Crias #5 and #6 – This is not a perfect science

As I write this I struggle with whether there is a productive purpose to this blog entry. Oh my goodness—the readers might think our program is flawed. Or, it may discourage some from becoming alpaca breeders. Bottom line—the purpose is to demonstrate that this industry is not an exact science. Things don’t always happen according to plan. But doesn’t that also happen in any other business or profession?

Any one who has been involved in the breeding process of any species for any length of time can tell you stories about the one who didn’t make it. Sami D was cria #5 and unfortunately she never got to take a single breath. She would have been the seventh female cria born to Ominaca’s Bo Jangles—she has never had a male cria. Little Sami died in utero most likely from a premature placenta detachment. There were no outward signs. She appeared to be delivering on a timely basis—Saturday, June 9th was right at the 345 day mark. Unfortunately, she and the placenta came out at the same time. She probably died a day or two before delivery. It is very sad—that never changes. Do you get hardened to it? Losing a cria is never an easy thing. But it makes you enjoy the successful deliveries all that much more—and most of them are successful.

Cria #6 appeared at 4:05 pm on June 11th. Jasmine follows the tradition of her dam, Queen Amidala, by having a very text book delivery. Keeping with our musical theme his name is Tucker Creek’s Sinatra. He weighed in at 14.6 pounds and had no problem zeroing in on mom’s milk. By the next morning he was rough and ready for cria races. In case you wondered--we certainly did call him Sinatra for a reason--he has baby blues--though he is not deaf or blind.

There are differing opinions as to whether blue eyed alpacas belong in a breeding program. It would be difficult to establish how many blue eyed alpacas are actually in the US alpaca herd as many breeders may not register them (many non-breeders are not registered) and if they did would they note they had blue eyes. I certainly don't claim to have the answers. Breeders and doctors with endlessly more experience than I don't have a consensus of opinion. But you can find some very good articles which address blue eyed alpacas at the links appearing below and you can form your own opinion:

http://www.alpacagenetics.com/AndyMBlueEyedWhites%20sent.pdf

authored by D. Andrew Merriwether, Ph.D.,

and Ann M. Merriwether, Ph.D

http://www.shagbarkridge.com/info/deaf.html
authored by Philip A March, DVM, MS and David E Anderson, DVM, MS

and Philip Sponenberg mentions blue eyed alpacas in his article http://www.alpacas.com/AlpacaLibrary/Articles/JigglingGenes.aspx.

If you have any comments, opinions or questions, please feel free to let us know.

#4 Arrives at 5:30 pm

Baby number 4 delivered at 5:30 pm . . . this year is definitely destroying the typical alpaca delivery time of between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. Sorpressa presented us with the second cria in a row to deliver late in the day.

But now we have Peggy Sue and what a beauty she is. Sorpressa is a gorgeous medium brown out of Faiks’ Firenza and MFI Peruvian Glacial Storm. Her 2006 breeding to MSA Peruvian Cannonero has resulted in a dense, curly, light fawn female with a real independent attitude. She weighed in at 16.8 pounds and was up and running in no time at all.

And to add to the excitement of the arrival of this beautiful little girl . . . we finally have a Cannonero cria we get to keep. In the past the moms have all sold before we even got a chance to see their cute little noses. We finally had to break down and buy one back from a client just to have one on the property. It seemed a real shame to have this incredible stud and not a single progeny on the property . . . but not any more.

Cannonero was awarded male color champion at the Redmond AWE show in 2003. He is out of MSA Sorpresa and PCA Spartacus with Hemingway on both sides of his lineage. His lineage also includes Pperuvian Camilio and Peruvian Navidad. He displays dense, super soft handling fleece that parts like a book in rows of shiny, crimped fiber. He is bold, square and covered to the ground.

Considering the density and crimp on both sides of her lineage we look forward to a gorgeous Peggy Sue.

Tucker Creek's Revolution is Cria #3 for 2007

It was already after six in the evening and Amidala was acting a tad fussy—for most late term moms I would just consider it a part of being a late term alpaca. But not when it comes to Queen Amidala, AOO. She had already had a late delivery in 2005 at 8:15 in the evening. So when she started acting fussy there was enough past history to warrant preparing for the new arrival regardless of what time it was. And less than an hour later Tucker Creek’s Revolution was on the ground.

He is an energetic, curious, curly fleeced little guy weighing in at 18.6 pounds. So far his fiber appears fawn from the tips of his ears and down his back and then fades to white as it goes down his legs. Only time will tell what color he will end up--we have had others who when born appeared fawn or beige only to turn perfectly white within a few months.

Rev's dam was awarded 1st Place at the Heart of the Valley Alpaca Show & Sale - WABA 2003 and 2nd Place Western Alpaca Extravaganza – CABA 2002. She is a very beautiful rose grey with a great disposition and loves being a mom. His sire is Pacific Crest Accoyo Paul Revere. Paul Revere's parents were hand picked by Greg Mecklam with the guidance of Don Julio. His cria display incredible crimp, density and conformation. Limited breedings with Paul Revere are available for 2007.

Keep stopping back as we will update the blog with each new arrival and/or whenever a topic of general interest sparks my need to share.

Hope you are all having a wonderful and safe Memorial weekend.

The Babies Are Arriving

Winter is very slowly fading into Spring on the Oregon Coast and our first crias are on the ground.

The first arrival is Tucker Creek's Clapton, a handsome offspring of MSA Peruvian Brunello and Querida . . . he is the culmination of Hemingway, Accoyo Dracula, Accoyo Santino and Peruvian Victor . . . he is strong and already testing his male prowess on the females in his pasture . . . truly a stud at heart.

Mother's Day morning we were presented with a beautiful little girl out of Pacific Crest Accoyo Paul Revere and Faik's Destiny. In following this year's theme of naming our cria after famous musicians and groups it was only too obvious what her name would be . . . Destiny's Child . . . DC for short. She is healthy and was up and running within hours of delivery. We have been thrilled with the fiber on our Paul Revere crias . . . and Destiny's offspring from 2004 was just awarded Fawn Reserve Color Champion at the California Classic in Pleasanton. So we are very excited at what the future may hold for DC.

We will keep you posted as our babies arrive . . . come on out and see them for yourself . . . watching cria races is a great way to end the day.

Snowy River Alpacas at California Classic

Pictures certainly tell this story . . . and we are thrilled. Tucker Creek's Ranger was awarded Fawn Color Reserve Champion, Tucker Creek's Shadow was awarded Dark Brown Color Reserve Champion and Tucker Creek's El Diablo and Tucker Creek's Steele each came in third in Fawn and Grey Color Classes respectively at the California Classic in Alameda last weekend. The successes demonstrated from the first two shows in Snowy River Alpacas' show career certainly demonstrate the value in Studmaster breedings. The sires to these four males are MSA Hemingway's Tequila, MFI Peruvian Glacial Storm, Pacific Crest Accoyo Paul Revere and MFI Peruvian Glacial Storm respectively. You can schedule your breedings with Ranger, Shadow or El Diablo by contacting Hailey Parker at snowyriver1@earthlink.net or by phone 916-216-1043.

DO I DEDUCT OR NOT? Generally the ANSWER IS DEDUCT!

Now that tax season is basically over . . . except for those who have filed an extension . . . it seems appropriate to address a topic which shows up in my inbox throughout the year as well as during tax season . . . the question of deducting alpaca related expenses during the first few years of operation.

The email generally goes something like this "I have been doing alpacas for a year or two but have never claimed any of the alpaca related expenses as I was told I could not until I sold something . . . is this true?" The simple and most often the appropriate answer is "deduct".

The IRS addresses this issue in a variety of places . . . the link above goes to Publication 535, Page 5 . . .

Presumption of profit. An activity is presumed carried on for profit if it produced a profit in at least 3 of the last 5 tax years, including the current year. Activities that consist primarily of breeding, training, showing, or racing horses are presumed carried on for profit if they produced a profit in at least 2 of the last 7 tax years, including the current year.

That same publication discusses not-for-profit activities and some of the factors the IRS looks at when they determine whether a business has a profit motive or not.

You can still go back and amend your returns if you feel it appropriate for your particular tax situation. An in depth conversation with your tax preparer should be your next step or begin looking for a new preparer. Not all preparers or accountants are farm friendly . . . even those who are not should be able to assist you in making the decisions required to properly reflect the true picture of your farming activities. Bottom line . . . the tax return is your responsibility . . . it is their duty to advise you on the rules . . . but you are ultimately responsible for the content of your return.

Tucker Creek Crias Go to Shows

As many of you know Alpacas at Tucker Creek has chosen not to go to shows. Whether that is a good or a bad decision for your farm only you can decide--it is the path we have chosen for us. But don't let it be thought we don't see the value in the show process. And to that end is the subject of our latest blog.

We are happy to annouce the results of the first Alpacas at Tucker Creek offspring to go to show. Both Snowy River Alpacas, Colfax, CA and BrushWalker Alpacas of Geneseo, IL went to shows this weekend. The show results are from the Alpaca Western Extravaganza in Reno, NV and IAOBA Alpaca Riverfest in East Peoria, IL respectively. To say we are proud would be an understatement.

At AWE Snowy River Alpacas - Hailey & Ric Parker had the following results:

Tucker Creek's Ranger (out of Studmaster MSA Hemingway's Tequila) - Medium Fawn Class - 2 year old male - 2nd Place

They had a problem color checking this boy as his fiber was so dense they had difficulty getting the color chart down to his skin . . . what a great problem to have.

Tucker Creek's El Diablo (out of Studmaster Pacific Crest Accoyo Paul Revere) - Medium Fawn Class -
Yearling - 4th Place

Tucker Creek's Shadow (out of Studmaster MFI Peruvian Glacial Storm) - Dark Brown Class - Yearling - 2nd Place

This class was so tight for first and second places the judge spent considerable time comparing the two and after five minutes of side by side comparison decided the first place winner was slightly more dense than Shadow.

At IAOBA Alpaca Riverfest - BrushWalker Alpacas - George & Joanne Brush - had the following results:

Tucker Creek's Warlock (out of Studmaster MFI
Peruvian Glacial Storm) - Medium Brown Class - Yearling - 3rd Place

The judge said that the two above him had denser fleece but that Warlock's fineness was above the whole class.

We could not be happier with the results and effort put forth by these farms. Each of these males is a first generation Studmaster progeny--can you just imagine what will come out of breedings to these wonderful males.