Re: [AlpacaTalk] Grey alpacas
Hi Michele -- this is one of those "alpaca myths" that keep circulating. It's not true that you can't breed grays with whites. In fact, many whites have gray genetics, so it's one of the better ways to get a gray -- particularly if you're using a blue-eyed white female (admittedly, we don't encourage breeding BEW males), since the blue-eyed white phenomenon occurs when an alpaca with a "white spot" gene is bred to another alpaca with a "white spot" gene -- and many -- if not most -- grays carry the "white spot" gene.
Gray IS difficult to breed for, and you do have to be very careful about your pairings, but it shouldn't be said that you can never breed grays and whties. The people who do object to that breeding strategy do so because unless you know a good bit about the genetics of the white animal, you can't know if it does, in fact, have the white spot gene because the white spot isn't visible on a white animal. It's an excess of caution, in many instances, that preclude breedings between grays and whites.
Until recently, when I began to disperse my huacaya herd, I used a MSG male extensively over my white females. One of those females had a gray sire. Bred to my MSG male, she has produced both LSG and brown. The other white gal must have a significant degree of fawn in her background, although all that shows on her pedigree is white. However, having bred her twice with a MRG and once with my MSG, she has produced two fawns and one white with a roan "saddle." I then bred her fawn daughter sired by the MRG male to my MSG male, and we got a fantastic LRG male who sold before he was 2 months old! As I market this package (now without the gray male, who's been sold), I do inform people that Catia has been shown to produce gray when bred to gray, and that Chrissy's progeny has produced gray when bred to gray. Chrissy herself seems to be a "generation away" - bred to gray, she herself doesn't produce it, but produces progeny who do. However, I do caution people to
exercise their best judgment when breeding for gray, no matter what color the gray is paired with.
If you're breeding for gray, do as much research as you can on the pedigrees of the animals you want to pair up, and make your decisions based on that information. Someday (soon, we hope) there will be some better scientific information available about gray alpaca color genetics, but until then, we have to go on what has worked in the past. (Obviously not every outcome will be what you want or expect, but that's pretty much the case with alpacas in general!)
Judith Korff
LadySong Farm Alpacas, Fleece & Flowers
Randolph, New York 14772
(716) 499-0383
www.alpacanation.
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posted by Chaddo at 8:55 AM
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