They Are Seized” Sun-Tzu
Alpacas
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At Dougherty Creek we believe in the potential alpacas have to bring profitable returns to small farms in the US through diversifying current operations with small to medium sized herds of high end fiber production alpacas.
It is our mission to generate ever improving fleece quality on healthy, sound animals that will in turn produce maximum returns for commercial fiber producers– or in practical terms -to breed and sell the type of production alpacas that fiber operations need to return the highest profits.
Our near term goal is to increase fleece weight and lower micron using a data driven scientific understanding of wool follicles. Over the long term we intend to produce a lineage of light alpacas that breeds true for specific crimp, character and body type.
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Increased follicular density - As the SRS® breeding system in Merino sheep has proven, increased follicular density puts pressure on skin follicles to produce finer fibers. It is a given that as fiber diameter increases clip weights increase (course fibers weigh more than fine fibers). Reversely, as the number of follicles in the skin goes up, fiber diameter typically decreases while clip weight is maintained because there are more follicles producing fibers. Our goal is to increase the number of follicles on the body with every generation.
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Growth Rate - Staple length goes in lock-step with density when breeding to increase clip weight. If the staple is short, increasing density will only take you “so far” in the ultimate quest to make more yarn per alpaca. We place a high value on growth rate and staple length. In our experience we have also found higher growth rates seem to improve brightness.
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Low standard deviation - The uniformity of the fleece is a critical commercial grading factor - the better the grade, the more you are paid - and what more needs to be said about that? Selection for low SD effects several quality factors at once - fineness, handle, and the overall grade of the fleece.
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Low primary micron size - Like their ancestors the Vicuña, it is possible to have alpacas whose primary fibers are as fine as their secondary fibers. The smaller the difference between primary and secondary fiber diameter the finer the fleece feels to the hand - this is true even when the average micron is not particularly fine. This in turn means the fleece is highly uniform and reflected as a low standard
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In order to objectively establish what fleece characteristics males will bring to a matting, we skin-biopsy potential breeding males using SRS® testing protocol* between the ages of 18 months and 5 years. We only use males that are first confirmationally and reproductively sound and second, have measured substantially above average for one or more desirable fleece characteristics.
Our biopsy tests are conducted through Alpaca Consulting Services. ACS / SRS® in-skin follicle counts are not equivalent to follicle counts reported by Dr. Norm Evens. Test numbers are comparable to each other ONLY within the same testing methodology and lab. Some choose testing methodologies based on the return of larger numbers - implying higher densities for example. We have chosen ACS / SRS® testing because of a wider range of information it provides in helping to make more informed matting decisions.
As useful as skin-biopsy tests are, they are only one of several tools breeders need to make well informed breeding decisions. Yearly histograms, shearing stats, and eventually EPD's are also very important when incorporating documented information into breeding plans.
ACS reports for our males are available and provide information on primary and secondary follicle micron, growth rates, CV, primary and secondary standard deviation (as a measure of uniformity), and fiber length to staple length ratio (as a measure of the deepness of crimp amplitude).
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Current US Averages (values are approximate) |
Current SRS® Mean Values of AU Advanced fleeces (309 alpacas – ave age - 45 mo.) |
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Follicle density |
30 mm2 |
43.3 mm2 |
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S/P |
8:1 |
10:1 |
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Growth Rate |
.30 mm/day |
.34 mm/day |
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Primary Fibers |
N/A |
34.7 micron |
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Secondary |
N/A |
24.0 micron |
Micrograph of skin section:
DCF Diamond Duke