The alpaca world has been a busy place in the past few months. A number of our members who support the Regions Merchandise Team have travelled many km. Warwick, Bendigo to Gold Coast in a short period of time! The Nationals was a highlight for me taking the merchandise display to Bendigo! An Alpaca Bucket list!
We all had a great time seeing much country side and alpaca studs along the way. Great to promote Australian Alpaca and talk to the public about our farms and the way we promote our Region: GATE TO GARMENT (our new logo for the Merch team.) Our Region is reasonably large, its good to get together..
Next meeting in Tenterfield ( Tenterfield Tavern Saturday 9th November meeting and lunch) All the travelling has put the newsletter on the back burner, only just Spring so back on track!
Shearing not far away the pacas will be pleased then its sorting skirting and getting fleece ready to transport to collection points.
Thank you to members studs who have given fleece to the Region. The fleece has
FRONT COVER
The 2024 Nationals
Phillipine Pauline Glasser
Shaun, Judy Barlow, Donna Crone, Michelle Malt, Sam
business by advertising in The Alpaca Advocate.
The Advocate is sent to all Regional Members on line and the link in our Fbook Page.
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Contact: cpg4764@bigpond.net.au
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The Editor and South Queensland & Northern NSW Region Committee of the AAA accept no responsibility for the opinions expressed, information supplied or advertisements published. All submissions are subject to editing.
Copyright : The material published in this magazine is subject to copyright and may not be published in part or whole without written permission of the author.
It has been a busy year so far, with a good representation of alpaca and merchandise displays at events across our region, getting our locally grown’ and created alpaca product out there. Our Merchandise Team have been busy, travelling to Warwick for the Jumpers and Jazz Festival, supporting Long Neck Farm with their promotion on July 26 and 27, followed by the Potters Craft Markets in Leslie Park on Sunday July 28. We have had the fantastic opportunity of providing uniquely created scarves both knitted and crocheted from alpaca yarn, as well as ‘Make Your Own’ kits using alpaca yarn that was sold by the Jumpers and Jazz committee across the 10-day festival. The team also travelled to the AAA National Show in Bendigo from 16-18 August, to showcase to the national AAA membership the promotional activities of our region and we were thrilled with our sales efforts over the three days. We received some great feedback on the work being done by our region to promote alpaca fibre and product. We still have several of our regular agricultural shows in the region to round out the year. A huge vote of thanks to our Merchandise Team who do a great job representing our region and our industry to the public at these events throughout the year, as well as ensuring we have plenty of stock – the majority of which is produced locally from locally grown alpaca yarn – available. All of the profits from our merchandise sales are reinvested into supporting the activities of the region, so this benefits all of us.
In March Pauline Glasser (our Vice President and Immediate Past President) and I represented the region at the AAA Council Meeting held in Melbourne. ‘Council’ comprises the AAA Board and a representative (usually the President) from each of the 8 AAA Regions. The key focus of the meeting was to identify the immediate (ie next 12 months) priorities for the AAA at a National and Regional level, and to share ideas, challenges and solutions with each other. Both the regions and the AAA Board committed to working on and towards specific tasks in the coming year, with a realistic number agreed to, given our reliance on the input from volunteers. An important task that was identifed was to promote the Australian alpaca industry. A suggestion put forward by our region in late 2023 was to reinvigorate National Alpaca Week, which the Board had supported, and the dates of 4-12 May 2024 were agreed at this meeting. I mentioned in the Summer Newsletter that our region was planning for Alpaca Awareness Month in May, so the dates aligned perfectly for our promotion. Thank you to the studs who took up the opportunity to get involved and promote their own studs in their local area – you’ll find some photos and details of how this went elsewhere in the newsletter. There are plans for this to continue as an annual event, and we hope to see further resources developed to support our
important industry promotion.
Another item identified by all was an overdue review of the AAA website, and while work on this has commenced, I’m frustrated to report that the identified changes to the website are yet to be visible. While there is a lot of useful information on the website it can be difficult to locate – please keep using this resource, and I’ve been advised that we will see improved functionality in October.
Training for shearers and options for sales of fleece were also identified as key action points, along with supporting the development of our Youth program. There are some excellent resources for primary and secondary teachers available through the PIEFA (Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia) portal, including specific resources that are directed towards the Australian Alpaca Industry. These were recently updated to better align with the National Curriculum, and are an excellent resource to recommend to your local school and a great way to introduce alpacas and promote your own stud locally.
June was a busy month with our Glen Innes New England Alpaca Show early in the month, followed less than a fortnight later with the Alpaca Connect Conference. This was a great educational event that helped the small but enthusiastic group of attendees identify how to get better value from their alpaca investment. Our speakers gave us lots of information to help us make good breeding decisions based on genetics and heritable traits; insight into assessing fleece attributes and effectively prepare fleece for sale (or showing – to get feedback on breeding decisions and incorporate that feedback by making more informed breeding decisions), and how to improve farm management and to promote your alpaca enterprise. Thank you to our regional committee who organised the conference and to our presenters for sharing their expert knowledge, as well as our sponsors, including AAA National for their financial support. Hopefully those of you who didn’t attend this time will be able to join us for the next one.
Shearing is underway, and there are a range of outlets for your fleece, so don’t keep it sitting in your shed/back room/corner cupboard. It does need to be skirted and prepared to your buyers requirements, but it is worth money and every dollar counts these days.
Warm regards,
Michelle Malt
North Coast National LISMORE Show (Display & Animals)
Helpers: Lehanne, Pauline, Judy (TH) Animals: Judy, Roland
Bangalow Show (Display & Animals)
Contact: Pauline Glasser 0419986554
Helpers: Pauline, Animals: Roland
NEXT MEETING—9th NOVEMBER 11am 2024
Come and join us at the TENTERFIELD TAVERN for meeting and Christmas Celebration!
Looking forward to seeing our members for an early Christmas get
Alpaca Training – How to halter train your alpaca
Alpacas are not known for their obedience. They’ll probably come to you when you rattle their food container, otherwise they’re very independent animals and prefer to do their own thing. So can you train an alpaca? Actually, yes you can, as long as they trust you and feel safe. It’s important for them to feel safe because they’re naturally easily scared, have very good memories, and spend most of their lives feeling threatened in one way or another, bless them!
Patience is the most important skill
Patience is your biggest virtue when halter training an alpaca. Fear is their their natural setting, and their first reaction to new things is usually to run away. It helps if they’re already used to a halter, an early step towards gaining alpaca trust. It’s best to take things easy and slow. Like many humans, alpacas prefer to learn small chunks of information at a time, not absorb everything in the first training session. Go steady and you’ll be much more likely to end up with a happy, confident alpaca you can lead safely. Break down the training routine into small pieces to ensure every session ends positively, rather than trying too much at once and putting the animal off. Again just like humans, an alpaca who has had a bad experience won’t want to do any more training in case it goes wrong again. When you lose their trust, you lose control, and all the good work you’ve done together flies out of the window.
Every animal is unique
You’ve probably spotted a pattern emerging by now. Like us, every alpaca is unique. Some are more shy than others, some will approach you, others will hide. Once you notice those differences and begin to treat them as individuals, you’ll be much more skilled at spotting when it’s time to stop or do something different. Alpacas learn at different rates, again like us. Some are faster on the uptake than others. They’ re happiest when progressing at their own pace. On the other hand because they’re pack animals, they don’t do well on their own. Keep their friends and family in view and they’ll be more settled, more ready to learn. Alternatively train them in small groups of 2-6. How to halter train an alpaca in 10 steps
It’s usually easier to train alpaca while they’re being weaned, because they are more willing to be led and are used to authority. You can train older alpaca but like an old dog – or an old human – it’s not so easy to teach them new tricks. Bear in mind that every stage of the halter training process might take quite a long time, simply because these creatures don’t give their trust easily. You have to work hard to win it, and you can easily lose it for good if you scare or annoy them.
1. Make sure you have one thick, soft cotton rope for each animal, and a secure post to tie each animal to, spread apart so they can’t touch each other
2. Grab one new bicycle inner tube per animal
3. Fix an inner tube to each training post
4. Fit each animal’s halter properly so it can’t hurt itself or escape
5. Take one alpaca to a training point, then tie the lead rope to the inner tube with a quick release knot so it can’t throttle itself or break free at a bad time
6. Make sure there’s about 1.5m space between the post and the halter
7. Move away but don’t leave. You’ll probably notice the alpaca pulling to get free, but the harder it pulls the greater the opposite force from the inner tube is
8. Most alpaca quickly learn that it feels much nicer to keep their lead rope slack. If yours doesn’t and it stops with a taut lead rope, you can gently push the animal forward to reduce the tension
9. Now your alpaca is standing calmly on a slack lead rope, which means you can approach it with care, release the lead rope, remove the halter, and let him or her free
10.The alpaca might not understand first time around. If it’s still standing there after quarter of an hour, push it gently forwards, loosen the lead rope and release it. Second time lucky!
Subsequent sessions should be easier, since alpacas are clever animals and will know what to expect.
Noodled Fleece.
Sam and Mark from Lakeland results!
Lakeland Thunder Bolt 1st and Champion Junior
Lakeland Apple Jack 3rd Junior Light Fawn Male
Lakeland Nebula 1st Intermediate Fancy Female
Lakeland Tomb Raider 1st Intermediate Med/ Dark Fawn Male
Lakeland Drax HC Adult White Male
Congratulations Donna
Donna Crone received Reserve Champion for her Craft entry Felted Hat, also Third for another Felted Hat.
Donna has been making articles from felted alpaca for sometime.
Ambersun Artistry APP 1st Adult Fancy Male and Best Fancy
Fleece Results:
Malakai This Is Me ET 1st & Champion
Adult, Best White and SUPREME CHAMPION FLEECE
EP Cambridge Seduction 3rd Junior Brown
Lakeland Nebula 1st Junior Fancy
Bedrock Pallas 1st and Reserve Champion Intermediate white
Malakai Elcontaro ET 1st Intermediate Grey (now owned by Kallaroos)
Lakeland Uptown Funk 2nd Intermediate Grey
Lakeland Diamonds 1st Adult Med/ Dark Fawn
Malakai And All That Jazz 1s Adult Grey (Now owned by Sapphire Park)
Malakai Alluring ET 3rd Adut Grey
Jude Barlow and Pauline Glasser keeping warm at Nationals Merch display
Donna Crone Jude Barlow and Pauline Glasser set up at Nationals Merch display. Big two day trip down to Bendigo. Members from other Regions were very impressed with our regions display.
White Male
Understanding Fibre Stats
Fibre statistics can often be quoted by alpaca breeders selling their animals, fibre or stud services so it is important to understand what these mean. Fleece testing is an objective measurement of various fleece characteristics that will allow comparison between different animals.
Fleece samples are taken before or at the time of shearing from the mid-side of the alpaca.
Here are some of the common terms used to describe the fleece.
Histogram:
A graphical representation of the frequency of fibre diameters in the sample. The peak shows the Mean Fibre Diameter and the Standard Deviation is shown in the spread of the bottom of the graph.
Mean Fibre Diameter (MFD):
Commonly referred to as “micron”, is the overall average fibre diameter. Measured in micron (µm). A micron is one millionth of a metre.
Standard Deviation (SD):
The standard deviation measures (in micron µm) how wide the spread is, of individual fibre diameters, around the mean (MFD). 66% of fibres fall within this range. The lower the SD the more uniform and desirable the fleece is.
Coefficient of Variation (CV):
The coefficient of variation is the SD expressed as a percentage of the MFD. The SD is multiplied by 100 and divided by the MFD.
Comfort Factor (CF):
The comfort factor is the percentage of fibres under 30 micron.
Curvature:
Fibre curvature is related to the crimp frequency of the fibre. It is measured in degrees per millimetre (Dg/mm) and is the amount of bend or curve over 1mm length.
BE AWARE – BE ALERT – HYPOTHERMIA!!!
As we now embark on this year’s shearing it is a timely reminder of the risks of hypothermia following shearing. Just because the days are longer and warmer, the weather can still revert to winter without much notice and alpacas just off shears are extremely vulnerable to the effects of rain combined with wind – the wind chill factor. The combination of the wet with the wind will dramatically lower the core temperature of the animals and may well prove to be fatal. Cria at their first shearing and older animals are most at risk. Please watch the weather forecast and ensure your animals have access to shelter, ideally sheds in the event of a sudden change. Many of us still recall the tragic hypothermic events of a few years ago.
Liz Coles.
These Red Hatters had a great experience feeding alpacas
Our regular herd sire feature needs up dating
Please send your list to cpg4764@bigpond.net.au
Name
Stud
IAR
Colour
Sire stud fee
~Paca Art
Photo in jpeg
Refers to Textile Art ~ all to do with the use of Alpaca fibre.
Alpaca fibre can be creatively used. The fibre has been dyed using Landscape dyes. A variety of Articles have been made:
Embellished article: using the embellishing machine. A machine with five barbed needles that punch the fibre through fabric.
Wall Hanging : felted using a variety of Alpaca, Angelina fibre, lambswool and beading.
Lampshade: Alpaca and textured fibres used in the making of Silk Paper a process of laying a variety of fibres onto Tulle covering with tulle and painting with textile medium (similar to diluted PVA glue) . As the fibres dry the tulle is removed leaving a very fine web offibre. This is then machine embroidered to make the web more stable.
The lampshade is made of paper and has had the fibres added whilst they were wet and then allowed to dry. Extra textile medium was brushed over the top of fibres if neces-
Stock Clearance – Broadwater Alpacas
Changed circumstances mean that we re-home our herd. Animals offered for sale include outstanding Show Supremes –mainly white but also fawn and black.
20 Females and 6 Males
Details including histograms are available on eAlpaca.
GUIDELINES FOR SHEARING AND PRESENTING ALPACA FLEECES FOR THE PREMIUM FIBRE MARKET
The alpaca fibre market is witnessing an increase in demand for most grades of fleeces, particularly those suitable for the premium end of the textile market. In order to meet the criteria for acceptance into this market, however, fleeces need to be shorn and prepared in a manner that greatly reduces the incidence of contamination and reduces the variation of fleece types within consignment lines.
While many years may be spent achieving genetic progress towards improving fleece type, and while a year may be spent trying to maintain suitable fleece quality standards, all these efforts can be wasted in the few moments during the time the respective alpaca fleece is shorn and skirted.
PRE SHEARING PREPARATION
Plan order of shearing:
Plan the order of shearing by prioritising the fleece types of your alpacas. The highest priority fleece types should be shorn first. For instance, shear the white ultrafine/superfine types first, then the broader whites followed by colours, lighter shades first. The aim of this practise is to avoid the more valuable fleeces being contaminated by fibres from the lesser valued fleeces. Further, lighter fleece colours should be shorn first as the darker the fibre, the greater the limitations on dying. If catering for the eco market where dying is replaced by using natural colours, it is still good practise to shear the lighter colours first.
Plan layout of classing lines
Plan where the various fleece lines will be placed within the shed so that the more valuable lines are furthest from the skirting table and shearing area. The reason for this is to ensure contaminant fibres from lesser grade fleeces are not carried past the more valuable lines.
Make a list of staffing requirements
Far too many alpaca shearings are carried out in a hasty manner. In these cases, fleece preparation standards are compromised. It is crucial there is an adequate number of suitably trained and/or experienced staff. The staffing needs to accommodate the work roles of alpaca handling at the point of shearing, sorting fibre at point of shearing, picking up fleeces, maintaining cleanliness of point of shearing, fleece skirter, fleece classer and general duties to help with herding alpacas and odd jobs. Obviously, some staff will be responsible for more than one work role and some roles might be shared with more than one person. Some shearing teams will provide their own staff, however, it remains the breeders responsibility to ensure there is adequate staff.
Ensure adequate and serviceable equipment is on hand.
Before shearing commences, there should be a stock-check to ensure all relevant equipment such as shed sweeps, bale holders, wool packs, fleece bags, bale fasteners, marking pens and animal husbandry equipment is on hand and serviceable. Normal straw or wisp brooms should be avoided, as the fibres/straw will contaminate fleece lines. Plastic shearing sweeps and vacuum cleaners should be preferred. Containers should be available for necessary small items such as bale fasteners so they do not find their way into fleece packs/bags. All used wool packs and fleece bags should be turned inside out to remove remaining fibres before being re-used for fleece storage. A suitable skirting table should be available. The table should be sufficient size to take an entire fleece from any one alpaca. The table can be square or round, made from wood or metal, and have about 20mm square gaps to allow short fibres to fall through. The design of the skirting table should avoid fibres sticking to the surface area such as occurs with plastic tables.
Determine
fleece classing parameters.
Before shearing, it may be advantageous to speak to potential fleece buyers to determine preferred fleece line parameters, particularly with regard to acceptable limits on fibre diameter and fibre length. For this reason, it is a good idea to have pre-shearing fleece tests carried out on alpacas you consider to have high quality fleeces, and have this data
available at shearing.
Ensure shearing and classing receives adequate lighting
Lighting is critical for effective quality control during shearing in order to keep the area clean of contaminate fibres such as guard hair. Before shearing, a check on serviceability of lights is required and that sufficient lighting is available. Lighting should be provided by fluorescent lights or skylights (natural light).
Reduce exposure to wind.
The shed or shearing area should be inspected to ensure the area is not at risk of wind as this will create significant problems from fibre contamination.
Ensure point of shearing has adequate flooring
The most preferred flooring at the point of shearing is wood, with no cracks or sharp edges that can make sweeping the area a problem. With less desirable flooring such as concrete, a rubber matt of sufficient size might be used.
Clean the shearing area thoroughly
As fibre contamination is one of the most common causes of devaluation of fleeces, the shearing area needs to be thoroughly cleaned before shearing. Items such as baling twine, old fleeces, feed bags, hay, dirt etc should be removed. It is worthwhile that yards and pens be also cleaned.
Ensure there are sufficient rubbish containers.
Containers should be available for foreign articles found during shearing such as baling twine. Further, containers should also be available for unwanted fleece types such as guard hair. It is a good idea to clearly label these containers so that the staff know what goes where.
CONDUCT OF SHEARING
Brief staff on required work roles and standards. To ensure all work roles are covered by at least one person, areas of responsibility should be made clear to all staff before shearing commences. The briefing should not be carried out in a condescending manner, but should promote a team spirit in achieving professional results. The briefing should acknowledge that a high standard of fleece preparation relies on every staff member, collectively and individually performing his or her work roles.
Clean alpacas before shearing.
Some alpaca breeders give their alpacas a clean to remove vegetable matter before shearing. The worth of this practise may need evaluation as any vegetable matter easily removed before shearing would be easily removed during the initial scouring during processing. It may, however, be worthwhile if appearance is a critical factor, such as for individual selling at craft markets.
The saddle areas should be shorn from the alpaca in a manner that avoids contamination Before the first side of the saddle area is removed, many shearers remove contaminating coarse fibres around the belly area. When this is done, the coarse fibres should be collected before they have a chance of falling into the saddle area. Ideally, however, the saddle should be removed before any other fleece parts are shorn. Once the first side of the saddle is removed, it should be taken to the skirting table. If the saddle is to be rolled for this, the extremities of the saddle should only come into contact with the other extremities of the saddle, in other words, folded end to end. This avoids the coarse fibres at the edge of the saddle coming into contact with the centre of the saddle. If they come into contact with the centre of the saddle, it is extremely difficult to remove the offending fibres during skirting. The saddle should not be placed on the ground before (or after) skirting.
Before the second side of the saddle is removed, some leg and neck fleece is often shorn. These parts of the fleece, eg legs and neck should be removed and placed in individual bags to avoid contamination. The second side of the saddle should be removed and placed on the skirting table as with the first side of the saddle.
A further option is to remove both sides of the saddle area as one fleece. This is ideally carried out before any other fleece parts are shorn.
Always sweep between each alpaca.
The accumulation of guard hair and other coarse fibres left after each alpaca is shorn will substantially devalue fleeces. For this reason, the shearing area needs to be swept or wiped before the next alpaca is brought to the point of shearing.
If possible, sweep or collect guard hair as it is being shorn
As previously mentioned, guard hair or coarse fibres can substantially devalue fleeces. For this reason, efforts should be made to continually remove such fibres during shearing. This should be carried out in a manner that does not jeopardise OH&S standards, nor impede the shearing process.
Eating and smoking should not occur near shearing area.
Fibre processors have often complained at the amount of food containers and cigarette butts found in fleece consignments. For this reason, lunches etc should be eaten in an area away from the shearing area. An ashtray should be available outside the shearing area.
Husbandry practices during shearing. Many breeders trim toe nails and teeth during shearing. While these objects can be easily removed during initial stage processing, they do more damage to a reputation than to the actual value of the fleece. If possible, toe and teeth trimmings should not be allowed to enter fleeces.
Seek feedback from buyers. In order to identify areas for improvement in fleece preparation and classing standards, it is a good idea to seek feedback from buyers and/or processors. This practise also cultivates a credible reputation by showing you are concerned with meeting your ‘customers’ requirements.
SKIRTING FLEECES
Variation in fibre diameter over the saddle area. The degree of variation over an alpaca has been shown to be slightly correlated to the average fibre diameter. Most alpaca saddles, however, vary by about 2 microns, although at the edge of saddle, the diameter might increase by a further one to three microns. At the edge of the saddle, some clusters of guard hair might be evident. This hair might be as much as 20 microns broader than the centre of the saddle.
Fleeces should be correctly skirted before storing or packing.
A constant cause of contamination is the storing of fleeces in bags etc before they are skirted. When placed in bags, the risk of guard hair and other problematic fibres is very high. If guard hair finds its way through a fleece while being bagged, its value will be substantially decreased, or in some severe cases, made worthless. Once skirted, they should be placed immediately in packs or bags.
‘High value’ fleeces should be covered/protected after skirting.
‘High value’ fleeces should be bagged in such as way that contaminants will not be able to enter the bag. Such bags should be securely tied with no open ends. If these fleeces are placed in open fleece lines, the fleece bin or pack should be covered to protect the fleeces from airborne fibres or foreign articles.
Shearing is an ideal time to record comments regarding fleece type or fleece problems. Recording comments such as tender fleece, discolouring, high evidence of coarse fibres, fleece rot and fleece weights will help with herd improvement. These comments can also be included with fleece midside samples so that all fleece comments can be included with fibre test data.
PROCEDURE FOR SKIRTING AND CLASSING
Spread saddles out onto table with the tip side upper most.
Remove obvious faults from centre of saddle such as guard hair, urine stained fibre, excessive vegetable matter and foreign objects. Particular attention should be paid to guard hair and other problem fibres found within the saddle area. If there is a significant amount of guard hair throughout the fleece, the fleece should be downgraded.
Any unwanted colour fibres should be removed
Look carefully at middle area of saddle to determine the prominent fleece type for that particular fleece, paying attention to crimp and softness (to evaluate variation in fibre diameter) and fibre length. Then work around saddle to remove short fibres, guard hair and other coarse fibres. Normally, the problematic fibres should be confined to 30 mm to 40mm from the edge of the fleece, although they may be evident up to about 100mm from the edge. Guard hair and other coarse fibres are often identifiable by a pointier tip, a harsher feel and a flatter crimp definition. The important issue with this procedure is that skilling can only come with experience.
Check for ‘soundness’ or tender fibre by holding a fibre bundle (about 5mm in width) and try to break it. Check a couple of fibre bundles to ensure the whole saddle is sound. If tender, the fleece will need to be placed in a ‘tender’ fleece line.
Place in classing line according to predetermined classing parameters. The best method for determining average fibre diameter is a three point grid test. The next preferred method is to use the mid side test, although it needs to be kept in mind that the mid-side test will be generally between .5 to 1.5 microns finer than the saddle average. Finally, if no test is available, subjective appraisal will have to be relied upon.
FINAL COMMENTS
Following the above guidelines will assist in achieving high standards of shearing and fleece preparation so that fleece values can be maximised. Underpinning these guidelines, however, is the adoption of a diligent and determined approach to presenting premium grade fleeces to their maximum potential, combined with adequate skilling that can only be achieved through experience.
CHECK OUT ALPACA CHEQA
Biosecurity for Showing: All stud entries for 2024 National show must have CHEQA Status. 2025 so do all studs who enter AAA shows.
Go to AAA WEBSITE - LOGIN
2024 GINEAS SHOW
Ange Ezzy & Jacqui Alley
CONGRATULATIONS
DAILY DOUBLE Richard Wirth INCAMON
was had by all thanks to all helpers and the Lions Club for catering. A good roll up for the party on Saturday night.
Congratulations to the Fleece winnersSupremes Huacaya - Lakeland Alpaca Stud - Suri BETTY WHITE - Peakview Alpaca Stud.
Best of Show INCAMON UT AMARI Huacaya and Suri INCAMON TAMARA won by Incamon Alpaca Stud.
Cathy Reid
Cathy Baillie PEAKVIEW
Lehanne Robinson ARANAR Farm Stewards
JACANDA
Maree Dobbins - ROSELLA RIDGE helped out announcing.
Bruce Robinson - ARANAR on the ribbons!
Phillipine Bodineau & Shaun Millar
Sam Hood LAKELAND
There are many factors that can generate stress, related to the transport process, handling, loading, unloading, and removal from familiar surroundings are a few. Others are confinement, constant vibration, and the inhalation of exhaust and urine fumes. The stress combined with limited water intake can compromise the alpaca's immune system, exposing your animals to added health risks. For this reason, it is necessary to minimize the number and severity of the trips.
Carefully consider time of year, places to stop with animals, car tune up, and assure that your trailer is in safe and serviceable condition. Careful planning is the key.
Keep in mind, these animals are herd oriented and find solace in each others company.
For bedding, a thick mattress of good quality clean hay without seeds or other contaminants makes it comfortable for the animals and easy for you to pick their fleece out once you've arrived at your destination.
Hydration: the day before the trip make sure they've had all the water they want. . While you're moving they won't be drinking as they travel in the cush position. Be sure to stop at least every two hours and offer buckets of their home water. Keep in mind that these rest stops are also necessary for the animals to relieve themselves. If you're transporting a nursing cria, you'll want to give the mum all the time she needs to feed her baby. Check with your vet to decide how often you must stop. Take a moment to assess the temperature and air freshness inside your trailer, and open and close doors, windows, or vents accordingly.
Leave the halters on and snug in case of an emergency exit or to easily clip onto leads to unload. The less stress the better.
Look at the Poo!
A ruminant has multiple specialized "stomachs" which allow the animal to digest fibrous materials. The one of special interest is the rumen which is quite large and is where bacterial digestion occurs to break down material that would otherwise be indigestible. So you need to think of ruminant digestion as a bacterial digestion factory instead of like us humans (digest chemically, with only a little help from beneficial bacteria). What this means is, it is possible to mess up the bacteria in the alpaca's gut and rumen and they will starve to death with a full stomach. How would this occur? You could overadminister antibiotics. Your vet will tell you how to administer antibiotics. If you think a little more might be better, you might wipe out the gut bacteria along with the bad ones that you wanted to kill. There are other ways, but normally, you will never encounter this problem. The rumen is designed to house and take care of its bacteria population.
Changing pastures
With many ruminants, moving onto fresh pasture is the beginning of runny stools. The bacteria get a sudden slug of different feed with a different moisture content, and they can't digest it very well. Typically, after a few days, a slightly different population of bacteria that is better suited for the food coming in will develop and the diarrhoea will go away. Alpacas are not nearly as sensitive to this as are sheep and cattle. This is a good thing.
...it is a good practice not to shock their system with changes in feed.
Avoid sudden changes
Though alpacas are not as sensitive to feed changes as other ruminants, it is a good practice not to shock their system with changes in feed. When moving from dry lot to fresh pasture, make sure they have a ready source of the hay they are used to. They will naturally eat some hay as well as the fresh pasture and give their rumen and bacteria time to adjust.
Analyzing digestion problems
The most important steps you can take to make sure everything is going well are the ones made in your pastures. Check the poop piles. Yes, your neighbours and friends will think you're crazy. Do it anyway.
WISE
- The Watkins Index of Stool Efficiency
Yes, I manipulated the title to make a cute acronym. What I'm doing is assigning a number to each stool type to make it less difficult to describe. We're going to go from a 10 (which is individual beans) to a 1 (which is as fluid as milk). Also, by way of comparison, I'm going to use food to describe each one. You may find this disturbing, but when you've lowered yourself to talking about poop, you gotta accept a little humour.
Sometimes referred to as pine cones, but that's not a food. Basically, these are jellybeans stuck together. These are also OK in the poo pile.
These are squishy, poorly defined pellets that are squeezed together. You can still see good definition in the wad. This is about what you'd expect moving onto fresh pasture to create. Should get back to normal in two days.
5Stiff mashed potatoes
Exactly as described. Colour them dark brown and that's what they look like. When you see these, start to be concerned, and try to identify who the owner is.
Find the owner.
4 Chocolate pudding
3 Creamed mashed potatoes
Granny mixes milk with the mashed potatoes until they're nice and smooth, like warm icing for your cinnamon rolls. Identify owner quickly. They will need medication to avoid health/weight decline and fibre breaks.
2 Ranch salad dressing
1 Heavy cream
Beyond this point, intervention and medication is urgent. Dehydration will occur quickly.
Electrolytes will need to be added to their water.
Editor… I have often thought of this article when out in the paddock doing the morning rounds. Well worth knowing the differences and possible reasoning.
10.Jelly beans (licorice) or malted milk balls
These are the piles good to see. All is well with the digestion process.
.9 Blackberries
8 Plum pudding
7 Cheap plum pudding
Plum pudding with cheap plums and not many of 'em. You see little definition in the wad.
Sam and Mark from Lakeland along with Cathy and Noel from Green Gully and Geoff McGahey from Broadwater Alpacas, sent 120 Alpacas off to quarantine before being shipped to China, along with 680 others from other states.
We are the first breeders from this far North on the New England and this is the first time they have excepted Alpacas from QLD. All Alpacas were tested for blue tongue and passed with 100% returning negative test results.
Brayden from Murray's livestock transport has been our go to stock transporter when shipping the Malakai and Patagonia herds to ours and moving Alpacas around Victoria. He takes exceptional care of the alpacas and his truck is perfect for transporting Alpacas and sheep.
Carolyn Young is the livestock export specialist and has been great throughout the process.
Sam Hood
Weeds an everlasting problem!
Like worms, Farmers keep under control, they never go away!
Autumn is a prime time for weeds to raise their ugly heads and start causing problems. Most alpacas will not eat poisonous weeds if there is plenty of feed on the ground for them. However, they have been know to accidentally eat weeds when grazing on grasses nearby. Some weeds are so deadly it only takes a leaf to kill an alpaca like Oleander and other weeds build up poison in the body over years like Deadly Nightshade, fire weed and balloon cotton (wild cotton) However, when we have wet weather - followed quickly by warm / sunny conditions ...... this is when the weeds start coming up.
What can you do about the weeds?
Walk paddocks after this type of weather pattern and hand pull out any weeds. When removing weeds, be careful not to allow seeds to drop. Carry large plastic bags, pull weeds including the roots, place in bag and then let them die in the bag in the sun, before you put into the bin - therefore not allowing weed spread thereafter. Do not burn weeds as sometimes this can cause the seeds to be spread and then germinated after another source of rain.
If you have a large weed problem, herbicide and then slash 14 days later. Some weeds are poisonous after they are dead - so you may need to remove them before slashing.
Regular slashing, leaving leaf litter on the ground to help stop the regrowth of weeds.
When not enough feed on the ground make sure that you are supplementary feeding your livestock morning/night and offering good quality hay at all times.
What type of weeds affect alpacas?
Anything that a horse can't eat, an alpaca can't eat too.
Some of the nastier weeds include: Blackberry Nightshade, Mother of Millions, Balloon Cotton, Rattlepod, Verbena, Ground Cherry, Rubber Vine, Cape Tulips, Pheasant's Eye.
Some common garden plants that end up in paddocks from seed spread by birds that are very poisonous include: Oleander, Foxglove, Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Daphne.
Some vegetables that pop up in paddocks that are also poisonous include: Potato and tomato plants and leaves.
Don't think that you are free of weeds in your paddock ever - as birds are the main source of these arriving on your property. Birds eat the plants, fruits and seeds of weeds and then deposit them on your farm as they travel it or fly over in their dung. Some weeds are just a nuisance such as tobacco bush, Parramatta grass,
Horse Nettle
Deadly Nightshade
Balloon Cotton
Spring IN THE Paddock
Clover
Red and white clover are two types of clover commonly used to plant or replant pastures, and are very useful in improving the quality of the pasture already in existence by providing nitrogen. For grazing, though, white clover is your best choice. Clover is a legume rather than a grass, which means it belongs to the plant family Leguminosae.
The existing pasture forages should be no higher than one inch when you start planting. Choose a certified brand of seed, then plan to plant it in late February or early March on a day that's not windy, hot or dry. Also avoid planting when the soil is dry Preferably, you'll plant when there is still some frost on the ground. As the frost dries, the seeds will be brought down to the soil for germination. When you plant, if your pasture is not sodded, you can use the broadcast technique to plant by walking the pasture and throwing out the seed onto the ground. If the pasture is sodded, you will need to use a tractor with a disc attachment to disc up alternating strips of the pasture to broadcast the seeds on. Use 1 kilo of white clover per acre, or 4kg of red clover per acre.
Clover grows best in higher pH levels than other pasture forages, and also needs more phosphate and potash to be present in the soil. Work with a local agent to get a soil test. After the test, the agent will advise you on liming the pasture for best growth results of your clover. Don't use nitrogen fertilizer, though, as that will cause the existing grass in the pasture to start growing.
The Importance of Soil Analysis and Testing for Australian Growers
Agronomists and growers should not under estimate how important it is to do proper and timely soil analysis and testing. It is important to note that the information received from soil analysis and testing, particularly as it relates to local conditions across Australia, is highly dependent on how the samples are obtained, the overall agricultural soil testing strategy used, and the procedures employed by the soil testing lab.
The details below are derived from procedures based on over a decade of soil analysis and testing by one of the most respected certified soil testing labs in Australia. These details should assist Australian agronomists, growers, consultants, and governmental departments in collecting soil samples prior to submitting them for chemical analysis.
Soil Analysis and Soil Testing
Our tests provide you with a complete report on the status of your soil’s mineral and micronutrient makeup. The information contained in this report provides growers and agronomists with valuable guidance on proper fertiliser selection and micronutrient applications.
Better crops, better food. Water, Soil, & Plant Lab Results in 5 Days www.phosynanalytical.com.au
GRAFTON 9 & 10 MAY GINEAS 8 JUNE 2025
Spring — can be a dry time in the garden!
Alpaca manure rates as a very good mulch and water retention gardening method.
• Spread on the garden cover with mulch. Layers of mulch and manure work well to help feed plants and retain the moisture
Alpaca manure is having positive results in the garden around plants as Liquid Fertiliser.
Recipe:
• Place a 5L amount of alpaca manure in a 20L plastic bucket cover with water leave for 1 week and use the liquid to fertilise your vegetables and seedlings. NB add a lid to stop mosquito larvae.
Butterfly on Jumpers and Jazz scarf.
The Jumpers and Jazz festival in Warwick was a wonderful experience for our members.
Three full days of promoting alpaca products made from our regions fleece.. Gate to Garment!
BACK POST, BEANIES, BLANKETS, BOBBLE, BOOTIES, CHAIN STITCH, CLUSTER, CROCHET, DECREASE, D O LL, DOUBLE, HALF DOUBLE, HEADBNDS, HOOKS, KERFUFFLE, LOOP, PATTERN, SCARVES, SHAWLS, SHELL, SINGLE, SLIP, STARS, SQUARES, TREBLE, WRAPS, YARN
Send information and photos for the next Advocate Edition
Michelle So excited to have a “Victorian” Jam Donut!
Green Bean and Pecan Salad
Ingredients:
Serves: 4
500g fresh green beans, trimmed and halved
30g blue cheese, crumbled or feta
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
4 T extra virgin olive oil
4 T balsamic vinegar
50g chopped pecans, toasted
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method:
Preparation:20min › Cook:10min › Extra time:1hour chilling › Ready in:1hour30min
1. Place green beans in a steamer over 2cm of boiling water and cover. Cook until tender but still firm, about 4 minutes. Allow to cool.
2. In a bowl, combine beans, onion, blue cheese and pecans. Stir in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Chill for at least an hour before serving.
Wholemeal Banana Cake.
Ingredients
1/2c SR Flour
list.
1/2c Wholemeal SR Flour
1/2t Bicarb Soda
2T Butter
1/3c Sugar
1 Over-Ripe Banana Mashed
1 Egg
1t Vanilla
1/3c Natural Yoghurt
Method.
1. Preheat oven 180c, greased and line 1 bar tin.
2. Sift flours and soda together in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar, until light and fluffy.
4. Mix mashed banana, egg and vanilla in a dessert bowl. Add tocreamed butter and sugar, mix well.
5. Mix flours and yoghurt alternatively.
6. Pour into 1 greased bar tin, bake 30 mins or until brown.
7. Cool on a wire rack.
Champion entry! Felted Horse
Crochet Scarf/Wrap Pattern
100g Alpaca Yarn - (Doesn’t matter what size ply can use lots colours)
Use Large Crochet hook 6.5mm
1. Make 120 chain ( or more depending on length you want)
2. Start with three chain and treble two into first chain. *Miss two chain and treble two into next chain * repeat to end.
3. Make 3 chain and treble two into first chain. *Miss two chain and treble two into next chain * repeat to end
4. Repeat pattern for as many rows till width of scarf you would like. (9 rows for scarf - many rows for a wrap)
