Way behind on telling you about babies!

It has been very busy on the farm and we suddenly realized the last seven cria had not yet been officially presented to the world via the blog--so here they are.




August 18 - Khani (named after Khani Cole one of our favorite female vocalists) out of Tucker Creek's Chandra and Hemingway's Bogart. She may be a light fawn or beige--only time will tell--but she is dense and crimpy and conformationally perfect.




August 19 - Lollipop (named after the late 50's hit of the same name) out of Tucker Creek's Franchesca and MFI Peruvian Glacial Storm. We realized she is, much to our dismay, our only Glacial Storm cria this year as all the other Glacial Storm bred females sold last year. Not that we are complaining! She is just as gorgeous as her cousin--Chandra and Franchesca are 1/2 sisters out of our incredibly fine Karoline (now owned by Alpaca Woods Ranch in Snellville, GA). Karoline had a male this year out of MFI Peruvian Impact--Alpaca Wood's Augustus--if you are looking for a future herdsire--he should be worthy of your time and interest.

September 9 - a mother and daughter delivery duo - Faiks' Athena and Faiks' Elana presented us with a male, Tucker Creek's Creedence (medium fawn), and a female, Tucker Creek's Clearwater (white), each sired by Hemingway's Bogart. We had been hoping for a trio for the family as Athena's other daughter, Victoria, was also due at the same time--but the R component of CCR did not appear until several days later.

September 14 - the arrival of Tucker Creek's Revival to finish off the three memorable names of the 60's group by the same names commonly referred to as CCR. He is the gorgeous result of a breeding between Tucker Creek's Victoria and EC Sun Tzu.

September 19 - Tucker Creek's Jewell out of El Bello's Eloisa and EC Sun Tzu--what a gorgeous little doll. To date Eloisa had only given us males--Tucker Creek's Spenser from last year is still on our annual watch list. Only one or two males make the list each year. So far he has not disappointed us. And we are certainly not disappointed with the results of this breeding!

And before leaving the pasture we found that Cazie's Octavia was delivering the first cria born to Rising Moon Alpacas out of Preston, NV. Another gorgeous EC Sun Tzu male named Rising Moon Eclipse. We are thrilled to add them to our group of affiliate farms and look forward to many years of mutual alpaca fun and success.

Our breeding season is almost over. Only three more cria to come--all belonging to clients--and all out of Sun Tzu. To say that we have been thrilled with the results of our first breeding season with Sun Tzu would be an incredible understatement. He is doing a magnificent job with crias on the ground ranging in color from white to black--every single one displaying his dense and crimpy fiber as well as his friendly dispostion. Many thanks to Mike Safley at Northwest Alpacas for his personal selection of this outstanding herdsire standing stud exclusively at Alpacas at Tucker Creek. Limited breedings available for 2008.

Don't forget National Alpaca Farm Days are next weekend. Take part in whatever way you can. These unique critters have afforded us a wonderful lifestyle and the industry has only scratched the surface. If you are not already involved--check them out--there is probably a farm near you!

National Alpaca Farm Days - September 29th and 30th

Sun Tzu is at the fence to meet every visitor as they come through the front gate! And he will be anticipating your visit next weekend as Alpacas at Tucker Creek is happy to be one of the many farms throughout the country recognizing National Alpaca Farm Days. It was a program designed by the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association to increase public awareness regarding these wonderful animals and the satisfying and rewarding lifestyle they afford.

If it is not convenient for you to drop by our farm please check the list and find an alpaca farm or ranch near you. http://www.alpacafarmday.com/farmlocator/index.asp

Hours will run from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Saturday and Sunday. Please come to enjoy refreshments, demonstrations, and lots of alpacas all in the beauty surrounding the Oregon coast. There are lots of babies to see and you might even get to see a birth--Sun Tzu still has more babies scheduled to arrive any day. Dave Drury will be performing on acoustic guitar Saturday. There will be many prizes including 50% ownership in one of our incredible junior herdsires!!!

Sun Tzu and the rest of the critters and staff at Alpacas at Tucker Creek look forward to seeing you!

Alpamayo Genes galore

Our two most recent crias were sired from 1/2 brothers each of whom were sired by Canada's premier herdsire Jolimont 2 Peruvian Alpamayo IMPB98--our incredible male, Sun Tzu, and his 1/2 brother, MMR Laredo. Each of these gorgeous cria arrived while we were out of town--don't even want to think how many times we have changed our plans waiting for a cria to be born.

Tucker Creek's Jumpin' Jack Flash was born on Friday, August 3rd, out of our sweetheart Iomi and Sun Tzu. He is a beautiful light fawn with energy to spare. Sun Tzu's density and crimp are already demonstrated in his young fleece.

Tucker Creek's Amor was born Monday, August 6th, and is a gorgeous dark female out of true black Chilean, Mora, and MMR Laredo. Just like his brother, Laredo does a wonderful job producing color. Only time will tell if she is going to end up a bay black or true black as her ears and lower legs fade to black. Her IgG was at the top of the scale as soon as they started the process and she is a very active member of the herd.

Ten more babies to go . . . and our first baby of the year, Clapton, is almost four months old and over 60 pounds . . . time to be weaned . . . just in time to go to his new home in Georgia, Alpaca Woods Ranch. Time really goes by fast when you measure it in terms of birthing, weaning and breeding.

2007 Section 179 Increase

Just a heads up . . . The Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007 was signed by President Bush on May 25th and one of the sections was good news for alpaca breeders and small businesses in general. The provisions of Section 179 in excess of $100,000 (adjusted annually for inflation) were extended through 2010. Originally the deduction was scheduled to be reduced to $25,000 that year. So the new law extended the higher threshold of Section 179 by one year and increased the 2007 limitation from $112,000 to $125,000. The law also increased the annual phase-out of Section 179 from $450,000 to $500,000.

It's nice when tax legistation is in our favor for a change.

Don't forget to sign up for the tax seminar being presented by Peggy and Fred Kraft at Northwest Alpacas on Friday, November 30th.

http://www.alpacas.com/AlpacaInstitute/CourseDetails_ODS5.aspx

Updates-Cria #9 and Tax Training

The babies are doing great--catchin' some rays and enjoying the sun. Who says alpaca breeding is all work and no play.

The most recent arrival was on Wednesday, July 11th--his arrival greatly destroyed the axiom that crias are born during the daylight hours--how does 2:00 in the morning sound! He goes by the name of Jitterbug--the first cria from Bugaboo and a full Peruvian stud by the name of Trey. Name a color and this little guy probably has it somewhere on his busy little body. A Jitterbug he truly is. Bugaboo came out of a group of animals from Canada and at the age of six had never previously delivered a cria. To say she didn't originally know how to handle the little guy was an understatement--but after a few days with the rest of the moms on the farm she has figured out how to be a mom and she is doing a great job. He has already gained three pounds and his IgG was off the chart. He and Sinatra (shown above) immediately hit it off and have been a team since they first met.

Just a heads up--I am currently scheduled to be teaching another tax class at Northwest Alpacas in Hillsboro, Oregon, on November 30th--the link appears below:
http://www.alpacas.com/AlpacaInstitute/CourseDetails_ODS5.aspx

And don't forget our Summer Sale--Cash terms allow you to buy one alpaca and get the second of equal or lesser value for 1/2 price; all financed rates have been reduced and other discounts are available. Check out the site--select your alpaca or package of choice--the new babies are still coming and it is a great time for you to get some wonderful genetics for your herd at a great price. Don't forget--90 days is the same as cash and we do take credit cards.

Look forward to hearing from you. One of our favorite parts of the alpaca business is farm visits so we want to thank all of you who have dropped by this summer--be sure to stop back so you can see how the babies have grown. If you have never been to the Oregon Coast in the summer--you are in for a treat--come on out and stop by for a visit. Sinatra sends a reminder--Don't forget to bring your shades!

Crias #7 & #8 and a Summer Sale

It has been a very busy time so, unfortunately, we are a tad late in reporting the most recent births.

On June 17th we were very happy to welcome Tucker Creek's McKenzie, a beautiful 17 pound bay black female out of Marcella and our outstanding herdsire, Sun Tzu. She is the first of eight cria we are expecting out of Sun Tzu this year and are most excited as this is his first season. She was certainly everything we had hoped to see. She has dense curly fiber with a very soft handle.

On the 20th Autumn Sunshine delivered an impressive 17 pound pure white baby boy out of Pacific Crest Accoyo Paul Revere. Like all of Paul Revere's cria, Tucker Creek's Nnyrok has very curly dense fiber. He was one our speediest crias to stand and nurse completing the entire process in less than one hour. He is half Accoyo and Full Peruvian--and a second generation Studmaster progeny--should be very fun watching this young male grow up.

As the birthing season continues one truth comes to mind . . . as more crias arrive the more important it becomes to take a really hard look at the herd and make some decisions on what we want it to look like. Who should be included in our foundation herd? What animals do we want to sell? What are the characteristics of the females left to deliver? Considering the severity of the winters on the Oregon Coast what is the ideal size herd in preparation for winter (this is more of personal issue than an alpaca husbandry issue--we prefer fewer critters through the winter). So to that end begins our annual evaluation of our herd which consists of 62 animals as of this writing with 16 more crias due by year end. Ideally we would prefer to go through the winter with a herd closer to 40. Many of the prices on our website have already been reduced--so it is a great time to add some wonderful animals to your herd as our Summer Sale begins now!

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.