| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Kent |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 11:00:40 AM
I have a BEW cria male with only one blue eye. what do I do...breed him or not? I cant find anything on one blue eye. I gather that unless I take him out of the gene pool that I could breed him to a nonwhite solid color female. Anyone have suggestions on this anomaly? |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| bobvicki |
Posted - 12/14/2010 : 3:19:14 PM
Heidi,
Is it just a blue eye or is the bew type of eye. All the BEW alpaca's that I have seen have a very unusual eye, the only way I can explain it is it looks like a sky blue eye with a big black horizontal dash in the middle. (-)
Bob
Bob & Vicki Blodgett
Suri Land Alpaca Ranch
3288 Halter Avenue
Newton, Iowa 50208
641-831-3576
alpaca@iowatelecom.net
www.alpacanation.com/suriland.asp |
| Heidi Christensen |
Posted - 11/14/2010 : 1:19:40 PM
I have a female cria with one blue eye and one brown eye. Her fiber is to die for - but she is also female. Would I want a pasture full of animals like her? Perhaps - she has the best fiber on a cria that I have ever owned, but I would want to wait for at least one more shearing to see what she would have as an adult.
If she were male, I would be hesitant to breed her, but maybe not so much if her fiber retains the characteristics it has at the age of 3 months.
Heidi Christensen
WingNut Farm
Graham, Wa
(253) 846-2168
http://alpacanation.com/wingnutfarm.asp
http://wingnut-alpacas.com |
| bobvicki |
Posted - 11/14/2010 : 12:47:08 PM
Oh yes I too agree that he should be assessed on all his traits, but I was addressing only the question of whether he was a BEW. Since he is still nursing, obviously very young as he is away with his Dam while she is being re-bred there is quite a while before the decision/judgement on his status should be made. Points that determine herd-sire status or not are extremely difficult to make on males that are under 6 months of age. At less than 6 months old it is pretty hard to determine whether or not you would wwant a whole paddock filled with animals just like him.
Bob
Bob & Vicki Blodgett
Suri Land Alpaca Ranch
3288 Halter Avenue
Newton, Iowa 50208
641-831-3576
alpaca@iowatelecom.net
www.alpacanation.com/suriland.asp |
| allamericanalpacas |
Posted - 11/13/2010 : 12:58:27 AM
One good way to assess a potential herdsire is to look at him and ask yourself one question:
Would I want a paddock filled with animals exactly like him. If the answer is yes, use him. If the answer is no, he's in the fiber pool.
In a nutshell, I agree with Laura
Rick
--
Rick & Pati Horn
All American Alpacas
35215 Avenida Maņana
Murrieta, Ca. 92563
951-217-0306
http://aaalpacas.com/updates.html
alpacanation.com/aaalpacas.asp
Life is Good! |
| bobvicki |
Posted - 11/11/2010 : 2:46:22 PM
Kent,
There are many alpacas that have blue in their eyes and from your description I do not believe your boy is a BEW. A BEW eye is unique looking and you don't have to guess if it is blue. The eye is all light blue and has what looks like a black horizontal dash in the middle. (-)
Bob
Bob & Vicki Blodgett
Suri Land Alpaca Ranch
3288 Halter Avenue
Newton, Iowa 50208
641-831-3576
alpaca@iowatelecom.net
www.alpacanation.com/suriland.asp |
| Kent |
Posted - 11/11/2010 : 11:24:37 AM
Bob: I will take a real good look at him. He is with his Mom right now (who is being bred) and will be back at my farm the end of the month. My vet did not think he had a blue eye, but a more experienced vet and an experienced alpaca breeder says he does. I do know that it is not a solid blue eye and as I recall there is a kind of light blue somehat cloudy circle around a part of the eye and not the entire eye. But, my memory may be faulty and I will very carefully look when he gets back to my farm. |
| bobvicki |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 5:45:16 PM
Kent,
Does your cria truly have the BEW type of eye, light blue with the bar across it, or is it just a solid Blue eye. Either way Andy might like to have aa blood sample of this unique feature.
Bob
Bob & Vicki Blodgett
Suri Land Alpaca Ranch
3288 Halter Avenue
Newton, Iowa 50208
641-831-3576
alpaca@iowatelecom.net
www.alpacanation.com/suriland.asp |
| Kent |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 4:45:00 PM
Good point. I do not think he is in the top 10% or even top 20%, but he has very good fiber, good conformation, and "looks good". I think you are suggesting that I just bite the bullet and not consider breeding, which is probably what I will do. |
| Paradise |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 1:40:08 PM
White males without blue eyes are a dime a dozen. You need to assess him with a critical eye and ask yourself if he is in the upper 10 percent (at the very least)of all white males that you could use for breeding. Does he have spectacular (not just good) qualities that will improve the females he is bred to? If he has 10 babies and all 10 babies are exactly like him would you be thrilled? Or is he just your first cria and you emotionally want to believe he is a herdsire? Sorry if I come across sounding blunt, but I think many breeders (me, too!) have made very bad decisions when starting out.
Laura Hillman
Paradise Alpacas
Hempstead, TX
979-826-9559
www.alpacanation.com/paradisealpacasoftx.asp |
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