SafeHouse Farm Alpacas and Cuba Road Illinois Alpacas are excited to participate in National Alpaca Farm Days September 24-25, 2011. Many people have seen alpacas on The View, The Today Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, WGN Morning Show and movies like Evan Almighty so now see alpacas in person at SafeHouse Farm Alpacas. We…
AOBA: the Alpaca Owners & Breeders Association AOBA is the driving force of the alpaca livestock industry. Through the Show System, alpaca shows are governed and approved, conferences & educational events held, and working with other alpaca organizations such as the Alpaca Registry, Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America and the Alpaca Research Foundation the…
Why Use an Alpaca Skin Biopsy? -My arm is not a scale; my eye is not a microscope Many of us spend a healthy amount of time evaluating our alpacas’ value. Many of our concerns deal with breeding strategies. We agonize over terms like ‘zipper crimp versus French fry crimp,’ ‘lock structure ’and‘ degrees of…
Many of you especially the night owls out there have seen the infamous “I Love Alpacas” commercial. Well now you don’t have to stay up late or watch those triple digit cable channels to see this beauty of commercial. Just click the play arrow and enjoy – I Love Alpacas Incoming search terms:i love alpacas…
Northern Illinois Alpaca Extravaganza Saturday October 24, 2011 – Sunday October 25, 2011 Times: Saturday: 9am-5pm, Sunday: 9am-3pm Join in with over 100 farms from 12 states for a weekend at the Northern Illinois Alpaca Extravaganza held at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake. This is an AOBA qualified halter show for both…
Fleece Color Heritibility: Alpaca Color Genetics The Spaniard, Cieza de Leon, made the first written record of alpaca and llama colors in 1553. The Indian herds of Chile and Bolivia that graze the altiplano still exhibit all the colors found in that original list. Today, the herds owned by Julio Barreda and the big Peruvian…
In 2003 alpaca tax benefits got a lot better due to the “Jobs and Growth Reconciliation Tax Act.” which was enacted into law on May 28, 2003. The new rules added several powerful incentives for people who buy alpacas. The 179 deduction which is the cornerstone of this act has been raised to $112,000 for…
Weave of the Gods: The Real-Life Golden Fleece Paleontologists tell us the camel family arose in the North American Great Plains about 45 million years ago. One group took the Bering land bridge into Asia to establish the populations of Bactrian camels and dromedaries, while the other chose the southern route through Panama when that…
I was recently invited to speak about the American Alpaca Market to a group of alpaca breeders in England. I had not been across the pond for 36 years, it was Julie’s birthday and since we had not left our kids to go on a vacation for the past 18 years, we decided to fly…
Alpaca Herdsire Selection: The Art and the Science The herdsire for any breeding program is the single most important determinant of overall herd quality. It’s true for cattle, sheep, horses, or any other breed. For alpacas in North America the sire is even more important. Alpaca bloodlines are currently available for only four or five…