Breeding decisions are critical for the alpaca owner interested in creating the best overall alpaca. What do I mean by best overall alpaca? I am talking about excellent conformation and fiber that includes fineness, uniformity, crimp, lock structure, and luster.
Why is it so important to make the right breeding decision? Alpacas gestation period is 11 ½ months. That is precious time that you will not be able to make up.
Like most alpaca breeders you will want to breed up. That does not mean that you need to always pay top dollar for breedings. What it does mean is that you want to select the best herdsire to improve your dam.
The best way to do this is to evaluate your female and pick three characteristics that you want to improve. Perhaps she is not very fine or lacks coverage on her legs. Does she have the crimp and lock structure that you need? Examine her conformation. Are her legs straight, does she have banana shaped ears, is her back straight, etc.?
One of the easiest things to improve on a dam is fiber. I have gone from a dam with no crimp to a cria full of crimp winning ribbons in the show ring. This was an immediate change.
Conformation issues can take longer. You may not get the results you are wanting in the first generation, but rather a couple of generations down the line.
Next is to select the herdsire. You may be in luck and already own a herdsire to use. If not there are many ways to search for a herdsire:
If the herdsires are nearby definitely take a trip out to look and feel them. If they are not within your driving distance then be sure to ask for pictures. Do not be shy in asking for different angles. Most ranchers will be happy to oblige. In either case make sure you get a histogram, fiber sample, copy of ARI registration or family pedigree (this is especially important if you do not want to do any line breedings), pictures of offspring, show winnings if applicable, and a copy of the stud contract for review. Now you can make an informed decision on which herdsire will be the best for your dam.
Your dam may have more than 3 characteristics to improve, but you may not be able to find a male who can fix everything in one shot. Therefore, limiting the characteristics to three will help the odds of the cria being an improvement over the dam.
I cannot guarantee that you will always make the correct breeding decision, however doing your research ahead of time should get you closer to your final goal of creating the best overall alpaca herd.