Cria Watch Once Again
Fall cria watch officially begins today. I'm not going to hype it like I did Chloe's delivery of Cailin.I'm not going to drag it out for two months – although nature might choose to do so. I'm going to try not to make impending cria my primary blog topic, and I promise not to be a nervous pacing alpaca-blog-father like I was this spring.
(Ok, first think Pam's going to do when she reads that last statement is post a comment that says, "Promises, Promises ...")
Pam, I promise I'll be calling in from work five or six times per day to ask if we have a cria yet, but I also promise not to post about it quite so frequently on the blog.
Jubilee and Ipo Nani are both due September 15th. Jubilee is bred Sindre for our first alpaca grandbaby. Ipo is bred to Nicholas, a classic tuxedo silver gray who's won a bunch of ribbons.
We're expecting great things from Jubilee and Sindre, of course, they are two of our favorite alpacas and Sindre is our first born. Sindre has incredibly fine fiber with high curvature. Jubilee has very slick fiber that gives her a pleasant handle despite her relatively high fiber diameter. We're hoping, of course, for Sindre's fineness, but based on previous breedings, we are expecting an intermediate fiber diameter.
As far as color goes, we are expecting the cria to have a black (like Jubilee) or dark brown (like Georgia) base color. If Sindre's gray comes through as well, we could get a silver gray (over the black base) or a charcoal gray like Sindre (over the dark brown base). White on the face or neck without any gray is also possible.
Ipo and Nicholas could potentially produce a second rose gray cria for us this year. Like the breeding that produced Cailin, there is one fawn parent and one silver gray parent in the mix. The truth is, though, we have no idea what color to expect from Ipo and Nicholas. I don't really expect the cria to be lighter than Ipo. Nicholas has a black base and Ipo's father has produced black cria, so black is a possibility as is everything in between. If Nicholas' gray comes through over a red or fawn color, the cria will be rose gray. If it comes through over black, the cria will be silver gray.
Whatever the color of Ipo's cria, we're expecting good fiber. Ipo is soft and has some character to her fiber. Nicholas is medium-soft and has won ribbons because of his fleece character. Obviously, we're hoping for Ipo's softness and Nicholas' character, but even if we get the expected intermediate fleece, I'll still be happy to spin it.
It ought to be interesting. We're excited.
Oh, and even though cria watch starts today, we have no evidence to suggest anything will happen anytime soon.
ps. I spun some suri alpaca yesterday and started knitting a toe-upsock mess.
(Ok, first think Pam's going to do when she reads that last statement is post a comment that says, "Promises, Promises ...")
Pam, I promise I'll be calling in from work five or six times per day to ask if we have a cria yet, but I also promise not to post about it quite so frequently on the blog.
Jubilee and Ipo Nani are both due September 15th. Jubilee is bred Sindre for our first alpaca grandbaby. Ipo is bred to Nicholas, a classic tuxedo silver gray who's won a bunch of ribbons.
We're expecting great things from Jubilee and Sindre, of course, they are two of our favorite alpacas and Sindre is our first born. Sindre has incredibly fine fiber with high curvature. Jubilee has very slick fiber that gives her a pleasant handle despite her relatively high fiber diameter. We're hoping, of course, for Sindre's fineness, but based on previous breedings, we are expecting an intermediate fiber diameter.
As far as color goes, we are expecting the cria to have a black (like Jubilee) or dark brown (like Georgia) base color. If Sindre's gray comes through as well, we could get a silver gray (over the black base) or a charcoal gray like Sindre (over the dark brown base). White on the face or neck without any gray is also possible.
Ipo and Nicholas could potentially produce a second rose gray cria for us this year. Like the breeding that produced Cailin, there is one fawn parent and one silver gray parent in the mix. The truth is, though, we have no idea what color to expect from Ipo and Nicholas. I don't really expect the cria to be lighter than Ipo. Nicholas has a black base and Ipo's father has produced black cria, so black is a possibility as is everything in between. If Nicholas' gray comes through over a red or fawn color, the cria will be rose gray. If it comes through over black, the cria will be silver gray.
Whatever the color of Ipo's cria, we're expecting good fiber. Ipo is soft and has some character to her fiber. Nicholas is medium-soft and has won ribbons because of his fleece character. Obviously, we're hoping for Ipo's softness and Nicholas' character, but even if we get the expected intermediate fleece, I'll still be happy to spin it.
It ought to be interesting. We're excited.
Oh, and even though cria watch starts today, we have no evidence to suggest anything will happen anytime soon.
ps. I spun some suri alpaca yesterday and started knitting a toe-up
posted by Upper Alpacas | 9:08 AM
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