[Alpacasite] Re: Breeding Maidens (again)

Cathy,
Unfortunately I've found that too many breeders do just as you're
suggesting -- pass their culls off to the unsuspecting, and usually
at a very attractive price. Fortunately our industry is small
enough that word-of-mouth eventually catches up to breeders that
sell culls. The right thing to do, is to suck up the financial
loss, and either keep them as companions, or sell them as fiber
animals without papers - or with "non-breeder" identified on the
registration.

About the issue of hymens though -- after listening to a very
passionate presentation by Dr Toni Cotton, Bill and I have backed
off breeding our maidens until around 2 years of age. Dr Cotton
insists that a hymen is a sign of sexual immaturity, and that the
hymen will break down on its own (without the help of a penis or
gloved hand) when the animal is mature -- and that kushing is not a
sign of maturity.

We keep a couple of our own maidens each season for our breeding
program and since breeding the girls later, have had a great success
rate with conceptions on the first breeding -- 100% this season.
And we'll rule out the possibility of birthing complications if we
ensure hymens are gone (naturally) before breeding.

But as John suggested, perhaps animals that are slow to mature
should be culled??? I'm not sure though that the animals are
physically mature (filled out in full body size) until perhaps 3
years of age. Something to think about........after another cup of
coffee!

Warmest Regards,
Lisa

Alpaca Atlantic of TN: Full-time Ranchers, Full-time Commitment,
Full-time Support!
Manchester, Tennessee
Phone: (931) 728-6945

Web Site: http://www.Alpaca-Atlantic.com
E-mail: AlpacaAtlantic@aol.com

--- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, Cathy Stephenson
<midnightfire@c...> wrote:
>
> Okay here goes the question again seeings how the door is open
again. If we
> don't want this as a breed standard---what do you do with culled
animals? I
> know what a dairy or beef herd does but I also realize that
alpacas are
> vastly different. So what do you do. Pass an unexceptable
breeder of on
> another unsuspecting newby to deal with? What a way to build a
good name.
> Cathy
> StephenOakes Farms
> Chester, SC
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <jubileeacres@o...>
> To: <Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 1:54 AM
> Subject: Re: [Alpacasite] Re: Breeding Maidens (again)
>
>
> > Hi again John:
> > On this I agree with you 100%. Why continue to breed an animal
that has
> > this problem unless you want a barn full of animals with it.
Time to
> > cull.
> > --
> > Wayne
> > Southwestern Ontario,
> > Canada
> > http://jubileeacres.net
> > http://wordsmith.fateback.com
> >
> >
> > Quoting gatewayfarm <johnwmerrell@e...>:
> >
> >> --- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, Tim Wilson <tpwilson2@a...>
wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Why should this be necessary in a healthy, reproductively sound
> >> animal?
> >>
> >> And a follow up for those experiencing these issues with intact
hymens
> >> - Is this a heritable trait? If so, I would think that this
would be
> >> something we would want to very strongly select against,
especially if
> >> we are trying to breed production animals.
> >>
> >> John Merrell
> >> Gateway Farm Alpacas
> >> http://www.gateway-alpacas.com
> >> Alpaca, a natural elegance...
> >>
> >>

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