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.
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