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Fall 2006
Newsletter |
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ALPACA Works
Valuing the Past...Breeding for the Future
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Autumn
2006 -
Vol 2, Issue 1
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The
Scoop on Alpaca Fiber |
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Quick
Links |
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Greetings
from Heritage Farm! |
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Welcome to the autumn issue of ALPACA
Works, the quarterly newsletter of Heritage
Farm. As the autumn leaves begin to fall, Beth and I are
reminded that this season marks our third year as alpaca
breeders. It's hard to believe that our herd has grown
to over twenty alpacas since that day in October when we
brought home our first alpaca, Eliza. (see picture).
There are many things that attract us to alpacas, but
one attribute that we both value most is the exquisite
fiber these lovely animals produce.
This issue will focus on the characteristics of
Alpaca Fiber by including a couple of articles
excerpted from our Getting
Started Guide. In order to make informed decisions
on selecting quality foundation herd animals with
desirable fiber characteristics, alpaca breeders must
understand basic fiber anatomy and physiology. These
articles provide some basic information that will help
you understand the structure of alpaca fiber, the
differences between suri and huacaya fiber and the fiber
characteristics that make a good fiber producing alpaca.
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Alpaca fiber is composed of three distinct
elements; the cuticle or scale, the cortical cells and
an intracellular binder to hold it all together. A
complex protein called keratin forms the composition of
the fiber. The fiber itself is a complex assembly made
up of a vast number of cells. The inside of the fiber
consists entirely of rounded elongated and spindle
shaped cells called cortical cells. Cortical cells are
thick in the middle and taper away to a point at each
end. The outer cells (cuticle) are hard flattened
scale-like cells which do not fit evenly together. The
edges, of these cells protrude from the fiber shaft
giving the fiber a serrated edge.
Cortical cells are the load-bearing elements of
the fiber, whereas the cuticle imparts the inherent
aesthetic qualities of the fiber such as softness of
handle and luster. Other functions of the cuticle
include water repellence, felting during washing, and
resistance to chemical and physical attack. The entire
assembly of cells is held together by a type of 'cement'
called the intracellular binder.
Research has shown that the cuticle cells on
sheep wool fiber protrude approximately 0.8 micron from
the shaft whereas alpaca cuticle cells protrude
approximately 0.4 micron. It would therefore be simple
to conclude that the softness of alpaca over that of
sheep wool of the same fiber diameter is due to the
scale height (protrusion).
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The first
difference between huacaya and suri fiber is that cuticle
cells of the Huacaya protrude slightly more than the Suri,
Having less scale frequency and a lower cuticle height, the
Suri fiber feels more slippery and is more lustrous
than huacaya fiber.
The
second difference between Huacaya and Suri fiber is in the
internal composition of the fiber. The Huacaya has a bilateral
structure similar to sheep and the Suri does not. Bilateral
structure refers to the presence of the two types of cortical
cells which are classified as either orthocortical cells or
paracortical cells. These cells grow in bundles next to each
other. The bilateral formation is responsible for the
crimp/crinkle in the Huacaya. The orthocortex bundling is
always found on the outside of the crimp curve. As the two
cortical cell types grow alongside of each other the
orthocortex provides the tension that forms the curve of the
crimp while the paracortex, under less tension, causes the
crimp to stay in place. There is no visible line of
distinction between the two cortical cell types in the suri
fiber and thus the suri fiber is characterized by relatively
straight fibers rather than crimp.
Because
of different fiber structures, huacaya and suri require
variations in processing techniques. Suri is generally more
difficult to process. The machines are set at a lower speed
than for the huacaya. Due to its cuticle cell structure and
straightness Suri fiber lacks cohesion making it more
difficult to 'spin' and there is slightly more fiber wastage
when processing. Also, because of the straightness of the Suri
fiber compared to the crinkle in the Huacaya, more fibers are
required in a Suri yarn than that of a huacaya. This gives
suri fiber more bulk and a heavier weight.
The
winter issue of ALPACA Works will have more articles on
fiber, including a discussion of role of follicles and the
correlation between density and fineness. |
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Our
foundation white herdsire, SBS
Argonaut, has his first crias on the ground! Two
colored females were born on our farm this
summer.
The first
was born in July and is a dark fawn girl named Argonaut's
Quest. Quest's dam is a brown female named Dahlia. It's
exciting to see Argo's Lock and Luster and the dam's color
being passed on to his progeny.
The
second was born in August and is a white and fawn multi girl
named Evelyn (Evie for short). Evie is every bit
as nice as Quest. She is well proportioned and her locks are
forming nicely. Evie's dam is our first alpaca, Eliza (see
picture above)
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Great Learning
Opportunities
We invite you to join us at several
Indiana events over the next few weeks. These events are a
great way to learn more about alpacas and alpaca farming. So,
if raising alpacas is appealing to you, we invite you to
invest the time and attend one or more of these open house
events. On Sept. 30 we will be at the 3rd Annual Autumn
Alpaca Affair in Columbia City, IN. The following
weekend, Oct. 7, we will be at the Riley
Llamas open house in Carmel, IN and on Oct. 14, we
will be co-hosting an alpaca farm day at Willow
Ridge Farm in Auburn, IN.
We will also be
participating in two alpaca shows this fall. The first is the
Northern
Illinois Alpaca Extravaganza on Oct and the other is the
Ohio
Alpacafest in Columbus on Nov. 6-7.
These are all great events to bring the
entire family to and they are all free! If you come to any of
these, be sure to stop by our farm display and register for a
chance to win an alpaca
scarf !
Well, that's all for this issue.
Hopefully you have taken away some useful information that
will help you understand alpaca fiber a little better. If you
would like to learn more about alpacas or to see what we have
for
sale, we invite you to visit our website
or better yet, schedule a visit to Heritage Farm sometime
soon. Best wishes for a beautiful fall season wherever you
live.
Sincerely,
Tim & Beth Sheets
Heritage Farm Suri Alpacas - Flora, IN
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