Winter - Classical Mileend Alpacas

Violet is a two-year-old
alpaca with a desirably 1 low mean fi ber diameter
and overall histogram. Note
her mean curvature of 45.1.
According to the study done by
Christopher Lupton PhD of Texas
A&M University, Bob Stobart
PhD of University of Wyoming
and Angus McColl of Yocom-
McColl Testing Laboratories,
Inc., of 606 huacayas from
throughout the United States,
the mean curvature was 33.2
deg/mm, with a minimum
of 15.4 deg/mm and a maximum of 52.5 deg/mm. Violet’s fl eece is in the upper-mid range for curvature
and has a ‘crinkly’ look, i.e., more like cotton than the familiar corrugated look many alpacas have. The
relationship between Violet’s curvature and micron count does not coincide with the data in Table 1 in the
‘Case for Crimp’ article cited in the text.
high-density fl eeces, which he believes,
can be identifi ed by long thin staples
(bundling) of high amplitude (deep crimp)
and low crimp frequency (bold crimp). He
sees deep and bold crimp as an indicator
of other important qualities in fl eece such
as increased density, fi bre regeneration,
and fi neness.
It is irrefutable that fi neness and
density can occur without readily visible
crimp – as is the case with the alpaca
progenitor, the vicuña. Vicuña is very
fi ne (12–14µ) with approximately 95
follicles per square millimeter. This is
much denser than most alpacas, but
is an achievable density for alpacas.
There have been a few reports of alpaca
densities in the 90 follicle per square
millimeter range.
Interviews with the people running
the large fi bre mills in Peru produced
a uniform response with regard to
handle, fi neness, little or no medullation,
density, and lustre, being assigned
premium importance. At the time The
Complete Alpaca Book was published,
most of the research in which crimp
was mentioned had been conducted on
small groups of alpacas, rarely more
than 200. No studies existed that I felt
could be called representative of the
diverse herds spread throughout the
Andes. In a recent phone call with Luis
Chavez, the innovative mill boss at Inca
Tops in Arequipa, he told me that he
commissioned the study reported in
Mike’s Case for Crimp article. The study
was of only 100 show winning alpacas,
ten guanacos and a few dozen vicuñas, a
miniscule sample of the larger population.
The study was done to study prickle
factor in garments. Such a small selective
group can hardly be considered defi nitive
in the discussion of crimp.
There was universal agreement that
low microns, with little or no medullation,
good staple regeneration and density
were always desirable qualities in a
fl eece. What this could mean in terms of
a fl eece’s appearance was approached
pictorially in The Complete Alpaca Book.
On page 261, photographic cutaways
of high quality fl eeces are shown along
with the fl eece’s histogram, age of the
2
Chimu is a two-year old
alpaca with a desirable
histogram in his mean
fi ber diameter but he is not
as impressive in standard
deviation, coeffi cient of
variation and fi bers greater
than 30 microns. Still Chimu
has a spin fi neness of l9
microns, which is very good.
Chimu’s mean curvature of 53.0
deg/mm is at the upper range
for alpacas. In this case the
fl eece is ‘crinkly’ in appearance.
This animal comes close to
approximating the correlative data supplied by Luis Chavez’s study from Peru that is referred in the text. In
general alpacas have less crimp than most sheep breeds.
animal, growth period, and shearing
weights. There are six photographs, each
of a different fi bre sample. Four of the
photos were from alpacas living today;
one photo was a vicuña and one from a
sample from an ancient El Yaral alpaca
mummy (1000 years old). Below each
photo is a LaserScan histogram and raw
yield (fl eece weight). Two of the animals
have fl eeces characterised by classic,
easy-to-see crimp (one high frequency
low amplitude at 16.4µ at two years of
age, another is characterized by high
amplitude and low frequency crimp with
bundling. The animal is only 18 months
old but it possessed a 17.5µ micron
count and impressive fl eece weight. Both
animals had very low standard deviations.
Two other fl eece samples on this page
looked different from the fi rst two. One
was characterised with crinkle (curvature
of individual fi bres but not with the
uniform corrugated manner associated
with crimp). This fl eece was 17.5µ,
with a low standard deviation and good
fl eece weight. It was also characterized
by density and loft (fl uffi ness) and did
not lie down. The fourth alpaca was a
six year old with a 21µ fl eece with the
amazing yield of 13.5 lbs (6.1kg). The
yield occurred in a twelve month period.
This older animal possessed faint uniform
crimp. (We have since learned crimp
dissipates with time in alpacas and this
animal’s fl eece appearance may have
been entirely different when it was
younger.) The point of showing slightly
different looking fl eeces is that all of
them would have been assigned the top
classing in the Peruvian system, but they
looked different from one another. The
other two photos on page 261 were of
a vicuña, the alpaca’s wild progenitor.
The El Yaral fl eece was 17.9µ with an
incredible SD of 1 and characterised
by crinkly lock structure. Obviously its
weight and regeneration could only be
guessed. The close up of the vicuña also
looked different from the other fl eeces.
Curvature studies in alpacas weren’t
available in 2003.
Financial value and alpaca fl eece is
mentioned only once, as comparative
pricing based on fi bre fi neness (fi bre
Alpaca World Magazine Autumn 2004/05 47