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Although a cria will get 50% of its genetic material from its mother, and 50% from its father, the male(s) used in a breeders program are, in the end, more important than the females due to the fact that females can only have one offspring per year, whereas a male can be responsible for your entire cria crop. Obviously, it is critical that you start with males that produce the kind of offspring that you want in your program.
Although the males in the background of my animals are "household names", it is more than just advertising. These males PRODUCE. To me, a handful of well conformed, fine fleeced crias win out every time over a barn full of ribbons and banners. The proof is in the pudding, as it were.
So here they are, some of the males that are the keystones of my breeding progam, with more to come!
This is Hemingway.
Impeccable conformation.
Impeccable fleece.
Impeccable offspring.
What more could you want?
Hemingway is the picture of "prepotent". Sons, grandsons and greatgrand sons are all included in the StudMaster program, and are vital members of many alpaca farms world wide. From Rural Allianza Macusani, when crossed with Accoyo line females, the results are spectacular. Read more about Hemingway and another legendary male, Caligula, here.
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This is Godfather, sire of my cria, Sting, and father of my newest acquisition, MaeJoy.
When I first saw Godfather, I just couldn't take my eyes off him. The words that came to mind - "Brick House".
I saw him again about a year later, and had the same reaction - just a spectacular male. And he has a stellar reputation for upgrading unimproved dams. I just had to have one of his female offspring, thus the addition of MaeJoy to my herd.
Here's Mike Safley's write up on him, and his fiber statistics over the years. Here is his page on Carol Kartsten's web site. |
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This is Pachacuti. He is second in line, to Hemingway, in the Studmaster program. I met him for the first time in November 2005. At the time, I had 2 females bred to him so I was quite interesting in getting my hands on him. Even at the age of 11 or so, he is still soft and dense. He is a big male, but with a calm, pleasing temperment. He had sired some incredible crias - has several National Champion offspring to his credit. More importantly to me, when bred to lower quality dams, he produces cria that are a huge improvement. My two girls had two female Pachacuti crias, and they are everything I could have hoped for. Here is Mike Safley's write up on Pachacuti, including past histograms. Here is more information on him, and more pictures, from Alpaca Familia, one of my other mentor farms. |
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