Accoyo: the Peruvian ranch of the world-famous alpaca breeder, Don Julio Barreda; imported animals that originated on his ranch carry this name.

agist: board alpacas at a farm; used originally to describe the feeding of cattle in the king's forests, and collecting the money for same.

allele: the pairing of genes — dominant 'AA', recessive 'aa' or mixed dominant-recessive 'Aa'.

Alpacas grazing on the altiplano.

altiplano: the foothills of the Andes mountains in Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, original home of alpacas ~ "New World camelids".

Aragon: region of Spain; symbolised by the native pomegranate, a fruit of bounty.

blanket: prime fleece on the main body of the animal; best quality for spinning.

breed back: a breeding with any herdsire from the farm from which a pregnant female is purchased, following her delivery; offered in contracts as a three-in-one deal.

brightness [of fleece]: the quality of alpaca fibre that reflects light.

camelid: mammal family to which the alpaca belongs; also includes camel, llama, vicuña , and guanaco.

colostrum: the initial rich milk produced by a new mother soon after delivery; vital to stimulate immunities in the newborn [see IgG].

conformation: the appropriate alignment of the alpaca's body structure in proportion to the whole animal.

The cria is "cushed."

cria: an un-weaned camelid baby; from old Spanish word for "create."

crimp: the wavy crinkle of fibre strands from a Huacaya alpaca [see photo of fleece below]

cush: upright resting position, sitting with all legs tucked under; sometimes spelled 'kush.'   A female ready for mating will cush for the male so he can get into position behind her.

dam: female parent.

fhleming: male behavior of sniffing pasture areas (especially the pooh pile) where females have been, lifting their nose into the air to inhale the scent, much as a person would test the aroma of a wine.

fibre: the product of shearing an alpaca; interchangeable with 'fleece;' never referred to as 'fur' or 'wool'.

fighting teeth: the tiny sharp teeth that grow mid-jaw in adult alpacas; males use them to render other males in the herd impotent.   These teeth are cut or filed down in a managed herd situation, usually by a vet.

fleece: the fibre of an alpaca; lanolin-free. Huacaya fibre is crimpy, while fleece of the Suri alpaca is silken.

gelding: a castrated male.

guard hair: the longer, medulated single hairs interspersed with the finer fibre on a huacaya alpaca or llama.

a guanaco

guanaco: the rarest relative of the alpaca, native to the Andes.

hembra: adult female alpaca.

herdsire: adult male alpaca used for breeding.

 

a huacaya alpaca in full fleece

huacaya (wah-KI-yah): one of two types of alpaca, with thick, fluffy fleece suggesting the 'teddy bear' look.

humming: the most common audio communication between alpacas; a melodic, purring sound that indicates nervous attention, as a mom calling to her cria, or an adult separated from the herd.

husbandry: the watchful care and intervention by humans to the herd for optimal health maintenance; vaccinations, toe-nail trimming, nutrition, protection, etc.

ideal alpaca: perfect in every sense of conformation — proportional body, straight legs, dense fleece, overall coverage, crimpy fibre, presence and stature, aligned teeth.

IgG: Immunoglobulin G; a blood test during the first days of a cria's life determines IgG levels, to monitor absorption the necessary colostral antibodies from its mothers milk.

improved alpaca: the overall look of the animal is balanced and "typey".

induced ovulator: the female is stimulated by the breeding process to release an egg for fertilisation; cats are also induced ovulators, different from a female cycle that the male then responds to.

junior herdsire: intact young adult male alpaca, not yet mature for breeding.

lama: umbrella term for sub-category of camelids that includes llamas and alpacas. An alpaca is a lama.

llama: larger cousin of the alpaca. A llama is a lama.

luster: the rich gleam of the Suri's silky fibre.

macho: adult male alpaca .

maiden: young adult female, not yet mated.

medulated fibre: the thicker, hollow-shaft fibre that sometimes populates the fleece and sticks out beyond the finer, crimped fleece of a Huacaya.

micron: one-millionth of a meter; referring to the width of single fibre of alpaca fleece.

micron count: the average of measurements within a fibre sample.

orgling: the trumpeting love song that a male sings to the female during mating.

orchard grass: low-protein grasses either growing in the pasture or baled as hay; not Lucerne.

pasture mating : placing a male in a pasture with females to mate 'at will' according to their maturity and readiness; less human involvement than with pen mating.

pen breeding

pen mating : purposefully placing one male and one female in a pen together with the intention of mating.

Ppperuvian: the 3 "p's" indicate the third Peruvian import of alpacas into the United States.

primitive alpaca: one whose overall conformation and structure is out of symmetry.

pronk: romping, cavorting and prancing behaviour, especially between young animals, especially just prior to sunset and/or when a group is shifted to a new paddock.

proven: an animal, either male or female, that has successfully produced offspring.

retained CL: "corpus lutum" = yellow body, referring to the casing of the unfertilized egg. When not shed by the body (i.e., retained), hormones may still respond, thus giving a "false pregnancy" reading when spit testing.

roving: fibre that has been cleaned, carded and rolled (much like a clay 'snake'), ready for spinning.

ruminant: having a multiple stomach digestive system, maximising low-quality food sources

shearing: the annual clipping of the fleece off of the animal.

full fleece — and — shorn (same animal)

show ring: events sponsored by national and regional organisations to judge the quality of animals; show divisions are by type, fleece color, age and gender.

sire: male parent.

spinning: creating yarn from the fleece — using a spinning wheel or a drop spindle — to be woven, knitted, crocheted or felted into clothing and accessory items.

spit test: exposing a mated female to a potent male. If she "spits him off", his services no longer interest her. This is a low-level, but fairly reliable pregnancy test.

a suri alpaca

suri : one of two types of alpacas, marked by silky fleece that hangs in long, curled pencil 'dreadlocks'.

tui [too-ey] fleece: softest first fleece sheared from a young cria.

typey: refers to 'ideal' look, with good conformation  and proportional balance of body parts: legs, body, neck and head of similar height and relative to overall body length. Visual test: animal 'fits in a box.'

unimproved: an alpaca with characteristics more 'primitive' than 'ideal,' such as camel-like head and face, banana-shaped ears, elongated body.

unproven: an animal that has not yet participated in breeding; if female, has never been pregnant; if male, has not yet impregnated a female; no offspring has been born.

a vicuña

vicuña: smaller cousin of the alpaca and llama with even softer fleece; native to the Andes of South America but not allowed for export.

vicuña coloring: red-brown above with cream under neck, belly and insides of legs; referred to in Huacaya alpacas that probably carry vicuña genes.

weanling: a newly weaned alpaca, usually at least six months old but less than one year.

wether: a castrated male (also referred to as a "gelding".