RE: [AlpacaTalk] BEW
Hi Wendy,
BEW means a Blue Eyed White animal…not every animal with any blue in the eyes. And even with the BEW’s…not all of them are deaf; but it is a more common problem with BEW than with just a random animal within the herd.
There was quite a stir when I took my blue eyed gray animal into the show ring. We had brought a 10 month old white girl and had to have another animal to accompany her and keep her company at the show. Only animals entered in the show could be in the pens, so we had to enter another animal and Pandora was our choice because I was a newby and I thought she had t he nicest fleece we owned…but everyone said don’t enter a blue eyed animal.
Well, she went blue and was held out for color championship where she again went up…at Alpaca Mania. It told me right then that her fleece was the most important thing. I knew that she had a good bite and was conformationally correct. Before the show, lots of other entrants stopped by the pen to ask us “why” we were entering a blue eyed animal. After the show some of those same folks came by to look more closely at her fleece. In the end if the conformation and fleece are correct, and the animal is healthy…the eye color is not a factor that an American judge CAN consider according to the rules today.
Now, if s he acted blind or deaf, that would be a matter of her health and in a sense, her conformation…not a healthy conformation if the ears or eyes don’t function. But in an otherwise healthy animal…not a problem. And a fleece I would like to be able to consistently reproduce in my herd. Pandora is now 5 and is just being rebred for a 4th cria…her fleece is still about 22 microns in what is now her 5th shearing. That being able to hold fineness and overall quality is another of the things that I dearly want to breed into my herd. So she’s a keeper in my view.
I know that there is a lot of bias against the blue eyes, but again, I think that has a lot to do with fear and not being truly confident about our breeding decisions. Blue eyes are not any more dangerous than dark fleece. Breed a very dark and dense animal..and they are more heat stroke prone. Would you remove all your dark animals from your herd? Not likely. Well it is the same with my blue eyed ones….just a matter of knowing how and who to pair off. Those dark animals are great for getting clearer colors, and the density…we need it for some of our fine, crimpy…but not overly dense Chilean girls. So..pair the dense boy with the dark fleece to one of our light Peruvian girls whose fleece is very long stapled but not as dense.
It is all in the mix and that is an art that we keep learning more about as we do it.
Thanks for the nice comments…I usually expect a tomato or two whenever I say this!
Allison
Allison E. Moss-Fritch
New Moon Alpacas
Santa Clara, CA
http://www.newmoona
408/248-3581
From: AlpacaTalk@yahoogro
Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2009 8:17 PM
To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogro
Subject: Re: [AlpacaTalk] BEW
hi Allison - thank you so much for settling the issue of the rectangular pupil for me - i was told by an "experienced breeder" that that was the sure sign of BEW and that is what convinced me this little guy had no future. - my other alpacas have very dark eyes and i can't see the pupils to compare them
judges here, i have been told, discriminate against blue eyes even tho nothing is said "officially" - it's confusing as to what actually constitutes a BEW - is it only the bright blue eyes?
so many different opinions - it's interesting discussion tho - i know i've learned more from this group than any book or article i've read
thanks again
Wendy
DreamWeaver Alpacas
BC
----- Original Message -----
From: Allison Moss-Fritch
Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2009 10:04 AM
Subject: RE: [AlpacaTalk] BEW
Hi Wendy,
If his conformation and fiber are exceptional, then his “blue grey eyes” are not a problem as he’s not deaf. So long as you know how you will use him in your breeding program, you are not wrong to do so. I would not breed him to a white animal or a girl with a lot of white spots, (for instance for wristlets or sox and a white throat,) but neither would I automatically figure he’s going to have to be a gelding. He might be just the thing to cover a solid fawn or black animal or a good bayblack or brown female with lovely fiber. He might be a great asset in someone else’s breeding program as well if he is as good as you say he is.
All alpacas have a rectangular pupil just like goats do, so that is not unusual in itself.
We have a female gray alpaca here who has blue eyes….she is also a color champion and an important part of our breeding program because of her absolutely wonderful fleece. She is 5 now, her fleeces still win ribbons and are below 24 microns, 19 CV, and has had 2 lovely female crias with dark eyes for us. She just had a charcoal gray boy with deep blue/gray eyes…but the fiber is WONDERFUL and the conformation and bite are just fine at the moment, so I will probably show him this fall…he’s an unusual color fiber wise and I’m wondering where they will place him color wise.
BEW is a big scary thing in alpacas mostly because a lot of the alpaca folks have never bred livestock or petstock before coming to this industry. In other animals….when you breed two dilute grays together you sometimes get a BEW type situation…but not except in abour 1 of 4…so when the breeding is a good one, you just might take the chance. If you get an exceptional and rare “bi-blue” animal, then GREAT! You may also get one “defective” one in the litter as well. It is just something that happens…the animals are not removed from the breeding program, the world does not judge you badly for the sad event…etc.
Cats, dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, some swine, occasional horses, all have a “similar” type genetic event in their genetic backgrounds. I don’t know whether that is true in sheep and goats, but it may be there as well.
Don’t be pushed by folks who do not know much but fear about genetics!
Allison
Allison E. Moss-Fritch
New Moon Alpacas
Santa Clara, CA
http://www.newmoona
lpacas.com 408/248-3581
From: AlpacaTalk@yahoogro
ups.com [mailto:AlpacaTalk@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of Wendy Edwards
Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 9:40 PM
To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlpacaTalk] BEW
hi - last year i had a white male born here - his eyes aren't bright blue as i've seen in some BEW but are an odd color, like a dark bluish-gray - they look different in different lights and are hard to describe - but his pupil appears to be rectangular,
and from what i understand, this is a characteristic of BEW. - when he was born his nose and lips were bright pink and i wonder if that was an indication of something genetically out of balance. i read everything i can about BEW as it is a concern to me, but most articles are written in language that is confusing to me as i'm not a scientist - this boy would be in the show ring except for the color of his eyes. - luckily he has exquisite fibre, a very sweet personality and is not deaf. He will be trained as a therapy / companion animal.
i'm having my boy gelded after fly season - and i won't be breeding his parents together again, even though both have dark eyes, well-known bloodlines and no history of BEW that i can find. I am very careful when breeding, and do a lot of research on the different bloodlines - it is really disappointing to know that no matter how careful i am, there are some things beyond my control.
Wendy
DreamWeaver Alpacas
BC
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posted by Chaddo at 9:53 PM
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