We have started a new ‘marketing’ group down here in Texas.  It is called Alpaca Breeders of the Texas Hill Country and our goal is to have a brochure/map that will be available in area Visitor Centers, encompasing about seven Texas counties.  A lot of people visit the Texas Hill Country and just like the wineries around here advertise together, we decided as alpaca ranches we would do the same.  In order to get this brochure/map together we were looking for a picture for the front cover.  Here are some options…

All pictures on this site are the sole property of Leigh Thomas, please do not copy…..

Just 4 days overdue – not bad….

We are still patiently awaiting the birth of Sari’s Makulu cria.  Makulu is a pure white 3/4 Accoyo male who when bred to color can produce color.  He has had cria in colors ranging from white to medium brown.  Our female, Sari, is a color champion from the early 2000’s and is medium brown.  I am thinking she will have a white cria as the other three times she has been bred to white she has produced white.  But, I am in NO WAY an expert in genetics and stuff like that, so we could be surprised…..fine with me!

Will keep posting and you can be sure that I will include pictures of this little one once he/she arrives.

Day 323 – yep, that’s what Sari is at today.  Usual gestation for an alpaca is between 335 – 340 days, but can vary depending on the time of year.  Sometimes fall cria come a little early and spring cria will gestate a little longer.  Last year we had one dam go three days shy of a year then deliver a beautiful little bay black girl at 7pm in the evening! 

Sari is a Dom Lucilio daughter, the dam to Poseidon’s Isaac.  Last year she had a beautiful medium brown daughter by Snowmass Royal Flush.   This girl shows great promise!

We named her Taylor because of the distinct ‘T’ she has on her face….  and, Taylor is the name of a Texas county, which is how we are naming our alpacas.

  You can see more about Taylor at www.hillcountryalpacas.com
or at www.alpacastreet.com

Taylor has a first place ribbon from the A-OK Alpaca Blast Off 2009, and a third place from the 2009 10th Annual TxOLAN Alpaca Spectacular.  She is a very  nice finely fleeced little girl.

This year Sari was bred to Escondidos Makulu an outstanding son of the late El Nino.  Makulu’s cria have been taking blue ribbons and championships all year long.  Sari will surely have a cria of that same status and we are so looking forward to this cria.

Only a few more days to go Sari.  Can’t wait to see this baby!

We are very excited….Carson has been over in Alabama with her boyfriend – SCA Peruvian Magnum.  He is the son of PPPeruvian Misty Maiden, whose offspring have won over 60 Championships.  Magnum is an AOBA Champion with 4 AOBA Blue Ribbons and also won the coveted “Spirit of the Fiber Industry Award” at the AFCNA 2007 show.  It was his 5 year old fleece that was chosen over all other judged huacaya fleeces that year. 

Just in case you have ever wondered, they do take ‘baby pictures’ of alpacas in utero, just like they do for humans. 

It may be a little hard to tell, but this is a picture of the picture on an ultrasound machine.  In the bottom of the circle on the screen is a little bundle – a newly forming cria!  Congratulations Carson, we are thrilled – now to get you home.

Carson as a cria…..

SCA Peruvian Magnum

When confirming a pregnancy in alpacas there are options.

The best external sign of pregnancy is the female rejecting the male. This is usually demonstrated as the female “spits off” the male.  The pair are brought together, usually in a small area, and if the female is pregnant – she will run, scream, growl, lay her ears back, and/or spit at the male.  When a female is presented to a male 7 days after breeding and she “spits off” you can be fairly certain that she has ovulated and is probably pregnant, but you need to keep testing her, at 14 and 28 days.  Periodic testing is also recommended during the pregnancy to make sure she hasn’t dropped it.

Then, there is progesterone testing. Progesterone assays are, at best, only an indication of ovulation and pregnancy.  The vet draws blood and the blood is sent off to a lab for a progesterone test.  Progesterone concentration of 2 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) is considered indicative of normal pregnancy. 

Another way to confirm a pregnancy is to have the female ultrasounded.  Depending on the stage of pregnancy, the ultrasound probe may either be used trans-abdominally on the flank near the mammary glands or transrectally. Diagnosis by ultrasound creates a picture of the fetus. This has a great benefit as it leaves no doubt that there is a pregnancy.  Most ultrasound testing is done rectally. 

We have used all three methods when testing our girls for pregnancy.  Some girls know themselves so well and let you know without a doubt that they are pregnant by posturing and spitting at the male as he is brought into the pen with her.  But, there are others who just don’t really have a clue. 

For girls that come in from another ranch, called an ’outside breeding’  we always confirm the pregnancy with either a progesterone test or an ultrasound.

We have three girls who will be tested the week of the 23rd – they have been spitting and things are looking good, but in order for us to ‘earn’ the breeding fee, we provide proof of pregnancy by either a progesterone test or an ultrasound.

A couple months ago we were interviewed by Carolyn from Country World Newspaper.  She had seen our website, really liked it, and called one day to set up an interview.  Country World is the Rural Newspaper of Texas and can be viewed online at www.countryworldnews.com. 

The article on Hill Country Alpacas can be found by clicking here.

Carolyn was a joy to visit with and we enjoyed showing  her around the ranch.  She met some of our alpacas and took a lot of pictures.  We want to thank Carolyn for writing the article on our ranch.  A little free advertising never hurt anyone!  Thank you so much Carolyn.  Come back anytime!

Our herdsires, Dundee’s Stonewall Jaxon and Express’ Masterpiece Renoir have had a pretty busy winter – breeding!  Stonewall is a pro at breeding and now has about 14 cria and adding on the ground, but Renoir needed some coaching as this was his first breeding season.   It’s pretty interesting being involved in getting a new male up and going…some know exactly what to do and others are a little shy.  We have even had to ‘orgil’ ourselves to get one of our guys going.  Pretty weird, but true.  And, it worked – that’s the good news.

We have had success!  Stonewall has bred about 4 females this winter and Renoir has about 8 girls spitting at him vehemently.  Whoopee!!!  Renoir will be going to our partner’s ranch, Escondido Alpacas,  in about two weeks as he has some dates there waiting for him.

So, we will know in about 11.5 months what these new little ones will look like and have high expectations for all of them.

This is a picture of the fleece of our new herdsire Express’ Masterpiece Renoir. 

How do you like the looks of this stuff?  The brightness in this fleece is extraordinary and the bold crimp style seems to be fairly typical of Peruvian Express’ offspring.  Take a look at this half brother owned by Irish Meadows Alpaca Farm.

We are excited to have this offspring of Peruvian Accoyo Express in Texas.   We have Renoir at our ranch until mid March and he has two remaining introductory breedings left.  If you are interested, give us a call.

Little Miss Cameron who was born atleast 14 days early is doing very well.  We took her to the vet yesterday morning to get her blood drawn for an IgG test.  That part always gives me a little fright since the cria are so small.  But, she did great and today her results came back at greater than 1500 and that is good.  So evidently Angelina had an ample supply of colostrum on board even though she delivered a little early.

Cami is a little squirt, but plays and jumps with the best of them.  Here she is at three days old!

She’s still got the tongue hanging out thing going on…  she is saying hello to Jack!  Sorry about the poop shovel in the background.  It just seems that whenever I get a decent pose with the alpacas there is always something in the way.

Angelina is due to deliver her cria mid December.  This will be her first one so we are keeping a very close watch on her.  She is in the pasture with the other three moms and their cria.  We did this so that she would be there when those kids were born and kind of get used to the idea that that is where she will be soon.  A mommy alpaca!

Today is day 316 out of an average gestation of 340 days.  Her due date is around December 16th.  I will post a picture of her soon.