Alpaca Breeding Goals
Our goal is to support the development of the quality of the European alpaca industry, and therefore we select only our best studs for this Breeding and the resale as mating males.
We have a targeted breeding program, whereby we specifically select the compatible studs. We invest a lot of time and effort in finding the perfect mating companion for a dam to enable a wide range of breeding goals. There are a variety of breeding criteria that we take into account to choose the perfect covering male.
Some of our breeding goals are as follows:
| Improvement of body conformation | Improvement of wool |
|---|---|
| bone density | fineness |
| chest width | crimp |
| head form | density |
| leg conformation | shine |
| size | growth |
| gait | grip |
| fertility | alignment |
Conformation
Regardless of whether you want to breed high quality alpacas or just alpacas for the hobby, the criteria for choosing the right stud male are still the same in terms of his physique.
When we started breeding, the very wise and experienced breeder Janie Hicks from Australia told us: "If the coat hanger isn't right, how can it hold its clothes?" That is, if the body structure has imperfections, the animal cannot be expected to grow healthily to produce healthy wool.
That's why we put a lot of effort into not only improving the wool of our alpacas, but also improving their conformation by choosing the right stallions that will bring about the desired improvements in the offspring.
Fiber quality
Die Qualität der Alpakafaser ist eines der wichtigsten Ziele in der Alpaka-Zucht. Entscheidend sind unter anderem die Feinheit der Faser (Mikronzahl), ihre Gleichmäßigkeit sowie die Länge und Dichte des Vlieses. Je feiner und gleichmäßiger die Fasern sind, desto weicher und hochwertiger ist das spätere textile Produkt.
Alpakas kommen zudem in zwei Fleece-Typen vor: Huacaya mit einer gekräuselten, voluminösen Faserstruktur und Suri mit langen, glatten und seidigen Fasern. Beide Faserarten besitzen unterschiedliche Eigenschaften und werden je nach Zuchtziel unterschiedlich bewertet.