Fiber

Testing and then understanding fleece testing results is invaluable to alpaca breeders. It allows stud owners to make educated and informed decisions in their breeding programs. It also gives breeders information on the quality of their fleece in regards to processing into products. more »

When in Venice, do as the Venetians do! That is, every minute you are out on the street, look as good as you possibly can! So we did. For my part, a divinely soft, hand spun, and loosely hand knitted alpaca scarf was donned, both to make me feel smug, and to make me feel snug. And I did! On about the third day , to my horror, I noticed a hole! And then progressively more; until on day five, there were about 6 holes! How could this be? Had the silverfish had lunch there? Was the spinning poorly done? Was I being too rough with my treasured scarf? more »

All alpaca breeders need to be able to weigh their fleeces. Fleece weights are one of just a few parameters that are vital to the record of any alpaca breeding program. They are as basic and as important as the more commonly promoted results of fibre testing, such as mean fibre diameter because, however you look at it, the financial returns on sale of fleece will primarily be determined by fibre diameter and fleece weights. more »

An investigation of commercially important alpaca fibre attributes aimed to identify the influence of management and production variables on alpaca fibre and to quantify the relative economic value of fibre production. Fleeces from five farms in southern Australia (n = 1100) were measured using midside samples and standard tests and were assigned a relative economic value based on an analysis of market price data. Greasy fleece (GFW) and saddle weights of Huacayas peaked at 2 years and Suris at 3 years of age and then declined with increases in age until 6 years of age. GFW of Huacaya were not affected by mean fibre diameter (MFD). In Suris, GFW increased with MFD reaching a peak at 29–33 μm. Mean ± S.D. of clean washing yield was 92.0 ± 1.5%. The proportion of the fleece as saddle, neck and skirting components was (mean ± S.E., %): saddle 55.9 ± 0.9, neck 16.3 ± 0.5, skirtings 27.8 ± 0.6. About, 10% of Huacayas had fleeces with MFD < 24.0 μm, while 14% of Suris had fleeces < 24.0 μm. Both Huacayas and Suris had about 50% of fleeces with mean fibre diameter > 29.9 μm. One-third of Huacaya and Suri saddles had 50% of their fibres medullated. For Huacaya and Suri alpaca, the incidence of medullated fibres increased linearly from 10 to 60% by weight as MFD increased from 20 to 36 μm. The ratio of medullated fibre diameter to MFD declined as MFD increased. For Huacaya, there was no change in average staple length as MFD increased. Huacaya alpaca had a greater fibre curvature than Suri alpaca. Data on resistance to compression and staple strength was correlated with other fibre attributes. The price declined by 11% per 1 μm increase in MFD from 22 to 26 μm and by 5% per 1 μm increase between 27 and 34 μm. The total relative economic value increased with increasing GFW and with increasing saddle weight up to 2.5 kg. Total relative economic value declined as MFD increased above 23 μm, increasing live weight above 60 kg and with increasing age above 2 years for Huacaya and 3 years for Suri. The productivity and economic returns from fleece production of Huacaya and Suri breeds was similar. The Australian industry needs to implement commercial mating, shearing and culling strategies to maximise production and returns from animals aged less than 3 years. The main driver of economic value from fleece production was lower MFD of the fleece. more »

Covers a brief history of alpaca fleece, its structure, how to evaluate it on the alpaca, and how to care and prepare it. more »