Southern Alpacas News

Stud Services booklet for 2007-2008 has over 30 studs in it this year.
We have again added new stud males of excellence, notably:

Aquaviva Titus (pictured) has been produced by one of our clients from our own genetic lines. By our old favourite - Brutus, and an EP import female that has remained very fine fibred, he brings very low micron, and low guard hair, with Brutus genetics in fawn colour.
 

The established boys in the stud are continuing to impress.
Maipo cria to date have been solid blue-black or grey.
Chief Big Foot has been producing some excellent cria that resemble him. Encounter cria have been a huge hit in the UK. They are impressive and we have resolved to use Encounter over some of our best females this season. Brutus of course continues to excel, with his 6th year of cria - just as in previous years.

Each stud has his own webpage,  You'll find our Stud Location Guide there, which is an indicative guide to where the boys will be when, depending upon bookings. Usually a stud goes to an area for a few weeks, so you get a chance at a remate. They are based with our associates and members of the Alpaca Services Network.
 

The next Camelid Neo-Natal Workshop will be held in Christchurch on Saturday 6th October. Book in with tutor Linda as places fill fast. Cost is $100 +gst and you get a workbook, tutoring, protective apron and gloves, practical "hands-in" practise in birthing using artificial wombs and cria, and refreshments and lunch.This investment is repaid many times over by saving a cria, alpaca or llama, with your new knowledge and skills.

We use all our fibre each year, and our fine yarn production has been so successful, in NZ and overseas, that we now need to buy more fibre to do the next run. Contact us if you have fleece that meets our specifications. below. We need it during August/September.

We are buying white and light fawn fibre, 75-100 mm long, up to 23 micron, which really means blanket fleece. It has to be clean - hand- picked clean of dirt and vegetation, and with any dirty/matted/tender tips clipped or pulled off. Get that fibre out from your cupboards, and use these colder days to do alpaca work inside, preparing your fibre.

If you are after alpacas with fine fibre, we are breeding some of the finest here. Brutus' AGE data shows he is producing some of the finest progeny in the AGE programme in Australasia. Our own bred alpacas, even our wethers, fall in the 16-18 micron range, with some far lower.