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.

#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.