Breeding Alpaca Male Specials
Breeding Male Specials
Hi folks, hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you are looking forward to a great 2012 .
Would like to start off by telling new breeders that it is really important to watch what your male or even female alpacas are doing during your early morning clean up. When you are a small breeder the one thing you have over the big farms is that you should have more of a one on one relationship with your alpacas. You should be able to see if something is out of the normal with your alpaca.
I have heard of two young alpacas that have died in the last 60 days. The problem these males had was they were not urinating. This is not new to breeders but if you do not catch it soon enough the male will die. The problem is usually a urinary infection or Ureolythisis
I want to make it clear that I am not trying to put any blame on the breeder. I am bringing this up because it just happen to us. Both Lin and I noticed that we also had a 6 month old male that was not urinating. He was eating and pooping and running with all the other cria’s but was really pushing hard to urinate. In our case we took the male to the vet and he asked us the 3 questions that he asks us each time we take an alpaca to him. Is he eating, pooping, & urinating? After that he took an ultrasound and found that his bladder was empty. That was great news because he did not have stones or a blockage, he then told us to start him on Excenel for 7 days. It took him 4 days until he started to urinate.
One of the males that died, the vet never asked the right questions and never gave him an ultrasound. [It is up to us as the owners and caretakers to ask the questions of our Vets, and to do research ourselves] He sent the male home and when the breeder called him back the next morning and told the vet he was still not drinking water the vet told him to get some water in him. Well the young cria’s bladder broke and he died.
Young males and older males can also get Ureolythisis that will cause the same problem of not urinating and is really painful for the alpaca. We know of a breeder who has treated males with this problem with a treatment that her dad who was a vet came up with and each male lived. I know of no other treatment that has as high of a success rate with as low of a cost. Surgeryl is very expensive and renders them sterile.
In both of these problems that males can get the earlier that we as breeders can observe from that male the better results for the male.
I have some great news for you breeders that are looking to breed for color or black. We are going to have at our farm for a short time this spring or summer the 2011 Futurity Champion Black male. He not only took 1st but he was Color Champion also. His name is Black Beard . His sire is Captain Morgan. He also took 1st and was Color Champion at Alpacaplooza in 2011. The rest of the season he had a fiber break. I was in Seattle on 17th of December and his 2nd fleece is coming in great. His luster and lock are to die for but his density is outstanding. Pat and Debbie are offering breeding at 800.00 and only 10 breedings the first year. We have sold 4 breeding so far there are 6 left.
LCA Quechua fees will be 1000.00 and two for 1500. SR5 Mahalo will be 750.00, LCA Coho will also be 750.00.
We would like you to take a look at our new herd sire Alpaca Rose O’ryan he had a great show season last year and he is still in full fleece for the 2012 show season. His sire is LCA Quechua and his color is Medium Brown. His fees will be 750.00
Jerry & Lin Harwood
Happy Holidays
We would like to thank the new breeders that bought alpacas from us this 2011 and let them know that we here to help them at any time. We look forward in hearing from you in the upcoming 2012 season. We hope all the folks that did visit our farm and are still in the thinking process or setting up their farm with fencing and shelter for their new alpacas that we are here for them to answer questions.
We are planning a special event in March of 2012 that I hope all of you would be interested in attending. We are planning to have a training show. Lots of folks have expressed to us that they are scared of going into the show ring, so we are going to have an alpaca show ourselves. We have joined with a new breeder who has a huge barn with an outstanding lighting and an indoor show ring. We will have a trained judge or someone who is an expert on showing alpacas to teach on how to show your alpaca. If you are interested please contact us prior to March 2012 at www.alpacaroseranch.com or call me at 509- 991-7093.
If your planning on showing your alpacas in the 2012 shows now is the time to start looking at that alpaca and making up your mind if you think that alpaca can compete. Things we judge our alpacas on are conformation, are the legs straight, bite good, does that alpaca have good density and lock but the biggest de terming factor that could override the above is does that alpaca have outstanding luster.
When we first got into the business of alpacas and showing them, we went to the show to see how our breeding program was stacking up against other breeders. We use the shows to help us determine what direction we wanted to go in our business. It is a great training tool to let you know how your breeding program is doing and what you have to do to improve it.
If you don’t want to show your alpaca because of cost there is another way of determining how your breeding program is doing and that is to show their fleece. I know that money is tight but it cost a lot less to show your fleece than to enter them into the halter show. If the fiber market is our future then I believe that we need to get our show fleece to the show. It takes about 1/2 hour to prepare that fleece, so let really try to get those fleece to one of the shows this year. You will find it a great tool to use in your breeding program to improve your herd.
Time is running out to get that tax credit for 2011 for any purchase of farm equipment, and for that special alpaca that you have been looking at.
Have a great Christmas and don’t eat to much turkey.
Jerry and Lin
Alpaca Rose Ranch
http://www.alpacaroseranch.com/
Starting an Alpaca Herd
A Perfect Time to Start an Alpaca Herd
Alpaca Rose Ranch is working hard every day to get ready for a hard winter. Hoses have been rolled up and the heated water buckets are all pluged in and the new straw has arrived. Grass hay is stored. Gas in the snow blower. I would much prefer not to see a lot of snow.
Word of hope, keep updating your web sites and continue to find different ways in reaching that new breeder or the person who is interested in learning about alpacas. I believe there is a lot of buyers out there if we can teach them about how much profit they can make on the fiber. We have sold 1 alpaca this month and delivered 4 to a new breeder in Montana. We have had four farm visit with folks wanting to learn about the fiber. We need to show the folks how to make a profit on the fiber. If we can show them how to make a profit and cut down on cost the better chance we will have in growing or market.
If you are a new breeder just getting into the business you need to take the steps in learning about the fiber and how you can make a profit. If you are a small breeder with little overhead this can be a profit center for you. We attended a training course with a local breeder who is making 50.00 dollars a pound off the alpacas fleece he is raising. On some products the profit can be has high as 80 dollars a pound. Lets say you have a herd of quality production fiber alpacas that give you 100 pounds of alpaca fiber you could make 8000.00 dollars a year off the fiber. I believe we all need to learn about the fiber, I know that I have a lot of reading to do to gain the knowledge. I want to give out the right information.
Prices are now down an this is a great time to start your herd or improve your herd with quality females or a herdsire that is going to improve your fleece weight. Take a look at the package we have on this Newsletter. We have an Inca Daughter that has a female cria with her. The cria sire is our award winning fleece champion LCA Quechua. Also in this package is Isabella last year female cria that a color championship to her credit. The price on the package is 7000.00 dollars. Isabella has been re bred to LCA Quechua for a 2012 cria and the two daughters will also receive free breeding when they become of age. So you are getting 6 alpacas for that price. You can see Isabella at www.alpacaroseranch or stop out an take a look at them.
Thanks for taking the time to read and we would love to hear from you.
Jerry and Lin
Alpaca Rose Ranch
Good Alpaca Blood Lines
It is hard to believe that it is Oct already and snow is just around the corner. Time is running out for you buyers that want to take advantage of the tax break this year. The tax break is up to 250,000 dollars. So if you buy 20,000 dollars of alpacas and you are in the 35 per cent tax bracket you are really paying only 13500 for those alpacas by the time you take the tax break.
You can really buy some great bloodlines and start off with a great foundation of female alpacas at Alpaca Rose Ranch or you can go out and buy some 1000 female and get off on the wrong foot and never sell any alpacas.
Now is the time to look at those new cria that have been born and learn about their fiber. See the different type of locks. Learn to spot alpacas that do not have great luster and lock. If you are looking for alpacas visit us and we will mentor to you so that you know what you are looking for. One visit is not enough to gain the knowledge you need.
Those that visit us should return to see how that cria is developing so when you have your first cria you know what to look for. This can be a great business if you want to take the time to learn. There is a lot to learn and we are great teachers. If we don’t know the answer we will find it out for you.
We just returned from a class on fiber put on by Jude Anderson and it was really a great class. She taught us on reading fiber reports and how important they can be in selecting for breeding,she taught us on how to understand all those numbers you get back on the fiber report. We had hands on different types of fiber and what to look for in micron counts. We keep a copy of the class format and if you would like to learn this important part of the business you can stop out for some coffee and cookies and we will go over the form.
We are willing to teach as long as we have students who want to learn about alpacas. We all make mistakes but with more knowledge the less mistakes you will make. One of the biggest mistakes folks make is on fencing. That was one of our first mistakes. We can show you that mistake and how we corrected it. Stop out and take a look at our fencing and how we set up our farm.
Again thanks for the business and we look forward for a great October.
Jerry
Alpaca Rose Ranch
Buying Suri Alpacas and Checking ARI’s
Alpaca Sale
Would like to talk on how and what to look for when buying alpacas. When we first look at Alpacas we did not have a clue if it was a good one or a bad one. We got lucky and happen to buy 3 good ones with great bloodlines. The next farm that we went to try to sell us a package of alpacas for 75,000 and when I went home and got on the ARI site found that they had Huacaya in their background. You have to be able to trust the breeder you are doing business with. We show the ARI of each alpaca we sell and go over it with the buyer.
The first thing you should do if you have made up your mind on an alpaca to buy is to make sure you
see the ARI of that alpaca to see the history of that alpaca. To make sure if you are buying a Suri that
there is no Huacaya in the back ground. I am not against buying and F1 if it is 2 to 3 generations back.
If you are breeding to male that you don’t know anything about check out his ARI to see if there is any
Huacaya on ARI.
If you are buying a female alpaca ask the breeder if the dam is still on the farm and if the sire is on the farm ask to see him. You should also check the ARI of the dam and the sire. I would have been very upset with the breeder I bought my alpacas from and found F1 or Huacaya in the back ground. The last thing you want to do is to breed a male to your female that has Huacaya grandpa unless that male has been proven not to
have thrown any Huacaya offspring. I have spend many nights on the computer looking at ARI and the family tree of alpacas that we have bought over the first two years in the business.
I tell every person who visit our farm to do their homework and get as much information on line as they can about alpacas and to always call us on any questions they have about alpacas.
One of the many question we answer all the time is what about buying show quality alpacas over lets say an alpaca that as never been in the show ring. In most cases it depends on how much money you want to spend. I myself like buying alpacas that have a decent show record. I look at the show record more on a male than the female. You have to remember that some judges look at alpacas different at each show. Example is we have a female that was a color champion at one show and the next judge gave her a 5th place ribbon.
The bottom line in buying alpacas is that you should check the ARI of each alpaca that you are buying and if you have bought alpacas then you should join the ARI and search their web page and learn what you can about your alpaca and at the same time of joining ARI put your alpacas on their web site.
To learn more about alpacas and see our farm please visit http://alpacaroseranch.com
Cria’s & Feeding Your Alpaca
Sorry for the delay in our news letter but it has been a busy summer. We would like to thank the folks
that have bought our Alpacas this summer and look forward in seeing them in the show ring next. We
are looking forward in seeing next cria’s of the Alpacas that we sold.
We have had seven cria’s this season with 4 more due at the end of August. We have had four females and three males so far. We had our first dark rose gray female out of a black dam and she is really nice.
We are really please with a male that we have had that is white. He is only three months old put I have posted his breeding assignment for 2013. He is outstanding and if you get a chance stop by and take a
look at him.
I would like to talk on the subject of feeding Alpacas. Are we as breeders feeding them to much?
Most breeders give them free grass hay to eat all day then grain them once a day plus their minerals.
If you look at where the Alpacas came from (Peru) and where they lived in the mountains the answer to
that question would be yes. Then you must ask the other question of us breeders why then do you feed
them so much. I attend a class on this at a show once and the man putting on the class from Australia told us breeders in the US that we also feed them much more than they need.
For the last 13 months we have tried different ways of feeding our Alpacas and I watch them most of the day. This is what I see. If they have food they would eat all day and night and rest during their time out for pooping, then it is back to eating. So we have cut back to feeding them once a day, and once that is gong they do not get any more grass. It is amazing watch them eat every blade of grass they can find on the ground. At night they are still searching for that left over blade. When it gets dark they all seem to settle down for the night.
I thought to myself this is cool just feeding them once a day until they give you the guilt feeling that they are starving. I have learn that if I go out and grab a cart to fill up with hay they all jump up and mob me but if I go out to clean up poop they will all stay in bed and not think of eating grass. I came to realize that I was the problem in feeding them to much. It will take you some time in seeing how much grass is to much. If I see a lot of big poops that look like a cow poop I know that I am feeding them to much. When all the poop looks like coffee beans I know I have found out the right amount of food to feed them. I have not seen a cow pie for
many months and when I do I adjust my feeding. It makes sense to me that if they are eating so much grass that they have cow poop then I believe they are not digesting the grass right.
The above is just a thought that could cut down on fat Dams, help the budget on grass. Now onto to pellets.
I can not remember in seeing they feed pellets to the Alpacas in Peru, I know that in Peru they have more minerals in the ground that they need to keep them health but if we are feeding them minerals why do they need pellets? We still feed pellets to a female that cannot seem to put on weight.
We are looking forward already to next year cria’s 2012. We have breed our award winning LCA Quechua and a new male named Mahalo. He got 2 first place ribbons last year and took 2nd at the AOBA Show.
We breed a male by the name of LCA Caden to five females this year. He is a LCA Rico son that has done outstanding in the show ring.
Continue to have a great summer and we hope to hear from you soon.
2011 Alpaca Show Season
2011 Alpaca Show Season to Date
We have had a great show season. At our 1st show we took 4 alpacas and came home with 4 blue and 1 Color Champion in the whites. We had to leave 3 of our best at home because they were to young but at our second show we took them. The second show we bought home 3 blues and 2 red ribbons a third and a 5th and one reserve color championship in the light fawn. Our fleece received best lock, best luster and judges choice.
So now it is on to AOBA and that is where the rubber meets the road with a lot of big
name farms that will be there. Hope we can bring home some good results.
Of the 5 young alpacas we took all of their sires is our own LCA Quechua. He got a Get of Sire award at PNAA Showcase and his cria’s took 2nd in the best of 3 class to Purca International. We are so please had what Quechua has done so far not only for us but of the blue ribbons he has won for other farms in his first two years of production. Take a look at www.alpacaroseranch.com .
I understand that things are tough and a lot of breeders are not going to the show this year and it seems like it is a lot of Suri Breeders that are not going. If you can not attend a halter show please try and send in your fleece to see how the judge score your fleece. This way you can get an idea how your breeding program is coming along.
I would like to take a few minutes of your time and discuss fleece with you. If the alpaca breeders in America have made one mistake, it is not paying enough attention to the fleece market and the product you can make and sell. I have a partner in LCA Quechua that is a fleece expert and is teaching a group of us how to make 1500 dollars an acre off our fleece. I don’t know to many co-ops that are returning that type of money. Give you one example of what he is doing he is selling work socks for 35 dollars a pair. He started by selling a few to fire fighters and just the word of mouth has given him a big market. So lets get all that fleece out of the barn and start making money with it. If you can make 1000 to 1500 an acre off fleece and show your customers it should make it easier to sell alpacas.
Counting Alpacas At Bedtime
Breeding Alpacas in My Sleep
This is the time of the year other than when I picture each female in my mind to whom I am going to breed her to at night when I am trying to fall asleep. It is like counting sheep to get to sleep.
I have an option of breeding for fine fiber and if you are reading this I would love to hear from you about your breeding options. I love to bread white males with outstanding luster and density to color females. The reason is that I have researched some of the top breeding males in the county and they come from color females bread to white males. I believe that you will improve on the quality of the micron,SD,CV, breeding to white males.
In our breeding program we have a few males who I refer to as set up males. You can’t correct a female that has flaws in one breeding but if you have males that can improve her on conformation, density, luster in one breeding and she has a female cria, then you can use that outstanding white male to breed back to that female cria when she becomes old enough to breed.
I have a female that has great conformation, density but lacks luster and that is why she did not fair well in the show ring. Her micron at one year was 25. She is MB. I bread her to our top white male that has a micron count below 20 at 18 months old and under 22 at 3 years old. Her cria turned out to be a light fawn male but the results were outstanding.
I love color alpacas and we have a lot of color females. We have an outstanding MB male that has great bloodlines and he has given us some outstanding foundation females. What we are trying to do is bread for a finer fiber with a lower micron, CV, SD.
We are a breeder that has only been in the business since 2004 and we have been able to sell some alpacas and the only reason I believe that we have sold alpacas are that we have the great bloodlines in our females and we have bred outstanding males with outstanding bloodlines.
I have a breeder who has taught me a lot about breeding. He believes that the sire of the Alpaca you are trying to sell is 75 percent why the people are looking at your alpaca and why they buy it. He once gave me an example. He asked me if we both had a female alpaca that were the same and the sire of my alpaca was Wasabi and the sire of his alpaca was Inca, what farm will the prospect visit first and who would have the best chance in selling thier alpaca.
Thanks again for reading this Newsletter and hope to hear from you. I still have a lot to learn.
Jerry & Lin Harwood
Alpaca Rose Ranch
Financing Your Farm
Financing Your Farm
Running a Successful Farm Business
Whether you are considering starting a new venture or expanding your existing farm business, access to adequate capital can be a challenge. While each situation is unique, many lenders utilize some variation of character, cash flow, capacity, capital, conditions and collateral to evaluate which loans to make. Individual farmers are rarely eligible to apply directly for grants; government and private funders usually require non-profits, universities or government agencies to apply. However, there are a variety of loan programs specifically for farmers.
This fact sheet covers:
• farm loans;
• Washington State Housing Finance Commission;
• Northwest Farm Credit Services;
• USDA Farm Service Agency;
• USDA Rural Development;
• Small Business Administration; and
• Washington Department of Commerce.
Farm Loans
Financing for start-up businesses may include personal funds; loans from private investors such as family, friends, business associates and suppliers; home equity loans; refinancing of real estate; credit card lines of credit; value on life insurance policies and co-signing possibilities. The key step in financing is creating a business plan and/or doing a close review of all financial statements to ensure they are accurate and complete. These financial statements generally include actual or projected balance sheets, profit and loss statements, cash flow projections, break-even analysis, sources and uses of funding, tax returns, schedule of existing indebtedness and, if a privately-held company, your personal financial statements.
If you are not able to get financing from commercial banks, savings and loans or other financial institutions, other options include seeking investors, finding someone to guarantee your loan or finding an institution with more flexible lending requirements. The following information may get you started in your search.
Washington State Housing Finance Commission
The Housing Finance Commission’s Beginning Farmer/Rancher Loan Program offers low-interest loans that can be combined with other loans and grants, such as those from Northwest Farm Credit and USDA/FSA below. Loans are available up to $469,200 for land and improvements; $125,000 is available for new depreciable agricultural property or equipment, and $62,500 for used depreciable property or equipment. Individuals or families who have not owned and operated a farm or ranch, or, those who have owned and operated a farm or ranch that was less than 30% of the county’s median farm size are eligible. The borrower must directly manage and work the farm/ranch. Off-farm income is okay. For more information see www.wshfc.org/FarmRanch.
Northwest Farm Credit Services
Northwest Farm Credit Services’ Ag Vision: Loans for Young, Beginning, Small or Minority Producers program is designed to meet the needs of customers with at least one of the following characteristics:
• 35 years of age or younger;
• less than 10 years agricultural experience;
• recognized minority: African American, Native American, Alaskan Native, Hispanic, Asian, and Pacific Islanders, and women; or
• producer with farm production less than $250,000 annually.
Running a Successful Farm Business Fact Sheet # 2: Financing Your Farm
Small Farm & Direct Marketing Handbook Page 2 of 2
Northwest Farm Credit also has other programs that offer financing to farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, commercial fishermen, timber producers. To find out more, please see: www.farm-credit.com.
USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA)
The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides loans to established as well as beginning farmers who cannot obtain commercial credit from a bank, Farm Credit System institution, or other lender. The two major types of loans FSA makes are for direct and guaranteed farm ownership and operating loans. FSA loans are often provided to beginning farmers who cannot qualify for conventional loans because they have insufficient financial resources. FSA loans can be used to purchase land, livestock, equipment, feed, seed, and supplies. FSA loans can also be used to construct buildings or make farm improvements. In addition, the FSA also helps established farmers who have suffered financial setbacks from natural disasters, or whose resources are too limited to maintain profitable farming operations. Additionally, FSA makes operating loans of up to $5,000 to eligible individual rural youth age 10 through 20 to finance income-producing, agriculture-related projects. The project must be of modest size, educational, and initiated, developed and carried out by rural youths participating in 4-H clubs, Future Farmers of America or a similar organization. For complete information, please see the Farm Service Agency website at:
www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=fmlp&topic=landing
USDA Rural Development
USDA Rural Development works in partnership with the private sector and the community-based organizations to help fund businesses that create or preserve quality jobs and/or promote a clean rural environment. Recipients of these programs may include individuals, corporations, partnerships, cooperatives, public bodies, nonprofit corporations, Indian tribes, and private companies. Rural Development has a variety of other loan and grant programs for farmers from alternative energy to value-added food processing. For more information, please visit:
www.rurdev.usda.gov/wa/busloans.htm or call the state office at (360) 704-7710.
Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has the Low Documentation Program – a quick and easy lending program for small business loans up to $150,000. SBA guarantees up to 90% of the loan. In addition, their 7(a) Program provides loan guarantees to small businesses for working capital or fixed asset purchases. This loan guarantee is a promise by SBA to assume a private debt obligation if the borrower defaults. For more information see www.sba.gov/financialassistance/borrowers/guaranteed or www.sba.gov.
Washington Department of Commerce
The Washington Department of Commerce also provides rural development business loans. The Rural Washington Loan Fund (RWLF) Program makes loans to local municipalities, which can then loan an equivalent amount to the client – a local business or economic development agency. The loans provide gap financing to businesses which are expected to create new jobs or retain existing jobs, particularly for lower-income persons in rural counties. One of the RWLF’s priorities is agricultural development and food processing. For more information, please visit:
www.commerce.wa.gov/site/87/default.aspx.
The Coming Year and Our Recent Herdsire’s
Year of the Alpaca’s
We are really excited about the year 2011 for Alpaca Rose Ranch and the Alpaca industry. The industry prices have seem to settle and news about what the breeders are doing with the fiber all point to a great year in 2011.
We promise to let you all know of the two outstanding males that we purchase along with Sanddollar Alpaca’s and Chuck Ubers Alpaca’s., but before I do that I want to give you some reasons why we bought these males. All three of these farms have done business with Latah Creek Alpacas that was owned by Jack Armstrong and his wife Kelly and have sold their farm to Chelsea Farms. As a group of breeders we believe that Latah Creek had some of if not the best males in the US. One of those males was Inca. Inca has passed away but has stamp his mark on the Alpaca Industry that will last for many years.
I have seen breeder pay as much as 15,000 for a breeding to get his bloodlines into their herds. Most breeders breeding to Inca were hoping to get a male that was just has good has he was. With breeding closed to Inca for the last 5 years before he pass away I believe that Inca Stamped three males that are just has good as him. Their names are LCA Accoyo White, LCA Viho, and LCA Accoyo Rico. All the above mention males have won every major show in the US at least once and also all the major fleece shows. Their dams were the best in the US and still are.
So if you are after genetic improvement in your herd what are you looking for as a breeder?. I believe you have to have those proven bloodlines in your herd that have great fleece and have proven time and time again of being one of the best in the US.
The above mention farms along with Alpaca Rose Ranch are proud to have purchase from Chelsea Farm two males that we believe have the genetic make up of not only Inca but LCA Accoyo Rico and LCA Accoyo White Out.
Their names are LCA Caden and LCA Antera. LCA Antera is a White Out son who has had limited show record due to an over site of his owner. All three farms judged better males with lots better show recorded than Antera but when he walked in for us to see he stood out in his second fleece. It is tight to the skin and the re growth is extremely long at this stage. His luster is to die for and his density his outstanding.
We ask Randy why he did not take him to more shows. His answer was why take your best. Antera has a First and a 3rd to his record. Chelsea farms wanted some breeding to this male in the deal we made. I believe his fleece his better than his sire but time will tell.
The second male name is LCA Caden and if you look at former show photo’ of Rico you will find out that you can not tell them apart. He is a twin to Rico in is fleece, luster, conformation and density. His show record is posted on our web site, it is to long to include in this. We are looking forward in showing his fleece this 2011 season.
So in closing we purchase Inca bloodlines to improve our herds and hope to get males from Caden and Antera that are better than they are to carry on the Inca bloodline.
Make sure you contact Alpaca Rose Ranch or Sanddollar Alpacas and Chuck Uber’s Alpacas for breeding specials breeding fees on these two males. The prices are not out of line.
Have a great year in 2011.
Jerry & Lin