Tumi Alpacas Latest News

Sister Stud in NSW – Jan. 2009

Margaret Cobb of Woonooka Alpacas near Tamworth will act as an outlet for Tumi Alpacas.

Our stud males will rotate through our Victorian properties and Margaret's property in northern NSW.

	University Vet Students at Tumi for 10 days – Dec. 2008
	Once again, vet students from the University of Melbourne spent 10 days at Tumi Alpacas. They were involved with shearing, spit-offs, mating's, castrations, a difficult birth, fencing, injections, and even an autopsy. Jessica Goh, Chua Sue-Mae and Jessica Melo contributed to the running of the farm and went away with some great experiences.

	Show success – Dec. 2008
	This year Tumi Alpacas finally bit the bullet and showed for the first time. We tested the waters at Stawell, Werribee and Creswick. Every entry won a ribbon, resulting in 7 Blue, 6 Red and 3 White.

	Alpaca Expo – Sep. 2008
	A freezing day with snow on the nearby Grampians. There was a lot of interest shown. The weather meant that the 130 people that turned up were serious about alpacas.

	Shearing at Creswick – Nov. 2008
	I assisted Tim Purcell at our yearly alpaca shearing demo. Interest was greater than in previous years and it is likely to continue as an annual event.

	Herd guard trial – Feb. 2008
	Discussions are underway with Longerenong College near Horsham to set up a trial of alpaca herd guards. A group of students doing The Advanced Diploma in Agriculture will design and carry out the experiment under the supervision of Longerenong staff. Wethers and advice will be provided by Tumi alpacas.

New Male – Dec. 2007

Months ago, I picked up some males from Elizabeth Paul. One of these boys surprised me. On loading I found his handle to be exceptional. I asked about his genetics and was informed that he was out of a Drambuie girl and was one of two Hot Shot Blacks. So here was another Highlander line black male. I tested his fleece and immediately had him certified. Roscrea Alpacas decided to go half share in this amazing male and we await his first cria.

	Greenhills Bradley the beautiful – Dec. 2007
	“Greenhills Bradley the beautiful” is about to come on line. At birth he was black but we are now sure he is dark brown. He is by ILR NWA Luminosa out of a Licence girl. Watch out for his progeny in a year’s time.

	Creswick shearing – Nov. 2007
	As part of continued support for Creswick Woollen Mills. Tim Purcell and myself conducted shearing demonstrations at the mill. There was a lot of interest from the general public including a number of sheep shearer's that were interested in shearing alpacas in the future.

	Shearing workshop – Oct. 2007
	Mathew McAninly from Alpaca Fleece Ltd was on hand at our shearing days to advise 40 breeders on fleece preparation. A BBQ was provided and a good day was had by all.

	Angry’s Simpson Safari – Sep. 2007
	Angry Anderson recently crossed the Simpson Desert to raise funds for the Dunn/Lewis Foundation. www.dunnlewisfoundation.org.au Dan Bolwell from Super Dinosaur Alpacas and myself went along to assist with the trip. Even around Broken Hill we found alpacas being used as herd protectors.

Tumi Alpacas receives a surprise nomination

	Surprise nomination – Jul. 07
	On July 11th The Weekly Times contained a two page story on Tumi Alpacas. We were expecting the story but there was a pleasant surprise – We had been nominated for The Weekly Times Farm Business Awards. Herald and Weekly Times photo collection.

	Miracle cria – Jun. 2007
	When Simone Dalton from the Weekly Times arrived to do a story she didn’t expect to be assisting with pulling a cria during a difficult birth. The unusual thing was that within 20 seconds of hitting the ground, the cria was up and walking, still covered in its entire birth membrane. The story and this photo appeared on page 3 June 27th. Herald and Weekly Times photo collection.

	Our own genetics have come back – Apr. 2007
	Tumi Xcalibre has joined our mobile mating service. Owned by Bodwyn Alpacas, he is by Purrumbete Brigantine out of our best female by Purrumbete Inti. His full brother is now making his mark in Germany as an elite male.

	Grey genetics join the team - Apr. 2007
	When Fiona Burchell sent a photo of her new acquisition, Narraburra Jo-Jo, I was impressed. His genetics are even better and he now has cria on the ground that are really superb. His grey genetics will compliment the Tumi Alpacas mobile team.

	Thorpedo – Feb. 2007
	Timbertop Thorpedo, by the Scud out of a Luminosa girl (yes, we have bought our own genetics back) has started to work and will soon be available for outside matings.

	Mystic Force’s first cria – Jan. 2007
	The first Mystic Force cria is on the ground. A solid black girl. The mother is very ordinary but Mystic has overridden this to produce a well conformed cria with extreme density, lustre and fleece character.

	Lumo hits the ton – Oct. 2006
	ILR Luminosa now has 100 registered offspring with more on the way. His offspring include Eringa Park Conquistador, Daltilda Oscar and Samaria Valley Saladin, all champions in their own right

	Mystic Force wins again – Jul. 2006
	Timbertop Mystic Force has taken out a blue ribbon at Stawell Show and a 3rd ribbon at Werribee. Judges have commented on his perfect confirmation. His first cria are due in November.

	Bravo on the move – Jul. 2006
	Congratulations to Maria McIntyre of Pinaroo alpacas who has purchased Benleigh Bravo after making an offer that we couldn’t refuse. We have mated over 20 females to him and hope he does well at Pinaroo. We have retained a number of matings as we would hate to lose his genetics completely.

	Congratulations to Samaria Valley – Nov. 2005
	Alan and Nita Frampton of Samaria Valley Alpacas have had further success with Saladin, son of ILR Luminosa, and now a stud male in his own right. Saladin has added blue ribbons from Bendigo, Melbourne Royal and The Nationals to his list of achievements. He can be seen on www.samariavalleyalpacas.com.au

Introducing….. Dec. 2005

Timbertop Thorpedo – Scud/Alin Capac, Luminosa/Hemingway lines, Alpaca specialist Arafura – Dorchester/Julius, Brutus/Highlander lines, Timbertop Mystic Force – Scud/Alin Capac, Rufo lines (co-owned by Boddwyn Alpacas)

These boys are presently being certified and their fleece stats are pending. Mystic Force will be working early 2006. The others, even though they are well grown out, will probably not be working until 2007. We cant wait!