[Alpacasite] Re: Pet Quality Definition

For me, pet quality has the following that would exclude that alpaca
from becoming breeding stock:
Any genetic faults, such as leg conformation problems, floppy ears,
permanently dropped pasterns, no milk production, teat deformaties,
bad bite, etc.
Bad fleece, such as no crimp, very short staple length, coarse, shaggy
looking.
Most females are used as breeding stock because you can "breed up" to
an outstanding stud and hope for big improvement on the dam. When
buying an older female, their fleece qualities usually drop, so you
look at their offspring to see if the dam can pass on good qualities.
We have bought a couple of "muttly" looking females, but they have
awsome production records. When we bought our herd, we got a few bred
females and a couple of "pet quality" geldings. The geldings are for
companionship for a female when she is alone being shipped off to be
bred. We didn't buy our herdsire with our first purchase. We "bred
out" instead, to bring in different bloodlines so when we did have
males, we could use at least one (if he made the "cut") for future
breedings to our females.
There is a ton to try to absorb, so take your time, learn all you can,
and meet people who you can trust their opinion and their ability
to "tell it like it is". Good luck!

Jeanne
Chaffee, NY

--- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, "rosannferris" <rosannferris@y...>
wrote:
>
> I have read that there isn't breed standard for either type of
alpaca.
> What determines if an animal is "pet quality"? I am currently
learning
> all I can about alpacas before investing. I scanned the message and
> file histories to see if this specific question has been addressed;
I
> only found references to leg length and amount of fleece crimp.
Your
> insight will be greatly appreciated.
> Regards,
> Rosann Ferris, Kennewick, WA
>

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