Tumi Alpacas Breeding

Health: Animals that are not prone to some of the conditions that some “highly bred” animals suffer from. We breed for vigorous animals that have good mothering attributes, are good milkers.

Conformation: A sound animal is a healthy animal. A good frame is essential before you can start to lay the fleece on.

Lustre and Handle: This is what alpaca has over all other natural fibres. If we don’t breed for this, we are not exploiting the advantages of alpaca.

Colour: Alpaca have the advantage over all other fleece producing animals in that they produce an incredible variety of fleece colours from pure white to blue black. In an increasingly more green society, using less bleaches and dyes will be a positive.

Consistency: Commercially important in that we can provide commercial quantities of fleece with the same attributes to send to strategic partners.

Fleece weight: We will be paid for how much we can produce.

Staple length: Maybe we will be able to shear twice a year!!!?

Price: We believe that animals need to be reasonably priced in order to allow a large number of people to build their own herds and there needs to be enough “fruit on the tree” for everyone.

Coverage: Many show animals are bred for coverage. In the major fleece growing areas of Australia, head coverage is a disadvantage. Fleece around the face attracts grass seed which can enter the eyes and ears, causing problems. In a small herd this can be monitored and overcome. In a large commercial herd it is a problem that you don’t need. An alpacas sweat glands are on the lower legs. Fleece coverage here could interfere with the animals cooling system. The head and leg fleece are thrown out at shearing – they have no commercial value – so why breed for it?

We believe that the future of the industry is in broadacre production of fibre so most of our sales are to people who are already farming. The interest in alpaca has gone way beyond a hobby. For people who understand animal breeding and husbandry and have long experience in pasture management, alpacas are the perfect avenue for farm diversification.

Think about what you want to achieve. Be sure about how much you want to invest. Visit as many alpaca studs as you can.

Most people that breed these animals, love talking about them. The AAA website can be a good start.