28 July 2009 - Success for alpacasRstyle at the Central Region Winter Show 2009

in Porirua in June was unexpectedly rich!  We brought home  not one but two champion ribbons!
Stylist Dodi won Champion Junior Male followed the next day by Stylist Dahria winning Champion Intermediate Female.
Waiheke Romeo, newly arrived on our farm, performed admirably in his class, awarded 2nd place in the "Adult Male Class"   We will watch his maturation with interest because he begins work in the spring and we are hoping he will bring density and style into the fleeces of his progeny.
Stylist Dorilei was awarded a second place in the Junior Medium Fawn female class
Stylist Delphina was awarded a 5th place in a large  Intermediate White female class.
 
Trish's first venture into Fleece Competitions was rewarded with a first place for Stylist Delilah's first brown fleece and a second placing for Stylist Diana's  white (well - nearly so) fleece.  Preparation of these fleeces involved hours and hours of  laboriously removing vegetable matter without destroying the structure of the fleece - a mission indeed with the dock and pine needles in plentiful  supply in our paddocks. Success in the competition brought satisfaction of a job adequately done. Selection of the cleanest fleece to work with next time will be the key!
 
Our plans are to enter a team in the Super Six fleece competition beginning at the National Show.  So watch the fortune of the Style Setters !

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22 September 2009 - Back from holiday!

We have returned from a winter escape overseas visiting Patrick and Annette in Hong Kong (hot and steamy), travelling with Jenny around Beijing (crowded and overcast) and sailing and pedalling around the coast of Greece (clear and sunny until heavy rain for the last couple of days).

The alpacas were pleased to see us home (really!) having been well looked after by Nic in our absence.  We have just a week to prepare the Show Team for the National Expo in Fielding.   The fleeces of the juniors pick up vegetable matter like velcro and it takes hours to pick out the biggest twigs and seed heads.  What a blessing the judges expect the animals to be shown in "paddock condition" : ours certainly will be

And so the show season 2009 begins.  We have high hopes but modest expectation.   Let the judges decide: we intend to enjoy the occasions.

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27 October 2009 - More Show Success

at the National Alpaca Expo!  Stylist Dahria "covered herself in glory":  she was first shorn in December 2008 and this fleece won first in class and Champion Junior Female Huacaya Fleece:  in the show ring she was placed second in Intermediate White/Light Fawn Class and was then called forward in the championship lineup and awarded Reserve Champion Intermediate Female.

This confirms Dahria as our most consistent performer in the show ring.  It is with eagar anticipation we await her first cria, due in February, after the spring shows are over.

The spring weather has been wet!  to add to the unpleasantly cold winter. Daily feeding out hay to cows, horses and alpacas has been a necessary routine, awaiting some warming sun and spring growth.

Our very small herd has produced two female calves one a white galloway (with black tips to ears, nose and feet!) and one belted galloway.   The remaining empty cows and three yearling steers have been sent to the sale yards leaving just six cattle to cross graze after the alpacas.

We are next preparing for our first trip over to Hawkes Bay A&P show.

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27 October 2009 - Dahria does it again!

At Hawkes Bay A&P Show Stylist Dahria won 1st in Intermediate Female White/Light fawn Class and her Junior Fleece was awarded Champion Huacaya Fleece.  Close behind, the junior fleece from Stylist Demi was awarded Reserve Champion Huacaya Fleece.  A very successful trip to the sunny Hawkes Bay for alpacasRstyle.

 On a sad note the time had come to farewell Trampus. the chestnut pony, a respected member of the family, having served four children at Pony Club in years gone by.  Now aged at least 45, it was miraculous that he  survived another cold winter.   Muscle wasting and stiff joints meant that getting up from the ground was a mission in itself.  Sadly gone but not forgotten.

Five female alpacas have taken the long trip south to Te Anau and have arrived safely (photo to prove it!).  There they will be shorn and mated and will return next year, completely transformed.

 Five expectant mothers have been given their injections and transferred to the lush birthing paddock for supplemental feeding in the last six weeks of pregnancy to boost the secondary follicle growth of the cria.  Then there will be shearing and haymaking and before we know it Christmas will be upon us. But before that we have the Waikato Show and the Manawatu Show.

 

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26 February 2010 - So busy, newsletter updates have been neglected.

Results at Waikato World '09 show confirmed Stylist Dahria to be outstanding, taking 1st Intermediate Female Class.   Waiheke Romeo caught the judges eye and was placed 2nd in Senior Male Class.   Stylist Dodi (a  Brutus progeny with fine fleece, mean fibre diamter 17 micron on first shear) was also called forward and placed third in Junior Male Class.

Then it was to Manawatu Show judged by Richard Watson. Again conspicuous results for Stylist Dahria taking out Champion Intermediate Female and 1st in Junior Fleece.  Stylist Dodi  kept up appearances placed 1st in Class and Reserve Champion Junior Male.

The 2009 season was the best yet for alpacasRstyle serving as incentive to repeat again next year,showing a new crop of juniors and assessing the progress of Dahria, Dodi and Romeo as they mature.

The weather in November was not kind to weekend shearers. Although desperate to relieve the alpacas increasingly hot and heavy fleece, 2 days continuously dry weather never coincided with  weekends : the job was not completed until 2 days before christmas.  Taylor was 'broken in'  as head-holder in the hope that he will be around to help again next time.   With fleeces weighed and in bags the job is only half done:  skirting. sorting and cleaning  is a seemingly never-ending task requiring the patience of a woman like Trish, and lots of free time, all too rare with all the enterprises she takes on.

Weather in December and January was not much better.  The hay paddock was shut up for 5 months until finally cut and baled in February.  No suprise that the weather threatened to rain as we frantically filled the hayshed with still wet and heavy bales, too heavy for some of the helpers to  lift on their own.  A sweet fragrance of fermentation wafted from the hay shed for several days as the hay cooled down.  It will be half a year  before we know how good this harvest was.

And now attention turns to new cria.......

 

 

 

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13 May 2010 - Birthing

is  a time of great hopes and anticipation, excitement, elation and sometimes disappointment.   This year was no exception.  Only one birth required some assistance.  One mother was short on milk so Franklin D has been enjoying supplement Anlamb bottle feeds, and putting on 150gms per day.  Other cria have been growing at a rate of 300 gms per day.

It is  truely gratifying to watch the cria of all different ages and sizes racing around and around the paddock in the evening light, playing some game of catch-me-if-you-can.    You can almost hear the older ones saying "silly silly - they will grow out of it"   

                                                                  

The season resulted in 14 cria - 8 boys and 6 girls from three sires - Rialto, Mercury and Rameses.  Mostly the cria are white with just one brown and one cute multi.
Amongst them are some stunning fleeces which we will watch develop with great interest.

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12 November 2010 - National Alpaca Expo

Fleeces entered in the National Expo 2010 in Christchurch have proved out-standingly successful.  Stylist Dodi Intermediate fleece was judged "Most Commercial Huacaya Fleece - White" as well as Reserve Champion Male Huacaya.

Stylist Dahria was "Reserve Champion Intermediate Female Huacaya".

Considering this was the largest line-up of fleeces at any show in NZ ever and was using grid sampling to verify fibre diameter and consistency, the results for the alpacasRstyle herd were very pleasing indeed!

We travelled to Christchurch without any animals to show and watched the breed judging from the side lines.  It was a surprisingly enjoyable weekend, without any aftershocks.

But the real action of the show ring for us is yet to come

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3 October 2011 - National Alpaca Expo at Mt Maunganui

alpacasRstyle attended the National Expo in Mt Maunganui  There were a record number of breed entries numbering 469 and 180 fleece entries.

Stylist Gina Lollibrigida had very good results  when she got a very close 2nd in her Junior Female Brown class of 11 competitors. It was only on a very small conformation difference that the 1st place was awarded to her competitor.      Stylist Giselle was awarded 5th place in a  large class.  Stylist Giovanni got a 4th place and Stylist Fergusson a 6th competing in the same Junior male  mid/dark fawn class and Stylist Grimaldi also was awarded 4th in his class.

Hawkes Bay Show comes up next so we will make another trip to that show.

 

 

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22 October 2011 - Hawkes Bay A&P Show

Hawkes Bay put on splendid weather for the alpaca show at the A&P showgrounds.

Stylist Gina Lollobrigida won her Junior Female class and was then judged Champion Brown Huacaya at this Colour Championship Show.  The Judge, Molly Gardner, commented on her fineness, density, lustre and length of the staple as well as her well grown conformation.  

Gina is the progeny of Stylist Delilah who spent 5 months at Honeyfield Alpacas in Te Anau.  She proved choosey until presented with Honeyfield Sutherland - her choice is clearly justified.

Stylist Geronimo picked up the Red Ribbon in Brown Junior Male class but was no competition for his illustrious herd mate Gina in the Championship.   His fleece shows  pencils of fine lustrous fleece.  He is the progeny of Stylist Charlotte and Waiheke Smokin Joe.

We were hosted by Peter and Sarah and we enjoyed our Labour Weekend trip despite the fact that the Wallabies beat the Welsh in the Bronze Medal Final.

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1 November 2011 - Waikato Royal A&P Show

Stylist Gina Lollobrigida continued her winning form achieving the pinnacle of Best Coloured Huacaya  at Waikato World's Royal A&P show 2011. Having  won a red ribbon in the Junior Female Brown class she was then chosen Best Brown Huacaya Alpaca and going on to be awarded The Shield.  

Stylist Giselle  won 1^st in her class despite the soaking wet fleece as result of persistent Taranaki  deluge last week.  Stylist Geronimo also won 1^st in his class.

Stylist Dahria and Stylist Diana continued winning  awards in the Fleece competitions with a 1^st and 2^nd respectively.

We once again we appreciated Joy's hospitality and a chance to catch up with family gossip.

 

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7 November 2011 - Manawatu A&P show

Supreme Huacaya Fleece was awarded to Stylist Diana in the fleece competition. She won the Champion Female Huacaya Fleece and Stylist Dahria  came second and took the Reserve Champion award.

Stylist Gina Lollobrigida was this week surpassed by Stylist Gabriella who was competing in her first event, winning Junior Female Brown.   Stylist Geronimo repeated his success, winning Junior Male Brown class again,with Stylist Grimaldi second. The Judge, Kate Mander, made special mention and congratulated the breeders on the quality shown in the brown championship line-up at this show. 

Stylist Giovanni was back on top this week when he won Junior Male in the  fawn class  (we managed to get his fleece dried in the wind this week) and Stylist Fergusson was second in the same class.

This was our fourth and final show for the  season.   It is always a pleasure to catch up with fellow breeders we have come to know well over the last 5 years.  Although our attention now turns to shearing, birthing and remating we will look forward to meeting up with the show people again next year.

 

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