Fiber

The paper defines the major quality attributes of alpaca fibre (fibre diameter, fibre length, fibre colour, contamination and incidence of medullated fibres). The development of alpaca fleece and skin follicles is then discussed. The connection between the evolution in the textile market and alpaca fibre quality are discussed particularly in regard to fibre diameter variability. Suggestions on the methods of assessing fibre quality in the shearing shed, in the laboratory and in the office are made. Preliminary data from a survey of Australian alpaca fleece quality are presented along with some examples of fibre diameter and medullated fibre histograms produced by measurement on the optical fibre diameter analyser (OFDA). The paper concludes with a brief discussion on the main management and environmental effects on alpaca quality. more »

While many alpaca breeders have incorporated objective fibre measurement into their herd management strategies, ‘Fibre Growth Profiles’ are becoming popular for monitoring pre and post natal nutrition, particularly during the critical period of secondary follicle development in unborn crias. ‘Fibre Growth Profiles’ are linear graphs depicting variation in diameter along the fibres. This allows alpaca breeders to track nutritional intake of both the pregnant female and the cria in order to manage the development of secondary follicles, and thereby maximise potential for fibre density, fleece weight and fibre diameter. more »