers on the banks of the Waikato River. We have a some wonderful items to be Auctioned. The Saturday Night Dinner will be held at the Mystery Creek Events Centre. This is a relaxed event giving you a great opportunity to catch up with other breeders. Tickets are available to both these events at: www.alpacaexpo.co.nz It’s not too late to enter the photo competition. Entries close 1 September 2015. We have a great range of products for the Silent Auction. There is something for everyone at Alpaca2015 so come and watch the competition, browse the trade stands or view the fleece display. Full details of the events running over the weekend can be found at: www.alpacaexpo.co.nz See you there!
A Breeders Workshop run by the NZ approved judges was held at Christchurch Agricultural Park in May. There were 18 attendees with some from as far south as Waiwera and Queenstown to as far north as Nelson and Carterton. The day focussed on alpaca fleece - identifying fleece traits in both suri and huacaya fleeces and how these can influence breeding decisions and also how the traits were related to the fleece score sheets. Molly Gardner made a really informative presentation on fleece traits and then the rest of the day was spent in groups working with fleeces. We had a wide distribution in breeders' experience levels and the judges were each assigned a group of people with similar experience levels to each other. The general feedback was extremely positive from both new and more experienced breeders alike, with breeders improving their knowledge of how to identify good and poor fleece traits. They also gained an understanding in how the judges use the GAP method for assessing fleeces. More experienced breeders were encouraged to use this method in assessing classes of suri and huacaya fleeces against the score sheet. Similar breeders Workshops are being organised for the North Island. The SJSC would like to thank all the participants attending and the judges for making it an enjoyable and informative day.
From the Editor I’m really enjoying sourcing articles for our popular magazine. I love the vibrancy of our alpaca world. From cherished paddock pets to financially sustainable livestock, alpacas are enhancing our lives. To better showcase what is happening within this emerging industry I 4
would love to hear from the readers. Send in your stories, update us on new developments or just share a great photo.
goals the path to success could well be through co-operation and respect. Let’s share our progress and achievements!
There are many directions we can take alpaca ownership, please share your views while respecting that others may have a different opinion. It’s an exciting time, while we might have different
Frith Latham Contact the editor at magazine@alpaca.org.nz Photos are always welcome, they need to be a large file size to print well (over 2mb is best).
On Farm Quarantine Facility Setting the Suri Standard
Ch o i c e Quality
Affordability All Colours
www.surilana.com.au Â
Ian and Angela Preuss Strathbogie, Victoria, Australia, 3666 PH: +61 3 57905394 Mobile: 0407931789 Email: suris@surilana.com.au 5
THE FIBRE WITH A FUTURE by Frank & Anya Walkington – Shamarra Alpacas, Akaroa
Over the past eleven years, we have progressed from selling handspun yarn from our own fleece to the commercial processing of fibre. As our huacaya herd grew so did our understanding of alpaca fibre and its enormous potential.
Title image: Fawn alpaca on spinning frame at Design Spun. 6
Our move from Auckland to Akaroa in the South Island shortly before the Christchurch earthquake provided new opportunities for us and was the catalyst for our venture into the commercial processing of alpaca. Akaroa became the port of call for cruise ships after earthquake damage to Christchurch’s Lyttelton Harbour. With our past experience in cruise ship tourism and retail, we saw an opportunity and started alpaca farm tours. We also converted a portion of our barn into a shop and rounded up knitters from the local community. It was not long
before demand outstripped supply and in order to prepare for the next cruise ship season, we needed to process alpaca on a larger scale. We combined our own fibre (under 24 micron) and purchased quality fibre at premium rates from select growers. The first commercial run of 500kg was followed by further runs of similar quantities. The favourable response to our products confirmed that our painstaking attention to the quality of fibre is paramount when producing luxury knitwear.
Fawn beanie and stripe scarf, hand warmers – natural fawn and white alpaca.
What we look for in Huacaya alpaca fleece • Uniform micron – This is always relevant regardless of the final product as it creates a predictable yarn and therefore a product that performs how it was intended. • Well shorn blankets free of second cuts – This is achieved by experienced alpaca shearers who remove the blanket first. • Lack of coarse fibres – Coarse fibres cause prickle, a highly undesirable trait for fine knitwear. • High yielding fleeces – Vegetable matter and short fibre result in additional loss through all stages of processing and ultimately affect the quality, quantity and cost of the finished product. • Even length – Our yarn is fully worsted and is combed and gilled before spinning. Short fibres are not suitable for this process and also cause pilling and shedding in the finished product. • Lack of colour contamination, especially in white fleece As our business grew we had to increase production again. We are always looking to improve the quality of our knitwear by improving the quality of each batch of fleece we process and an introduction to Alpaca Fibre Network Australia provided this opportunity. Our decision to purchase 1250kg of fleece from AFN (Australia) was influenced by their ability to meet our
Poncho and slouch beanie – natural fawn alpaca.
specifications and more importantly, the quality assurance given by a three point test of the blanket of each skirted fleece. Core testing of bales may provide accurate information for wool, but the variation of uniformity in alpaca does not make this a reliable test for our needs. Fibre procurement, transporting, sorting and skirting is time consuming for us and outsourcing allowed us to focus on other aspects of our business.
Alpaca Fibre Network specifications
• Quality assurance – each fleece is grid tested (3 samples tested on OFDA2000), we specified micron bandwidths of fleece (20u-23u) in white, fawn, brown and black. • Supply chain – supply available to us in the quantities we specify. • Skirting – to a uniform and consistent standard.
Processing Commercial processing requires substantial quantities of fibre as each stage of the process needs weight minimums. This comes at a cost and therefore upfront capital is necessary for all phases of production. With only one commercial plant in New Zealand scouring alpaca, the wait time can be lengthy. Considering the small quantities of alpaca compared to wool, we are grateful that Canterbury Wool Scour provides this service, without which we would be unable to spin our fibre in New Zealand on a commercial scale.
Grey double rib scarf.
Design Spun in Napier spin our yarns. We specify the final product then determine the yarn specifications best suited for our needs in conjunction with them. Our knitwear is designed in house with guidance from our commercial 7
White alpaca stoll.
Natural white alpaca yarn – 20¾ (tested).
knitters. Samples are knitted, altered, knitted again and tested before going into production for sale in our shop and online. This is a continuously evolving process.
Alpaca – no longer a foreign word
Performance and Function testing The predictability of performance of our products is very important. Proper garment care, washing methods, shrinkage and durability play an important roll in customer perception and overall satisfaction. We engaged the services of New Zealand Wool Testing Authority (NZWTA) to carry out textile tests on our knitwear. These included stretch and recovery, pilling and fuzzing, hand washing and dry cleaning. Results were very positive, confirming the quality of our yarn and its durability. We will be running more tests, including comparative testing for thermal and insulation properties, in the near future. 8
There is a growing awareness of alpaca and its virtues. On a recent trip to Otago we were buoyed by the enthusiasm of shop owners and their understanding and appreciation for alpaca, which we found in many high end boutiques and tourist shops. Blends of alpaca with merino as well as silk is now commonplace. Alpaca is sustainable, unlike cashmere that is receiving negative press due to desertification in Mongolia and Northern China. Seeing alpaca alongside merino/possum other blends in Untouched World, Country Road and other brand retail outlets, positions alpaca in a positive light. The future is bright.
About the authors Frank & Anya Walkington own Shamarra Alpacas in Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, NZ. Their herd of over 130 white and coloured huacaya alpaca are selectively bred to produce high quality fibre destined for their yarns and knitwear. Both Frank and Anya work full time in their business that includes animal sales, stud servicing, alpaca farm tours and retail. They are enthusiastic participants at alpaca shows and have been active members of AANZ over the last 10 years.
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ON THE EUROPEAN SHOW CIRCUIT
2015
by Martin Bennett – Oak Ridge Alpacas
Martin Bennett and Debbie Wallace established Oak Ridge Alpacas in 2002. They are committed to the breeding and development of high quality alpacas in New Zealand. Oak Ridge is located in Loburn, North Canterbury.
Beautiful Rothenburg, Germany.
March and April are busy months in Europe when it comes to Alpaca shows. There are always plenty to choose from, so if you have ever considered the trip over to attend a few shows, this is most likely the best time of the year. Now there are some considerations before you make the commitment to go‌ language barriers, driving in foreign countries (especially the Autobahn in Germany which is not for the faint hearted), the ability to navigate using a GPS, weather (we had snow 10
this year), and not least having to put up with a rather long & tiring plane trip. That said, if you are able to cope with all of the above, the experience is very rewarding and enjoyable, you get to learn so much, see the most amazing places and get to know some of the European alpaca breeders. This year was my third visit to the European shows. Over a window of four weeks, we got to attend three shows in three different countries. First we had an invitation to attend the National
Show in Austria. After arriving in Vienna on Friday afternoon, it was a quick exit from the airport and into a rental car to drive across Austria to get to Wels, where the show was about to begin the following day (no time for jet-lag!). Although having visited farms in Austria on previous occasions, we had never been to a show there so it was an absolute pleasure to be there for such a well run, enjoyable weekend with the bonus for me of being asked to help out as an exhibitor!! This year, many german
breeders attended this show (200+ entries), and it was great to catch up with friends and acquaintances we had met on previous visits. From there we spent a few days visiting alpaca farms before heading up to the Netherlands, via Germany with a couple of stops in the beautiful city of Salzburg and the charming town of Rothenburg. The Hapert show was another well run event, with numbers around 240 entries. The Dutch have a friendly & relaxed environment for their shows and always make visitors feel really welcome. In all the shows attended, we saw some very high quality alpacas and it always amazes me that no matter what country you are in, people know a lot about our own genetics! We also managed to catch up there with Michelle Malt & Natasha Clark from Australia who had also been travelling around a few shows, with Natasha judging in the UK. From there it was a short excursion to the wonderful city of Bruges, Belgium (a definite must see place!!!), then back across to Germany for their show in Alsfeld. This year, our very own Molly Gardner had the honour of being invited to judge the show in Alsfeld, a very popular show for Germany, with numbers around 240. Held over two days, this is always a great show to attend, for me this was my third time at this show. Molly did a fantastic job over the weekend, with very positive feedback from all who attended. She was helped out by Robin Nasemann, who acted as her interpreter for the show. Like the other shows, you always feel very welcome and it is a great environment for brushing up on your German language!! Once Alsfeld was over, we had one more week catching up with friends and visiting some alpaca farms before starting that long trip back to New Zealand. I can safely say, the friendships you make along the way, the experiences you have, and the knowledge you gain make travelling to the European shows a really worthwhile experience and I would thoroughly recommend to any alpaca breeder in NZ, that if you have ever thought about this – go for it! Photos – from top: - Judge & Show Committee, Alsfeld Show, Germany. - Wels Show, Austria. - Hapert Show, Netherlands. - Germany in March!
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Parsifal - Tribute to a Truly Great Male -
2007
2008
by Sue Richards – Surico Alpaca
His imposing presence is hard to ignore, Parsifal stands on the hill above Lake Rotorua surveying his herd, watching any action in the vicinity of the yards. His full name is Surilana Parsifal. He was born at Accoyo in Peru in 1999, bred by Don Julio Barreda who tagged Parsifal into his named herd where he kept the elite breeding alpaca. His life has seen him exported to Australia in 2002 then after a brief stay immigrated to NZ where he has sired over 250 progeny. Sadly last year was the final working season for Parsifal and this is our tribute to how important he has been to us and we believe the New Zealand suri herd. Parsifal revealed his outstanding qualities early in his career. Earning a good reputation for reliably passing on his desirable traits and being readily accessible through mobile mating, he was a popular choice and valuable asset 12
to NZ’s fledgling suri industry. His genes are dotted throughout the NZ suri herd. With 249 registered cria he has to be the most influential suri male in NZ having sired 10% of the national herd. We believe he has more registered progeny than any other suri male in Australasia. Parsifal was key to our consistent improvement over the years and recently he has covered our improved females where he still was able to add his magic and continue the development of our herd. His longevity of consistently producing top quality suri has been a
major factor in our ability to breed strong healthy suri with consistent fleece traits for processing. We can now carry this forward with his sons and daughters. His progeny have an outstanding show record. Of the 11 AANZ National Shows, Parsifal was the sire of three Suri Supreme Champions, Surico Yulia (2005), Surico Onedin (2010) and Surico Demoiselle (2013) and grandsire of another two, Surico Tangier (2011) and Surico Walkinshaw (2012). Spanning 10 years, from 2003 when Surico Monet won the top award at New Zealand
2013
Royal Show in Hawkes Bay, to the recent honour of Surico Burton winning the Auckland Royal Easter Show 2015, progeny have been awarded over 60 supreme and show champions and in excess of 200 broad ribbons. In his short stay in Australia he sired only 2 females, one is Pinjarra SuzieQ who won the Victorian Suri of the Year a few years ago and who produced the 2012 Australian National Supreme Suri (Surilana Surpass) and the Junior Male Champion Suri (Bumble Hill Ambleside Parsifal) at the 2013 Australian National. While we always knew we were lucky to have had the opportunity to own a male like Parsifal this was reinforced on a visit by Mike Safely in 2004. As he came up the driveway he asked who asked who the magnificent male was on the hill and was surprised to be introduced to not one but four Accoyo males we had grazing on our farm. They all wore named aluminium tags from Barreda’s elite herd and he impressed on us the value of these special males that had taken a lifetime of breeding to achieve.
those leaders of our industry more than a decade ago who had the foresight and were willing to risk their necessary resources of dollars and use their knowledge to introduce these important alpaca to our breeding pool. It should not be forgotten that those who were at the forefront of some of the imports into NZ and Australia have played a very major role in improving our breeding pool. Parsifal is now 16 years old, sadly he stopped working earlier in 2015. There are only a handful of dams out there yet to give birth to his final cria. Parsifal has been a strong healthy
male all his life and wonderfully well behaved, he was our favoured male for spitoffs, dismissing any pregnant female with a disdainful sniff and he was always right. These days he has his own paddock but still knows he is king, he wants (well thinks he wants) to kill any other male that comes near. He gets special food every day and has a small shed for the cold or wet weather. He can spend his retirement on his hill surveying the herd he helped build. At Surico we feel fortunate to have found such an impressive male, to us, he is a star.
We acknowledge and thank those that had the foresight and efforts to select and secure Parsifal, a magnificent male along with the superior group of males that were imported in the shipment, Alan Hamilton, Jill Short, Ron Condon and Chris Leach. We thank Accoyo for breeding such a great male. The alpaca industry can thank and acknowledge the wisdom
Parsifal's Progeny
Surico Monet – Parsifal's first progeny to win a Supreme Champion title. Supreme Champion NZ Royal Show at Hawkes Bay, 2013.
Surico Yulia – Parsifal's progeny, his first National Supreme in 2005.
Surico Onedin – 2010 National Supreme Champion.
Surico Burton – 2015 Supreme Champion. This was taken at the Franklin Show.
Surico Demoiselle – 2013 National Supreme Champion.
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THE
RARE YARNS
COMPANY by Ruth & Matthew Benge
In 1987 The Kerry Express transporting 1200 alpacas and 200 llamas was finally unloaded in Timaru after 5 years of adventure & bureaucratic wrangling between New Zealand and Chile. And therein began the New Zealand leg of the Ruth & Matthew Benges camelid journey.
Twenty eight years later the Rare Yarns Company produces over 200 alpaca and merino hand-knitting yarns and many contemporary designs & patterns to support these yarns. Rare Yarns can be seen in most up market wool stores in New Zealand and Australia, with some outlets in America, Canada, Belgium, Germany and England. These yarns are NZ & Australian grown and produced. Matthew sources the fibre for the yarns and is going to briefly outline what the growers can do to make their alpaca fleece harvest more commercially viable.
14
For us here in NZ to make alpaca commercially viable we ultimately need to be able to compete on the international market. Our initial problem is volume which is compounded by the fact that alpaca have many lovely colours so that once we have split the clip into length, micron and colour our batch size is even smaller. When we sort alpaca into classes the ideal minimum number would be 74 to provide a consistent product for spinning. We have the best wool growing system in the world and breeders need to follow this to become commercially viable.
Harvest: A shearing/sorting system that does not cost $20.00+ per head similar to second shear wool (I can shear an alpaca in 2 minutes). Evaluation: Select your best fleeces by evaluating the whole fleece not a shoulder sample. You are not selling the shoulder sample but the whole fleece. This system does not tell you if the fleece goes halfway up the neck or down onto the legs, has a bib, has a weak back, or is britchy. It only tells you what the sample from the best place on the animal is like. It is not selection but more like deception.
What is needed for a quality end product and will make people fight over your clip with their check book is evenness, evenness and evenness - of micron and length. Everything else is secondary. Colour: Alpaca is a lovely fibre but it is not unique, we have wool, cashmere, angora, mohair, camel, yak etc. and all have their place and attributes. Alpaca has one thing that no other animal has, its wonderful unique colours. I know it’s easier to just breed white but if we lose that wonderful colour range then
we are just another fine white fibre competing on the market. Naturally coloured fibres are worth more as an end product but sell for less due to the inefficiency of small volumes. As the industry moves towards white the inefficiency of colours is compounded and their demise becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Keep those colours happening as this is what makes alpaca unique and I believe is the way of the future.
www.rareyarns.co.nz
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Silverstream A L PA C A S T U D
GREYLORD
GODSEND ET
INFINITY
IMPACT HERDSIRES MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Silverstream Alpaca Stud
Kit & Sheryl Johnson – North Canterbury Phone: (03) 327 3020 | Email: info@alpaca-stud.co.nz 16
www.alpaca-stud.co.nz
Alpaca Association of New Zealand Award Creative Fibre Festival 2015
Dianne Dudfield has always been passionate about working with fibre, learning to knit, crochet, tat and operate a knitting machine at a young age. She had much inspiration from both her grandmothers and her Mum. She was smitten by weaving after seeing handwoven blankets at a Pirongia market but it wasn't until the late 1980's when her family with young children needed an extra income that she practised it seriously. Now Dianne handweaves in her studio at Pio Shores, Waihi Beach with a view across the Pacific Ocean to Tuhua (Mayor) Island. She uses an 8 shaft floor loom and a 16 shaft compu dobby loom creating exquisite fine wraps, shawls, scarves and fabric and scrumptious mohair blankets, combining wool, mohair, cotton and silk in a variety of weave structures. She enjoys the challenge of exploring new ideas and structures and is always looking ahead to new ways to use her knowledge. Her inspiration comes from this wonderful country, New Zealand; the land, the bush, flora and fauna and the sea. Dianne has woven many large blankets in wool and mohair reflecting the colours of such treasures as pohutukawa, pounamu, Coromandel seascape, Fiordland, kereru (pigeon), kotare (kingfisher) and often uses the same colourways in scarves or wraps. Weaving with alpaca was a new adventure for Dianne when she created ‘Paua’, winning item of the
Alpaca Association of New Zealand Award at the Creative Fibre Festival 2015 in Rotorua. She had woven with alpaca previously but in conjunction with other fibres. She had also spun a combination of cria and 15% silk from Kay O'Dea of Ridgedale Alpacas, Katikati which was like playing with handfuls of soft fluffy marshmallows. It is maturing on the shelf waiting for time to knit a garment suited to the delicacy of the yarn. Dianne had machine knitted her husband an 8 ply alpaca sweater several years ago and recently spent some time sample knitting alpaca products for a business. The warp threads of ‘Paua’ were woven in alpaca yarn from Maggie Sewell, Adobe Park Alpacas, Geraldine. The beautiful yarn is 70% alpaca, 30% silk which Dianne wound on the warping reel to the correct length and number before dyeing the threads using Jacquard Acid dyes. The threading is an echo weave with alternating coloured threads, one line being parallel to and above the other. The black weft thread is 100% alpaca. The wrap was embellished with beadwork reflecting the purples and teal of the wrap. It was a real pleasure working with this fibre. It took the dye well in strong, bright tones. It was not unruly to work with, weaving well and the finished fabric is beautifully silky to the touch, it drapes well and is a delight to wear. Alpaca will feature in future work from Dianne's studio as it is such a wonderful fibre to create with. Many thanks to the Alpaca Association of New Zealand for continuing to support Creative Fibre with this annual award. 17
A ‘Surious’ Journey for
SuperSuri Yarn
Robyn Betts of Jaegar Farm and Fibre is passionate about suri fleece. The SuperSuri journey is infused with all of that energy and commitment.
Robyn’s journey was to understand everything she could about suri alpaca fleece and its processing potential. She began with the goal of developing a commercial fibre manufacturing process in Australia for suri fleece. Learning about suri fleece was the result of time (many weekends!) spent in the shed sorting through fleece, pulling suri locks apart and feeling the handle and silkiness, and also understanding the impact of guard hair. Robyn hung out at shearing sheds sorting suri fleece and completed a professional wool classing course. In 2002 Robyn had an unexpected achievement with a local commercial mill actually being able to process suri fleece into yarn. This was the first success along the road, and it was then that she knew that a commercial process could be established. This is Robyn’s story – I talked to people – anyone – who could tell me about natural fibre manufacturing processes.
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didn’t like processing suri fleece – I was on the working group which lobbied for the CSIRO scour to remain in Victoria The success of the scour being re-commissioned by Velieris Pty Ltd was another step forward and I was then able to produce commercial quantities of suri fibre top for spinners. I talked to spinners about suri – I watched what they did and knitted up their hand spun yarn. It was five years ago that through my network of fibre and yarn contacts that I began discussions with a commercial spinner – The conversations established the required criteria to prepare suri fleece for commercial spinning. Another huge step forward – but it had risks attached. It was going to be costly, it required a commercial quantity of suri fleece of specific character and none of us knew if it would come out as a viable quality product at the end.
I visited the fibre arm of the CSIRO, talked to experts and stared at machinery I knew nothing about!
The first project was ‘MeriSuri’ yarn – In 4 ply and 8 ply it was beautiful to use and wear. However I wanted more than this one experiment.
Already I knew about the CSIRO scour – and why the operators
The knitting and textile market and industry needed to have a suri yarn
that was practical and had the unique suri handle and silkiness. A yarn needed to suit the modern knitter and the casual upmarket fashion style in Australia. I had to be able to establish the production of a consistent yarn of the highest quality with a modern look. The suri alpaca deserved this.’ Two years ago the final hurdle was overcome. Supersuri is now one of the highest quality yarns in Australia. It is the first chunky yarn produced totally in Victoria (Australia) that uses more suri fibre than any other chunky alpaca yarn on the market. It also has a focus on the natural and rare colours of black, silver grey, slate grey and white suri. The SuperSuri journey is now at its next development stage with the creative energy of Lorena Laing. Lorena is using SuperSuri as the yarn for her exclusive Amano hand knitwear range. The Amano knitwear accentuates the drape and silkiness of suri. These are the same properties which define the style of SuperSuri Yarn. The Supersuri team is passionate about suri fleece. Jen Hall from Tularosa Alpacas is realising her goal to breed silver grey suri alpacas and supply this fleece for SuperSuri yarn.
Sue and Steve Pate have come from developing the Hidden Lake herd of black suri alpacas and are now keen partners of the SuperSuri team, keeping the website dynamic and interactive. Customers can buy SuperSuri online at www.supersuri.com.au Robyn is frontline – ‘I knit and weave with supersuri yarn. I hand dye the yarn for specific creative designs and I sell it directly to knitters and weavers at fibre gigs. I oversee the selection of suri fleece and I manage and monitor every stage of the yarn manufacturing process. I know the process – I know what works and how to get the most from suri fleece.’ SuperSuri yarn is unique – Each yarn line (the blend and style) will continue to be designed specifically by the creative team and be produced from the most suitable available fleece. Suri alpaca fleece is being re-born – from Inca Royalty to the Australian and global textile marketplace. Breeders of suri can feel inspired to continue to breed selectively for those unique suri traits of drape and silky handle. Suri fleece is increasingly sought after in this contemporary global textile industry.
Cherry lane alpacas
Because alpacas are our passion We love alpacas, and we enjoy sharing our passion for alpacas with others. We have: -breeding stock -lifestyle pets -alpaca fleece -prize winning alpacas -for sale or to view Give us a call, email us or stop in for tea or coffee today. We would be happy to show you around our farm and introduce you to our alpacas and alpaca farming.
Contact us today! Ph Anne: (07) 3323445 email: apbannan@yahoo.co.nz
6 Sunnex road, RD2, Rotorua 19
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Lorena trained at RMIT University in the late 90’s where she graduated as Student of the Year and showcased for the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival, opening the Graduates Show.
Lorena began her fashion career launching her own label ‘Lorena Laing’ focusing on woven and knitted womenswear. During this time Lorena was able to work with local alpaca fibre, both in suiting as well as knitwear and participated in Melbourne and Australian fashion festivals year upon year. In 2005 Lorena won the Melbourne Cup Designer Award and continued to grow her business. She wrapped this up when it was time to settle down and start a family. During this time she laid the foundations for her next venture, but also focused on working for reputable big players such as Pacific Brands which she continues to work for and have taught her so much about running a strong business. Two small children later and Lorena has returned to fulfil her deepest passions, prompted by her longing to design and create once again. The work Lorena initially did with alpaca fibre left a sweet taste which eventually saw her return to using alpaca.
The idea of working with alpaca fibre was a given, it connects her back to lifetimes ago when she lived in Chile – her birth country. Lorena says “I love the fact that I get to work with this incredible fibre in my own backyard, sourced from my adoptive country. Australia and NZ have done great things with alpaca and to be able to work with such fine material, such as Suri is every bit more special. I believe to own a hand crafted Amano suri piece is a rare find and pure luxury”.
Lorena feels that Suri is a new product in the textile market, offering so much more than your average wool. It has a soft handle like silk, impressive lustre and its scarcity make it a highly desirable, premium product. The fact that it's all local, from start to finish, puts a smile on her face because she is positively contributing to an ethical, sustainable way of living. Lorena sources yarns from various suppliers: Super Suri yarns – Australia, Alpaca Connection – Australia and The Rare Yarns Company – New Zealand. When looking for yarn Lorena knows that variety is the key in order to continue to look fresh and new. Variety in the yarn type, for example: straight, variegated, brushed, boucle etc as well as gauge, so 12 ply - 20 ply and beyond. Colour is also vital to ensuring there is a base palette with key seasonal colours. And lastly various blends such as silk and linen to show its versatility and to be able to capture both winter and spring for a more trans-seasonal offer. Amano seeks to locally produce hand crafted pieces, focusing on knitwear. Each piece is unique.
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In the time poor world we live in, ruled by machines and fast fashion, handmade is precious, priceless and when combined with suri it is total luxury.
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Every item is made by hand. Lorena ensures that they create bespoke pieces each and every time. Its variances are its beauty. Lorena says “Amano knitwear is perfectly executed through a strong design aesthetic which plays with texture, colour and silhouette. Through the traditional techniques of hand knitting and hand weaving we are pushing the boundaries of wearable fashion with an edge unique to Lorena Laing Designs”. Regarding the future of her business Lorena says “I believe this is the tip of the iceberg. Handmade is in demand especially from the higher end of the market where consumers are looking for the unique, the one off, the designer piece which stands for both quality and luxury. As we see fast fashion taking over the world, we also see a greater the demand for bespoke pieces. We live in a time when people are exploring and searching more so
than in previous generations, they want to be unique individuals and Amano fits that mould perfectly.” In the time poor world we live in, ruled by machines and fast fashion, handmade is precious, priceless and when combined with suri it is total luxury. Lorena’s aim is to slow down, creating pieces which are slow and take time. To slow down enough, to make us think outside the square we live in.
www.lorenalaing.com
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Mobile: 021 256 2839 Email: shearpac@hotmail.com
MAG SHEARING SYSTEM by Mike Banks – Shearpac
“Mike, the phone’s for you” “Hello?” “Hi, I understand you shear sheep” “Yep” “We have some alpacas to shear” “OK????” (I’ve heard about these things) “When can you come and have a look?” “In a week” “See you then…” I went back to the kitchen and saw a picture of a guy shearing a Llama standing up using horse clippers “That looks easy – ha ha ha” A week later we (myself and a mate who had been shearing sheep for the last 20 years) arrived at the farm to find a lovely old place with some sheds 24
out the back. The manager met us outside and said “I’ll go get them in”.
walk out of the shed… I turned to my mate and said
We both went out to help; this was our first experience of seeing alpacas let along rounding them up! We started chasing the 13 alpacas around the field and after about 20 minutes they were all in the shed. The set up was a flat board raised about half a foot off the ground. The manager grabbed an alpaca and pulled it onto the board… “Bit loud mate??? What’s that green stuff it’s spitting everywhere???”
“Did you see what he did???” “No, thought you were watching???” “Where did he start????” “ummm on the belly somewhere I think?”
He roped out the alpaca onto what looked like a medieval stretching rack on the ground. All 4 feet were tied up and the alpaca was stretched out on its side. In between the ropes was a board to keep the legs apart. We found out later this was so we could shear between the brisket without splitting the ropes (This method of splitting the ropes is now used today). After picking up the alpaca and laying it on the ground we tied up the feet and pulled the ropes tight. Using a mohair comb (17 tooth shearing comb) the manager started on one side of the alpaca shearing up around the head and down the other side using a sack to hold the head down. Pretty primitive method of shearing! After pushing the fibre to one side to be burnt the manager stood up and said. “What do you guys think??” “Yeah, that’s different!!!” “Well then, come and get me when you’ve finished”, and proceeded to
After about 5 hours of chipping away at the first group of alpacas I had ever seen we finished. We went outside to the manager and I told him I’d be back next year to try again. My mate had no interest and never returned. The manager turned and said. “Well, there are 600 on the place, can you start tomorrow?” And guess what, the snowball just got bigger… After about 2 years the farm manager brought in a new shearing system, starting with the alpaca on its back and shearing the belly off first. Once the belly was off you then proceeded to the back of the alpaca. Next shearing off the back legs and then onto the front of the alpaca. After shearing off all the pieces the main blanket comes off last. This caused a lot of contamination in the main blanket if the shearing area was not spotless. As the shearing area is almost impossible to keep clean when shearing outside this shearing system was not ideal. It was a stepping stone to greater things, I proceeded to try every different shearing system I could over the next 5 years including several other ground systems and also trying the table shearing system.
A New Shearing System is Developed Every shearing system I tried never came close to the 9 cut shearing system used worldwide today. This 9 cut shearing system was first developed by Mark Loffhagen in 1996. Mark was asked to shear his first alpaca using the system of taking off the pieces first then the blanket off last. He declined but asked “why not shear the blanket off first to prevent any contamination to your main fleece?” So came about the 9 cut shearing system using a 9 tooth comb instead of the Mohair comb I started with. The 9 tooth comb was designed by Mark. He approached Heiniger who manufactured the Mac 9 comb for Mark to use on alpacas. The 9 tooth comb has so many advantages including prevention of sunburn and keeping the alpacas protected if the weather changes. These are just a few of the advantages. This comb is designed to leave ¼ of an inch of fibre on the animal, giving it protection from the sun and cold. The density of each individual animal’s fibre will determine how pink they look. Suris are more prone to look pink as their fibre is a different texture from Huacaya. From the beginning Mark has redesigned alpaca shearing. He has been the most professional shearer I have seen in the world to date. Mark has covered everything including preparation of the alpacas for shearing to how to lay animals down safely.
How We Do It… Restraining the Animal This is really important. Whoever you choose for the put down team MUST be strong and fit!! This is a very physical job – especially if you have Suris. Please try to make sure these people can stay until shearing is done. It’s extremely important for the chosen workers to really pay attention when the shearer and his head man are teaching this technique. It’s also important not to go grabbing and wrestling the animals. This upsets them and makes it very hard on the shearer and especially the head man. Always try to take a quiet approach and manoeuvre them gently into position. With further development in the past few years we have been using the full Johnson (named after one of our professional alpaca handlers Elliot), also the fireman technique and many more. This is hard to do sometimes but this is
why you need strong people for the job. When the animal is down and stretched out, it’s very important to CHECK and make sure the ropes are on correctly. The rope should be right above the fetlock. NOT half way up the leg, and NOT below the fetlock. This can cause serious injury to the animal. The “Rope” person is also part of the take down crew and needs to pay attention. He/she needs to check the rope tension every time so it’s not too tight or loose. He/she also needs to RUN when it’s time to pull when taking down the alpacas. He/she also needs to be paying attention 100% of the time. Slack ropes are dangerous to the animals, shearer, headman and other workers.
Securing the ropes correctly.
Shed Management You will only be wasting time and energy for you and the shearer if your holding pens are too far away. Efficiency is always a plus. Not having bedding material in the pens is more for your fibre than the shearer. If you are going to be showing fleeces it’s going to be easier to prep your fleece with less contamination. The ideal situation is to place a pen at either end of the shearing stations. You then have a pen for animals to be held in (i.e. a catch-pen for animals still needing to be shorn), and a release pen for those animals that are finished. Shearing areas and the ideal shearing surface is a platform. Made up of 3 sheets of ¾ inch plywood, 4x8’ screwed down to 2x4’s. This will give you one shearing station that will measure 8x12 ft. Putting two of these together and running the ropes down the center of each platform gives you the perfect shearing area. It’s also easy to clean.
Mike at work.
You can also use the interlocking children’s play mats from Mitre 10 or Bunnings. 8 approx. 24" sq. interlocking mats come in one pack. If the flooring is concrete, one could use 1 1/2 packs of mats per shearing station to make a 6ft x 8ft surface for the alpaca to lie on. The mats are easy to sanitise and take up little more space than a bale of hay.
Speed How much time for each animal? This depends on the help you manage to get for the day – seriously!! All of our shearers are capable of shearing an animal in less than 4 minutes safely, cleanly
No stress!
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and with undue stress; alpaca shearing is NOT a race. This shearing system has been developed so there is less time shearing resulting in less stress and muscle fatigue on your alpacas. Safety and gentle handling of any alpaca is our main concern. Safety comes first. So if shearing day is taking longer than you expected maybe some more people or job changes among current people working are necessary. If the clippers aren’t running, you aren’t getting any shearing done! Down time between animals lengthens the day unnecessarily. Before shearing starts, talk to your shearer and discuss break times. How many animals would you like to have done before a break? Break times should be about 10min, with the exception of the lunch break. Don’t let anyone escape
during these times! You can use these breaks to get organised for the next run: Clean up, change fiber bags, etc. Owners – take this opportunity to talk with your shearer and make sure everything’s running smoothly and you’re getting the job you want. Shearing should be a fun day and stress free if you let it be.
Using Two Shearing Stations Instead of One Two shearing stations utilise time and make your shearing day work efficiently. Not only do you have time to clean one shearing area whilst the shearer’s working on the other one, (making fleece contamination a nonissue), but you also have time to put the next animal to be shorn down slowly,
carefully and correctly. This is important especially for the pregnant females. It eliminates rushing so everyone stays calm which really helps the shearers as the animals themselves are calmer and do not struggle so much when it’s their turn to be shorn. This does NOT make your shearer a faster shearer. It takes the same amount of time to shear each alpaca whether you are using two shearing stations or one. Shearpac would like to thank Mark Loffhagen for giving us the opportunity to become one of the leading alpaca shearing companies in the world. We would like to also thank everyone who has supported and helped us along the way to becoming the best and most professional shearers available to date in NZ.
New Zealand’s Alpaca Fibre Pool 5th Year (December 2014 to November 2015) Fibre collection, sorting, scouring and sales of all microns, colors and quantities of Huacaya fibre. We consolidate all growers together and get economies of scale for sorting, testing, scouring and sale in bale quantity, for end use in various industries.
Mailing Address PO Box 28684 Remuera Auckland 1541
Processing 1 Pigeon Rock Road Cornish Point Cromwell RD 2 Central Otago 9384
We can provide discounted fibre testing rates. You are paid as the fibre is sold, less the direct costs. We have paid out in excess of $200,000 in the past 4 years to more than 200 breeders. We can arrange pickup or you can ship to our Cromwell location. Contact Teri Edwards at (029) 770 0005 or (03) 445 1609 or email teri@ggocc.com For more information visit:
www.pacificalpacas.com
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COOKING WITH ALPACA Firstly, any decision on choosing an alpaca for meat consumption is not taken lightly, but it is a way for any alpaca herd owner to cull animals that you would not or cannot sell to any other alpaca owner, be experienced owner or not. And as we are often reminded of, it takes as much to feed a bad alpaca as it does a good one.
Our journey towards our first home kill started with a female who we could not get to breed, had a less than desirable fleece and was blessed with a temperament we would not want to pass on to anybody. The first phone call to our local butcher was meet with a long silence followed by “I will do it but have no idea how to dress an alpaca”, so off to Mr Google where we found the following… The La Viande (Australian Alpaca www.laviande.com.au) website from Australia was where we started to look at things when we had our first alpaca booked in with the butcher. This was where we found a chart of cuts which we then passed on to the butcher. The website also contains an excellent chart for beginners on the cooking of alpaca meat and recipes. I have learnt not to be scared of cooking alpaca meat and have become more adventurous with recipes, some are failures to try and repeat with better results and some succeed but unfortunately I don’t write those ones down. The cuts you receive from your butcher should be wrapped, frozen and labelled. Firstly your meat is very versatile and we have found it can be adapted to many recipes, be it beef, lamb or goat. Sorry fatty meat lovers you miss out on this one as alpaca meat is very lean containing very little fat but we think it’s better for you. The second rule I learnt very quickly with alpaca meat is you cook it either really fast or really slowly. We were told 2 minutes each side for steak and no longer or you will find it too hard to eat. The timer goes on when the steak hits the grill or BBQ. We have tried steak marinated and with mushroom sauce, both considered successful by the family.
Where to Start When Considering Using & Cooking Alpaca Meat
by Bruce & Wendy Johnstone – Wainui Heights Alpacas
Alpaca meat is slightly sweet, has a mild flavour but is excellent for taking on the flavours of seasoning well and because of its sweetness and texture it makes some of the best carpaccio or sashimi. We have found alpaca meat to be very versatile and good to use on the BBQ or kitchen oven. Below are some recipes we have found to be tasty and easy to prepare when thinking of cooking alpaca meat. We thank Daise Lutz of Belle Valley Farms for these recipes.
Alpaca Steaks Spanish Steak of Alpaca Back Loin: Serves 4 people Ingredients 4 steaks (180g each) 1 kg tomatoes without peel and seeds 1 kg red onion 2 spoonful dried and rubbed oregano 5 spoonful white vinegar 2 spoonful olive oil 1 spoonful crushed garlic 5 spoonful soy sauce (Shoyu) 1 sliced yellow pepper salt; black pepper; cumin. Preparation Add salt and black pepper to the steak. In a frying pan, roast the garlic in olive oil, add sliced onion and tomatoes. Use high flame, add salt, black pepper, oregano, yellow pepper, vinegar and soy sauce-Shoyu. Separately, fry the steaks and then add the sauce. Delicious with potatoes or rice mixed with corn.
Roasts
Our shoulder roasts are rolled and stuffed – personally not my favourite but still a useable cut. Whole leg roasts have been a great success, being roasted to what some may consider very rare. They are served on steamed spinach with either a dressing of mint sauce or olive oil and soy sauce. Don’t forget to leave the meat resting on the bench once you have finished cooking it. We have found mint sauce a good accompaniment for the alpaca meat.
Rack
The racks have proved to be one of our favourites when lightly roasted and served on a kumara mash with green vegetables of your choice.
Mince
As with any animal I find mince one of the most versatile cuts of meat you get, alpaca being no different. Personally, I prefer prime beef mince so I find alpaca mince perfect. It is used for anything you would use other mince for just minus the fat content. We use it for anything from meatloaf, nachos, hamburgers to lasagne and from experience visitors cannot differentiate from beef or alpaca. Below is a simple but tasty meatball dish we use from our alpaca mince. 27
Alpaca Meatballs & Spaghetti with Cream and Cheese: Serves 4 people Ingredients 3/4 kg of alpaca mince 150 g cheese 600 g spaghetti “al dente” 1 spoonful fresh sliced rosemary 2 spoonful corn starch 3 spoonful butter 1 egg; 1 pot of cream salt, black pepper; parsley. Preparation Prepare the meatball adding salt, black pepper and rosemary. Add egg and corn starch. Mix vigorously for 5 minutes. Make nut-size balls and keep them in the fridge for 1 hour. Then, roll them in flour and fry in a low fire. In a pan, add butter, spaghetti al dente, fried meatballs, cream, parmesan cheese and parley. In conclusion, since our first home kill alpaca our butcher has become very accomplished at dressing the next one we did. We have talked to a few people who have used home kill alpaca for solely mince and sausages and our advice to these people and anybody else is to be adventurous with the many varied cuts of meat you can get of this versatile animal, and enjoy the dishes you can create which we have found to be tasty along with the health benefits the meat brings.
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Mesa Meat Company
The Mesa Meat Company in Hawke’s Bay, produces 100% New Zealand gourmet Alpaca meat products, from prime cuts to a range of small goods, such as sausages, burger patties, pies and meatballs to restaurants, home chefs and speciality meat outlets throughout New Zealand. They say that alpaca is tender and lean, high in protein and has the lowest cholesterol of any meat without the fatty after taste. It is a mild meat that takes on the flavours of what it is being matched with. Their advice for the best results is that it should be cooked quickly on a high heat and is best served rare or medium and allowed to rest before serving. Tessa and Peter McKay have shared a tasty recipe and you can find more on their website www.mesamill.co.nz
Braised Tamarillo and Plum Alpaca Shanks Ingredients 4 x Alpaca Shanks 1 x 220ml Jar Watties Tamarillo and Plum Chutney 4 x White Onion Sliced 4 x Carrots Roughly Chopped 4 x Cloves of Garlic, Crushed 2 x Sprigs of Rosemary 2 x Star Anise
2 T Black Peppercorns 50mls Bourbon 2 C Red Wine 1 x 330ml tin Whole Peeled Tomatoes 2L Beef Stock Preparation Lightly flour shanks and gently brown in canola oil before placing in deep sided casserole dish. Add vegetables and spices to pan and sauté until lightly browned. Add vegetables and spices to casserole dish. Deglaze pan with red wine and bourbon and reduce until syrupy. Add beef stock, tinned tomatoes and cover with water. Cover casserole dish with tin foil and fan bake @ 130°C for 5 hours. Remove shanks from cooking liquid and set aside. Strain cooking liquid and reduce by ¾. Before serving, whisk 2T butter into sauce to add a glossy shine and improve texture. Served shanks with buttery mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.
I want to produce premium quality alpaca yarn – can you help? Yes, Bruce Woollen Mill is able to help. A number of our shareholders are alpaca growers and we convert their fibre into yarn. Many growers have aspirations of adding value to their clip but often can't get started, hit hurdles that seem insurmountable or don't know where to begin or what the options are. I see part of my role as being able to assist not only alpaca growers but also wool growers to convert their clip into yarn or other product. At Bruce Woollen Mill we specialize in Natural Fibres, predominantly wool and wool/possum blends, however we have a very flexible processing line that enables us to process other fibres such as alpaca. While we are able to process 100% alpaca, our preference is to blend 20% of similar micron wool to support the alpaca fibre during processing. However for those customers that require 100% alpaca, it is critical that the fibre meets certain parameters in order for us to process it efficiently and with minimal fibre loss or damage. Without considering production minimums, there are 4 key parameters that need to be considered. These are fibre length both minimum and maximum, micron, condition of the fibre, separation of colour. All four of these factors are controlled in the shearing shed during the classing and sorting of the fleece. I should state here, that we are only able to process Huacaya, we are unable to process Suri fibre or blends that may contain a percentage of Suri.
Does my fibre need to be scoured before I send it to you? Yes, the fibre needs to be scoured before it arrives at the mill, we do not have any scouring capability and while we have endeavoured to do this in previous years it has not proven to be successful.
quite high. The scouring shouldn't damage the fibre in any way, but it is important that the fibre is not over dried. This is difficult for the scour to control as they are geared up for large production runs and typically a run of alpaca is made up of a number of small lots that need to be kept separate, so there is little or no chance of the scour making adjustments during the drying process.
WHAT ARE PROCESSORS
LOOKING
FOR?
by Mark Buckley What do I need to do General Manager, Bruce Woollen Mill to the fleece to make Milton, Otago sure I get a quality product? At the end of the day any animal will produce fibre relative to the conditions of its environment. Seasonal variations come into play, factors such as micron and tenderness are all affected by the stresses (good or bad) of the environment. However from my perspective as a processor, the following factors are critical to our ability to process effectively. Fibre Length, the ideal range of fibre length in any lot is 60mm – 130mm with a mean fibre length of 100mm. Micron, I believe many growers class on micron alone, this is not ideal for downstream processing. One needs to consider fibre length as well as micron when classing. While we can process a wide range of microns, it is important that the micron range within any processing lot is no broader than 3 micron. For example if a grower was to class a lot as 26micron, the range of fibre within that lot should range between 24 – 27 or 25 – 28. The fleece also needs to be sorted correctly, with skirts and short fibres, and those that are badly stained or have a high VM removed.
presentation of the fleece through removal of skirts, stained fibres and determination of colour. Many growers do this themselves and I am sure there are some that employ experienced classers to perform these tasks. These are largely subjective assessments of the fibre and it takes a lot of experience to get it right.
Some of my alpacas have quite long fleeces, and some have quite short fleeces? Is that OK? This in itself may not be an issue depending on what the extremes are. Our processing removes short fibres i.e. 30mm or shorter, and anything longer than 130mm will get broken in our processing. Within these limits we are able to process, however if the blend is either all long or all short, then there will be issues in processing. We need a blend of short and long fibres to ensure good inter-fibre cohesion which is important in producing any yarn.
Who sorts the alpaca fleece? How do they know what they Is vegetable matter in the should be doing? Is there a If it is scoured – what will difference between classing fleeces still a problem? Generally it is left to a mills discretion that do for the fleece – other and sorting? as to whether there is a need to comb than cost extra? Is there a difference between classing Scouring utilizes a gentle agitation system that is designed to remove dirt and progressively clean the fibre, whether it be wool, alpaca or other natural fibre. Alpaca's love rolling around in the dust and as a result the amount of organic contamination is
and sorting? While not an expert in this area, I believe classing and sorting are different functions, but can often happen simultaneously. My understanding is that classing largely determines the micron and condition of the fibre and sorting involves the
the blend or not. At Bruce Woollen we comb all alpaca as a matter of course. This not only removes 99% of the VM it also removes the short and damaged fibres which will affect the performance of the yarn which flows through to the end product.
29
C Central Districts Report
Southern Report
The Central Districts Field days were held in March and there were 560 exhibitors (an increase of 10) and 35,000 people attended. We were lucky with the weather as there was only a shower on the first evening, otherwise it was fine.
The Southern Field days opened on March 25th at a brand new 40 hectare venue west of Christchurch at Kirwee. With two approaches to the venue, two gates and two carparks operated to the north and south of the display area making a most accessible venue.
came from the attendees. Quite different to the questions normally asked at local A&P shows where the visitor balance leans more towards general public. Many of the questions were phrased in a manner comparing Alpacas to Sheep, a natural comparison.
AANZ secured a site on the south side of the main display area only a few sites in from the entrance and had two gazebos set up, one for an animal pen and one for product display. It was fortunate that the weather was favourable as the new venue was still in a state of construction, and with less grass than the cricket pitch at Eden Park, could have been rather messy if it had rained.
What is the stocking rate? Compared to Sheep? What is the dry matter uptake? What is your dosing regime? Are there any specific health matters? How do you deal with them? How do Alpacas cope with wet conditions on the West Coast for example? Do you need specific fencing? Can you run Alpacas with other stock? What is the return? Is there a multi market, fleece and meat? Are they as easy to handle as sheep?
We were in the same site and this year the AANZ had paid for the marquee, which made a huge difference in terms of the area we could use and not having to put it up and take it down ourselves. We had the marquee against one edge of the site and just had room to put a couple of alpaca pens at the other end. We had 2 suri and 2 huacaya on 2 days and 2 huacaya only on one day. Inside the marquee we had all the AANZ literature, the fibre tool kit and information boards on health issues and birthing – with some photos and using the AANZ paddock cards. The birthing pictures generated some discussions with younger children and their parents! We were kept busy over the whole time and several membership forms went out to encourage people to join or to subscribe to the magazine. Many people were unaware that there is a lot of information on the AANZ website that the public can access. I was surprised that when I was in the tent the majority of queries were from people who had “inherited” alpacas with a property, or bought a couple and were not sure of the basics of caring for them and that is something members might like to reflect upon. A big thank you to the members who gave their time and/or their alpacas to help make the show a success.
30
On the first day we had some junior animals followed by intermediates on the second day and then a couple of senior males for day three. The second gazebo displayed the fibre tool kit that was created by the Fibre Sub-Committee. It includes fleece samples, both Huacaya and Suri, and many photos of the finished product. Also under this gazebo is where we display our promotional material from members and loads of information about the Alpaca Association NZ. A roster meant that the stand was constantly occupied by two or three members to field questions, introduce the animals and promote all things Alpaca. A steady stream of visitors on all three days kept the members busy and on their toes as ‘agricultural’ questions
The best reaction was when the penned animals were taken out and walked up and down the generous walkways. The public was able to handle the animals and get the obligatory ‘selfies’. Visitors to the stand came from all over the South Island, West Coast to Nelson, and south to Balclutha. Out of town visitors were directed to members in their region, to the AANZ web site for further information and left clutching AANZ promotional material.
COLOUR 2015 NORTH ISLAND
REPORT
(A CONVENORS PERSPECTIVE) With the 2015 North Island Colourbration show over for another year, it is time to reflect on what was needed to make this year’s show the most successful of the four shows which have been held in conjunction with the Waikato Winter Show. It was fair to say that in July 2014 the North Island Colourbration show was on shaky ground. No convenor, nobody putting their hand up and time marching on. Then the phone call from the North Island convenors liaison asking was I prepared to co-convene the show for 2015. A tentative yes, but only on the condition that Mary-Ann Pruden was part of the convening team, and within 24hours she had agreed so we were in business.
We sort of had a venue, but still had to negotiate the finer points of using Hall C at the Waikato Winter show. The first decision we made was that given the fact we had to improve the show as an event on the Northern Alpaca Calendar, we had to stick with the tried and tested, and could not afford to take any risks.
exhibition centre to be proud of. This included the fleece display, a pet arena and trade stands.
We were lucky to contract the services of well respected judge Jenny Jackson from Perth to do the fleece and breed judging then things started to fall into place. The decision to shoulder tap the right people we thought would do the best job proved worthwhile. With many very capable people doing an excellent job of the tasks we set for them.
Since co-convening my first Colourbration I look back and think of the many wonderful people I worked with and the satisfaction of being part of a team to stage a successful alpaca event.
As show day got nearer the intensity got greater with a small but dedicated group transforming the concrete building into an Alpaca
With 133 breed and 102 fleece entries ready for judging we had two very enjoyable days with judge Jenny Jackson judging and critiquing through many worthy winners.
Yes, it was a lot of work but also it was a truly rewarding experience. If you get asked to help in an event like this please give it serious consideration as you will probably find the experience both enjoyable and rewarding. Bruce Johnstone
SHOW RESULTS
BREED & FLEECE JUDGE: JENNY JACKSON TOTAL ENTRIES: 235 BREED: 133 (36 Suri, 97 Huacaya) FLEECE: 102 (26 Suri, 76 Huacaya)
Supreme Grey/Roan Huacaya TIMBERTOP IROCK 64G
SURI BREED RESULTS
Supreme Mid/Dark Fawn Huacaya GILT EDGE SAMURAI ET
Supreme Black Suri SHADOW WOOD LUCILLE ET Supreme Grey/Roan Suri MCKENZIE FIELDS FRANKLIN Supreme Brown Suri TE KOWHAI TOP NOTCH
Supreme Brown Huacaya GILT EDGE POLESTAR
Supreme Light Fawn Huacaya GILT EDGE PATRIOT Supreme White Huacaya BRENOR KING WILLIAM
SURI FLEECE RESULTS
Supreme Mid/Dark Fawn Suri LALLYBROCH LORD ELCHO
Supreme Black Fleece Suri SHADOW WOOD ALEXX
Supreme Light Fawn Suri TE KOWHAI QUANTUM LEAP
Supreme Brown Fleece Suri SHADOW WOOD ZEDD
Supreme White Suri TE KOWHAI CELEBRATION
Supreme Mid/Dark Fawn Fleece Suri SURISUPRE JORDGE
HUACAYA BREED RESULTS
Supreme Light Fawn Fleece Suri HADSTOCK N.Z. SILKEN KRYSTAL
Supreme Black Huacaya BLACKWATCH NZ BLACK ROSE
Supreme White Fleece Suri GREENBANK SRZ PARS VIOLIN
HUACAYA FLEECE RESULTS Supreme Black Fleece Huacaya CANCHONES KISMET ET Supreme Grey/Roan Fleece Huacaya SILVERHILL VALIANT Supreme Brown Fleece Huacaya WAINUI HEIGHTS PANEA Supreme Mid/Dark Fawn Huacaya KARISMAC SHANERA Supreme Light Fawn Fleece Huacaya GILT EDGE PATRIOT Supreme White Fleece Huacaya SOFTFOOT TIRARI
We would like to thank the following sponsors for their support: Waters Edge Alpacas; Shadow Wood Suris; Silverhill Alpacas; Wainui Heights Alpacas; Sunsetestate Alpacas; Kerdon Alpacas; Gilt Edge Alpacas; Alpacasrstyle 31
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Shamarra Alpacas,
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Shamarra Alpacas,
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arei pacas, Whang Lallybroch Al r le ol M Gay & Mike
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Thank you for the photos – they’re beautiful QTAZ Alpacas, Paeroa – Alan & Lyn Skilling
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36
Experience & Case Study Susan Ryder established her Alpaca Stud in the heart of the King Country, in 2007. She started with just four females, who would become the nucleus of the Heartland Alpaca Stud, now based in the Waikato. Facial Eczema is a serious problem for many livestock owners, be they dairy, sheep or alpaca farmers. Generally, animals will display warning signs such as seeking shade and going off their feed. Unfortunately, alpacas will often collapse and die completely without warning. In our experience, the time between the animal first displaying “off” behaviour and dying can be a mere thirty minutes. Often the only indication of facial eczema is liver damage which shows up in the autopsy. At Te Kuiti, Heartland Alpacas grew alpaca friendly pasture which included chicory and plantain. The property was sprayed with a fungicide every four weeks from mid-December and of course the animals were fed zinc pellets from the end of December often till May. Despite these precautions we lost two stud males, one of which deteriorated so quickly there wasn’t even time to call a vet.
On March 29th Roseanna was sitting down, her eyes were droopy and her eyelids very swollen. The vet came out to examine her, but by the next day she had a 40deg temperature. Despite her guarded prognosis we were keen to give Roseanna the best chance and began treatment, this included anti-inflammatories, antibiotics and Manderson’s Mix. By April 4th she was not eating or drinking and her urine was bright orange. Besides giving her more injections the vet drenched her with 3 litres of fluid by stomach tube.
Her eyelids were completely stuck together and even with cleaning them twice a day and applying ointment, the eyes were cloudy and filled with pus. Her sight was very minimal. (Severe conjunctivitis) Giving her B12 injections, drenching her with Manderson’s Mix and Ketol was enough to keep her alive. Luckily she is a very quiet animal and wasn’t stressed with all the handling. She seemed to know she was being helped!
With our past experience we expected to find her dead but every morning she surprised us by hanging in there.
We have had spore counts up to 1,8000.000 this year at Heartland’s new property in Hamilton, but have managed to control the facial eczema by keeping vigilant and taking all possible precautions --- feeding the zinc pellets and drenching the crias with zinc oxide every 3 days.
Roseanna But there is always one difficult animal who won’t touch the pellets. Roseanna is one such animal. Fortunately, with plenty of care and an attentive vet she hasn’t become a statistic. 37
A week later the skin around her mouth and ears was peeling. We kept applying zinc cream on her face and legs, but the irritation was making her rub her eyes on the ground and her fleece was full of blood. It seemed like her head needed one big bandage! There was not much improvement by the 14th and still no eating or drinking. The vet drenched her again with another 3 litres of electrolytes with Ketol and repeated the treatment of antiinflammatories, antibiotics and several multi-vitamin injections. There was a bad patch in the weather when the shed became draughty and we put a cover on her. A Bushman’s Cape was just the right fit, kept her warm and wonderfully stylish in bright orange! By April 17th she started on the path to recovery. We pulled handfuls of chicory and plantain for her and got a bale of pea straw. She liked the actual pea pods. Over the next 2 weeks the leathery skin peeled off her ears. She now had short chubby ears but the hair had started to grow back on her face. Her appetite was back and she was eating anything and everything offered to her from hay, Fibre Pro, figs, mandarins and feijoas and even the zinc pellets. Maybe she had learnt her lesson. Finally after 7 weeks in the shed she was let out on the grass but in the shed at night. All through her ordeal her mates kept her company at the shed gate, one in particular being very jealous with all the attention Roseanna was getting. We know the photos are very graphic, but they show how severe and distressing facial eczema can be to animal and owner and shows what can be achieved with perseverance and care. 38
Quick Facts by Dr Clive Dalton
• Facial eczema is caused by a toxin (sporidesmin) produced by the spores of the fungus (Pithomyces chartarum) in pasture. Under the microscope, the spores are a very characteristic hand-grenade shape. • The fungus grows in the dead litter at the base of the pasture in warm moist conditions and can also grow on the base of green plants. • FE is a disease of sheep, cattle, goats, and deer. It also affects alpacas but not horses • Affected stock show photosensitisation or sunburn which can be severe, and animals are very uncomfortable, irritable from the itch and obviously in discomfort or even pain. • The skin damage is secondary to liver damage, and both together can result in ill-thrift, lowered milk production, low fertility, metabolic diseases and death. • The warm, moist summer and autumn conditions on dry pastures after rain or heavy dews bring it on. It can start in January and can carry on till late May, as long as soils are warm. • It’s mainly a disease of the North Island but it can also occur on the west coast of the South Island, the Nelson area and in Canterbury on irrigated dairy pastures.
Case study: Spore counts and Facial Eczema susceptibility in alpacas by David Oertly BVSc – Vet
This autumn has been a challenging one for pastoral animals in the Waikato. They have had to contend with drought conditions and extended, high facial eczema spore counts. This case study highlights the significance and challenges of Pithomyces chartarum (the fungus which causes Facial Eczema) for alpaca breeders and owners.
Graph 1. Pasture spore counts from January to May 2015. Where multiple samples have been submitted, counts are reported as averages.
Many alpaca owners prophylactically feed zinc-medicated pellets during the Facial Eczema risk period. Although that was also the case here, a dramatic rise in pasture spore counts in midMarch on this property (Graph 1) prompted an investigation into the efficacy of zinc pellets under these conditions, despite monthly fungicide application. The results of this initial screening are included in Table 1. Spore counts this autumn have been consistently over 60,000 for almost 11 weeks. The effect of this, and notably the March spore spike, on the alpacas were mixed. Alpacas consistently eating the pellets had no evidence of liver damage. By contrast, alpacas not eating the pellets and potentially most at risk to clinical and/or subclinical facial eczema, showed highly disparate GGT levels. This is despite these alpacas grazing the same pastures. Three of the four alpacas not eating pellets were young crias. There may have been variation in pasture intakes based on milk intakes. Paradoxically, none of the alpacas eating pellets had therapeutic serum zinc levels. Blood zinc levels in these alpacas ranged from 4.7 to 8.6 umol/L, averaging 6.5 umol/L. Protective zinc levels have not been researched or published for alpacas, though extrapolation from other ruminant species suggests that maximum protection against sporidesmin is achieved with blood zinc levels from 12 to 22 umol/L in alpacas. These results prompted the implementation of zinc drenching of the at-risk alpacas (1g zinc oxide per 30kgLW). No alpacas were showing clinical signs of facial eczema at this stage.
Table 1. Subclinical eczema screening, 24th March 2015.
Alpacas known to be eating pellets (GGT, IU/L)
Alpacas known not to be eating pellets (GGT, IU/L)
Normal GGT levels in alpacas with healthy livers
1
28
62 (cria)
0 - 29
2
20
13 (cria)
0 - 29
3
14
874 (cria)
0 - 29
417
0 - 29
342
0 - 29
4 Average
21
Graph 2. Alpaca liver damage late autumn as measured by GGT levels.
39
One week later however, ‘Roseanna’, a one year-old female alpaca, was lethargic, with severe conjunctivitis, an inflamed muzzle, drooping ears and a high fever (40.0°C). Over the following month Roseanna required repeated medicating for severe facial eczema symptoms which Mrs Ryder has described from her perspective. This alpaca’s case progression has been fascinating from a clinical viewpoint. Her gradual improvement has required considerable investment in time and motivation. Despite having no access to high spore pasture soon after clinical symptoms showed, Roseanna’s liver GGT levels have increased dramatically, up to 1,095 IU/L by 26th May (Graph 2).
Conclusions • Facial Eczema is a high risk to alpacas, although susceptibility appears to vary dramatically between individuals • Zinc is protective for alpacas although faecal zinc may be a more useful measure of protection than blood (serum) zinc concentrations • Alpacas should be monitored for intake of zinc supplemented pellets. Alpacas not eating these pellets will need to be drenched orally with zinc oxide • Blood testing for liver damage is a much more accurate method of diagnosing facial eczema challenge and liver damage than clinical symptoms (external signs) • Alpacas showing clinical symptoms are likely to have serious and protracted liver damage. This can be life threatening. Proactive treatment and nursing of clinical cases can be life-saving and very rewarding • Pasture spore counting is essential to keep up to date with the facial eczema risk your stock face on a weekly basis. Note that spore counts can rise very quickly and unexpectedly. Never assume pastures are safe or ‘clean’ during summer and autumn. • If you have concerns about facial eczema or the health of your stock being compromised, seek veterinary advice promptly
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40
Come along to our Trade Site at the NZ National Alpaca Expo
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Huacaya Herd For Sale Females and wethers of various ages. Colours include: white, brown, rose grey and a black macho.
Please contact Robin Phone: 07 333 2202窶ウmail: rk.uncles@farmside.co.nz 41
with
TARA Tara Sutherland is a Pet Photographer based in the Waikato. She has been photographing animals, mostly pets, since 2013. Tara is recognised for her vibrant colours and attention to lighting and is regularly involved in animal charity projects. She recently photographed the 2015/2016 Chained Dog Awareness Calendar featuring Tiki Taane and other well known New Zealand men. You can find her online at www.tarasutherland.net or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lifebytara
42
Alpaca are beautiful and intelligent creatures and they take a gorgeous photograph. Combine that with some of New Zealand’s sublime scenery and you have a recipe for something stunning. Following are a few tips and suggestions that may help you with your photographs whether you are using a smartphone, point and shoot compact camera or a Digital SLR. Before we start, I have two things I would like you to do first, don’t laugh at the first one. Number one is read the manual – yup, your camera manual gives you a lot of tips and suggestions for photographing sports, portraits and even animals. The second thing is to keep your equipment clean – give the little lens on your smartphone a wipe with your sunglasses cleaning cloth or pop into your local camera store and invest in a little box of lens cleaners. You will be AMAZED at the difference! Then, still before turning your camera on, pay special attention to your backgrounds and wherever possible, try
DSC_2195.
for as little clutter behind the animals as possible – fences, troughs, gates etc… {example DSC_2195} Also check to see that any fences or trees that are in the photograph are not growing out of your animals head – or cutting them off across the neck. In this example, the photograph is taken in harsh sunlight, the background is cluttered and I’ve cut the Mum off across the base of her head – not my finest moment! If you have a tree line with the sun going down behind it, well that’s basically the money shot as far as animal photography is concerned! In animal photography, the same as people portraits, the best photographs come with a connection. Normally we get that through eye contact or when the photograph tells a story. You will notice a little white sparkle in the animal’s eye in this photograph {example DSC_2199} – this is called a catchlight and brings life to all of the animals I shoot. I try and find one or two for every image.
DSC_2199.
Top: Screenshot; Bottom: DSC_2439.
There is a basic rule of composition called the Rule Of Thirds – it says that the main elements of your photograph should be on one of the three vertical or horizontal lines. This rule is supposed to create a photograph that is pleasing to the eye and for the most part it actually works, however most rules are made to be broken so don’t be afraid to try a square crop with the animal right in the middle! Here is a demonstration image {Rule of Thirds – Screenshot + DSC_2439} where you can see I have cropped to 8x10, on one of the thirds and I have the animal looking out of the photograph. The best time of day to photograph, and this applies to animals and people, is in “Golden Hour”. This is an hour before and an hour after sunset when the light is a lovely golden colour and it is at its most even. During Golden Hour, using your DSLR, or if you have manual settings on your compact camera, set your aperture wide (around f/2 or f/2.8) to capture beautiful speckles of light behind your animals - we call this bokeh and it's just magic! Photographing in the middle of the day is the hardest as the light is harsh and the shadows are unforgiving. If the middle of the day is your only option, try and find the shade if possible. If you are photographing fleece in the middle of the day, a piece of net curtain held between the fleece and the sun will help soften the light. I would recommend never using a flash when photographing fleece – and try and hold it very loosely so that people can see the crimp. By far, the hardest of your animals to photograph are the black alpaca, and the Suri even more than the Huacaya. The easiest way to bring out the beautiful details of their face, and eyes, is to photograph them with the sun behind you. {example DSC_2224}
Before And After I’d just like to say a big thank you to Jackee and Jeff at Ataahua Alpacas for allowing me to explore their farm. We were photographing on a bright sunny day so here is a Before And After for how I processed this image. I shoot with a Nikon D800 (fullframe), a 70200mm lens and I process using Adobe Lightroom. I deliberately made the photograph darker by underexposing it so I could adjust it later. DSC_2224.
43
{example DSC_2390 - Before} Firstly I crop to an 8x10 (I know this image needs some off the left and 8x10 is a good size for websites and looks good in Facebook timelines). I removed the feed from the blacks mouth, and increased the clarity to highlight the facial features. I increased the lighting in the shadowed parts and warmed it a little. {example DSC_2390 - After} The more time you spend with your animals practicing your photography, the better your images will become. And if it’s just not working, get in touch with me, I’d be happy to come and help you out.
Top: DSC 2390 – Before Bottom: DSC 2390 – After /1250 sec at ƒ/4.5, ISO 800 Nikon D800E + 200mm (70.0-200.0mm ƒ/2.8) 1
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44
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45
Our featured advertiser is drawn from the pool of advertisers in the previous magazine. If you would like a chance to have your profile featured in the Alpaca magazine, make sure you advertise in the next issue of New Zealand Alpaca.
ADVERTISER
PROFILE Sue Vanner Halters Plus
sales@haltersplus.co.nz • www.haltersplus.co.nz Ph: 06 762 8816 • Mob: 027 332 7304
In late 2010 I was looking for a halter for my Belted Galloway calf to show at our local A & P show, I found one through a small Trade Me advert which did the job and then a few weeks later I noticed a small snippet in our local newspaper for a small halter making business for sale, I put two and two together and now the rest is history. I have ridden horses, shown dogs and have lived on the land all my life and dealt with all animals but not alpacas so I have had to ask many alpaca breeders all sorts of funny and curly questions about these wonderful animals. I have found breeders in this country are very forth coming with information even though how bizarre the question may have been. The Alpaca Industry in this country has a lot of very passionate people breeding some exceptional animals and manufacturing lots of wonderful alpaca products which they should all be very proud of. 46
I am an Apparel Cutter and Pattern Maker by trade so I enjoy it when people ask for something a little different or custom made, I enjoy the challenge and get a lot of satisfaction from happy customs and animals.
I did get a little bored sewing only three colours. Eighteen months ago I brought the Rocky Bay Halter Label from Kathy and Dan Bloom of Rocky Bay Alpacas to carry on making these wonderful and much wanted halters.
Halters Plus has been going since 1996 and was previously owned by Christine Gunn. She has been a great support to me in taking on this unique business she created, this support has been greatly appreciated.
I am in the process of setting up a new work room/show room on our new farmlet in Midhirst, Central Taranaki which will allow customers to come and pick up their halters and leads.
I make all my products by hand and have added more colours to my halter range with lots of great feedback,
You are welcome to contact me at any time either by phone or email and I will try my best to help you with your requirements.
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Alpaca training equipment Reclass, Processing and Marketing animals for sale Alpaca, Black and Coloured Wool and Specialty Fibres richard@wooltechnologies.co.nz
WOOL TECHNOLOGIES Vicky Tribe CASH PAID FOR ALPACA FIBRE
Reclass, Processing and Marketing Alpaca, Black and Coloured Wool and Specialty Fibres richard@wooltechnologies.co.nz
NORTH ISLAND CASH Philippa Wright PAID FOR FIBRE PhilippaALPACA Wright Wool Merchants 8 Coughlan Road, Waipukurau NORTH ISLAND Ph: 06 858Philippa 9434 orWright 027 242 2033 philippa@wrightwool.co.nz Philippa Wright Wool Merchants 8 Coughlan Road, Waipukurau Ph: 06 858 9434 or 027 242 2033 philippa@wrightwool.co.nz
SOUTH ISLAND Lindsay Riddle Sherlin Suri Alpaca Stud Lawford Road, RD5, Christchurch Ph: 03 349 7524 or 0274 331 094 leriddle@xtra.co.nz
alpaca gear: halters, leads, books, DVDs and CDs. Shop online at www.willowfarm.co.nz
SOUTH ISLAND
alpacas for sale: top quality, easily managed Lindsay Riddle animals available now
Sherlin Suri Alpaca Stud clinics: how to choose and fit a halter, Lawford Road,training RD5, Christchurch leading, learn the ‘toolkit’ – wand, catch-rope and Ph: 03 349 7524 or 0274 331 094 herding tape, trimming toenails and other leriddle@xtra.co.nz maintenance, managing difficult behavioural traits Ask about hosting a CamelidynamicsTM Clinic. Register your interest when a course is in your area by emailing or phoning.
Contact Vicky Tribe, Gear Girl: email kvnexus@xtra.co.nz website www.willowfarm.co.nz
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7
Each issue AANZ profiles a new member, taken from a draw from the ranks of those who have joined the Association since the last magazine. This issue we feature Kevin & Sarah Tyler of Coatesville, Auckland.
NEW MEMBER
PROFILE Kevin & Sarah Tyler
Black Ridge Alpacas Coatesville, Auckland
After a 10-year O.E, New Zealand’s greener pastures – and the opportunity to build our own ‘Grand Design‘ on a beautiful Coatesville lifestyle block – called us home.
It was a dream nurtured during many years spent squeezed in our South London Victorian terrace, with the snow falling and the trains cancelled. Returning home to Auckland three years ago, we soon realised how perfect a Coatesville lifestyle would be for us, providing some long-sought space and a relatively easy commute for Sarah. Kevin literally brought his work home with him, ‘cyber-commuting’ with his old architectural firm in the UK. It took some time, but we finally found the perfect Coatesville section for us – an elevated 2.5 acre pasture and bush block. A short 12-month design-andbuild later, we moved into our new barninspired home complete with overgrown paddocks. We had three sheep on lawn-mowing duty while building, but it was clear they needed reinforcements. We first came up close with alpacas while riding the Otago Rail Trail the year before, a standout highlight. 48
They instantly captured our hearts, with their shaggy top hair and big inquisitive eyes, we both said we wanted to take them home, and that got us thinking about ‘why not?’
Now that we’ve had a live birth at the property, Hans recommended we join the Alpaca Association to access the information we need to care for the animals properly.
After some research into what was involved, we thought two or three wethers would suit us just fine. We hadn’t considered breeding, however after a “we’re-not-buying-anything” day trip to Waitakere Alpacas and time spent with the persuasive Hans Roecoert, we went home the proud owners of two pregnant females and a sense of excitement about breeding our own herd. We now have mum Shanthi and baby Xanthe (Black Huacayas), and Surynoosh and her gorgeous Mario, (Medium Brown Huacayas).
We are now halter training the cria, which is great fun, not without its challenges but helped by their insatiable appetite for carrots. We’re slowly getting there and it’s great to spend more time around them.
We have recently mated the two girls again with a couple of Han’s studs, so fingers crossed we have two healthy cria on the way April next year. We’ll then have the big decision about which direction to take with the herd.
Life couldn’t be more different for us now, from a London commuters’ life, to feeding our alpacas every morning – what a wonderful way to start the day. There’s no doubt in our minds that we’ve made the right lifestyle choice.
Kev’s been busy putting in new fencing, so we can rotate our paddocks next year, and has finished building a winter shelter to protect them from the wintry south-wester than comes through. It also provides a great place to feed and halter train when it’s pouring down.
WRAPPING FLEECES FOR SHOW ENTRY
1.
AUSTRALIAN ALPACA FIBRE TESTING Dedicated to the specific needs of Alpaca breeders
You will Need • A large piece of netting, use net curtain or similar so the fleece will not stick to the material. • Maximum of 6 Medium size Safety Pins to fasten the roll. The less pins the better for fleece stewards unpacking.
2.
AAFT
• Fleece Delivery note to packed with each individual fleece for identification and entry details.
Australian Alpaca Fibre Testing PO Box 246, Crookwell, NSW 2583, Australia Phone: 61 2 4834 2132 Email: info@aaft.com.au
www.aaft.com.au
• Outer tag with ID details that will be fastened to the outside of each individual fleece. Use a piece of firm cardboard with a hole punched through one end and string threaded through for attaching to the fleece.
Preparation Instructions • Lay the Netting out on a flat surface. 3.
• Place your skirted, cleaned fleece on the netting in a single layer. Preferably with the same side uppermost so it is not twisted (1). • Make sure there is a good amount of netting around the edge that is free from fleece
4.
• Turn the extra pieces of netting in so that they cover the edges as well as the ends of the fleece (2). This will keep the fleece secure in the roll so the bigger the overlap, the more secure your fleece will be. • Download Fleece Delivery notes. You will need one for each individual fleece you are entering. • Include the Fleece Delivery note (3). • Roll fleece and secure (4).
5.
From breeding males, females and pets, all with great genetics. Some genetics are no longer available elsewhere. Home to Supreme Champion (in fleece and in the ring). FREE mating available to females on offering. Please contact Ruth or Pete, 07 357 5338 or email greenbankalpaca@clear.net.nz
• Attach the outside Tag ID (5). 49
Disclaimer
2015 Herd Sire Directory
The information contained in these herdsire listings has been provided by the individual advertisers. The AANZ does not accept responsibility for any errors, or for the accuracy of information contained in the advertisements or text. Views expressed in the advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by the AANZ.
Index HUACAYA HERD SIRES Aquaviva Hermes Aspiring Rigel Brenor Point Blanc McKenzie Fields Kingston Flyer Silverstream Godsend ET Stoney Meadows Genesis Waratah Flats Limited Edition
Colour Guide: 50 50 50 51 51 51 51
Wildflower Gnangara McKenzie Fields Harrison Silverstream Infinity Bonitas Pito Bookarindi Eskimo Joe Greenwood Greylord Minffordd Dean
52 52 52 52 53 53 53
Canchones Atonement McKenzie Fields Shamrock Silverstream Negus Warramunga Downs Kalarni
Aquaviva Hermes IAR: 1005036 Born: 05 February 2010 SIRE: Waratah Flats Achilles DAM: EP Cambridge Commishka STUD FEE: $500 +GST drive‑by mating, ($1,000 +GST for 3 matings). Some conditions apply.
White/Light Fawn 53 54 54 54
Fawn
Brown
Grey
Black
SURI HERD SIRES Cedar House Prince of Stars Greenbank Pars Romeo Greenbank Valentino Greenbank Valvador Excellenz Grigio El Rocio Canchones Bandera ET Waiheke Midnight Oil
54 55 55 55 55 56 56
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Hermes continues to excel and his progeny show great improvement, with long, lustrous, soft handling, advanced style fleeces, with excellent density. Our very friendly stud fee is for drive by matings and some conditions apply. We are happy to negotiate a package for you. Hermes may be available for matings in the North Island. We have females for sale already pregnant to Hermes.
SHOW CREDITS: 2014 BAFINZ – Best White Huacaya Fleece 2014 BAFINZ – 2nd Best Huacaya Fleece Producer (for Hermes progeny) 2014 Supreme Champion Fleece Banks Peninsula Fleece CONTACT DETAILS: 2014 Champion Senior White Male Fleece MacKenzie Awatere Alpacas 2013 Supreme Champion Fleece Royal Manawatu Philip & Robyn Anderson 2013 Supreme Champion Fleece Royal Waikato 2013 Champion Senior Male Temuka Geraldine 224 Curries Road, Springston South 2013 Champion Senior Male Winchester RD4, Christchurch 7674, Canterbury Ph: 03 329 5654 Mob: 027 292 8373 (027 AWATERE) 2012 Senior Male White/Light Fawn Oxford 2012 Champion Adult Male Winchester Email: alpaca@awatere.co.nz Web: www.awatere.co.nz 2011 Champion National Junior Male Fleece 2011 Supreme Champion Huacaya Fleece Canterbury 2011 Champion Fleece MacKenzie FIBRE DETAILS: 12/2012 – 22.9µm, 4.8SD, 21.1%CV 12/2013 – 22.9µm, 4.3SD, 18%CV 12/2014 – 25.3µm, 4.7SD, 18.6%CV
Aspiring Rigel IAR: 1005333 Born: 26 December 2009 SIRE: Forestglen Illustrious DAM: Aspiring Rainbow STUD FEE: $750 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: Waiwera Alpacas Gordon Baird 16 Waiwera Gorge Road, RD 2, Clinton 9584 Ph: 03 415 7112 Mob: 027 217 0687 Email: gordonbaird@actrix.co.nz
Brenor Point Blanc IAR: 1007320 Born: 05 March 2012 SIRE: Qtaz Noah DAM: Brenor Evette STUD FEE: $950 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: Brenda and Ivor Gainsford 200 Kaharoa Road RD 6, Rotorua 3096 Ph: 07 332 2336 Mob: 021 275 3720 alpaca@brenor.co.nz www.brenor.co.nz
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DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Rigel is a compact, well conformed male who in his short stud career todate has left cria the same colour as their dam except with blacks where they have been fawn. He has a pedigree which includes alpacas of high regard. Shown only three time he won his breed class on each occasion. He won his fleece section,conformation class and composite class at the Gore A&P show 2013. Rigel's fleece has a medium crimp frequency with good staple definition which is coming through in his off spring. Rigel is co-owned with Red Tussock Alpacas and is available for mobile matings in Otago and Southland. Matings further afield will be considered if requested. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear (5th fleece) – 16/12/2014 – 22.2µm, 4.9SD, 22%CV, 94%CF, 4KG
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Brenor Point Blanc is an outstanding young male. He grows a fine, dense, lustrous, soft handling fleece with well aligned staples extending across to all extremities. He exhibits very little guard hair and carries his fineness down to his belly and legs. He has had an outstanding show career, winning seven Supreme Championships. His sire Qtaz Noah won 4 Supreme Championships during his show career. His mother Brenor Evette was not shown but has kept her fineness as she matures. Brenor Point Blanc is a stunning young male and will be a great asset to any breeding program. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 30/10/2014 – 18.7µm, 3.8SD, 20.3%CV, 99.3%CF
McKenzie Fields Kingston Flyer IAR: 1009248 Born: 16 March 2012 SIRE: Patagonia Celtic Eclipse DAM: Ridgedale Lady Katya STUD FEE: $800 +GST
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Kingston is a handsome, well built male. He is retaining his fineness and has great character to his fleece. Kingston's sire is Patagonia Celtic Eclipse – a solid white son of the imposing Celtic Triumph and Patagonia Sunline. Kingston will have cria on the ground late 2015. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 11/2014 – 19.6µm, 4.3SD, 22.2%CV
CONTACT DETAILS: McKenzie Fields Alpacas Ros & Andy Scott 1306 Tangimoana Road RD3, Palmerston North Ph: 06 324 8904 Mob: 021 733 033 Email: info@mckenziealpacas.co.nz Web: www.mckenziealpacas.co.nz
Silverstream Godsend ET IAR: 126706 Born: 26 November 2007 SIRE: Jolimont Attitude DAM: Pucara Juliana STUD FEE: $1,400 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: Silverstream Alpaca Stud, Kit & Sheryl Johnson North Canterbury Ph: 03 327 3020 Web: www.alpaca-stud.co.nz Brenor Alpaca, Brenda & Ivor Gainsford 58 Ward Road, Hamurana, RD 7, Rotorua Ph: 07 332 2336 Email: alpaca@brenor.co.nz Web: www.brenor.co.nz
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: A son of Pucara Juliana whose progeny have won 21 supreme champion huacaya titles including two National titles (Faberge 2008 & Déjà vu 2009). Silverstream Czar another son of Pucara Juliana won 10 supreme champion titles until he was sold to the UK. Silverstream Godsend ET has an impeccable show record in his own right including seven supreme champion titles and twelve age group championships. From 26 show appearances he has been placed first 17 times, second 6 times and third three times. For a working stud male, we think this is a rather impressive record. Godsend ET has a very fine, soft handling fleece with excellent density. SRS Results - 2010 Secondary to Primary Follicle - 12.9 Follicle Density - 60.8 FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear (7th Fleece) – 21.4µm, 4.3SD, 20%CV, 62.3CRV, 97%CF
Stoney Meadows Genesis IAR: 1008262 Born: 08 April 2011 SIRE: Homestead Farm Apollo DAM: Waratah Flats Champagne 2 STUD FEE: $1,200 +GST
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Genesis has matured into a well grown upright male displaying all the characteristics we like to see in our stud males. To date he has taken out nine supreme championships (4 fleece and 5 breed) as well as numerous champion and reserve champion placings. Judges have routinely commented on his fineness for age, excellent uniformity of micron and length of fleece as well as the density.
CONTACT DETAILS: Stoney Meadows Alpacas Wayne & Sandra Allison 502 North Eyre Road, RD6, Rangiora 7476 Ph: 03 312 0512 Mob: 027 404 4000 Email: info@stoneymeadows.co.nz Web: www.stoneymeadowsalpacas.com
His first cria are arrived this last summer (2 girls and 1 boy) and we are delighted with the quality of them.
Waratah Flats Limited Edition
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Limited Edition is a well conformed, well boned, bold, up right male with a real presence about him and an obvious natural lack of guard hair. His sire is the well known Homestead Farm Apollo (IAR 84230) and his dam is Waratah Flats Crystal (IAR 47452) who in her 9th fleece was 24.2micron, 4.6SD 38.1CRV and 90.9%CF. Limited Edition is a proven male with cria on the ground, including Supreme Championship winner Stoney Meadows Honeydew (Mid/dark fawn) and appears to be throwing the colour of the dam. All crias to date are a substantial improvement on their dams.
IAR: 1000162 Born: 12 February 2009 SIRE: Homestead Farm Apollo DAM: Waratah Flats Crystal STUD FEE: $750 (discount for multiple matings) CONTACT DETAILS: Stoney Meadows Alpacas Wayne & Sandra Allison 502 North Eyre Road, RD6, Rangiora 7476 Ph: 03 312 0512 Mob: 027 404 4000 Email: info@stoneymeadows.co.nz Web: www.stoneymeadowsalpacas.com
Free agistment for up to 60 days (includes scanning). Mobile matings by arrangement. Additional fee may apply depending on location. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 01/11/14 – 19.8µm, 4.1SD, 20.6CV, 98%CF
Free agistment for up to 60 days (includes scanning). Mobile matings by arrangement. Additional fee may apply depending on location. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 01/11/14 – 23.4µm, 3.8SD, 78mmSL, 60.5CRV, 95%CF
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Wildflower Gnangara IAR: 152496 Born: 01 May 2009 SIRE: Wildflower Kokoda DAM: Amberley Park Evelyn STUD FEE: $800 +GST (discount for multiple matings) CONTACT DETAILS: Stoney Meadows Alpacas Wayne & Sandra Allison 502 North Eyre Road, RD6, Rangiora 7476 Ph: 03 312 0512 Mob: 027 404 4000 Email: info@stoneymeadows.co.nz Web: www.stoneymeadowsalpacas.com
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Gnangara has only been lightly shown but has ribbons from both Australia and New Zealand including Championships. Gnangara started working early and his first pregnancies confirmed at 21 months, first crias on ground February 2012. His sire, Wildflower Kakoda still had a 19 micron fleece at the age of four years old. Imported in November 2010 for his fleece qualities and excellent genetics which include: Jolimont Warrior, Jolimont Conquistador and Jolimont Marilu, Swan Valley Majestic, Mokare Mignon, ILR Pperuvian Pluro, Shanbrook Elite, Purrumbete Ledgers Dream and Sumerset Peruvian Excellence. Gnangara has now been proven with several on the ground and all cria are an improvement on their dams. We have one very nice cria (dark fawn female) from him which we are looking forward to showing this coming summer. Gnangara appears to be throwing to the colour of the dam. Improve your bloodlines with Gnangara's excellent line up of genetics. Free agistment for up to 60 days (includes scanning). Mobile matings by arrangement. Additional fee may apply depending on location. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 01/11/14 – 24.3µm, 4.8SD, 78mmSL, 55.5CRV, 89%CF
McKenzie Fields Harrison IAR: 1000581 Born: 17 February 2010 SIRE: Arcady Zegna DAM: Waimarie Farm Harmony STUD FEE: $800 +GST
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: As soon as Harrison was born I could tell he was something special. He has a great pedigree. His dam, has produced my best cria to date with both ILR Ppperuvian Allin Capac (son of legendary Shere Khan) and Hope Downs El Gordo (a broad winning grey male based in Australia) in her background. His sire, Arcady Zegna, is also the son of champions - Jolimont Conquistador and Arcady Dior. Harrison has a very gentle nature and is a dream to handle.
CONTACT DETAILS: McKenzie Fields Alpacas Ros & Andy Scott 1306 Tangimoana Road RD3, Palmerston North Ph: 06 324 8904 Mob: 021 733 033 Email: info@mckenziealpacas.co.nz Web: www.mckenziealpacas.co.nz
FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 11/2014 – 24.2µm, 4.6SD, 20.5%CV
Silverstream Infinity
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Infinity is one of those males that just commands your attention. He pumps out a huge fleece and has gorgeous teddy bear looks. The fleece has excellent crimp and lustre and is extremely uniform.
IAR: 1004737 Born: 26 December 2009 SIRE: Blue Grass Southern Warrior DAM: KC Charm STUD FEE: $1,200 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: Silverstream Alpaca Stud Kit & Sheryl Johnson North Canterbury Ph: 03 327 3020 Web: www.alpaca-stud.co.nz
The dam (KC Charm) keeps on turning out champions. All three of her progeny have been reserve age group champions at the National Alpaca Expo, only being beaten by white males. The sire, Blue Grass Southern Warrior is packed with superior genetics including Jolimont Warrior and Purrumbete Vanilla. Infinity is now working and we look forward to his offspring. SHOW CREDITS: From 22 show appearances, Silverstream Infinity has been placed in the first three on all 22 occasions. His broad ribbons include 2 supremes, 8 champion fawn titles, 5 age group and 7 reserve age group championships. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear (5th Fleece) – 23.6µm, 4.8SD, 20.3%CV, 64.3CRV, 93%CF
Bonitas Pito IAR: 137335 Born: 24 January 2012 SIRE: Silverstream Governor Grey DAM: Bonitas Felice STUD FEE: $1,000 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: McKenzie Fields Alpacas Ros & Andy Scott 1306 Tangimoana Road RD3, Palmerston North Ph: 06 324 8904 Mob: 021 733 033 Email: info@mckenziealpacas.co.nz Web: www.mckenziealpacas.co.nz
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DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Pito is an exceptional medium grey boy. He has an even well structured fleece, hardly any spots, and is very fine – hardly surprising given the quality of his sire Silver Stream Governor Grey. Pito has plenty of grey on in his background, so would be a great choice for those wanting to breed greys. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 11/2014 – 20.4µm, 4.6SD, 22.4%CV, 96.4%CF
Bookarindi Eskimo Joe IAR: 135928 Born: 21 February 2008 SIRE: Bookarindi Woody DAM: Bookarindi Zena STUD FEE: $1,000 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: McKenzie Fields Alpacas Ros & Andy Scott 1306 Tangimoana Road RD3, Palmerston North Ph: 06 324 8904 Mob: 021 733 033 Email: info@mckenziealpacas.co.nz Web: www.mckenziealpacas.co.nz
Greenwood Greylord IAR: 39474 Born: 23 February 2005 SIRE: Hope Downs El Gordo DAM: Greenwood Mischa STUD FEE: $1,000 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: Silverstream Alpaca Stud Kit & Sheryl Johnson North Canterbury Ph: 03 327 3020 Web: www.alpaca-stud.co.nz
Minffordd Dean IAR: 1003793 Born: 12 March 2011 SIRE: NZ Southern Black Adder DAM: Minffordd Twilight STUD FEE: $800 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: McKenzie Fields Alpacas Ros & Andy Scott 1306 Tangimoana Road RD3, Palmerston North Ph: 06 324 8904 Mob: 021 733 033 Email: info@mckenziealpacas.co.nz Web: www.mckenziealpacas.co.nz
Canchones Atonement IAR: 134537 Born: 11 February 2008 SIRE: Canchones Shogun DAM: Jolimont Adriana 2 STUD FEE: $800 CONTACT DETAILS: Rosala Alpacas Ross & Alanah Brabham 293 Ararimu Valley Road RD2, Waimauku Auckland 0882 Phone: (09) 411 9188 Email: info@rosala-alpacas.co.nz Web: www.rosala-alpacas.co.nz
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Eskimo Joe is a compact male with a lovely even grey coloured fleece. He has a dense fleece with a high frequency crimp style and minimal guard hair giving him a lovely soft handle. His genetics speak for themselves with Merungle Hot Chili, Peruvian Drambuie, Purrumbete Inti on both sides and Jolimont Warrior in his pedigree. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear (5th Fleece) – 11/2012 – 20.9µm, 4.7SD, 22.6%CV, 94.7%CF
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Silverstream are delighted to announce the purchase of Greenwood Greylord from Australia. He is an impressive looking male with great frame and bone. He grows a good length of staple and has absolutely no spots. Greylord has 81 progeny on the ground and over grey females, has been very consistent in producing grey offspring. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear (10th Fleece) – 24.2µm, 4.3SD, 17.8%CV, 50CRV, 92%CF
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Dean’s fleece is absolutely gorgeous and we just love it at shearing time as we get the opportunity to use it. Dean has some great genetics in his background including ILR Alpine Fiber’s Brutus, Peruvian Hemmingway and Purrumbete Brigantine a celebrated Australian white male. To date he has produced some absolutely stunning greys with wonderful handle. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 11/2014 – 19µm, 3.9SD, 20.5%CV, 98.95%CF
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: We are very pleased to announce that Canchones Atonement has now joined our stud herd of black huacaya males. Atonement’s sire is a top Australian based sire Canchones Shogun, with many of his progeny being certified as stud males or sold overseas. His dam is a Peruvian female from the well known Jolimont herd. Atonement himself is also a full Peruvian stud male with excellent bone, sound conformation and a very black fleece. He was previously used to give blue-black progeny and virtually all of them turned out blue-black. Matings to be done onsite (drive-by) at Rosala Alpacas, Waimauku, north-west Auckland. Mobile matings by arrangement. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 11/2013 – 26.7µm, 5.4SD, 19.2%CV, 78%CF
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McKenzie Fields Shamrock IAR: 1009251 Born: 20 March 2012 SIRE: Pejo Grenadier DAM: Waimarie Farm Sheba STUD FEE: $800 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: McKenzie Fields Alpacas Ros & Andy Scott 1306 Tangimoana Road RD3, Palmerston North Ph: 06 324 8904 Mob: 021 733 033 Email: info@mckenziealpacas.co.nz Web: www.mckenziealpacas.co.nz
Silverstream Negus IAR: 1013973 Born: 03 January 2014 SIRE: Silverstone Ice Master ET DAM: Silverstream Hersheys STUD FEE: $1,200 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: Silverstream Alpaca Stud Kit & Sheryl Johnson North Canterbury Ph: 03 327 3020 Web: www.alpaca-stud.co.nz
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Shamrock has a real presence about him. He holds himself proudly and has taken after his sire with his solid frame and excellent confirmation. His pedigree is outstanding and includes Timbertop the Scud, Pinjarra Microsoft and Kingston Park Paragon, one of Australia's most celebrated black males. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 11/2014 – 24µm, 4.6SD, 20.5%CV
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Negus has the looks, the frame, the soft handle to his fleece, the pedigree and the show record. We think he is rather special. His dam (Hersheys) won reserve junior champion at the 2009 National show as a dark fawn and is a half sister to Infinity. Ice Master the sire, has won numerous supreme champion titles. In his first six shows, Negus was placed first everytime. He has been black champion three times and was Reserve Black Champion at the 2014 National Show only being beaten by an imported senior black male. If you then look at his fleece statistics 16.5u 2.6sd 16.0cv 100cf for an eleven month black fleece, you then know he is a very special animal. Add to this a magnificent frame and fleece right down to his toes. He is already certified at 15 months and ready for action. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear (1st Fleece) – 16.5µm, 2.6SD, 16%CV, 59.1CRV, 100%CF SHOW CREDITS: 2014 SI Colourbration – 1st Junior Male Black 2014 National Show – 1st Junior Male Black – Reserve Black Champion 2014 Canterbury – 1st Junior Male Black – Black Champion 2014 Ashburton – 1st Junior Male Black – Black Champion 2015 Sheffield – 1st Intermediate Male Black – Black Champion 2015 Oxford – 1st Intermediate Male Black
Warramunga Downs Kalarni IAR: 141935 Born: 28 April 2009 SIRE: Warramunga Downs Paladin DAM: Warramunga Downs Ko Ko STUD FEE: $1,200 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: Belise Alpacas Sue & Barry Bishop 19 Alessio Lane, Swannanoa Ph: 03 312 0278 Mob: 027 434 2708 Email: pacas@belisealpacas.co.nz
Cedar House Prince of Stars IAR: 47014 Born: 08 June 2000 SIRE: PPeruvian Amador DAM: Cedar House Silken Queen STUD FEE: $900 (Buy two matings and get the third mating free) CONTACT DETAILS: Greenbank Alpaca (Silken Suris) Ruth Hutton & Peter Jackson Ph: 07 357 5338 Ruth Mob: 021 607 515 Peter Mob: 027 484 6960 Email: greenbankalpaca@clear.net.nz
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DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Kalarni is from the Warramunga Downs Paladin line that has produced champions in Australia and includes Kalarni’s half brother, former NZ National Champion Warramunga Downs Nadahl. Kalarni’s first full breeding season produced 5 cria with the following show results: Belise Paco Rabanne, Champion Black Huacaya at SI Colourbration, Bonitas Raphael Reserve Champion Junior at South Otago, Belise Gucci 3rd Place Junior Female National Expo. Kalarni was selected to improve fleece structure and density. His cria have soft handling, well aligned, dense fleeces with increased yields of up to 50% on first fleeces from the same dam. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 24/11/2013 – 30.2µm, 5.3SD, 17.5%CV, 65%CF, 3.2kg
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: A real Macho man and true to type of Suri. He is proving to be a constance male who has sired many Supreme Champions and he continues to do so. His Dam Silken Queen is by Peruvian Senator also imported from the USA. Senator has had a huge impact on the Suri breed in Australia. Although now 14yrs old he's still one of the best Suri Sires in New Zealand. He produce sired several animals for us last season of which were Supreme Champion and Champion in their respective colour classes. Plus we were privileged to have a Champion fleece and Supreme Champion fleece winners as well from offspring. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 28/10/2013 – Awaiting results 02/01/2007 – 24.4µm, 6.2SD, 24.5%CV, 12mths, 5.9kg 02/01/2002 – 19.2µm, 5.2SD, 27%CV, 18mths, 6.8kg
Greenbank Pars Romeo IAR: 1002356 Born: 08 November 2008 SIRE: Surilana Parsifal DAM: Surico Roma STUD FEE: $700 (Buy two matings and get the third mating free)
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Romeo is a dominating male. He carries the Massey Mo stamp of the solid strong bone from the head, neck to his extremities covered with this dense solid locking fleece. He was our first born Alpaca and won 2nd at National as a junior male, which we felt very pleased with. Since then he’s won numerous ribbons. His mother and grandmother are both fantastic breeding females and always produce great crias. His 1st offspring are on the ground and are displaying solid chest with great conformation as well.
CONTACT DETAILS: Greenbank Alpaca (Silken Suris) Ruth Hutton & Peter Jackson Ph: 07 357 5338 Ruth Mob: 021 607 515 Peter Mob: 027 484 6960 Email: greenbankalpaca@clear.net.nz
FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 28/10/2013 – Awaiting results
Greenbank Valentino
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Valentino has developed into a well nourished solid male. He carrys a very full dense fleece with a soft lock across his body. He has Accoyo background, giving him good strength of bone and a great confirmation. He’s a must for someone wanting great coverage and lustre. He has good show results as a youngster as well.
IAR: 1002358 Born: 04 April 2009 SIRE: Kaihere Accoyo Brilliante DAM: Surico Valykrie STUD FEE: $700 (Buy two matings and get the third mating free) CONTACT DETAILS: Greenbank Alpaca (Silken Suris) Ruth Hutton & Peter Jackson Ph: 07 357 5338 Ruth Mob: 021 607 515 Peter Mob: 027 484 6960 Email: greenbankalpaca@clear.net.nz
Greenbank Valvador IAR: 10052456 Born: 31 March 2010 SIRE: Surico Ronaldo DAM: Sommerset Vivacious STUD FEE: $700 (Buy two matings and get the third mating free) CONTACT DETAILS: Greenbank Alpaca (Silken Suris) Ruth Hutton & Peter Jackson Ph: 07 357 5338 Ruth Mob: 021 607 515 Peter Mob: 027 484 6960 Email: greenbankalpaca@clear.net.nz
Excellenz Grigio El Rocio IAR: 141430 Born: 29 December 2008 SIRE: Sherlin Santa Laureano DAM: Celtic Arielle STUD FEE: $800 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: McKenzie Fields Alpacas Ros & Andy Scott 1306 Tangimoana Road RD3, Palmerston North Ph: 06 324 8904 Mob: 021 733 033 Email: info@mckenziealpacas.co.nz Web: www.mckenziealpacas.co.nz
FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 28/10/2013 – Awaiting results
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Valvador is very much a Macho Boy. He is keen and nothing gets missed by him. He’s very vocal in protecting his patch. He is a well conformed male with very fine bone and a soft golden fleece. This male has excellent breeding in his background, with Surilana Ruffino, Kaihere Accoyo Brilliante, and Surilana Parsifal this boy is stacked with promise. He’s the image of his sire Surico Ronaldo. His 1st cria are on the ground and are a very fine soft creamy colour. He was junior male Champion at Hawkes Bay 2010, and won many more ribbons as well since. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 28/10/2013 – Awaiting results
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: We bought Excellenz Grigio El Rocio (or Rocco as we call him) in 2013 as we were wanting to introduce some grey into our lighter coloured females. Rocco’s fleece qualities are excellent with lustre, fineness, density and uniformity. The feel of his fleece is very good and it grows back soft and nicely penciled. He is a well conformed alpaca with solid bone. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 11/2014 – 26.9µm, 6.6SD, 24.6%CV
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Canchones Bandera ET IAR: 178669 Born: 14 May 2011 SIRE: Canchones Prophecy DAM: Canchones Devotion STUD FEE: $1,200 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: Shadow Wood Grant and Frith Latham 100C Axtens Road RD 1, Bombay, Auckland Ph: 09 236 0056 Email: frithlatham@gmail.com www.shadowwood.co.nz
Waiheke Midnight Oil IAR: 1005664 Born: 15 May 2010 SIRE: Surilana Blackbeard DAM: Surilana Joanne STUD FEE: $800 +GST CONTACT DETAILS: McKenzie Fields Alpacas Ros & Andy Scott 1306 Tangimoana Road RD3, Palmerston North Ph: 06 324 8904 Mob: 021 733 033 Email: info@mckenziealpacas.co.nz Web: www.mckenziealpacas.co.nz
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DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: We are delighted with Bandera’s cria. They are very consistent; he is passing on all the attributes expected from a male of this quality. Bandera is carrying a fine fleece with lovely handle and lustre. He has very good density for a black suri. His overall soundness with excellent bone, conformation and temperament make him an excellent choice for breeders seeking top black suri genetics. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 2014 – 23µm, 5.8SD, 88.1%CF
DESCRIPTION / COMMENTS: Midnight Oil started his mating career with enthusiasm early 2013. He has lustrous fleece, great independence of lock structure and very evenly distributed. The bonus with Midnight is that his he has some different genetics on his sire's side - Surilana Blackbeard who is sadly deceased. He also has plenty of grey on his dam's side with the famous silver grey sire, Somerset Stirling Moss and Jolimont Joady a silver grey female. This of course is great news for those those wanting to breed greys. FIBRE DETAILS: Last shear – 11/2014 – 26.8µm, 5.3SD, 19.8%CV
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS OF THE AANZ
BAFINZ RESULTS 2015
On behalf of the membership of the Alpaca Association of NZ, National Council and the Editorial team, we would like to extend a warm welcome to the following new members of our association.
Sarah Ayres – Auckland Heather Dixon – Central Hawkes Bay Steve Grant & Sandra Edwards – Auckland Hugh Read – Tauranga Julia & Joe Buhagiar – Auckland Deborah & David Hume – Katikati Fionna Scott-Milligan – Auckland Joshua & Alison Richardson – Bay of Plenty Jane Davies – New Plymouth Brock & Lisa Overend – Christchurch Kevin & Sarah Tyler – Auckland Allan & Rosalie Farmer – Auckland Kevin & Natalie Cotter – Tauranga Janet Ramsamy – New Plymouth Rene Redmond – Palmerston North
Suri Best White Suri Fleece Fairhaven Jaeger A & N Godfrey Best Light Fawn Suri Fleece Fairhaven Jazmyn A & N Godfrey Best Mid/Dark Fawn Suri Fleece Shadow Wood Miss Molly G & F Latham Best Brown Suri Fleece Shadow Wood Timeless Summer G & F Latham Best Black Suri Fleece Shadow Wood Alexx G & F Latham
Madeleine Young – Martinborough Lei An & Xin Zhao – China Grant Marshall & Rachel Andrews – Timaru Lisa Rudolph – Auckland Craig & Avril Williams – Auckland Adrian Delaat – Whangarei Roberta Kimmins & Glen Cox – Martinborough
Huacaya Best White Huacaya Fleece Gilt Edge Gloriana S & P Busby Best Mid/Dark Fawn Huacaya Fleece Waters Edge Limited Edition ET G & T Charteris Best Brown Huacaya Fleece Wainui Heights Panea B & W Johnstone Best Grey/Roan Huacaya Fleece Hadstock NZ Little Star D Tobin-Alexander Best Black Huacaya Fleece Wainui Heights Pepper B & W Johnstone Best Fancy Huacaya Fleece Kooinda Bayley D Tobin-Alexander
• Winners of the World’s First Alpaca Shearing Competition • World Class independent Alpaca shearers setting the standard and leading in every aspect of the Alpaca Shearing Industry • Introducing new technology in handling & safety of your Alpacas • 9 Cut Free style alpaca shearing, including show shearing and show blankets • Mobile shearing specialising in large and small herds • Shed management
Enquiries to: Mike Banks M: 021 256 2839 E: shearpac@hotmail.com