Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Tribute to Tribute

Look who came to live at our farm today. Beth is unloading Tribute to Money, a light silver gray Huacaya herd sire, born 3/10/03. He is 1/2 Chilean and 1/2 Peruvian and what a gentleman! We picked him up in Belding at Irish Valley Farm owned by Leslie and Bob Gosnell. We are hoping to get some outside breedings for him. There aren't many gray herd sires in our area. I will advertise him as a drive by breeding, meaning I can take him to the female's farm. He's such a nice guy that I can easily load, unload, and handle him by myself. Tribute has several cria on the ground so he is considered a "proven" stud.
That's the girls' pen behind and Tribute has just arrived. Is that lust in their eyes? The youngest girls, maidens, were the most interested in him. The older girls just came up for a look and went on with their business of cushing and chewing.

It's such a joy to have this handsome guy in the barn. All the way home, Beth, John, and I were talking about which of our girls would be the best matches. We also have medium fawn Polaris here, our own home grown herd sire. He hasn't proven himself as a breeder yet, so we are trying to figure out the best match for him.
Alpacas are induced ovulators which means that they ovulate after they are bred, sort of like rabbits. This means we should be able to time the breeding for when we want a cria. Gestation is roughly 11 months. So, if we do a breeding in June, we should have a May cria, or an October breeding should produce a September cria.

....and look at this totally awesome fleece that he's wearing.....


15 comments:

Crazy Lady with purple fingers said...

What a beautiful boy and look at that fibre!! Love grey fibre.

krex said...

Oh my goodness...what a handsome boy ....and that most certainly is lust in the eyes of those females and what good taste they have !

Totally Timmy said...

He is beautiful. I did not know that alpacas do not have a regular breeding cycle or that they carried their young for as long as a horse!! Wow..

Debbie, Barnacre Alpacas said...

He looks fab. I'm hoping to get a nice grey out of our grey girl Kate who is due in just over three weeks!

Greys are so difficult to get aren't they.

Knapper Alpakka said...

That is a beautiful grey stud! I've watched people as they approach a herd of alpacas, and most seem to be drawn to the greys :-)

Lisa said...

Oh those girls want him! You can totally see it in the pic. Gorgeous fiber! DROOL!

Unknown said...

Your blog has given me my introduction to alpacas - I've never seen one in person. Your new boy is gorgeous, and looks so very hugable!

Nancy in Atlanta

critter Lover said...

I'm IN LOVE! Not only does Tribute have gorgeous fiber down to his toe nails, he also has one of the most gentle, calm, confident and agreeable dispositions that I have seen in an alpaca! He is just a lovable, Teddy Bear but with a lot of presence!! Can't WAIT to make some matches in the barn!!! Welcome to the barn Trib!

Beth

Anita said...

He's beautiful, congratulations!
And what gorgeous fiber!! :)

Vtknitboy said...

nice boy! what color fiber would u get crossing him with a fawn or med brown?

Sunrise Lodge Fiber Studio said...

How much fun the new guy is?!?! :) Beautiful fiber too;)

Michelle said...

he is beautiful....no wonder the females are lusting. heh!

HanamiGallery said...

i love how the females are checking him out. who wouldnt love him with that awesome coat~ i love how it looks like hes wearing leg warmers and a black suit. very adorable.

Zu said...

He is gorgeous! He has such beautiful fibre too. I bet those girls of yours are fighting over him!lol

Mare said...

What a gorgeous guy he is! And the look on the faces of your "girls" says it all...He's HOT!

Map