Alpaca, Alpaca Breeders, Flowerdale Estate Alpacas, Alpaca farming and alpaca investment opportunities

ALPACA RESOURCE CENTRE FLOWERDALE ESTATE ALPACAS

Breeding Performance Fleeces

Our Breeding Aim

Our goal is to breed for heavy cutting, fine and ultra soft huacaya alpaca fleeces exhibiting density, length and fineness characteristics that are measurably, well above the industry standard.

SO HOW ARE WE DOING THIS? To assist with breeding decisions we have engaged Dr Jim Watts, a research veterinarian and founder of The SRS Company, as Herd Advisor. Dr Watts uses an animal breeding system that targets density and length of fibres as the means of genetically improving the quantity and quality of the fleece. With the achievement of greater density and length of fibres, heavy cutting fleeces will be achieved. The process used by Dr Watts selects for high levels of fibre density and fibre length indicated by the very long and closely packed fibre bundles that make up the fleeces. These animals deliver high weights of fine diameter fleeces. As density increases, the fibre becomes sustainably finer in diameter.

The SRS Company Pty Ltd was established in 1998, to operate a breeding quality assurance system for wool producers wishing to produce Soft Rolling Skin® animals and fleece. Today we are applying this proven methodology to alpaca breeding that will allow us to breed new generation fibres from our alpacas.

FLOWERDALE ESTATE ALPACAS is an SRS Alpaca Seedstock Producer using the SRS breeding system.

The alpaca originates from two-coated ancestors with an outer coat of coarse and medullated primary fibres (‘guard hair’) of about 80 microns diameter and an inner coat of very fine secondary fibres (‘down’), about 16 microns in diameter. By selection for fleece quality, the alpaca has moved noticeably toward a single coated animal. However, the two-coated characteristics have been reduced, not eliminated. For example, the primary fibres in many alpacas are still 5 to 10 microns stronger than the secondary fibres. This indicates to us that our breeding program has to focus on reducing the diameter of the primary fibres to be finer than the secondary fibres, which must also be fine. At the same time the fibres should be as long as possible.

SRS® breeding (see www.srsalpacas.com) is a promising new way of improving the fleece weight, fineness and fibre quality of alpacas. It has been applied successfully to Merino flocks and Angora herds in Australia, Argentina and Chile. Flowerdale Estate Alpacas has adopted these methodologies to improve its breeding results that can be passed on to other breeders in the form of improved breeding stock.

The concept is based on the pre-papilla cell research of Moore et al (1998), Pattern and morphogenesis in skin, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 191:87-94, and later unpublished data. This work has shown that the density and fineness of fibres is controlled by the size of the pre-papilla cell clusters (show left) formed in the foetal skin. High follicle density and fine fibres require small clusters to form from a large starting population of pre-papilla cells. Large clusters produce low follicle density and coarse fibres.

Fibre length is thought to be regulated by the ‘single strength’ of mitogen(s) produced by the pre-papilla cells (shown left). Strong signals are thought to increase fibre growth rate, and vice versa. High fibre density requires a large starting population of pre-papilla cells in the foetal skin and for these cells to be distributed as small clusters to both the primary fibre follicles and secondary fibre follicles. Follicle formation is completed before the animal is born. Fibre length is also a measurable response of pre-papilla activity. So the ‘package’ of desirable follicle and fibre characteristics we are seeking to breed in our alpacas are: very fine primary fibres of uniform diameters (eventually finer than the secondary fibres) - allows a greater proportion of the pre-papilla cells to be available to form secondary fibre follicles. high follicle density associated with high levels of secondary follicle branching (the latter equates to high secondary follicle to primary follicle [S/P] ratio) –an expression of many pre-papilla cells being available to form secondary follicles which, in turn, are formed by small clusters. Hence the secondary fibres are also fine and uniform in diameter. very long fibres of uniform length.

So, what is the benchmark today with alpacas of good fleece quality and what are the achievable goals for the future?

INDUSTRY STANDARDS. The current industry standard for alpacas considered of good fleece quality can be described in the table below. The SRS breeding aims for the future are also shown below.

	Current Average Industry Standard for Good Fleece Quality	SRS® Breeding Goal
DENSITY folicles per sq mm	40 folicles	85 folicles
SP Ratio	10 to 1	20 to 1
LENGTH of fibre	0.40mm per day (0.25mm in older animals)	0.70mm per day

It is certainly possible to breed animals that have fleece that is a lot denser, finer and longer than current industry standards. The SRS breeding goal (as stated above) is to breed alpacas that have primary fibres finer than the secondary fibres, secondary fibres that are up to 10 microns finer than currently seen in adult animals, follicle densities above 85 follicles per square millimetre and S/P ratios above 20 to 1. The objective is to improve fibre length to 0.70 millimetres per day or more and maintain this length throughout much of the animal’s life.

OUR BREEDING PLAN. At Flowerdale Estate we are selecting females (on the basis of SRS density and length profiles) of low variation in fibre diameter between the primary and secondary fibres and mating them to males that exhibit high levels of density and length.

Our starting point is to measure the performance of our fleeces. At shearing time our fleeces are weighed and measured for length. Skin biopsy tests are taken from promising females to determine those with the greatest potential for gains in density and length.
These females are mated to males exhibiting high levels of density and length. The resulting progeny are expected to move one step closer to the breeding goals above.

In time, this will provide breeding stock of superior fleece characteristics that will be available to breeders wishing to accelerate the performance of their breeding programs.

 

 

Dr Jim Watts