Alpaca news

AlpacaFest at Werribee Park certainly proved its’ ‘tag line’ true – “AlpacaFest – Premier Alpaca Show“.

The show attracted record entries both in animals and in fleeces. Not just large numbers of entries, but also commented high quality entries.

Ron Reid (WA) and Kate Mander (NZ) undertook the task of judging the large classes in the ring, and Julie Bird (NSW), with Chris Williams (SA) as ‘apprentice’ judged the 117 entered fleeces. Alpacas were entered from all but one state of Australia, and fleeces from all states and overseas.

The outcomes were an optimum method for semen collection and AI of alpacas under Australian conditions, the education of alpaca breeders in the benefits of using AI technology in their own herds to hasten improvement of fibre quality, and the production of a manual that can be used by small ruminant artificial breeding centres and practising veterinary practitioners to provide commercial AI programs to alpaca breeders.