The recent Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association nationals in Sandy Utah were something of a disappointment.

The number of alpacas entered was down to 700 from 1300 in previous years. I guess there are several reasons why this might be. Gas is now over $4 in this part of the US so hauling to Sandy Utah can be an expensive operation. The recent bout of coronavirus that appears to have been doing the rounds of alpaca shows has also certainly put some people off attending shows and exposing their alpacas to this viral infection.
Then to cap it all we are experiencing something of an economic downturn although I hesitate to use the 'R" word as I can be superstitious at times.

Of course some will blame it on the fact that Sandy is the "West Coast" show and west coast breeders don't support it like east coast breeders support the "East Coast" show.... this may be true but I have never seen any hard facts one way or the other.

As usual the Saturday Seminars were poorly attended and this is always the case as there is so much more to do especially if you are showing alpacas.

There has to be a move to split the National show and the National conference. Make the national alpaca show just for alpacas that have won at a regional alpaca show. And move the seminars and all the other good stuff in winter mixed in with the annual Fiber to Fashion.

The auction I would leave with the national show in the spring/summer....but again the general economic environment meant that this years auction was something of a damp squib with some alpacas failing to reach their reserve price.

The biggest challenge we face is getting the powers that be to admit that a wheel has come off the wagon and it now needs fixing. If this were a corporation I feel sure the shareholders would have replaced certain board members long ago.

The 2008 Alpaca Registry Board of Directors election tabulation is completed and the results were announced. There were two Director positions open this year as Bruce Beatty and Wayne Jarvis concluded their three year terms. Bruce Beatty ran for re-election.

The new Directors will each serve a three year term. They are Bruce Beatty and Wayne Robinson.

The 2008 results were:
Bruce Beatty 641
Chris Gray 384
Carl McGill 319
Wayne Robinson 470

There were a total of 941 valid ballots cast.

Wayne Jarvis didn't run for reelection as I understand he will be returning to the Alpaca Registry (ARI) to lead the EPD project they are working on. Quite how the alpaca EPD project pans out remains to be seen and some fundamental questions need to be answered in my opinion.

If you are wondering what in the world are EPDs, then visit the EPDLibrary.org and check out the almost 50 articles that are posted from industries such as cattle, pigs and sheep.

The planning has already started for National Alpaca Farm Day 2008. Or National Alpaca Farm Days as the web site is called.



The promotional poster looks substantially like last years poster but I guess that might help build up some familiarity. Personally i would have liked to see something different. But that would just be splitting hairs.

The dates for National Alpaca Farm Day 2008 are September 27th and 28th. So make a note in your calendars and diaries right now!

The newly launched EPDLibrary is going well and already there have been over 500 visitors to the website. Thank you to all those people who took the EPD survey and signed up for the EPD Newsletter.

Well after three long months of hard graft I am delighted to announce that the work of the Affiliate Congress EPD Task Group is now complete and available to anyone who is interested.
My original idea back in February of an e-mail about Alpacas and EPDs soon expanded into a dedicated website www.epdlibrary.org

Our thanks go to Alpacas Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA) member Dr Sara Via who is a statistical geneticist at the University of Maryland and who organized the many articles and wrote the explanatory text.

Thanks also to Gwen Wolff who researched the various EPD experts to create a speaker list, identified many useful EPD resources from other livestock industries and kept me focused.

Please encourage your fellow alpaca enthusiasts to visit the website, read about EPDs, take the EPD survey and if inclined sign up for the EPD Newsletter. The site is very much a work in progress so if you have any comments or suggestions you know where to contact me.

EPDs@mulberryalpacas.com

The annual AFCNA election results are now available and the new board members are:

Carol Boswell
Joyce Judy
John Merrell

Its great to see John Merrell is back up there having done such a great job turning the fiber cooperative around over the last few years. Sadly Larry Vellozzi another local alpaca breeder didn't make it onto the board but at least he tried.

As John Merrell says:

"Our Cooperative is exactly that - "Ours" - and those willing to share of their skills and sacrifice their time in order to make us successful demonstrate and exceptional commitment and sense of ownership."

Lets hope the cooperative continues to go from strength to strength and as we all go into shearing season if you don't have a well thought our use for your fibre then send it to the cooperative. Now of course if you go ahead and join the AFCNA then one day you will also participate in the dividends that flow back to members.

The alpaca industry is not short of alpaca shows but one of my personal favourites is the annual AFCNA show. This year the AFCNA show is in Denver, Colorado from August 2nd to 3rd. Check it out if you want to avoid the stress that most shows can generate then this is the show for you.

It's time to register for the countries biggest mail-in Alpaca Fleece Show. Here are just some of the highlights.......

• AOBA-Certified Huacaya and Suri Fleece Show
• Top Judges: Jill MacLeod, Sharon Loner & Wade Gease!
• Free Seminars by industry experts - again!
• Awesome sightseeing in Denver, Colorado
• Gorgeous Ribbons for 1st through 6th places
• Color Championships with awesome banners!
• Sponsors get FREE Rooms, Meals and More!
• Sponsor and Attendee Awards and Gifts!
• FREE DVDs of Ribbon Placements and Free Seminars!
• Make it a holiday - the whole family will enjoy Denver!

AFCNA National Alpaca Fleece Show 2008 Show Sponsorship Opportunities and Registration Forms

AOBA 2008 National Conference
Sandy, Utah
Late Entries Now Open until May 9
Fleece and Halter Show
We are excited to announce the Halter and Fleece Show will allow late entries. If you thought you missed an opportunity for show participation at the Sandy, Utah event it is not true. You will be able to enter Fleece and Halter until Friday, May 9.


The above email arrived today from AOBA and despite their "excitement" I am guessing that entry levels are well down on previous years. Why is that? Well the price of gas is one thing and that can add big money to a long road trip. The location is not a good one, its often described by breeders on the East Coast as the West Coast show,....but breeders on the West Coast do not see Sandy, Utah as being on the West Coast....

The time really has come to rethink the National Show and make it a qualifying show only for alpacas that have won previous events at a regional level. Then we could put all the seminars and so forth into a winter conference. As far as I can see its a no brainer but the AOBA board are not know for their innovation or courage and for many years now we have had the same old same old.....

The current board would sooner spend thousands on a compere aka "motivational speaker" for the Gala Dinner than address the real issues.

In researching EPDs in Alpaca I discovered a wealth of research and information about Cattle, Pigs and Sheep. But there is also quite a bit of activity in breeding value estimation in the horse world, but most of it is restricted to Europe and currently, especially Ireland where there is a very talented and influential horse geneticist called Paddy Cunningham.

There has never been much enthusiasm for formal, performance-based genetic evaluation in horses in the US, even though it was shown over 25 years ago that racing performance of Standardbred racehorses was quite heritable and would almost certainly respond well to selection.

The show and conformation mentality is strong in most US horse associations, although there is some interest in warmbloods. The Jockey Club, which oversees Thoroughbred Racing is only concerned about competitive races.

Here are some sites for those that are interested:

Irish Horses

More Irish genetics

Genetics to select jumping horses

Horse Magazine

Haflinger horses

Breeding the German Riding Horse

Alpaca shearing season is upon us! This is an important event for members of the Ideal Alpaca Community who each year send in samples of all their fleeces so that EPDs can be calculated for all the alpacas.

IAC members have made it possible to produce the only Estimated Progeny Differences program that spans the country.

The results of the 2007 EPD analysis will be available within 60 days. It has taken us a bit longer than we anticipated, but we are almost there. Dr. David Notter of Virginia Tech has just about completed the analysis. Also, we will post the EPDs of all the Studmaster males on the IAC website, along with additional articles. In late Summer or early Fall the Ideal Alpaca Community will be presenting live webinars on understanding and using EPDs.

By submitting fleece samples through the IAC you put yourself in the unique position of receiving enhanced histogram reports that include 12 measurements and statistics. More importantly, you are participating in the IAC’s Estimated Progeny Differences Program. This advanced program is a huge step forward in quantifying heritable traits and facilitates scientific selection of breeding partners. Using EPDs makes breeding decisions easier and increases the probability of desirable outcomes. Using EPDs tremendously accelerates genetic improvements in your herd.

In addition, the shear list preparation and fleece sample submission tools on the IAC website greatly simplify the organization and efficiency of your shearing day.

To maximize the benefits of the new IAC tools, it is vitally important that all IAC members enter their alpacas onto the IAC database. Alpacas do not need to be related to a Studmaster male to receive an EPD evaluation.

If you have alpacas and you want to improve the quality and value of your herd through genetic improvement then you need EPDS - it really is that simple.

As some of you no doubt know I am putting together a Library of articles on EPDs these articles have all been hand picked by Dr Sara Via at Maryland University. There are so many articles we are going to have to create a website to host them all. So watch this space for when www.epdlibrary.org goes live which should hopefully be some time later this week.

Now back to the website building........

here is some interesting information on Coronavirus courtesy of Sue Ives the President of VAOBA.

Coronavirus does have carrier animals (animals that do not show any signs of disease but carry it). Winter dysentery of cattle is "easily carried on shoes, clothes or fomites" (objects) so it looks like it would be very easy to bring home from an alpaca show even if you did not take alpacas to the show.

Coronavirus is common in alpacas and was associated with diarrhea in adults and young animals in the fall of 2005 or 2006 associated with shows in the northeast but I think it is pretty much everywhere. In my experience, the tests run in labs in VA are negative but testing with electron microscopy at Texas A & M will pick it up (a virologist at Cornell told me to send poop samples to TxAM).

The coronavirus is found in the respiratory or GI tract, but virus isolation is not easy. It is gonna be a really tough thing to prevent spread if you have a carrier animal coming back from the show. It is not clear how long the animal might carry the virus. Apparently it is more of a problem when in conjunction with other diseases or stressors.

That being said, I think quarantine of 2-4 weeks is good but must involve different clothing and shoes from the quarantine animals to the healthy. Minimize other diseases (parasites, etc,) and stresses and that is all you can do. Some farms have their "show string" animals in a completely different area from the non show animals to avoid bringing things home any unexpected "visitors" but this is a luxury not everyone can accommodate.

I realised over the weekend that I didn't really know why we agist alpacas, or to be more precise why when we care for someone else's alpacas we call it agistment.

So here is an explanation for the more curious among you....

When we put our cats or dogs in the care of others it is usually referred to as boarding. And so we have Boarding Kennels.

With horses we talk about livery. Livery is another term for rented horse accommodation, which may or may not include other services. Different forms of livery service may be provided to clients including full livery which might include exercising, riding and even training the horse, part livery, DIY livery and grass livery. And so we have Livery Stables.

With alpacas we call it agistment and here is where that terms originates from:

To agist is, in English law, to take cattle to graze, for a remuneration.
Agistment, in the first instance, referred more particularly to the proceeds of pasturage in the King's forests, but now means either:

1/ The contract for taking in and feeding livestock on pasture land, for the consideration of a weekly payment of money, or

2/ The profit derived from such pasturing.

In English law agistment is a contract of bailment, and the bailer is bound to take reasonable care of the animals entrusted to him (or her);

"the bailer is responsible for damages and injury which result from ordinary casualties, if it be proved that such might have been prevented by the exercise of great care."

There is no lien on the cattle for the price of the agistment, unless by express agreement. Under the Agricultural Holdings Act of 1883,

"agisted cattle cannot be distrained on for rent if there be other sufficient distress to be found, and if such other distress be not found, and the cattle be distrained, the owner may redeem them on paying the price of their agistment."

The tithe of agistment or "tithe of cattle and other produce of grass lands," was formally abolished in 1707 by the act of union.

Agisters, in the United Kingdom were formerly the officers of the forest empowered to collect the agistment. They have been re-established in the New Forest to carry out the daily duties of administering the forest.

In the Western United States, agisters are land holders who hold themselves out as providing pasturage services, or who seek to enforce agistment liens. For example, in Washington State, agister is defined as

"a farmer, ranchman, herder of cattle, livery and boarding stable keeper, veterinarian, or other person, to whom horses, mules, cattle, or sheep are entrusted for the purpose of feeding, herding, pasturing, training, caring for, or ranching."

Revised Code of Washington RCW 60.56.005

Well there you have it... I think it would be quite good if we could keep using the term agistment and calling male alpacas Machos and female alpacas Hembras and young ones Cria....it makes the alpaca industry more interesting ..........

If you didn't know this current outbreak of diarrhea is being described as the Splats as it follows on from a previous outbreak that was known so charmingly as the Snots !

Coronavirus is the most common viral infections of camelids from what I have gathered talking to various vets. Coronavirus, and to a lesser extent Rotavirus, damage the intestinal lining and cause diarrhea. Dehydration, anorexia, and obtundation (a dulled or reduced level of alertness or consciousness) may be present in severely affected alpacas.

Younger alpacas are affected most frequently, but coronavirus also affects adult alpacas. Outbreaks of coronavirus are common by all accounts.

Diagnosis is by fecal examination by electron microscopy, which is usually available at the local veterinary diagnostic laboratory.

Treatment consists chiefly of supportive care with fluids and electrolytes, and possibly antibiotics to prevent secondary bacterial infections of the intestines.

In August 14th, 2007 investigators at Oregon State University, Department of Biomedical Sciences published new data on coronavirus genetics

According to a description of the scientific paper the OSU scientists discuss in "Analysis of the genome sequence of an alpaca coronavirus" new findings in coronavirus. "Coronaviral infection of New World camelids was first identified in 1998 in llamas and alpacas with severe diarrhea. In order to understand this infection, one of the coronavirus isolates was sequenced and analyzed," researchers report.

The full report is archived in Virus Weekly

Many of you will no doubt have read about the diarrhea that alpacas appear to be suffering from after attending shows this year. And some of those infections have been identified as Coronavirus. So what is Coronavirus?

Coronavirus is a genus of animal virus belonging to the family Coronaviridae.
Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome and a helical symmetry.
The name "coronavirus" is derived from the Latin corona, meaning crown, as the virus envelope appears under electron microscopy (see below) to be crowned by a characteristic ring of small bulbous structures.



Coronaviruses primarily infect the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tract of mammals and birds. Four to five different currently known strains of coronaviruses infect humans. The most publicized human coronavirus, SARS-CoV which causes SARS, has a unique pathogenesis because it causes both upper and lower respiratory tract infections and can also cause gastroenteritis.

Coronaviruses are believed to cause a significant percentage of all common colds in human adults. Coronaviruses cause colds in humans primarily in the winter and early spring seasons.

Coronaviruses also cause a range of diseases in farm animals and domesticated pets, some of which can be serious and are a threat to the farming industry. Economically significant coronaviruses of farm animals include:
Porcine coronavirus (transmissible gastroenteritis, TGE) and
Bovine coronavirus, which both result in diarrhea in young animals.

Feline enteric coronavirus is a pathogen of minor clinical significance, but spontaneous mutation of this virus can result in feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a disease associated with high mortality.

There are two types of canine coronavirus (CCoV), one that causes mild gastrointestinal disease and one that has been found to cause respiratory disease.

Mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) is a coronavirus that causes an epidemic murine illness with high mortality, especially among colonies of laboratory mice.

In alpacas a good deal of work has been done by Chris Cebra at Oregon State University and basically in a study from 2003 they found that of 45 unweaned cria suffering from diarrhea 19 (41%) tested positive for coronavirus.

An unusual herd is being offered for sale to new homes - in the shape of 31 llamas.
The Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland is to auction them at a rare breed sale in Carlisle on Friday the 18th of April.

Farm manager James Law said the llamas have a variety of uses - from being exotic pets, to trekking, to keeping grass tidy and even golf caddying. (more of which later!)

The llamas were bought in 1987 and are being let go as the Rowett Research Institute prepares to merge with Aberdeen University.

Mr Law told BBC Scotland:

"They are used for trekking in upland areas. Exotic pets is really one of the main uses, and I have sold one or two for guarding sheep from foxes." "I have heard of them possibly being used as caddies on golf courses, especially in America, and they are very good at grazing the land and keeping it nice and tidy."

Now I keep my ear close to the ground when it comes to camelids but I have never heard of llamas being used as caddies on a golf course.... if anyone has heard of such a thing please drop me an e-mail as I would be fascinated to learn more.

Don't forget to check out our Spring Alpaca Competition.....