WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN
PURCHASING ALPACAS

Derwydd Peruvian Huaman SIRE: Peruvian Hemingway DAM: PPeruvian Mireya		WRA Peruvian Kiya SIRE: Jolimont Peruvian Pauco DAM: Jolimont Peruvian Sasha		WRA Peruvian Kiyawa SIRE: Derwydd Peruvian Huaman DAM: WRA Peruvian Kiya

The equation was pretty simple, and the answer was just what we were expecting.

Great Quality Genetics + Great Quality Genetics = Great Quality Genetics

Unless you examine the individual traits and the animals pedigree, you don't have any idea of what you are putting into the equation.

You can take a lot of the guess work out of the equation by educating yourself and by purchasing and breeding good to superior quality breeding stock.

At Windy Ridge we look for alpacas that have good conformation (straight legs, strong bone structure and straight top line). We also like our alpacas to have a wide chest and a nice head with a strong muzzle. We do not want to see skinny narrow muzzles or short stubby ones. Here are three really good examples of the type of structure we like to see on our breeding alpacas;

Gorgeous Head with strong muzzle	Very strong frame with wide chest	Straight top line with perfect structure

In this segment we will discuss the physical traits of the alpaca. For an in depth look at fibre, visit our All About Fibre page.

The Alpaca - We have 2 distinct priorities and a 3rd and 4th that can overrule everything else:

(1) Conformation

(2) Fleece character

(3) Quality of Pedigree and Progeny

(4) Registration Certificates

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This is the animals foundation and framework. If this is not right the rest will eventually deteriorate.Look for good bone mass and animal size.

( small alpaca = small fleece weight )

At 2 yrs of age, if less than 32" at withers or less than 105 lbs they are to small and would have been disqualified had they been screened.

Side View:

• Top line straight to moderate convex, rump rounded down.
• Tail set low
• Correct angulation of the hock >135 degrees <150 degrees
• High set tail and post leggedness are Llama traits.
• Alpaca should not stand camped forward or behind, centre of hip should be perpendicular to a point ahead of the hock and behind the pad.
• Neck body and legs should be in the right proportion to one another, body and legs should be as square as possible.
  
• Muzzle should be short and triangular with good fitting jaw, incisors should be within .5 centimeter either way.
  
• Pastern angle - none - basically the leg should be straight over the pad, any degree of cocked ankle or anything over 10 degrees of pastern angle is suspect and anything greater than 30 degrees would have been a disqualification in screening.

Front View:

• Front legs not to close together, and straight. If you can't tell by sight if the legs are straight, feel them. Fibre has a tendency to grow heavier on the inside of the leg on some alpacas. The important thing to observe is the stride. If the leg strides straight forward it is straight. If there is any amount of leg deviation the leg will stride out and forward.
• You will have to decide what degree of deviation is acceptable to you, 90% of alpacas have some degree of leg deviation. Look at relatives, and compare, some deviation may be more nutrition based then genetic.
• Ears fine and spear shaped, some curvature is acceptable as long as it is convex and not concave on the inside like a banana

Rear View:

• If the fibre on the hocks is rubbing together as the animal walks we need to determine the reason.
  1. If the feet stride straight forward and plant the same distance apart as the hocks you don't have a problem except a bit of a narrow back end.
  2. If the legs stride out and forward and plant significantly further apart than the hocks, you have a cow hocked alpaca, even if the hocks are not close together. My observations have told me that this appears to be a very heritable trait. Cow hocked alpacas look clumsy when they walk because the leg is rotated at the hip.

   

Reproductive organs:

MALE - palpate the penis and the testicles, the penis to make sure it has not been injured or broken. Testicles should be the same size and quite firm. Adult testicles should be > 3cm in length.

FEMALE - position of the vulva should be near vertical, not shelved. Always, always get a written guarantee of reproductive ability.

Other Defects that are disqualifying features:

• Crooked tail - feel the tail, the cartilage should be straight, not crooked or spiralled.
• Teats - four normal teats, no more no less.
• Wry face - greater than 10 degrees
• Luxating patella

• We must realize that very few animals have it all, and of those that have a high percentage of the traits we want, many will not necessarily pass them on. That is why an alpaca that consistently produces a number of desired characteristics is so valuable, even though he or she may not have it all.
• When we have considered all the above and have narrowed our choices to certain animals, we want to see as many of the ancestors as possible, siblings full and half, and the progeny if there are any. We would like to know if the traits we see in the animal of choice are present in the relatives as well or is this one just a fluke. If its a male we are buying and we see none of his traits in the relatives we should probably pass. If its a female we should consider if we would be happy with the type of traits we see in the majority of the relatives, because that is what she may produce.

• Is it registered ? CLAA and ARI - we feel it is very important to view the U.S.A as part of our market. Even if you feel that you may not ever want to market animals in the U.S., your potential customers may want to do so.
• Never buy an animal with registrations pending. Always ask to see the registration certificates before making a deposit. If the alpaca is over six months old there is no excuse for it not to be registered, particularly if it is for sale.
• From the time the animal is paid for in full, the seller has six months to provide a certificate of registration in the name of the new owner. That is law in Canada.